Southwell City 0-2 Mickleover Royals: LINK TO VIDEO CLIPS...

CLICK THIS MESSAGE FOR VIDEO CLIPS OF THE GAME...

SOUTHWELL CITY 0-2 MICKLEOVER ROYALS: match report by The Mowdog...

Bartlett’s Obscure Header Finally Condemns Southwell To the Workhouse

Southwell City 0 Mickleover Royals 2

Arriving at Southwell to find a welcome on a blackboard for The Bodging and me was unique and humbling, as Royals’ Peter Aliguma sat in front of it receiving some last-minute physiotherapy on a bar chair. Surreal. The game was surreal too, following a strong start by the visitors, including a demonstration of wayward finishing by the unfortunate Josh Gregory in particular and then a sudden downturn in the friendly proceedings, when a trio of City players did not agree with decisions made by the referee, who after all, wasn’t going to change his mind, a point desperately made by home skipper Rob Haigh into the faces of his errant colleagues Markell Bailey, Nathan Kelly and later, Tariq Nadif, all of whom lifted the art of arguing to a new level of irritation for the officials. Hence, the game was interrupted by needless delays, ending up with the rather highly-strung referee cautioning some Royals players for virtually every tackle made near the end… However, a smart Davy Hamson lob and a late apology of a goal by another replacement, Sam Bartram, won the game for Mickleover.

Southwell races begin...

Who is looking at what?

Left-sided attacker Adam Birch was the first to test Dom Chatfield of City with a fast break but his decent centre was too far ahead of his fellow forwards and Southwell breathed again, until a fine pass by Danny Martin, who started the game so well for the guests, found the speedy Nashan Wilson, also on the left-flank and he reached the byeline, pushed over a short low centre to Gregory, but the striker lifted his effort over the crossbar from 3 yards, to his own disbelief. A fine right-side free-kick by Martin was emphatically headed downwards into the net by Jordan Simpson but the effort was nullified by a linesman’s flag, which seemed to puzzle lots of people. Me too, at the time. Gregory again managed to miscue, after muscling Haigh off the ball, which had been punted, wind-assisted, a long way by ‘keeper Ash Warner; this time Gregory’s lob’s trajectory was high and wide. Matt Bowles found a little space on the left, at an angle for Southwell but Warner beat away the near post shot and Royals cleared. A forward thrust by Aliguma for the visitors resulted in a square pass for the unlucky Shaun Roberts, for he was to suffer an early injury and although his low 25 yard shot was not going to beat goalie Alex Smith, the ‘keeper kind of shovelled the ball sideways like he was shooing next door’s cat out of his back door.

Concentration...

Southwell finally yawned into attack and Bailey’s low delivery from the right byeline ensured that Warner’s knees collected the odd grass stain or two, then Mickleover’s Birch fastened onto his ‘keeper’s huge punt, which might have earned applause from Kansas City Chiefs fans at Arrowhead Stadium, but the winger was unable to connect with the strangely out of sorts Ash Foster. Then a rather strange incident occurred, for it served to provide the first break in play, which certainly affected Mickleover’s dominance. A left-wing corner by Foster was headed out, Wilson ran in and fired a powerful shot from just inside the penalty-box, as Bailey barged into him, before the ball fell to Foster again and Smith did really well to save his shot with flailing feet. The referee then mysteriously penalised Bailey’s challenge but after consulting the linesman, positioned the offence as outside the penalty-area. All very weird. Martin, seemingly some hours later, clipped the free-kick well off target and his face read: “Oh, gosh, what a rotten shot…” Maybe.

Wilson is tended to...

Martin then moved forward like he was auditioning for Strictly Come Line-Dancing, with a dashing selection of step-overs, but then, er, he was dispossessed. Nice though. Scary home defender Jake Edwards managed to get his head to, but was unable to direct, Kelly’s right-side flag-kick in a rare sortie forward by the hosts and then Chris, one of the two busy, bright, bubbly Bowles brothers in the City midfield, whose mum discussed the game with me on the touchline, crossed dangerously towards the far post, where jumpers missed the ball completely. Edwards’ headed clearance offered Gregory a shooting chance from 19 yards, which was deflected over the crossbar by a defender’s body, then Ash Lynch was unable to turn the ensuing right-flank corner into goal at the far stick at full stretch. Aliguma’s fine interception ended with a pass to Foster but when he fed Roberts, the midfielder’s effort at goal was errant.

