by Peter Scherer
A Kai Moore hat-trick was the highlight of Mickleover Reserves final home game in this seasons Central Midlands Premier Division South, as Sports gained revenge over February’s 0-2 defeat last Friday.
Pablo Mills, George Atwal, Bobby Battisson and Fin Ryder were also on target as Sports ran out 7-1 winners.
Tomorrow night the reserves end their season with a visit to Nottingham FC.
by Peter Scherer
Having gone down 1-2 in the last two games, Mickleover Reserves were back on form at South Normanton, coming away with a 5-2 win.
Top scorer Declan Brown hit his third hattrick of the season in the convincing victory, with Ash Powell and Owen Parr also on the scoresheet.
Sports youngsters play their final home game on Saturday at the Don Amott, when they face local rivals and second in the table Graham St.Prims, with a 3pm kick off at the Don Amott Arena.
by Peter Scherer
It was another disappointing night for Mickleover Reserves, as they went down 0-2 to Teversal in their Central Midlands Premier Division South match.
Starting line-up: 1-Josh Maher 2-Joe Sellors 3-Brandon Ferron 4-Ronnie Bonser 5-Zak Sandhu 6-Louis Pennington 7-Owen Parr 8-Fin Ryder 9-Josh Powell 10-Dean Ironmonger 11-Declan Brown. Subs: Luis Marshall, Will Coffen.
Teversal were on the attack from the start, firing a shot straight at Maher in the first minute, before earning the first corner two minutes later, which Maher saved.
Ironmonger had Mickleover’s first attempt at five minutes, before another Teversal break ended with a shot straight at Maher.
The pressure continued on the Mickleover defence and after eight minutes they were comfortably outpaced down the left. The cross found a striker in space and it was 0-1 after eight minutes
Sports were forced to make an early switch when Sellors went off injured and was replaced by Coffen.
The first of many clear offsides that the refs assistant failed to acknowledge almost caused a second goal a minute later, but the final shot was over the bar.
But Mickleover then got a break with Brown just beaten to the ball by the advancing keeper.
But 15 minutes in and another clear offside was let go and this time it was critical, with the defence looking for the whistle, the home side were clear and it was 0-2.
Mickleover then won a free kick just outside the box, from which Pennington forced a diving save from the home keeper.
It proved to be a difficult night for the defence, with both assistants continuing to fail in flagging offsides for the home side and after 19 minutes it happened again but the shot was wide.
The combination of pace from the Teversal strikers and the poor officialdom, made it a tough night for the Mickleover youngsters, with few decisions going their way.
Powell was tugged back by his shirt and the defender was booked, but another Teversal break soon followed with a wasted chance well wide of the post.
Further shots came the hosts way before Ferron cut in from the left and tried a long shot that wasn’t far over the bar.
As half time approached Sports tried to push forward and Ironmonger did well to get a cross in from the right, but there was no one to receive.
Bonser then tracked the Teversal centre forward with the whistle poised, but he still got a shot in, fortunately over the bar.
Mickleover started the second half with more determination and after 50 minutes the home keeper had to snatch the ball from Brown’s feet.
Ironmonger had a shot cleared off the line just after the hour mark and there was substantially more attacking from Sports.
Brown had a 75th minute shot blocked, but Teversal continued to be dangerous on the break and Maher had to make a point blank save in the 76th minute.
On a couple of occasions the Teversal keeper dropped the ball and although Mickleover cracked the shots in, luck was with the home side and there was always a defenders leg in the way.
Marshall came on for Powell in the closing minutes, but Sports did everything but score, but it ended with a 0-2 defeat and another atrocious display from the ref and his assistants.
by Peter Scherer
Mickleover Reserves played the second of four games due over eight days, but went down 1-2 to Derby Singh Brothers at the Don Amott Arena last night.
Starting line-up: 1-Josh Maher 2-Joe Sellors 3-Brandon Ferron 4-Ronnie Bonser 5-Pablo Mills 6-Zac Sandhu 7-George Atwal 8-Owen Parr 9-Bobby Battisson 10-Fin Ryder 11-Jayden Cozens. Subs: Declan Brown, Dean Ironmonger, Josh Powell.
