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25 November 2006

Sixth win on the trot for thirds

Coalville Town 3rd XI  2  Derwent 3rd XI  1

DTZ 3rd XI East Midlands Division One

Coalville picked up their sixth win on the bounce against fellow promotion contenders Derwent, but it was a close-run thing against the enthusiastic Derbyshire outfit.

Town came out of the blocks quickly, and should have been a goal up after a minute. A penalty corner was played to the stick of Mark Webster, who fired towards goal only to see the ball cannon off the post. The rebound then fell in front of Chris Pearson, who also hit the post before firing the third rebound wide.

It suggested it might be one of those days for Town, but they soon put it behind them. On around the 10 minute mark, Pearson played the ball into Gareth Toyer. He laid off into the path of Webster who this time made no mistake to give Coalville the lead.

Town continued to look good, with Darren Conway strong in midfield and Simon Clare and Simon Wyatt looking like a good pairing at the centre of defence.

Coalville soon could have added to their tally, but Carl Clay fired wide, while Toyer saw a defenders stick block another effort.

But Coalville weren't to be denied. With a little over 25 minutes gone, Conway played a superb ball through to Toyer. The Town forward still had a lot to do, but dribbled through two Derwent defenders to get through on goal. He rounded the Derwent keeper before reverse stick sweeping the ball into the goal just inside the post to make it 2-0.

At this point Derwent feared they were in for a bit of a hiding, but the visitors came back strongly after this. One move saw a forward hit an effort back off the Coalville upright and Wyatt was just able to scramble the rebound away, while Greg Tongue in the Town goal was forced into a couple of excellent saves before the interval.

The second half took on a different complexion, as Coalville's dominance suddenly disappeared and the visitors began to apply the pressure on. Coalville clung on as Derwent piled forward. Town soon lost Adam Whitehall with an injury, and that forced a reorganisation.

The defensive line had been shaken up, though, and this allowed Derwent to capitalise. A player broke through and smashed the ball past Tongue low into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 and Coalville were now facing a tough time.

Derwent continued to pile it on, and Town were forced to try and hit on the counter, with Toyer and Clay both having chances to extend the lead.

With two minutes remaining, Derwent won a penalty corner and the nerves were jangling. The Derwent player hit a great strike, but Tongue managed to get something on it. It was still going into the goal though, when Toyer, who has been so prolific at the other end this season, managed to clear the effort off the line.

It was to prove to be the difference between winning and drawing. The result leaves Town joint top in DTZ East Midlands Division One, but other results this weekend meant Coalville actually slipped to fourth in the table. It's so tight, that two goals are all that separate leaders Nuneaton, North Notts, Coventry and North Warwick and Town, who are all level on 19 points!