This game was billed as the annual Horace Hibbert Shield, a derby fixture between these local rivals. A mere 1.6 miles separate these clubs, and they are only one step apart in the pyramid. Kimberley play in the East Midlands Counties League (step 6) whilst Eastwood reside in the Central Midlands South Division (step 7).
A lot of familiar faces were present at pitchside, as you would expect for a local derby, but on a fine day I reckon Kimberley will be slightly disappointed at the gate, which I reckon was less than 100.
Teams:
Welfare : Turner, Morley, Hogg, Dale, Stevenson (C), Middleton, Carlile, Simmons, Westcarr, Smith, Bailey. Bench: Strode, Slade, Powell, Britton, Griggs, Moran, Hassall, Bodkin.
Eastwood : Walker, Brooks, Thomas, Leeming, Short, Patterson, Conn, Smith (R), Betteridge, Hallam, McDermott. Bench: Smith (J), Waplington, Allen (H).
Officials: Referee Mr. Kevin Guise, assisted by Mr. Nigel Prost and Mr. Craig Langton.
The game started off slowly, with most of the action coming from the Kimberley bench - joint boss Ian Deakin seemingly unhappy with most of the officials' decision making. This is Deaks' first foray into management, and I suppose he has a lot to learn - but I think that come the season proper he will not be allowed to stay in the dugout for long if he doesn't learn to calm down a little and stop vociferously challenging every decision that goes against his players. I hope we will still be friends after he reads this!!
Kimberley had the games first real chance on 15, but Josh Stevenson's close range header flew just over the bar. 10 minutes later the home team found themselves behind after Kyle McDermott broke a flimsy off-side trap, before racing through on goal, rounding Turner and slotting home from 12 yards.
Welfare had four or five decent chances to level as the half progressed, but a combination of solid defending and profligate finishing saw all the chances come to nought. Westcarr fired the ball into the box on 32, picking out Stevenson, but again the chance was wasted as the centre-half fired over the bar from just a couple of yards out. Greg Simmons played for Eastwood last season, and it was he who brought the scores level for his new team on 38, firing a well placed free-kick past the static Walker. H-T 1-1
The first few minutes of the second half were failry quiet, the only real chance falling to Greg Conn whose header was expertly tipped over by Turner. On 62, Kimberly went ahead, Westcarr running past Jordan Leeming to latch onto a through ball. "Jazzy" ignored all the shouts and pleas from the visiting defenders for the offside flag to be raised, and rounded the keeper before rolling the ball home. Despite all the acrimony shown by the Eastwood players, I was directly in line with the assistant, and it looked like a fair goal and a good decision to me. But then, what do I know!
Walker did well to parry a Westcarr effort in the 65th minute, then a free-kick from McDermott at the other end saw Conn convert, only to be ruled to be in an offside position when he made contact with the ball. McDermott almost brought the scores level with 70 minutes played, but fired just wide after cutting into the box.
Lamar Griggs saw his fierce drive well saved by Walker seconds later as Kimberley drove forward looking for the goal that would effectively end the competition. With 9 left to play, Gerry Moran fired the ball through to Westcarr whose shot brought out a splendid diving save from Walker, the keeper doing well to turn the ball past the post and out for a corner.
Kimberley almost added a third goal just before the final whistle - a Westcarr free-kick was played back across the Eastwood goal by Adam Hassall to Stevenson, but his effort cannoned off the bar and was hacked away to safety. F-T 2-1
This was the third time the Horace Hibbert Shield has been contested, and apparently Kimberley have won on all three occasions.