by Peter Scherer

Mickleover came away from the Good Friday visiting to Rushden & Diamonds with a had fought point after a third successive draw.

Starting line-up: 1-Jay Alexander 2-Jake Bennett 3-Danny Gordon 4-Will Atkinson 5-Brad Gascoigne 6-George Wilkinson 7-Luke McCormick 8-Cieron Keane 9-Manni Norkett 10-Andy Dales 11-Paddy Webb. Subs: Stuart Beavon, Danny Benson, Jayden Samuels, Will Smith, Jack McDowell.

The elements were against both teams from the kick off with a strong wind and very dry bumpy pitch.

Rushden earned the first corner of the game on the left after four minutes, but the kick went straight through the box and out of play on the opposite side.

It was a fairly even start though, with Mickleover earning an early free kick when Dales was upended, landing heavily on his back on the bone hard pitch. Gordon’s kick was then cleared by the home defence.

The first real shot came from McCormick in the 13th minute. Webb put the ball through but his curling shot was taken wide of the left-hand post as the wind caught it.

Norkett almost broke through two minutes later after cutting in from the right, before Rushden got a break and Ollie Evans forced the first save from Alexander.

22 minutes in and Norkett’s pace caused problems again for the home defence, but JJ O’Toole was lucky to escape a caution after hauling the Mickleover striker back by his shirt and elbowing him in the face.

Rushden had managed another break after 28 minutes but the shot was wide, before they managed to hit the bar four minutes later. As the ball bounced back into play there was contact on the box and appeals for penalty were waved away.

But Sports were quick to respond when Dales charged down the right to send Webb clear, until his path was blocked by David Adegbola.

With just a couple of minutes left on the clock in the first half, the game took a negative turn for Mickleover. Keeper Alexander charged out of his goal but missed the interception, which fell to Rushden’s Cairo Taylor. Alexander then held the player until the defence got back, but the referee decided it was a straight red card.

“I held him while players got back, but he had his back to me and the goal and expected a yellow card,” Alexander admitted. The incident didn’t stop a certain goal as the challenge was outside the box, the player had his back to it and the referee gave the red before any consultation with his assistant.

But however ludicrous, the decision stood, Alexander walked and Mickleover had to sacrifice McCormick for sub McDowell to come on.

When the free kick was eventually taken, it was given about 10 yards nearer the goal too. So it remained 0-0 as the half time whistle finally went.

The were no further changes during the half time break, but the effects of the strong wind continued to cause problems. 49 minutes and Sports won a corner on the right, but Gordon’s kick was carried long and straight out of play.

Dales managed to create enough space for a 51st minute opportunistic shot, but that was wide and two minutes later Findlay cut in from the right for Rushden, but Gascoigne intercepted before he could get a shot in.

It was still fairly end to end though and Norkett got a break against a solo defender, but the ball bobbled and he lost out. But Mickleover had started to push forward more and create half chances.

55 minutes and Atkinson battled through to find Webb on the right. He connected but the ball bounced unevenly again and took the sting out of his following shot.

Just a minute later Dales sent in across from the left, which seemed to hang in the air. Findlay finally headed it clear just before it reached Webb, but Gordon’s follow up corner was then headed clear to.

Home keeper Dan Jezeph was lucky to get away with handling the ball outside the box after 62 minutes, as the assistant hadn’t kept up with play and failed to spot it.

Rushden then went on the attack with Adegbola’s shot blocked after a cross from Findlay, before Findlay tried his luck two minutes later which was easily saved by McDowell.

Webb had another shot blocked after 71 minutes, after a collecting a nice pass from Norkett and then Gordon went solo to battle through, but his shot was wide of the left-hand post.

Then it was Rushden’s turn again with Joel Nketia firing wide, before they went close again with a scramble in the box after Taylor’s 76th minute free kick.

The referee had given a few free kicks where he reacted to crowd pressure, none more obvious than a challenge between Dales and Adegbola, when the Rushden player earned his free kick after a well delayed dive.

