By Brad Cox

Sports suffered their fourth consecutive loss in the league to Radcliffe United, with thanks to super-sub, Elliot Rokka.

Rokka was brought on in the 81^st minute and took just six minutes to break the deadlock. Rokka picked the ball up on the left-flank and hit a wonderful strike from outside the box which beat debutant goalkeeper, Muhammad Otoyo. A match which could have swung either team’s way, unfortunately for the Sports, went to the visitors.

The Sports can also feel hard done by today, when on the hunt for an equaliser, Nathan Modest was clearly shoved in the box and went to ground. The referee, R.Watson, waved play on and Pablo Mills had the last chance of the match, but his header was comfortably saved by Radcliffe goalkeeper, Oliver Martin.

The Sports dominated for large periods of the match, especially in the second half. Chances have been hard to come by in recent weeks, however, that wasn’t the case this week, execution on the other hand…was.

The best chance for The Sports came on the hour mark when Mason Warren got on the end of a lofted Modest cross and headed just inches wide. The Sports showed real creativity going forward and had multiple different types of chances.

John McGrath has said that: “The last three or four weeks, the performance hasn’t been good enough. The ability to go through the midfield and create chances is what we’ve lacked in the last couple weeks. It allows us to give the back-four a break and get balls up to Lee Hughes and Nathan Modest.”

When the Sports pushed forward desperate to get points on the board, Radcliffe were able to find pockets of space in behind the wingbacks. Matthew Wolfenden had a fantastic opportunity to get on the scoresheet as he got in behind and chipped Otoyo. Fortunately for the Sports, it was off target.

The Sports have now entered the bottom half of the table, they sit 13^th with 21 points. They play Loughborough Dynamo on Tuesday evening at the Don Amott Arena in the Integro League Cup 1, where McGrath has said that he’d “like” to win that cup competition.

The Sports return to league action on the 23^rd of November, where they will face Warrington Town at home and will look to pick up their first points of the month.

Sports XI; Otoyo, Berry, Turner, Ravenhill, Mills, Young, Warren, Wright, Hughes (Jarrett 69’), Beavon, Modest

Radcliffe XI; Martin, Haywood, Swaby-Neavin, Winter (Captain), Smith, Warren, Sinclair (Rokka 81’), Williams, Wharton (Wolfenden 67’), Ellis, Brown (Billington 45’)

Mickleover Sports FC 0-1 Radcliffe United
Saturday 16^th November 2019
Don Amott Arena
Attendance: 285

by Girvane Bola

Mickleover Sports suffered their third successive league defeat after a 4-1 loss to Witton Albion in the Northern Premier League, making them winless since October 5th.

The away side raced to a three-goal lead at half time thanks to goals from James Short, Billy Smart, and Will Jones. Mason Warren’s penalty reduced the deficit before Danny McKenna sealed the victory for the visitors. 

The game started with Witton taking the lead in the fourth minute when Short’s strike was deflected, looping over goalkeeper Nathan Broome on its way to the net. 

Mickleover try to respond immediately as the two sides traded chances. The first when Witton’s Michael Monaghan fired his volley over the bar before Lee Hughes did not hit the target from close range in the 35th minute. 

Witton doubled their lead from a set piece when McKenna’s cross was met by Smart who guided his header in from inside the box. 

Suddenly after kick-off, Will Jones spot Broome off his line and attempted an ambitious lob from 45 yards, lobbing over Broome and gave them a three goal lead at half-time.

The second half saw Mickleover make an encouraged start. A minute into the restart, Jiri Boula was brought down inside the box and a penalty was awarded. Warren converted his penalty, making it seven goals this season.

Things got nervy for Mickleover however on the 49th minute when Jake Scott elbowed Smart in an aerial battle. 

The referee determined no wrongdoing thus showed no card to the Mickleover captain. The two sides once again traded chances but neither team could convert. Witton forward Jones came close in the 57th minute but fired over the bar.

Sports made one last push in the last minutes of the game when goalkeeper Chris Renshaw made a fantastic save from inside the box after substitute Karel Tvaroh’s cross from the near side nearly directed into Witton’s goal.

However, Witton Albion sealed the win as McKenna got his goal adding to his assist in the first half after a Broome mistake resulting in the winger firing a shot from inside the box into the far corner ending the game 4-1. 

This defeat sees Mickleover now lose three in a row in the league and drop two places from 7th to 9th. John McGrath’s men will want to snap their losing streak in the next league game against Radcliffe FC at home next weekend.

