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29 May 2007

Three wins out of three

Coalville Town 1 Loughborough Town 0

Leicester Summer League

Coalville Town picked up a third straight win in the Leicester summer league with a hard fought over Loughborough Town.

Both sides fielded a mixture of youth and experience, and the first half was an end to end affair. Sam Crowie went close for Coalville early on, while at the other end Coalville keeper Paul Marston was forced into a couple of good saves.

Gareth Turner and Gareth Gamble were both making a number of crucial interceptions at the back as the lively Loughborough forward line threatened to break through.

But Town eventually got the upper hand, with Phil Sign gaining control in midfield and beginning to combine with Liam McArthur. Ryan Mason soon saw a shot saved by the Loughborough keeper, while Matt Taylor was also denied.

Declan Turner worked hard to create openings, but the Loughborough defence managed to cut out most of his good work. Towards the end of the first period, Coalville finally got the break through with their best bit of hockey during the game.

A ball out of defence sent Liam McArthur away and the Town midfielder played a neat one-two with Crowie before playing the ball past the Loughborough keeper for Gareth Toyer to turn the ball home into an empty goal.

Coalville continued to have the upper hand after this, and Mason saw another effort fly wide before the interval.

The second half saw much of the same, with Loughborough threatening on the break and generally tending to hold onto the ball better than Town, but with Coalville looking the more threatening.

Shortly after the interval, a cross from the right by Toyer got a deflection off the stick of Josh McArthur and the young Coalville midfielder was unfortunate to see his effort cannon back off the upright.

At the back, Glen Marston and Darren Conway were putting in some strong challenges, helping Turner and Gamble to largely see off the threat from Loughborough. However, Town keeper Paul Marston was forced into one more crucial save when a midfielder danced through the defence and fired towards goal - Marston getting a pad to the effort to turn it wide.

In the end, Town had enough to see off the challenge of Loughborough, and go into next weeks game against Leicester still undefeated.

Coalville team: Paul Marston; Glen Marston, Darren Conway, Gareth Turner, Gareth Gamble; Matt Taylor, Phil Sign, Liam McArthur, Josh McArthur, Sam Crowie; Ryan Mason, Declan Turner, Gareth Toyer