Mickleover set the pace from the kick off and won the first corner after two minutes, but Atwal’s kick was soon cleared. It was only a minute later that Ferron picked up the ball in his own half, charged through the visitors defence and smashed home the opening goal, 1-0.
It was all Mickleover and they earned another corner, before the visitors made a break down the right which soon broke down.
Mills almost sent Cozens clear after nine minutes, but his efforts earned another corner, while Singh Bros continued to rely on breaks, which wasn’t getting them far.
The interpassing from the Mickleover squad dominated the possession until Mills tested the keeper with a long range shot after 15 minutes.
Singh Bros right back tried a another solo run but was tackled before he could cross, but Battisson and Cozens combined a few minutes later to test the visiting keeper.
Although Mickleover were well on top, their creativity had failed to create real chances, although Singh Bros continued to make occasional breaks, Bonser and Sandu had them covered.
Mills put a nice ball through the middle for Ryder to chase after 24 minutes, but the keeper intercepted first, before Singh Bros had a corner, possibly their first, headed away.
Sellors and Ferron had both looked effective on the overlaps and the formers cross from the right on the half hour, was again intercepted before Ryder got there.
Then suddenly the tide of the game turned, with Singh Bros hitting the equaliser from the edge of the box on Mickleover’s left, with the defence seemingly rooted. 1-1 after 34 minutes.
Atwal then earned a free kick after he was tripped. He took the kick but the Sellors follow up was easily saved by the keeper.
Two minutes after their equaliser Singh Bros seemed to have acres of space on Sports right, the striker seized his chance and it was 1-2 after 34 minutes.
As Mickleover tried to play out of their own half, another Atwal free kick was headed just over by Mills, but the visitors had the upperhand and put another shot just wide of the right hand post after 40 minutes.
Bonser was then beaten as another cross went into the box, but there was no one to receive, before Singh Bros ended the first half with a shot into the side netting.
Sports youngsters came out for the second half with all guns blazing and were close to an equaliser in a 48th minute goal mouth scramble. The keeper was out of his goal and beaten, shots fired in and were blocked until Cozens final shot struck a defender on the line and earned a corner.
Ryder then broke through to find Mills, but his shot was inches shy of the far post.
Singh Bros managed to break out of their half again after a 10 minute barrage, and were almost gifted a chance when Bonser miskicked, but the visiting striker failed to react quick enough.
After Battisson was fouled on the edge of the box, Mills free kick was saved, but as the hour mark past, the game already showed signs of fizzling out.
65 minutes Maher saved a shot straight at him and then Mills fired another free kick in, saved by the keeper.
Battisson tried to chip the keeper after76 minutes when he saw him off his line, but then Singh Bros had another chance but shot well over.
Although the second half possession had been about 75% in Mickleover’s favour, they seemed to be trying to walk the ball into the net, with reluctance to try a shot.
Subs Ironmonger, Brown and Powell all came on as late subs, but after a great start the game ebbed away into another defeat.
by Peter Scherer
While the first team ended the weekend on a high with victory over Nuneaton Borough, the Reserves were at home to Arnold Town at the Don Amott Arena last Saturday.
Looking for a first win in three games, it wasn’t a happy ending, as Sports youngsters went down 0-3 with Liam Black scoring two and James Martin adding to the visitors score chart.
The Reserves are now in eighth place in the Central Midlands League Premier Division South and are away again this Saturday to bottom of the table Ashland Rovers, who are still seeking their first win of the season.
by Peter Scherer
Having drawn 2-2 with Holbrook St Michael’s at the beginning of the season, hopes were high on gaining points for Mickleover Reserves in the return Central Midlands League Premier Division South match on Tuesday night.
After losing out 2-3 at Cromford & Wirksworth last time out, it proved to be another disappointing one goal defeat however, with Holbrook’s Fraser Kirk scoring the only goal.
The reserves are at home this Saturday, so if you are not traveling to see the First Team at Stratford, why not go along to the Don Amott Arena and show your support.
by Peter Scherer
Having been 2-1 winners when Mickleover Reserves played Cromford & Wirksworth at the Don Amott Arena back in September, hopes of a double win in the Central Midlands Premier Division South ended, with a 0-2 defeat last Saturday, with goals from Aaron and Scott Taylor.