But before that, they host Loughborough Dynamo at home in The Integro Doodson League Cup on Tuesday the 12th of November.

Mickleover Sports 1-4 Witton Albion
Saturday 9th November
Don Amott Arena

Tonight’s game against Loughborough Dynamo has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

by Andrew Maddox

Mickleover Sports fell to a disappointing defeat to Long Eaton United to end our Derbyshire Senior Cup campaign, courtesty of a hat-trick from Niall Towle.

The first of his goals came against the run of play. Picking up a loose ball, Towle fired low into the bottom corner in the 32^nd minute. This came 15 minutes after Sports had opened the scoring through Jiri Boula. The best goal of the night, Boula picked up the ball just outside the box and curled a beautiful shot past Long Eaton ‘keeper Jason White. Prior to Towle’s first goal, Sports were dominating the play and the chances, with Stuart Beavon and debutante Patrick Jarrett threatening White’s net. Sports also responded to the equaliser well, with Nathan Modest having a plethora of chances. He also had the ball in the net just before half time, but it was chalked off for offside.

The second half got off to a nightmare start for Sports, giving away a penalty within eight minutes of the restart. This was duly converted by Towle for his second of the night. Sports again dominated possession following the goal, but the win was taken out of their sails following an injury to Jiri Boula in the 63^rd minute. Just seven minutes later, Cameron Hawkes won a second penalty after he was brought down in the box. Towle fired into the top left corner to complete his hat-trick. Sports never bounced back from this and there was a lack of creativity going forward. Nathan Broome did his best to stop the score line getting any worse, but it was Broome that was at fault for the fourth. Being caught out of his box, he opened himself up to be lobbed from range by Towle’s replacement, David Kolodywski. Despite a late push from makeshift striker Pablo Mills, which resulted in a consolation own goal in stoppage time, it wasn’t to be for John McGrath’s men.

Sports are back in the league on Saturday, facing Witton Albion at home.

Mickleover Sports 2-4 Long Eaton United
Tuesday 5^th November
Don Amott Arena

Mickleover XI: 

1. Nathan Broome
2. Karel Tvaroh
3. Jay McGrath
4. Ricky Ravenhill
5. Pablo Mills
6. Durrell Berry
7. Jiri Boula
8. Patrick Jarrett
9. Nathan Modest
10. Stuart Beavon
11. Richard Bachelor

Long Eaton United XI:

1. Jason White
2. Brad Wilson
3. Ryan Mead
4. James Cullingworth
5. Mason Rowley
6. Kieran Walker
7. James Taylor
8. Jude Brittain
9. Niall Towle
10. Cameron Hawkes
11. Rhys Dolan

Today’s game against Matlock Town has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

<em>By Brad Cox</em>

<strong>Mickleover’s FA Trophy campaign comes to an end after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Basford United. </strong>

Liam Hearn bagged himself a double as his side progresses into the second-round qualification stage of the FA Trophy.

The Sports’ started the match positively with high pressure but showed no end product. Basford got onto the scoresheet against the run of play in the 12th minute. Nathan Watson’s drilled cross fell beautifully for Hearn who calmly slotted home his first goal of the day past, Nathan Broome.

Despite being a goal down, The Sports’ continued to dominate in a match which they were expected to be great underdogs based on current form. The Sports’ looked the more likely to grab an equaliser after Stuart Beavon’s strike grazed the post, however, yet again Basford against the run of play doubled their lead. After some questionable defending, Basford’s left-back, Josh Law, built a mountain for The Sports’ to climb and hammered the ball past Broome from the back post. At half-time, The Sports’ will have felt unfortunate to go into the break two goals down.

Early into the second half, an injury to Ben Turner saw John McGrath (junior) join his dad (also John McGrath) on the pitch. Lee Hughes had the best opportunity of the second half to kickstart a comeback when his attempted chip shot kissed the top of the bar. A reoccurring issue presented itself in the second half when The Sports’ struggled to create anything in Basford’s half.

Basford put the game to bed in the 88^th minute when Hearn got his second goal. The Sports’ are now in the worst form of their season with their best result being a 1-1 draw with Morpeth Town in the five fixtures.

The Sports’ next fixture is Matlock Town at home, they will be looking for revenge as they were beaten 3-1 just three matches ago.

