by Peter Scherer
Mickleover made it two wins in a week and three in succession with victory at Basford Utd on Saturday.
Starting line-up: 1-Oliver Bosworth 2-Ethan Mann 3-Rhys Dolan 4 Joe Bateman 5-James Butler 6-Phil Watt 7-Andy Dales 8-Ryan Wilson 9-Stuart Beavon 10-George Nunn 11- Mason Warren, Subs: Marcus Marshall, Will Trueman, Elliott Reeves, George Atwal, Oli Greaves.
Mickleover were straight into the attack from the start and after some tidy work on the left from Dales, the ball came to Beavon in the middle, who turned and fired home after three minutes, 1-0.
Nunn almost broke through a few minutes later, but his final pass went awry. But Mickleover had early control of midfield, through Warren, Wilson and Bateman.
It was so nearly a second for Mickleover after 12 minutes, when Warren worked through on the right , crossing to find Beavon. His strike hit the left-hand post, before Wilson’s rebound shot went wide.
Basford won a free kick though on the Mickleover right after Gregg Smith hit the deck, and Matt Thornhill’s free kick found Courey Graham, who set up a Brad McGowan header for a 16th minute equaliser. 1-1.
The goal began to turn the game, with Basford starting to take the upperhand. Bosworth palmed away another Thornhill free kick after 17 minutes and only a few later yet another Thornhill free kick came close. It had fallen for Courey Grantham, whose pass just missed connecting with Smith.
Josh Barnes had a cross or shot the roll wide, but the hosts were continuing to keep Mickleover pinned in their own half.
Dales managed to get clear, earning a corner, after Owen Betts had cleared his attempt on goal. Watt then tried his luck, but saw his effort just over.
Dolan had to cut out the threat from a following Basford break, and shortly afterwards Watt lost possession on the left, but Kameron Campbell couldn’t maximise his chance on goal.
As Warren broke out, he was fouled on the half way line, but shortly afterwards he was having a shot at goal too. There had been a good build up on the right, but no clear shooting opportunity. Dales tried and was blocked, then Warren fired his follow up just over the bar.
As half time approached Mickleover had begun to break out again, with Dales getting into box, before being called for a foul when his challenging defender just fell over.
Nunn was then pushed down for another free kick, as the half came to a scrappy end, with far too many whistles, and although a Basford header went just over with the whistle poised, it remained 1-1.
Watt had taken a knock in the first half and failed to reappear, so Mann moved into the middle of defence with Dolan swapping to the right and Wilson on the left, as Trueman came on in midfield.
It was a strong start to the half by Mickleover though, with Trueman shooting just wide at the second attempt. But only five minutes into the half Dales limped off and was replaced by Greaves.
Smith then won a free kick for Basford after backing into Mann and Basford soon had another free kick after Dolan was booked for a trip on Da Silva Bastos just outside the area.
Bosworth made a fantastic save as Thornhill’s kick glanced the bar and then penalty appeals were waved away, when Bastos went down, shortly after his effort hit the post.
Mickleover came out with avengeance though and a good cross from Trueman just missed connecting with Beavon, and earned a corner,
But just before the hour mark Dolan had come screaming through the middle, evading challenge to find Nunn, who made no mistake in making it 2-1.
As the hosts made changes to try and equalise again, Mickleover began to push forward, but Barnes almost broke through the defence after 73 minutes, before Butler cleared the lines.
Smith had a good chance for Basford a minute later, but put his header wide to the left and then Butler was almost caught out, before Bosworth charged out to clear.
Reeves came on for Nunn for the last 10 minutes and found himself in the book, after the referee took offence to the words he received after awarding a dubious free kick.
Warren tried an exploratory lob after seeing keeper Preston off his line and Lewis Carr put a strong header just wide for the hosts.
As Mickleover played the holding game in the final minutes, a frustrated Basford side gave away a couple of free kicks and after four minutes were added on, the final whistle went with the 2-1 win and three more pints secured.