The defeat leaves them in eighth place, with eight games to go, starting with Nottingham FC away on Saturday.
by Peter Scherer
Having lost out to near neighbours Mickleover RBL in the last Central Midlands League Premier Division South game, Mickleover Reserves took revenge with a 3-2 win in the return fixture last Saturday.
Dean Ironmonger gave Mickleover the early lead from a half volley following a free kick, as Sports youngsters started with confidence 1-0. Fin Ryder then found Declan Brown, but the home keeper held the strikers shot.
Brown then picked up on a poor clearance by the RBL defence, but his shot was just wide.
But RBL were back in the game at 1-1, when a dangerous cross set up the equaliser, with Sports keeper beaten at the far post.
RBL began to look more dominant as Sports midfield started to struggle on the muddy pitch.
But Ryder set up nice move and switched the ball to Brandon Ferron on the left, he layed it off for Jack Leighton but his shot was deflected for a corner.
Ferron again was on the end of the shot corner, but as he cut in his shot was over the bar from a tightening angle.
RBL were still looking dangerous and made a break for Sports goal, but Ferron’s pace came to the rescue, with his interception for a corner.
Sports were looking dangerous again too and when Paterson and Leighton combined on the right, Brown was sent through to chip the keeper and made it 2-1, as the half time whistle approached with confidence.
In the opening minute of the second half Leighton got clear on the right, but his cross aimed for Brown was stuck in the mud and failed to reach its target.
Brown then forced a finger tip save out of the RBL keeper after a good build up, before Ryder made it 3-1 to Sports, despite the RBL offside appeals.
As Sports began to push forward, Ironmonger’s cross managed to bypass three sports players before going out for a corner.
But RBL pulled another goal back after Ironmonger was penalised, and despite a clear push in the box the goal stood, 3-2.
Paterson then held the ball well to set up a Ryder break, but his cross was deflected out of Brown’s reach.
Into the final 10 minutes RBL pushed for the equaliser, with the officials decisions all going their way, similar to the game a couple of weeks ago.
Jayden Cozens then beat a defender on the left, with his cross hitting the post. Unfortunately there was no one to collect the rebound.
There was one more attack for Sports with Brown given offside, but the whistle went to secure the 3-2 victory, after a strong performance and revenge for the reverse result in the last ill-tempered encounter.
by Peter Scherer
It was the long awaited local Derby game at the Don Amott Arena last night, as Mickleover Reserves took on Mickleover RBL in the Central Midlands League Premier Division South.
Starting line-up: 1-Josh Maher 2-Jake Bennett 3-Zac Sandu 4-Ronnie Bonser 5-Pablo Mills 6-Charlie Rock 7-George Atwal 8-John McGrath 9-Kai Moore 10-Marcus Marshall 11-Jake Edge-Lucas. Subs: Owen Parr, Fin Ryder, Harry Atwal, Jack Leighton.
Sports were on the attack from the first whistle, with the visiting keeper saving a Mills shot after only two minutes, before the follow up shot went wide.
Two minutes later RBL had their first corner, as they tried to push forward, but in the early minutes the more experienced Sports line-up was proving to strong.
Bennett had made good progress down the right and as the ball came into the middle, Marshall fired home from close range after seven minutes, 1-0.
RBL continued to battle their way out of their own half and a dangerous cross from their left, just failed to connect with awaiting heads in the box a minute later.
The Sports midfield of McGrath, Edge-Lucas and Atwal were controlling much of the play, with Marshall playing off the back of Mills and Moore up front.
RBL broke again after 13 minutes, but couldn’t get a final shot in and a following break for Sports ended when Moore was fouled.
Possession and lots of interpassing continued with a second goal looking a strong possibility. With Moore fouled a couple of times, the final attacks were breaking down.
But after 24 minutes Marshall set up Mills on a positive run. He then found Sandhu on the overlap, but his shot was wide of the left hand post.
McGrath then spotted Mills in space on the right on the half hour, but the crossfield pass was intercepted.
Into the final third of the first half, RBL began to force the Sports defence back. Bonser and Rock had looked strong in the middle, aided by their experienced colleagues and Maher had barely had a touch in the home goal.
But a string of corners for the visitors were followed by a goal mouth scramble, from which Maher punched away the danger.
Bonser saved the day with a last ditch tackle on a breaking striker after 41 minutes, but then with two minutes left to half time there was another chance for Sports.
