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3 July 2007

Hard fought win in North Leicester derby

Coalville Town 2 Loughborough Town 1

Leicester Summer League

Coalville Town battled their way to a hard-fought win over north Leicestershire rivals Loughborough Town in their latest Leicester Summer League clash.

Loughborough arguably settled the quicker, and the Coalville defence of Gareth Gamble, Glen Marston, Andy Newman and James Woodard were soon coming under pressure.

Loughborough soon won a penalty corner and forced Coalville keeper Paul Marston into a fine save with his stick, and Marston was again called on to save another effort when a shot came in through a crowd of players.

This seemed to awaken Town, but Coalville were still struggling to get going, conceding the ball cheaply too often. Liam McArthur went on one run and forced a good save from the Loughborough keeper, while Ryan Mason also saw a shot go wide.

In all, it was a tight half and it seemed as though the game could go either way. Straight from the restart of the second half, Coalville got in front. Phil Sign played the ball through for Mason and he drew the keeper before slipping it across goal for Malcolm Gillion to turn home into an open goal.

Coalville had further chances after this, but Adam Barnett saw a shot turned away while Matt Taylor also had an effort well saved. Glen Marston also had a rare foray forward and saw a good effort spectacularly gloved away by the Loughborough keeper.

But Loughborough still looked dangerous and midway through the half drew level when a player dribbled along the baseline and pulled the ball back, via keeper Marston's stick, to a teammate who fired home.

Fortunately, Loughborough weren't level for long. Coalville raced forward and from a penalty corner Mason saw shot saved by the keeper. But the ball came back out and was played across the dee for Barnett to lift the ball home just above the backboard to make it 2-1.

And that was enough for Coalville to claim another win in the Leicester Summer League.

Coalville team: Paul Marston; Glen Marston, James Woodard, Gareth Gamble, Andy Newman; Liam McArthur, Phil Sign, Sam Crowie, Matt Taylor; Adam Barnett, Ryan Mason, Malcolm Gillion.