And then we had delay number two, after Aliguma had been hacked at, albeit not too unpleasantly, by Matt Bowles but Kelly somehow became involved, like it was a squabble over a lager on the island of Zakynthos. Fists and slaps were threatened, players milled around, Bailey and Aliguma were heavily involved and the referee finally, after a word with the nearby linesman, cautioned Kelly, who was mightily unhappy and carried on his complaints, which the official was too lenient with, in truth. After what seemed like two more hours of harrowing time wastage, the free-kick was about to be taken but Bailey decided to stand just three yards away and despite the referee’s invitations and then insistence and then orders, Bailey moved only a few more paces away. He was cautioned, rightly, but still carried on complaining and it was amazing even to home fans that he wasn’t duly dismissed. Eventually, the game restarted.

Aliguma (5) objects but is sensibly held back by an opponent...

Kelly (10) is harassed but what is Roberts (8) saying?
Maybe: "Gosh, my good man, please calm down..."

Mickleover’s Birch and team-mates had been flagged offside too many times but credit must go to City skipper Haigh, who had not only attempted to talk sense into Bailey and Kelly, but also defended superbly. Lyam Webster then surprisingly mugged Aliguma at the near post, twisted and fired an 8 yard shot across the face of goal, an incident which visibly shook the visitors. Nadif then fouled Wilson badly but was so upset to escape a caution, that he did it again, to Simpson this time but the official probably didn’t want another delay, in case his Pukka Pie went cold and failed again to show the defender a yellow card. Hamson set up Gregory at inside-right but again the forward lifted a 15 yard effort off target, before soon, the visitors were deservedly ahead. Hamson battled successfully with Edwards for Simpson’s long ball forward (let’s call it a measured pass…) and cleverly lobbed the helpless Smith from 23 yards. It remained only for Simpson to rise and powerfully head Martin’s right-side corner only just over the crossbar then the official blew his whistle for a break.  

Hamson (14) has opened the scoring...

Wilson (7) appears interested but has planted his feet...

 

Hamson broke forward at inside-right and against the wind in the early stages of the second period and although he was well marshalled by the home defence, he managed to square a pass for Foster to strike but the end product was very disappointing and the ball flew well wide from 23 yards. Then delay three occurred, following a challenge on Foster by the walking-on-tightrope City left-back Nadif, who was duly cautioned, probably more as a result of his two previous misdemeanours in all honesty. Nadif, however, was apoplectic about this, complaining to the linesman in particular, who smiled like a particularly nice grandpa, who has received grey socks for Christmas before. Eventually, the game restarted but it was interrupted again by the withdrawal of Edwards and quiet striker Jonny Upton for the hosts and the introduction of the impressive Blair Bryant and also Rick Robinson.

 

Haigh pleads with the referee...

The shielding Aliguma...

A superb tackle by Lynch on Kelly saved his Royals team then Chris Bowles (I think) tested Warner with a clipped shot, which the ‘keeper caught under his crossbar and after Sam Bartram replaced Gregory for the visitors, Lynch challenged Kelly and was cautioned for a rare foul. Joe Brockley, a real badger-like name, replaced the by-now less effective Birch for Royals then we experienced another long delay, caused mainly by Nadif, who was in quite a ruffled state, shall I say… Kelly took a free-kick shot from 22 yards, Warner beat it upwards like he had just joined a beach volleyball team in Brazil and somehow the visitors scrambled the ball clear, as a City player claimed he was pushed over; Wilson then broke away on the right for Mickleover but Kelly chased him, purposely and willingly. There was a coming together but Wilson kept going, only for Kelly to launch himself into a desperate tackle; he caught Wilson on an ankle, but the winger ran on after a stumble, eventually being dispossessed. However, the official decided that Kelly’s challenge had been worthy of a second-yellow card, then obviously a red one too and so Kelly made a long walk to the clubhouse, no doubt hoping to get the pick of the post-match sandwiches. Nadif really bellowed at the grey-haired, smiley linesman though, suggesting that the assistant would lose sleep on the incident. The official, totally calm, told me he wouldn’t… 

 

Bartram has arrived at the races...