McGrath was brought down and took the free kick himself. Mills and Marshall linked up on the right before Edge-Lucas ran through to the bye line. But the keeper darted off his line as a cross was imminent.
Another free kick soon followed, with Mills on the end of the McGrath kick, shooting just over the bar again, so it remained 1-0 as the whistle went.
The second half started badly when Sandhu lost possession on the Sports left only two minutes in. The cross came in and was met with precision, giving Maher little chance, 1-1.
Only a minute later McGrath was brought down in the box. A clear penalty and even though the referee and his assistants were wired up for some reason, they failed to communicate and played on.
From there the referee began to react more to pressure from the RBL players than his own observations, similarly his assistants who were both very late flagging some dubious offside decisions.
Moore had been fouled again in the right hand-corner, but the referee gave an obscure decision and Moore appeared to get a yellow card. Minutes later Moore was involved in another skirmish, which virtually the RBL side started demanding his dismissal. Fortunately the ref ignored this growing display of bad sportsmanship.
Sports had another good build up after 52 minutes, but Bennett’s cross was too near the keeper. Three minutes later Edge-Lucas had a run which just failed to connect with Marshall. RBL then got a break and split the home defence to make it 1-2.
There was more officialdom farce when Ryder prepared to replace Moore. The assistant appeared to refuse the substitution until the electronic board was used. After all this is the Central Midlands League, not Premiership!
The mood of the game had continued to deteriorate and rather than stamp down on it, it appeared to be almost encouraged.
RBL fired a dangerous cross from their right on the hour, but the pace made it impossible for his team mates to respond. But Atwal forced the RBL keeper to save with his feet after 66 minutes, following a positive cross field ball from McGrath.
The turning temper of the game seemed to have fired up the Sports team and they started to take control for a period again.
Mills chased down a McGrath ball but shot wide, then Atwal picked it up just outside the box, sending a lovely lob over the keeper into the roof of the net, 2-2 after 68 minutes.
Sandhu was close after a Marshall cross eight minutes later and then RBL had a free kick which went to waste.
Leighton was the next sub on and had a good run down the left after 81 minutes. He layed it off to Marshall, who then found McGrath whose shot was blocked.
With five minutes of normal time on the clock, RBL fired another cross in from the left, once more with too much pace on it. Bennett then responded for Sports but his cross from the right was too close to the keeper, after a promising build up.
Parr came on for Edge-Lucas on the 90 minute mark, but the ref played an excessive amount of add on. Well into that time Sports had lost out on the left and a cross came into the box.
Bonser was about to clear, when and RBL striker tried an overhead kick. As the Sports centre back pulled out of the challenge rather than being kicked in the face, the offending striker then passed and it led to the disputed winning goal for RBL, 2-3.
by Peter Scherer
It was only a short journey across the city for Mickleover Reserves, as they visited Graham Street Prims last Saturday.
The hosts started strongly and piled on some early pressure, followed by a string of corners.
Mickleover’s first real attack came when Charlie Rock sent a long upfield ball, which set Dean Ironmonger on a run down the right, only to be stopped by two defenders.
Ironmonger and Declan Brown shared a nice exchange, before Brown’s shot was easily taken by the keeper and then Jack Leighton outpaced the defence on the right, but his cross missed the heads in the centre.
Sports were getting into the game more and the home keeper made another save from Brown, after he latched onto a cross from Fin Ryder.
But it was the home side ahead when Brad Daley tapped in at the far post after 24 minutes, following a cross from the Mickleover left 0-1.
Brown had gone off injured and Ryder had a good chance after being set up by Ironmonger. But it could have been a second for Prims when a rare Maher mistake gave the striker a free shot, which fortunately headed skywards.
Mickleover were straight on the attack as the second half got underway, but Leighton was unable to get his cross in after another charge down the right.
But Prims were soon looking dangerous again and went three on one against Rock, who stayed solid and cleared the danger.
Back on the break Zac Sandhu got a cross in for Sports, but there was no one to receive and then Rock found Ryder on the right, following a corner, only for the ref to blow for a foul.
But just after the hour Daley made it two for Prims after break.
There was one last chance for Mickleover when Jake Edge-Lucas’ free kick earned a corner, but it remained 0-2 with Sports still sixth in the table.
