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4 November 2006

Fifths brave fight not enough

Coalville Town 5th XI  0  Northampton Lions 4th XI  3

DTZ Central League South East Division Two

Coalville's fifth string found a slightly older Northampton Lions side had a little bit more cutting edge than them in their latest DTZ Central League South East Division Two fixture.

Town battled well, as always, passing the ball around excellently at times. Adam Martin and Adam Lloyd worked tirelessly in the centre of the park, and Tom Sloan and Sam Edwards were both in fine form.

Kristian Webb played several defence splitting passes, one of which nearly saw Declan Turner fire just wide. Webb himself also saw an effort go wide.

But it was Northampton who seemed to have a bit more cutting edge, as might be expected of a side who had smashed Ashby 6-1 and Jaguar Coventry 7-1 in their last two games.

It took Northampton until shortly before half-time to open the scoring when a penalty corner finally managed to break the resolve of Stuart Burton in the Coalville goal.

Town came out in the second period and created a few decent chances for themselves. Matt Wooldridge went on a run and forced the Northampton keeper into a save, and Simon McArthur also saw a shot go narrowly wide.

At the other end, Ezra Watson had a steady game alongside the superb Sloan, who often showed composure beyond his years - even when the old head of Chris Ashton had limped off with a groin injury.

Northampton grabbed a bizarre second goal midway through the half to extend their lead. A player managing to hit the ball over the onrushing Burton, seeing it cannon off the post and spin across to the centre of the goal for a team mate to turn home into the empty goal.

Town then had their best chance of the game. Webb and Martin combined in midfield, and Simon McArthur somehow managed to slip the ball into the path of Ashley Robinson. Robinson hit the ball well towards goal, but the Northampton keeper managed to get his glove onto the effort and turn it away from danger.

Northampton struck again on the counter late on, with a fierce strike managing to find a way past Burton at his near post. So it was a defeat for Coalville's youngsters, but when compared against Northampton's other recent results, it's a result the Coalville youngsters can be fairly proud of.