"Let's build a wall, chaps..." suggests Lynch (3)...

Kelly is dismissed...

A man down, City looked like they were a man up, as they fought to win a point and only a hacked clearance by visiting skipper Martin saved his goalie, when Warner could only flick on a dangerous right-side corner, which had been conceded by a panicky Lynch. A foul by Foster brought a yellow-card reaction by the official, to Foster’s amazement and after Southwell’s Chris Bowles had been replaced by the tall Stefen Whiteley, Bartram made ground for the guests, collided with a defender, fell over and when the play ended, he received a caution from the tough-to-figure referee. Oli Buxton committed a foul and to the abject shock of the Mickleover defender, he was also booked, as the proceedings began to resemble a sit-com. Whiteley took responsibility for a 30 yard free-kick for Southwell and skied the ball way off target and then City conceded a strange goal to confirm their loss. Aliguma moved the ball forward to Brockley in the inside-left channel, who clipped a right-footer towards the penalty-area and Bartram pulled away from Haigh to lift a difficult header goalwards but Smith, following the ball as it bounced, suddenly realised that it might be sneaking inside the left upright and began to grab at the ball, like it was a sheep attempting to escape a shearing and the ‘keeper could only bat the ball against the netting inside the post.

Wilson (7) congratulates Bartram...

Royals' relief...

Martin was then cruelly cautioned for his first real challenge of the day, as the referee maybe sought to appease Southwell’s grievances somewhat but from what would prove to be the final corner of the game, Whiteley rose to head Bailey’s right-wing delivery into the top of a tree. As you do. The game ended with another away victory for Royals and a disappointing outcome in many ways for City, not the least of which was a lack of discipline from a few players. Haigh was excellent for the majority of this match and the Bowles brothers were inventive in midfield on occasions; Kelly and Bailey had shown ability on offense but in truth, the visitors, with Aliguma and Simpson ferocious in defence, Martin fairly creative at times in midfield and Hamson lively in attack, deserved the victory, despite lacking in creativity from Roberts’ short time on the pitch and from Foster’s performance, which saw him unable to get onto the ball enough to affect the offensive play. 

 

Handshakes...

Teams: 

Southwell:  Alex Smith, Jake Edwards, Tarik Nadif; Rob Haigh (Capt), Dom Chatfield, Matt Bowles; Markell Bailey, Chris Bowles, Jonny Upton, Nathan Kelly, Lyam Webster.

Subs: Rick Robinson, Jake Glover, Blair Bryant, Calum Law, Stefen Whiteley.

Mickleover:  Ash Warner, Oli Buxton, Ash Lynch; Jordan Simpson, Peter Aliguma, Danny Martin (Capt); Nashan Wilson, Shaun Roberts, Josh Gregory, Ash Foster, Adam Birch.

Subs: Joe Brockley, Davy Hamson, Sam Bartram, Owen Brown, James Buck.    

   

SOUTHWELL CITY 0-2 MICKLEOVER ROYALS: general IMAGES...

The Bodging recognises his likeness... Surprisingly!

We were humbled by the Southwell welcome...

...we WERE...

Dugouts.
Also used as supermarket trolleys and wheeling lazy substitutes onto the field of play...

There you go, Dave Scott, some still life to practise your drawing skills on...

Gimme shelter... 

Fairly still life by Dave Scott...

Davy Hamson (14) has arranged that the home skipper Rob Haigh will accidentally cause a leg problem for Royals' Shaun Roberts and thus get the striker onto the field early... He did, too...

Home 'keeper Alex Smith is told that his kit clashes with a linesman's flag...