<em>Sports XI; Broome, Berry, Turner (John McGrath 48’), McGrath, Mills, Young, Warren, Scott ©(Max Watters 59’), Modest, Beavon, Boula (Lee Hughes 62’)</em>

<em>Basford XI; Preston, Law, Wilson, Thornhill (C), Gascoigne, Galinksi, Richards, Chettle, Hearn, Watson, Reid</em>

<strong>Basford United 3-0 Sports
</strong>Saturday 26th October 2019
Greenwich Avenue

Attendance: 352

Next fixture: Matlock Town (H) Saturday 2^nd November

FA Trophy action returns for Mickleover this Saturday afternoon as The Sports travel to Basford United for the first round qualifier.

Basford currently sit second in the Northern Premier Division having played one less game than The Sports. Basford come into this first round qualifier unbeaten in their last five fixtures, with wins against Gainsborough Trinity, FC United of Manchester and Stafford Rangers. Basford also did the double over Mickleover last year in the league with a 2-1 win on Boxing Day and a 0-1 win at the Don Amott toward the end of the 2018/2019 campaign.

The Sports will be looking to bounce back from last Saturday’s defeat to Lancaster City with a win and advance to the second round qualification stage.

Basford United vs Mickleover Sports FC
Saturday 26^th October 2019 – 3:00pm
Greenwich Avenue, Basford

By Girvane Bila

It was another week to forget for Mickleover Sports as Lancaster City beat them 3-1. This result sees them suffer successive defeats and slip down to 7th in the league. 

A consolation goal from Mickleover substitute Jiri Boula and goals from Lancaster’s Matthew Blinkhorn, David Norris and Charlie Bailey were enough to see off Sports in a deficient performance. 

In the first five minutes, Mickleover were on the front foot showing enthusiasm with the first chance coming when Samuel Ashton saved Lee Hughes’ shot from inside the area. 

Lancaster had a chance of their own when Jack Armer’s great cross was met by an even greater acrobatic strike from Charlie Bailey which Nathan Broome terrifically saved. 

The referee had a big decision to make in the 12th minute when Paul Dawson brought down Captain Jake Scott with a horrific tackle. However, referee R. Richards only gave the midfielder a yellow card. 

The visitors broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Jack Armer’s free kick found their number nine Matthew Blinkhorn who guided it past Broome with his head giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. 

Lancaster could have doubled their lead ten minutes later when Bailey found space to unleash a shot from close range, which was metres away from goal.

The visitors eventually doubled the lead in the 37th minute when David Norris’ curling shot deflected in. 

The second half saw a red card early in the half when Richard Batchelor’s dangerous challenge sparked a mini brawl and resulted in his dismissal.

With Sports down to ten men, the visitors saw this as a chance to further punish them. And they did after Bailey found himself through on goal and sealed the win for the visitors. 

They could have furthered their lead to four when Robert Wilson’s ambitious long-range strike hit the crossbar and the fingertips of Broome saved Samuel Bailey’s fierce shot. 

Mickleover substitute Boula’s teasing cross found midfielder Stuart Beavon who could not firmly head it on goal in the 83rd minute before Lancaster’s Blinkhorn could have doubled his tally but fired over. 

Boula then had a chance to score when Beavon showed composure and found him but could only fire it over the bar. 

He made up for the miss in the 90th minute when Beavon found him with a cutback and slotted it past the keeper.

John McGrath’s men will want to rally after two dismal performances against Matlock last week and now Lancaster at home.

Sports will want to win against Basford United in a FA Trophy qualifying round encounter at Greenwich Avenue next Saturday on the 26th of October.

Mickleover Sports: 1. Nathan Broome 2. Durrell Berry 3. Ben Turner 4. Mason Warren (Boula 71’) 5. Pablo Mills 6. Greg Young (Watters 62’) 7. Stuart Beavon, 8. Jake Scott (C) 9. Lee Hughes (Tvaroh 62’) 10. Nathan Modest 11. Richard Batchelor (red card 51’)

Subs; 12. Karel Tvaroh 13. Louis Jones 14. Jiri Boula 15. Ricky Ravenhill 16. Max Watters

Lancaster City: 1. Samuel Ashton 2. Lewis Fensome 3. Matthew Williams 4. Niall Cowperthwaite 5. Green Steel 6. Simon Willis (Bailey 70’) 7. Charlie Bailey 8. Paul Dawson (Wilson 60’) 9. Matthew Blinkhorn 10. David Norris (Roache 68’) 11. Jack Armer 

Subs: 12. Samuel Bailey 13. Maxwell Povey 14. Rowan Roache 15. Bradley Carsley 16. Robert Wilson