Into the final 10 minutes and Webb put a header across the box, just a bit too high for Norkett, as it bounced off the top of his head. “I Knew it was too high, but I had to try for it, or folks would have asked why I didn’t,” said Norkett.

Dales put a cross or shot into the side netting after 83 minutes and Norkett was fouled again on the halfway line, just before he was replaced by Beavon.

Beavon almost got a late break but was flagged borderline offside, and then a short back pass from Bennett was well intercepted by McDowell, before Findlay made the final shot of the game for our hosts, but managed to clear a row houses behind the goal.

Some strong defending from Bennett, Gascoigne, Wilkinson and Gordon made sure it was a clean sheet as it ended 0-0, and overall it was a good strong performance from Mickleover in difficult conditions.

 

by Peter Scherer

After another disappointing home draw last Saturday, after dominating the second half, Mickleover will be looking to break the winless in seven games record, as they visit Rushden & Diamonds on Good Friday.

Our hosts aren’t in the best of form either, after three successive defeats, and they currently lie 10th in the table, three places and three points above Mickleover.

Danny Gordon was back from injury last Saturday, but Sports were without Danny Benson. So hopefully he will be back in action for our two games in four days Easter period.

Our hosts manager Elliot Sandy is also a registered player, having joined pre-season from Sileby. A striker, he started his career at Brackley and played for Oxford City, Leamington, Dunstable and Kettering, before first coming to our Rushden in 2016. It was only a short stay before moving on to Stamford, Newport Pagnell, Sileby Rangers, Banbury, Corby and Spalding, starting his managerial career with the latter too.

Dan Jezeph and Szymon Terenowicz have been sharing goalkeeping duties of late. Jezeph was signed from Rushall Olympic in November, having started his career at Walsall. He’s played for Tamworth, Worcester City, Alvechurch and Nuneaton too, and spent most of last season at Kettering.

Terenowicz is on a youth loan from Birmingham City.

Right back Curtis Hartley joined the club at the beginning of this season from Corby Town. He’s played for Eynesbury, Oadby Town, Peterborough Sports, Daventry, Stamford, Real Bedford and Moulton too, after starting off at Corby too.

David Adegbola is also a right back, signed from St.Ives Town in January 2025. He’s also played for Buckingham Utd, Carlton Town and Radford.

Left back Sam Brown is currently on loan from Bedford Town. After starting out at Kempston Rovers, he first joined Rushden in 2012. After an eight year stay he joined Banbury and moved to Bedford in July 2024, after a year at St.Albans City.

Centre back John-Joe O’Toole has played over 500 league games through the Championship and leagues one and two. Having started at Watford, he was loaned to Wealdstone and Sheffield Utd before a permanent move to Colchester. He’s also played for Bristol Rovers, Northampton, Southend Utd, Burton Albion and Mansfield, before joining our hosts from AFC Wimbledon in January.

Tarik Dallas is a centre back too, brought in at the start of the season from Daventry Town. He’s played for Kempston Rovers, St.Neots and Arlesey Town too.

Defensive midfielder Freddie Findlay is on loan from Northampton Town. He’s also played for Sileby Rangers.

Joziah Barnett and Ollie Evans are also Northampton loanees. Barnett has previously been out on loan at Redditch and Wellingborough, while Evans has been part of the Cobblers first team squad.

Joel Nketia is a midfielder too. The current captain, he signed pre-season from Newport Pagnell.

Aidan Webster plays in midfield and came to the club at the beginning of last season, from Bugbrooke St.Michaels.

Fellow midfielder Will Russell joined our hosts from Moulton in November.

Jordan O’Brien plays striker or midfielder. He came from Bourne Town in January, after starting the season at Wellingborough. He’s played for Corby and Spalding too.

