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Seconds steal win to secure fifth

Coalville Town 2nd XI  1  Khalsa 2nd XI  0

BodyKraft 2nd XI East Midlands Premier Division

Town’s second XI gamekeeper turned poacher for their penultimate game of the season as they stole three hard earned points from a skilful Khalsa side with a single goal in what can only be described as a tremendous rear guard action for most of this enthralling game.

Again forced into making changes for the match, bringing in Gaz Toyer at the back and Richard Wright in the centre of midfield, Town started slowly as they were put under immediate pressure by a visiting side that exuded speed and skill but couldn’t find the right path down which to exploit their advantage. 

The visitors started at explosive pace as they pushed the ball around the park but the back three of Toyer, Carl Marshall and Ian Wright were on hand to keep out the early raids. Town’s midfield trio of skipper Tony Crowie, Richard Wright and Brent Clamp were unable to get hold of any decent ball and even the usual dominant Stuart Jobburn was at full stretch to help out with defence. 

For the first 10 minutes Town hardly got out of their own half and when Scott Meadows and Jordan Ward, working the flanks, did manage to get hold of the ball, they were unable to make any headway past a strong Khalsa back line.

One thing that usually stands Town out against other teams is their ability to chase down the ball when in the opposition half, and this fighting quality again came to the fore after 15 minutes, when, out of nothing, Niki Arnold chased Ian Wright's high ball that dropped into the visitors defensive area.  

As the ball bounced through and into the dee, neither the visitor’s keeper nor his centre back saw any danger but as the keeper tried to shepherd the ball over the back line, Arnold in typically determined fashion, fastened onto the loose ball to scoop a one handed diving shot into the net from a very acute angle to put Town one up.  

This action seemed to galvanize the visitors into further action as they tore into the Town defence with even more urgency.  Winning a penalty corner, the resultant shot on goal was superbly saved by keeper Paul Marston as he dived to push the ball around the post, and minutes later he was again called into action, this time pushing the ball over the bar as the visitors split open the Town defence down the left flank.  

For the rest of the half, Town could get nowhere as they were pushed back time and again, but the defence stood firm as Marshall and Ian Wright showed their experience with some strong work and timely tackles, albeit fortuitous at times. Just before half time, Marston again was on hard to turn a raking short corner strike superbly around the post as the visitors were beginning to think this would not be their day.  

The second half started where the first had finished as Khalsa again dominated the play and although Town were beginning to compete, all ventures into the visitors half, and periodically the dee, were usually crowded out or came to nothing as the final pass went astray. With Meadows restored to the right side of the Town attack, he was beginning to gain some advantage over his defender, but all came to nothing in the end.

With Khalsa in the ascendancy, Marston was again called into making a superb save to deny the equaliser and with Toyer, Marshall and Wright working wonders at the back, Khalsa were beginning to ride the frustration wave. 

Their passing game began to break down as Town packed their defence, but Khalsa players were beginning to have a superiority complex as individual players in turn tried to break down the Town back line on their own, and with this attitude, Town found it easier to stop the attack before it could develop further.  

The last 10 minutes was all one way traffic as Khalsa poured forward looking for the equaliser however determined effort and sheer hard work by all at the back kept them out for what could be described as the steal of the season.

The win will see Town finish in fifth place in this league as neither of the teams below can catch them up, nor can they push above the team in fourth place, and considering the quality of teams in the league, Town will probably count this season as a success from which they can build on experience and their youth policy for next year.