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18 November 2006

Eight-goal romp for Coalville in local derby

Loughborough Town 1 Coalville Town 8

DTZ East Midlands Premier Division

Coalville Town followed up their 7-1 DTZ East Midland Premier Division hammering of county rivals Soar Valley last weekend by going one better in the North Leicestershire derby against Loughborough Town.

The win pulls Coalville four points clear of Loughborough, and leaves Coalville with a positive goal difference for the first time since the opening day of the season.

The opening exchanges saw both sides battling for possession and trying to get used to the fast-playing waterbased pitch at Loughborough University. Adam Barnett went close to converting after a good through ball from Chris Vernon for Coalville.

Loughborough then went close to getting in front, when a penalty corner strike was blocked by Gareth Gamble. The ball fell to another Loughborough forward, who flicked towards goal only to see Coalville keeper Paul Marston get his stick onto the ball to divert the effort wide.

Coalville then moved up a gear, and from a penalty corner of their own opened the scoring. Vernon slipped the ball left to Ryan Mason, who crossed the ball to the far post for Barnett to turn home.

The game was still fairly even at this point, but Coalville were beginning to gain more of the possession and the defence of Gamble, Andy Newman and Mick Clarke were passing it around nicely.

Midway through the half Town doubled their advantage. A flowing move from one end of the pitch to the other saw Vernon slide the ball through to Mike Browbank. He slipped the ball back where Mason was on hand to slot home past the keeper.

There was no more scoring in the first half, but Coalville came out sharply for the second half and within a couple of minutes Town had made it 3-0.  Brian Robinson drove forward down the right flank, played the ball to Mason, who laid it off for Mark Newman to strike home past the Loughborough keeper.

It quickly became 4-0 when Vernon was able to blast home a penalty corner, and Coalville were now in the comfort zone, with Loughborough only really causing any bother on the counter attack.

Coalville were now playing some superb hockey, and it was obvious that Loughborough could not cope with the slick passing and movement of the visitors. Mason added his second of the afternoon and Coalville's fifth by squeezing the ball under the keeper after a combination between Ollie Knight and Vernon.

Town added a sixth with just under 10 minutes remaining. Vernon squared the ball across the top of the dee for Browbank, who smashed the ball venomously home into the roof of the net, leaving the Loughborough keeper clutching at thin air.

Loughborough began to throw players forward to try and get some goals back, and Coalville continued to catch them out. Another penalty corner allowed Barnett to fire home Mason's pass to make it 7-0, and it became 8-0 with just under five minutes remaining when a training ground penalty corner routine worked perfectly to allow Barnett to pull back from the baseline for Vernon to smash home his second.

But, Coalville disappointingly could not keep a clean sheet. With effectively the last hit of the match, Loughborough managed to convert a penalty corner to make it 8-1, but it really didn't matter. The bigger picture is that Coalville move up another place, and Loughborough remain in trouble in the bottom three.

With 15 goals in their last two games, other teams in DTZ East Midlands Premier Division will be wary of taking on Town. Next to visit King Edward VII College on Saturday will be South Nottingham, who beat Soar Valley 2-0 this weekend.