Striker Jamal Adams is a recent arrival from Rugby Town. He started his career at Nuneaton, before his first spell at Rugby. He’s had two spells at Coventry Sphinx and one at Coventry Utd and had a previous spell with Rushden too, arriving from Studley in July 2024. He also played for Bedworth, Nuneaton Griff and St.Ives Town.

Defender Tejan Thomas and midfielder Milad Ehsani have both come through Rushden’s own youth scheme. Thomas also spent some time with Moulton. Ewan Evans is also an academy graduate, a young goalkeeper who has been on the bench.

Kick off is 3pm and remember it’s FRIDAY afternoon and NOT SATURDAY, as originally scheduled.

by Peter Scherer (Images: Steve Ingers)

After a strong second half fightback, Mickleover once again succumbed to concede two late goals and lose two more valuable points.

Starting line-up: 1-Jay Alexander 2-Jake Bennett 3-Danny Gordon 4-Will Atkinson 5-Brad Gascoigne 6-George Wilkinson 7-Luke McCormick 8-Cieron Keane 9-Manni Norkett 10-Andy Dales 11-Paddy Webb. Subs: Stuart Beavon, Jayden Ogbebor, Jayden Samuels, Will Smith, Josh Carter.

After a fairly even opening five minutes, it was Boldmere with the first shot on goal, when Alexander saved well from Charlie Manners’ sixth minute strike.

A minute later Sports earned a free kick on the right when McCormick was brought down, but Gordon’s free kick went out for a goal kick.

Webb had already started to make his presence known and after 12 minutes he swung in a telling cross from the left, missing the heads of both Norkett and McCormick by inches.

Jus a minute later Webb was desperately close to opening the scoring, when a mistake in the visitors defence allowed him to cut inside to shoot, Brown in the Boldmere goal was beaten, but Pedro Lima managed to clear off the line.

Connor Armstrong then had a punt on goal, but his effort was well wide of the right-hand post, but it showed once again Boldmere’s capacity for a quick break.

After a brief respite from attack mode from both sides, Mickleover once again took the reins after 26 minutes, when Webb pushed the ball out to Gordon on the left, but his cross/shot was too close to the keeper.

Webb put another telling ball into the box on the half hour, it was high enough to beat the keeper, but there was no one in the middle to receive.

Keane then found Webb again two minutes later, his shot was on target but Brown made an excellent save with his feet to earn two consecutive corners.

Keane took the first and it was put out by the defence, while McCormick took the second, just missing Wilkinson’s head as he came forward.

McCormick earned another free kick when he was hauled back by his arm, but Gordon’s kick was straight into Brown’s waiting arms.

Brown saved again after McCormick charged through the middle, earning another corner, from which Norkett sent a glancing header just wide of the post.

Boldmere had only had one shot on target, but with a minute left in the first half, Manners picked the ball up on the Mickleover right. Alexander was well out of his goal to the right, where the whole of the defence had ventured too. But the Boldmere player seized his chance and sent a high lob over the keeper into the far corner, 0-1.

Just a minute later Norkett broke clear, he had the advancing keeper beaten to his left, but the ball agonisingly struck the post and rolled out of danger, despite some claims that it had crossed the line.

So a goal down at half time there were no immediate changes and the second period once again started fairly evenly.

Gradually Mickleover started to push forward to threaten the visitors, and after 57 minutes Gordon sent in a cross from the left for McCormick to head home the equaliser, 1-1.

While the Mickleover back four had continued to look fairly solid in the middle with Gascoigne and Wilkinson, Keane, Atkinson and Dales started to press more from midfield, with Bennett, McCormick and Gordon all using the wings well.

Nine minutes after the equaliser Mickleover went ahead when Keane burst through the middle to find Norkett, who stroked it beyond Brown’s reach to make it 2-1.

Four minutes later there was a second for Norkett heading home Keane’s curling corner from the left, 3-1. With Webb then going close again a few minutes later, Mickleover were looking home and dry and not for the first time this season.

Keane tried a random distance shot over the bar after 79 minutes, before McCormick almost broke through, before Brown was quick off his line to stifle any chance of a shot.

