What a strange old week in
football that was!
Sunday 4th December saw me and half a dozen
other brave souls visit the fridge freezer that is commonly known as Eagle
Valley, the home of Arnold Town. The fixture was an East Midlands Regional
league match between Rise Park Ladies and Ruddington Village Ladies that was a
comfortable 4-1 home victory. Always
one for bigging up the ladies game, I have to relate that this game wasn’t the
worst women’s game I’ve ever watched, but it wasn’t far off!
Monday afternoon was again a cold
one – but at least at Coronation Park the football was worth venturing out in
the cold. This game was a Central
Conference League Cup game between Alfreton Town U18 Academy and the PSUSA U18
Academy with a 2pm kick off. I can find no reference to this competition at all – but Alfreton (who
were down as the home team) won the encounter by three goals to one.
Tuesday nights game was Clipstone
v Rainworth MW in the Notts F.A. Senior Cup. Spent the entire game in the
company of old friend and AFC Mansfield manager Rudy Funk. I’ve known Rudy for
years – and we had a lot of catching up to do as we’ve not met socially for
quite a while. The game ended one apiece and the 30 minutes extra time that
followed was dire, to say the least. Rainworth
went through to the quarter finals after winning the penalty shoot-out 8-7.
Their reward a home tie against either Real Utd of Arnold Town.
Wednesday I went to Highfields,
ostensibly to watch Nottm University Men’s 4th’s take on Nottm Trent University
Men’s 5th’s, but upon arrival it was obvious that the game was not going ahead.
So it was over to pitch one, where Nottm University Women’s 2nd’s were to
entertain Derby University Women’s 1st’s, a game that ended 3-2 to NUW. Watched
the game in the company of Arnold legend / author Roger Rann and we, along with
four others constituted the attendance. Now Roger has watched a lot more football than I have over the years, but he
had to tell me that 6 was his lowest ever “crowd” figure!
Wednesday evening it was back to
Coronation Park for the 7:30pm kick off Notts Senior Cup contest between
Eastwood CFC and Carlton Town. Kick off was actually 7:45pm, and to call it a
contest is a bit of a misnomer. Carlton won with some ease, scoring six without
reply.
Friday’s U21 game between
Chesterfield and Handsworth Parramore due to be played at Eastwood was called
off. The NMDFL seem to be very accommodating when it comes to teams calling
games off. It’s a good job the league
constitutions are relatively small, or the season would never get finished! The
Collingham v Newark game was never an option for me – family matters taking
preference.
Saturday morning I had decided to
visit Coronation Park yet again, this time to watch a Notts Youth League U18
cup game between Eastwood CFC and Arnold Town. Advertised as an 11:30 ko, this
game actually started at 12:10pm due to an U12 cup game, already being played,
going into extra time. The U18 game finished 1-1, and although extra-time was
to be played, I couldn’t stay for it as I needed go home and prepare myself for
Saturday’s main event – the CMFL game between Eastwood CFC and Keyworth United
at, you guessed it, Coronation Park! So
after a quick coffee and sandwich, it was back to Eastwood with Kev, and what a
game we were treated to! Keyworth took an early lead, but that was soon
cancelled out and the teams went in at half time all square. The Keyworth
keeper was a little suspect to say the least, and he was beaten five more times
as Eastwood peppered his goal. The away team did bring it back to 5-4 towards
the end of the game, but the Eastwood sixth finally saw Keyworth’s shoulders
drop and made them realise that defeat was inevitable. .
The Eastwood U12’s won their tie
5-4, whilst the U18’s won theirs 3-1. Along with the first team’s successful
6-4 win, this must be considered a very good day for all concerned at the club,
and it has to be said, a very enjoyable one for yours truly!