The ref, dressed in full Southwell kit, bar the odd stripe or two, informs the home players that he's useful in the air at corners...

Mickleover practise forming a defensive wall, as Ash Foster scratches his butt...

The ref asks the Southwell skipper to squeeze his ball...

Mickleover scrum down, as the hooker prepares to heel the ball...

Great artists always wear remarkable hats...
Yeah, right...

COTON GREEN 2-3 COVENTRY UNITED: teamsheet & LINK TO VIDEO CLIPS...

CLICK THIS MESSAGE FOR VIDEO CLIPS, INCLUDING ALL THE GOALS...

COTON GREEN 2-3 COVENTRY UNITED: match report by The Mowdog...

Coventry Nearly Caught By Resurgent Coton Green

Coton Green 2 Coventry United 3

Don't look now but there's a horse in the crowd...

The toss, although the United skipper doesn't get too close.
Can't blame him...

Huddled beneath the Green Coton shelter (geddit?), with rain dripping from the roof and an advertising hoarding making my view awkward because I am not 6 feet tall, I stood with a number of spectators who witnessed rather a strange game at New Mill Lane. I had lived for two years in Tamworth but still hadn’t found the ground easily, yet eventually I settled with this jaunty band of hardy, wet Bank Holiday diehards, a horse and a Mothercare container, to watch a confident Coventry pass cleverly, take a 0-2 lead early, begin to over-play in attack, then become ragged. Coton Green realised that long balls would skid past their forwards, so eventually utilised Damien Jarrett as a pivot and began to compete. He wore 9, played as a 10, or in 1950’s maths, a 4 or an 8, even maybe a 6. A third United goal after the break should have settled the affair but carelessness on offense, a weird dismissal for goalscorer Melusi Mazwi and the withdrawal of effective midfielders Andrew Woodall and Rob Prinzel allowed Coton Green back into the contest with zest and they netted twice from set-pieces to create a desperate final moment, in which Marcus Shaw, the home skipper, failed to head home an undeserved equaliser for the plucky hosts.

 

The free-kick which would begin the scoring...

Hesitation in the home defence led to Brian Ndlovu’s possession and a 24 yard shot past the left post, as Coventry’s movement, especially between Muziwandile Nduna, Ndlovu and Mazwi caused all sorts of problems for the hosts, with midfielders Prinzel and Woodall backing them with strong and inventive play, whilst right-back Pierre Moudime supported powerfully on the flank. Shaw fouled Dan Stokes, 19 yards out, inside-right channel and Woodall simply side-footed a smart shot to the right of the defensive-wall, which ‘keeper Ben Caulwell must have seen late as it squirmed beneath him to give the visitors a 0-1 lead. It was soon 0-2 and Coton Green were reeling and dizzy as United dazzled them like a conjurer pulling playing-cards from behind their ears and doves from their red sleeves. Ndlovu passed to Nduna, whose feed to Stokes was stopped but the ball flew left to Mazwi, who exchanged lazy passes with Nduna and found himself 12 yards out and unchallenged to fire into the left corner of the net, with the home defence a set of warm-up cones.

 

0-1: Woodall...

0-2: Mazwi...

Jake Walker was cautioned for a foul on Woodall, as the Green, wearing er, red, began to flounder and the home defence escaped miraculously as the next wave of the Coventry offensive wand caused all sorts of chaos. Ndula and Ndlovu combined on the left and the latter passed out to the right flank and Moudime, whose low pass into the 6 yard box was shot at goal by Ndlovu but Caulwell saved with his legs on the goal-line; the ball found its way out to Moudime again, who combined with Prinzel but the midfielder’s low centre rolled across the goalmouth untouched for Mazwi to retrieve and pass low to the calling Prinzel, now in the middle and the tall playmaker fired a hard 8 yard shot which beat Caulwell but was superbly cleared from the goal-line by defender Gianluca Loveridge. Ndlovu then set up Moudime from the rebound but the defender miscued his shot and Coton Green survived.

Walker receives a card as yellow as my jumper...

