Mickleover Sports suffered an unfortunate defeat to Marine in a heated clash at the Don Amott Arena.
The Reds were the better side throughout the game and will be disappointed that they didn’t take a single point from the game.
It was a tense opening to the game with Mickleover enjoying the majority of possession, but it was Marine that had the first clear cut chance as winger Dominic Reid headed just over from a dangerous cross.
Mickleover dominated the play throughout the first half, forcing Marine to defend in numbers as the away side tried their hardest to frustrate the Reds. Evan Garnett managed to free himself behind the Marine defence however with a clever run, but James Short recovered well for the visitors to thwart Garnett’s opportunity to open the score.
The first 45 minutes was frustrating for both sides as neither team were capable of creating any attacking threat. Constant stoppages in play due to unnecessary fouls from both sides didn’t help the flow of the game either.
Marine came out in the second half the more positive side and Lewis King was forced to make his first save of the game for the home side as he tipped the ball wide from an audacious Marine free kick.
Mickleover made the visitors pay for their wasteful start to the half when Garnett did exceptionally well down the left flank to work himself into the penalty area and cross for Jak Hickman, who just had to tap the ball into the empty net.
Garnett was proving himself as Mickleover’s danger man as he once again got in behind Marine’s defence just after the opening goal. The attacker showed a clever piece of skill to round the goalkeeper but somehow managed to drag his shot wide.
The visitors were causing Mickleover problems from set pieces and they managed to level the game through a free kick from out wide which King misjudged, allowing Short to tap the loose ball into the net.
That equaliser sparked Marine into life as straight from the kick off they attacked again with King being caught out by Danny Mitchey, who set up Billy Smart to smash the visitors into the lead.
Mickleover pushed hard for a deserved point but were not able to create any solid chances due to a resolute Marine defence. Tempers were heated towards the end of the match which meant that the Reds weren’t able to build up enough momentum to mount a serious threat to the opposition goal.
The defeat to Marine ended Mickleover’s three match unbeaten run and has left them stranded in mid-table with only four games left of this season. Sports next game is away at Hednesford Town this Saturday.