Main Menu

17 March 2007

Point sends seconds up

Nuneaton 2nd XI  1 Coalville Town 2nd XI  1

DTZ 2nd XI East Midlands Division One

Town travelled to fourth placed Nuneaton looking to seal a victory which would have given them that automatic top two spot, plus a possible shout as champions. 

But as it was, the draw proved to be enough as third-placed Barton suffered a 6-1 hammering against Boots which means they cannot catch Coalville, who will be promoted to the DTZ East Midlands Premier Division.

Playing on a very sandy pitch on an unusually hot day, they ground out a point in a hard fought game against a determined and strong Nuneaton side, who considered themselves unlucky not to have finished with a win.

  The early pace of the game was very fast, as is typical of Nuneaton / Coalville encounters, with neither side giving any quarter. Although initially it was an even affair, it was the home side who gained the upper hand for the first few minutes. 

With Steve Partner being held up on route, Town found it difficult to settle down in midfield, as Nuneaton’s strong midfield play easily contained their Town counterparts, and although Nuneaton had the better of the attacks for the first 10 minutes, they could not penetrate the Coalville backline, as Carl Marshall and Ian Wright, operating at the heart of the defence, kept them out.

 After some rejuggling of the positions, Town gained the initiative and soon had the home side in difficulties.  With Wright moving to the right side of midfield, and linking up with skipper Tony Crowie and Stuart Jobburn, Town had much more of an impact on the home defence, coming close with early strikes from Niki Arnold and Scott Meadows.  

Town continued to press forward, and with Arnold dropping off the front three to pick up the through balls, it was he who caused Nuneaton the majority of their problems as he tried to weave through the defence usually to be unceremoniously hauled off the ball or crowded out as the home defence employed some robust tactics, which went unpunished by the home umpire.

Coalville continued to turn the screw but with the home defence packing the middle of the park, their lack of imaginative ideas and width saw their play continue to flounder, and when they did get through, the Nuneaton keeper was on hand to make some fine saves. Playing mainly out on the left, Brent Clamp gradually came into the game as he tried to find a way through from the flank, and one particular mazy run allowed him to find a way through only for him to pass square across the dee when it was probably easier to score. 

Further chances fell to Meadows, Wright, Arnold and Andy Whitby, but the home keeper was in superb form, saving all shots that came his way. Such was their dominance of the majority of the first half, that Town’s keeper Joel Barker hardly had a shot to save during the entire play.

The second half started at much the same pace, however Nuneaton were proving more of a handful now as they swept forward and expanded play out to the flanks. Their quick breaks caught Town's defence out and they nearly went ahead when a drive from the left swept into the Town dee only for Barker to make an initial save which saw the ball loop up into the air and fly towards goal. 

Steve Partner running back made a desperate attempt to hook the ball wide as it hit the post and appeared to run into the goal, however the unsighted umpires felt unable to award the goal despite protests from the home side. However shortly after, Nuneaton got their reward as another home attack swept into the dee , causing some panic in the Town defence, from which eventually the umpire awarded a penalty stroke which Barker was unable to stop. 

Despite this setback, Town refused to lie down and poured forward in an attempt to save the game. With Mick Clarke and Partner now finding some impetus down their flanks, Town’s attack began to stretch the Nuneaton defence, but was still unable to get through. Their urgency however saw them awarded a penalty corner in the 28^th minute and although the first strike at goal was stopped, Arnold swooped onto the loose ball to crash it into the net for a deserved equaliser. 

The remaining seven minutes was end to end as both teams pushed forward looking for the winner, but both defences held out giving Town a hard fought  draw.