Quite suddenly, the hosts attacked and Walker pushed a pass from the right for tall forward Lee Styche, whose low shot was pulled wide of the left upright from 18 yards. Weak midfield tackling by Coventry soon allowed Jarrett to exploit space in the middle and his 25 yarder clipped the upper edge of the crossbar on its way into the car-park, where the money-detective still hovered to eke cash from people hiding in vehicles which had sneaked in late. Moudime broke effectively on the right again for United but his pass inside to Stokes was just too far ahead of the striker, who worked hard all afternoon for little reward. United goalie Joe Connor caught Jarrett’s clipped centre, Ndlovu broke dangerously for the visitors but the move fizzled out and then a great pass from Green’s Walker, threaded through the middle for Styche, saw a brilliant tackle by Stevy Djedje save the day for Coventry.

Prinzel lost out in midfield but Jarrett could only shoot straight at Connor then Ndlovu almost freed Stokes, a small striker, who was adjudged to have fouled the rather larger Shaw, who had fallen to the ground like Ashley Young on a bad day. An incredible dribble by Mazwi from the right, in which he seemed to have no control of the ball at all, yet left two defenders grounded as if under a falling spell, then walked past two others, frozen like they’d seen Medusa’s face, ended too casually, for a one-two with Stokes failed. Then Moudime drove a shot well wide. A really bad foul by Shaw, who was becoming quite an influential figure in this game, on Woodall, earned a caution but it was Coton Green who threatened next with a low right-wing corner from Jarrett, which Styche lifted way over the crossbar from 12 yards or so at the near stick. As the half wound down, Walker’s left-wing corner somehow evaded the by now rather harassed Coventry defence and landed on Green’s Theo Price’s head but looped then bounced past the left upright, with everybody watching, like a badger had been spotted in the undergrowth.

Half-time arrived, people clambered over orange fencing to claim drinks and food, rain continued to drip and cool the afternoon, but United’s early dominance had been nullified by an improving Coton Green showing. In truth, clumsy play in the attacking zone by the visitors had spoiled their performance and they seemed to lack one midfielder, a go-to creator, to boss the game with a calm resolution. Despite that, they really did move forward with some excitement on occasions…

After the break, Ndlovu chased a fine and long Prinzel pass towards the right-flank but with Caulwell stranded, a defender forced the United striker to nudge a messy touch well wide. A short Prinzel free-kick, deep at inside-left for Stokes led to a fine Shaw tackle for Coton Green then Ndlovu broke away from deep, raced towards the penalty-box but stumbled, like his roller skates had encountered a hidden twig, lost control and the ball rolled to the grateful Caulwell. Styche and Jarrett combined smartly for the latter to turn and fire a 20 yard effort too high, before Shaw was involved negatively for the hosts and suddenly, the interesting Nduna was away and clear and he tucked his right-footer past the advancing Caulwell from 16 yards into the bottom left corner of the net.

0-3: Nduna...

Nduna then set off on a great run from defence, which surely ought to have brought a fourth goal; visiting skipper Kobe Ntim blocked a Styche shot and Nduna picked up the loose ball and veered past Walker, was fouled by slim home midfielder Charlie Shaw but remained on his feet, evaded a sliding tackle by Gavin Brown and ran on superbly, before feeding Stokes to his right, but a saving tackle on the forward prevented a goal. Some run by Nduna though… Stokes and Mazwi set up a chance for Nduna at 18 yards but the ball scuffed off a right-boot and well wide, like it had deflated as he struck it. Woodall had not been able to sustain his influence for Coventry and he was badly fouled again, this time by Brown, yet it was speedy left-back Ben Vallance who was replaced by Ash McBride for the guests.

Stuff going on...