With eight minutes of normal time left, Jack Burgess pulled one back for the visitors after a neat build up on their right 3-2 and then Sports made their first changes with Smith and Beavon on for Webb and Norkett.

Five minutes later it was all square again, when Burgess scored his second, with a shot from just outside the box deflected past Alexander 3-3.

So from a solid looking victory it ended as a third successive draw in similar circumstances.

 

by Peter Scherer

After six league games without a win, Mickleover will be hoping to turn the tide as we welcome Boldmere St.Michael’s to the Don Amott Arena on Saturday.

Back in August our visit to Boldmere was our first win of the season, 2-1 with goals from Stuart Beavon and Danny Benson.

Last Saturday it was another late soft goal that lost us the home win over Racing Club Warwick, after a dominant second half. It was a surprise to see Jake Bennett back in action too, as he was expected to be out for the rest of the season. Danny Gordon remains out injured though, but both Jay Alexander and Luke McCormick both made good impressions on their debuts.

Our visitors are level on points with Sports, but behind on goal difference. Their current form is very good though, unbeaten in 2026 apart from visits to Basford and Carlton.

Ben Roberts has been in charge for just over a year, after starting his term as caretaker.

First choice goalkeeper is Jonathan Brown, a vastly experienced player who started his career at Boldmere back in 2014. He spent much of his career at Kidderminster, with various loan spells, before a permanent move to Sutton Coldfield in 2018. Stafford, Alvechurch, Bromsgrove and Hednesford followed, before rejoining Sutton Coldfield, from where he rejoined Boldmere for the start of last season.

Frankie Ealing is a right back who started out at Aston Villa, but following his release he spent last season in the Welsh League with Aberystwyth, until joining our visitors in February 2025.

Centre back Pedro Lima returned to the club in December, after starting the season at Rushall Olympic. He has also played for Sutton Coldfield.

Kye Bilton is another centre back and former Burton Albion Junior, who joined our visitors at the end of last season.

Aris Christophorou was originally signed from Sutton Coldfield in August 2022, but made the return trip 10 months later. An ex Walsall Junior and Cyprus Under 19 international, he’s also played for Nuneaton Borough, Stourbridge, Stafford Rangers and Rushall and rejoined our visitors during the festive period.

Daniel O’Callaghan is a midfielder and club captain, signed in pre-season from Chasetown. He has previously played for Rushall and Sutton Coldfield too.

Central midfielder Jack Burgess started this season at Rushall, before arriving at Boldmere in December. He’s also played for Sutton Coldfield, Stafford Rangers and Walsall Wood.

Kyle Byrne is a winger signed from Shifnal Town in December, while Lewi Burnside only arrived earlier this month. He was a junior at Aston Villa and also played for Lichfield City, before joining our visitors from Chasetown.

Striker Charlie Manners came from Walsall Wood in November 2024, having previously been at Coventry City.

Tolani Omotola is well travelled striker, who joined Boldmere from Bedworth last November. He started out at Tranmere Rovers and among his previous clubs are Coalville, Corby, Barwell, Hyde Utd, Carlton and Long Eaton. Boldmere are his third club this season, having starting it with Rushden & Diamonds.

Fellow striker James Tague joined our visitors in January. He started his junior career with Derby County and Mansfield, before joining Matlock following his release. He’s played for Gainsborough, Basford, Corby, Loughborough Dynamo, Sutton Coldfield and Anstey Nomads too and started this season at Belper Town.

Harry Crook is another returnee striker, and has also played for Chasetown, Dudley Town and Bromsgrove.

Former Walsall winger Jaiy Leydon joined our visitors last month from Coventry Sphinx. He’s also had a loan spell at Redditch.

Midfielders Ben Lund, Connor Armstrong and Fraser Doyle have also been starters in recent weeks and Ben Croot recently made his debut.

The usual bar and catering facilities will be available for our 3pm kick off, and as usual your support would be welcomed.