Ndlovu then created an opportunity on the right for United, passing the ball towards Stokes, who lifted a clever near post flick upwards to the far upright, where Mazwi dived to head the ball, only for Caulwell to save really well with a defender’s typical sliding tackle. Substitutions then messed up play, Mazwi shot gently at Caulwell and we saw the withdrawal of Price and Walker for Coton Green, who were replaced by Simon Latchford and Aaron Cartwright, whilst United’s Gift Mussa replaced Woodall. Then Marcus Shaw was unable to capitalise from a decent Latchford corner, as the hosts scrapped it out. The game erupted into farce after Prinzel had been replaced by Scott Lindley for the visitors; Mazwi challenged Marcus Shaw, apparently innocuously, but the defender suddenly began to yell, then hop about on one leg like an aimless bellowing kangaroo, which seemed amusing at first, until it became clear that Mazwi’s studs might have made an appearance upon the home skipper’s shinguard and the quiet United schemer was dismissed by an uncertain looking referee.

The ref says: "Are you hurt, or did you want a quick chat?"

Mazwi (7) looks confused at his dismissal...

More good work on the right by Ndlovu led to a side-footed effort at goal by Lindley, which was well blocked at 17 yards by home defender Dylan McLoughlin, then Dan Gilbert replaced Kieran Parish for the hosts. Incredibly, from a simple punted free-kick, Coton Green made the game interesting again, for the second period had been laborious and mistake-riddled, in fairness. McLoughlin’s deep free-kick was nodded on by Jarrett, after cleverly nudging Mussa and the ball dropped onto Marcus Shaw’s foot for a venomous volley from 8 yards, which ripped high into the Coventry net.

Shaw bares a thigh in celebration: 1-3...

Latchford, seeing red, didn’t see yellow for his anger, before a Lindley corner from the United right found the head of defender Djedje, only for the effort to bounce just past the left upright. With United struggling to retain any composure, a needless corner was conceded by a hurried, hacked clearance and Latchford’s flag-kick was challenged for by Gilbert and Djedje; the ball bounced loose off a defender and Cartwright fired a left-footer, straight at colleague Brown on the 6 yard line, from whence the defender spun and shot smartly into the right corner of the net, past the covering defenders on the goal-line.

Brown, left, struts his stuff: 2-3...

In the closing moments, Gilbert’s long left-side throw was cleared back to him and his really accurate left-boot delivery looked to be perfect for Marcus Shaw to equalise with an emphatic header but the defender was probably deceived by Djedje’s jump and was unable to get any purchase on the ball at all and the chance to complete a very unlikely comeback was lost. The game ended with Coventry sighing in some kind of relief, no doubt, for what appeared to be a walk in a rainy park for 20 minutes, ended up being like in a rowing-boat tossed about in the surf at Mawgan Porth in Cornwall. Apart from the clever, skilful opening period, the visitors really did become unhinged and careless, which the hosts benefited from and although the substitutions and dismissal certainly deprived United of three important midfielders, Coton Green weren’t quite able to capitalise and regain parity. Coventry looked unsure at times in central defence and Coton Green’s Styche latched onto the ball all too easily in those areas but well done to the Shaws for the Tamworth-based team: Charlie was a decent passer and Marcus a colossus, certainly the landmark performer for the home team. Ndlovu and Stokes failed to trouble the scoreline but worked hard nonetheless, Moudime was powerful on the right side but the quick one-twos and skills of the early part of this game by Coventry will be remembered.

Friends at the end...

I wondered what the horse thought of the match, then you know what? I climbed the orange barrier and fled to my car. How dreadful was that… But then again, although it’s not what I do, it’s what I did… 

 

  

 

COTON GREEN 2-3 COVENTRY UNITED: general IMAGES...

The Bodging seeks some cover from the persistent rain...

Coton Green's smart layout...

Note the bicycle shed...

View from behind the dugouts...

The home fan takes refreshment before the match begins...

Coton Green had a very young team...

The Flag and Net, a good name for a footy pub...

The Warm-up but Get Soaked Area...

Wobbly line, wobbly fence and the necessary shelter...

Net view. I like net-views...

I walked to the shelter from the clubhouse, all the way via the far end but it was blocked by orange fencing, so I walked all the way back round again to gain access, which is presumably what the club wanted.
Coventry's fans simply stepped over the fence.
I felt totally stupid.
No change there.

Smart facilities at a good club: COTON GREEN...