Fred Quibell Junior Cup Round 1
Plough Sturton 3
Ingleby Arms FC (Marton) 1
The first ever meeting between these two rivals was always going to be a testing game and the conditions didn’t make things any easier on a horrendous morning at “The Rec”.
The Plough started the game the brightest and looked to turn their early pressure into an opening goal. Tom Everington was first to come close when he jinked into the box before curling an effort towards the far post which came back off the bar. The ball was picked up on the far side and the play was switched again with Everington finding the ball at his feet once more, again he went past a couple of Marton defenders before being brought down in the box. Sturton Captain Tom Mangham stepped up for the penalty and slotted it home for the opening goal of the contest. At this stage they were in control of the match but were unable to get a second goal before the break. The only downside of the half was losing Scott Barratt early on to a hamstring injury, which is a massive disappointment for a player who’s started the season so well.
The home side started the second half as they had finished the first with a good grip on proceedings and whilst Marton were doing their best to get back in the game their key player, Carl Kitchinson, was kept under wraps by a great performance from Andrew Stainton in the heart of the Plough defence.
The Plough did manage to grab the second goal when an expertly delivered Tom Higginbottom corner was met by the head of Everington who powered past the keeper. They continued to create chances and came close on a number of occasions to grabbing the third goal with Everington hitting the post, Stephen Pell having a goal ruled out for a tight offside decision, and Ben Fewster coming agonisingly close with a couple of chances.
Again the half saw a bad injury to a Sturton player with veteran centre half Nick Webb having to leave the pitch with a back problem which saw the Plough having to play the last 15 minutes with 10 men, having used all their substitutions. The third goal did eventually come after some link- up play between Pell and Everington down the left saw the latter get into the box and clip a ball in for super sub Cal Hanrahan who buried his headed chance.
Marton grabbed a goal back which set up a tense final 10 minutes when they caught the Plough on the break after the home team had over committed going forward with ex-Sturton man Kitchinson doing the honours to slot past Bembridge. The goal proved to be no more than a consolation though.
Red Lion Dunston 16
The Blue Lion 1
This game was dubbed “the pride of Lions” as it kicked off in incessant rain which only stopped at the end of the game.
Within 30 seconds of kick off the home side were one up with the second goal following quickly in the second minute. There was no further scoring for 20 minutes with Red Lion squandering numerous chances. The first half ended with Red Lion scoring a further three goals to go into the break leading by 5 goals.
Blue Lion came out very determined at the start of the second half and were indeed the better team for the first 10 minutes. Red Lion Dunston got back into the game and started to assert themselves more scoring a further 11 goals. Blue Lion scored with a well taken penalty giving the Dunston keeper no chance.
The final score being 16-1 with Paul Masters scoring 8, Shinny Williamson a hat-trick, 2 goals apiece for Jack Halls and George Shores and a single goal from Mark O’Shea.
It has to be said what a credit Blue Lion are as they never gave up throughout the game. They should be encouraged to keep going and continue to enjoy their football and they were certainly the “pride of the lions”, well done to all of them.
Finally referee Mick Grant deserves a mention for his excellent handling of the game as commented on by both teams.
Premier Division
Ivy Tavern 8
Welton Sports AFC 1
The Ivy returned to league duty and recorded a convincing victory against Welton Sports FC.
The conditions played a part in the opening exchanges with a swirling wind and driving rain making it difficult for either side to get the ball down. It wasn’t until the 25th minute that The Ivy sprung into life after quick thinking from Kev Smith at right back saw him take a quick throw down the line into the feet of Sean Cann. Cann beat his marker before hitting a powerful left foot strike into the top corner from the edge of the box. This finally sprung the home side into life and Jordan Taylor began to get joy in the channels as they came to terms with the conditions. It wasn’t long before goal number two arrived, Taylor driving to the bye line and fizzing a ball across the 6 yard box where Cann was on hand to tap home his second of the morning. Just before half time it was 3-0. A delightful corner from Craig Bridge was powered home by the onrushing James Stokes for his first goal of the season.
Ivy began the second period pretty much as they did the first and after a slow start Welton forced a corner which they were able to bundle home from close range to see Ivy concede a goal for the first time in the previous 300 minutes. This appeared to wake the home side up somewhat and it wasn’t long before they restored the three goal cushion. A ball down the side from Liam Uzzel released Sean Cann on the left hand side, this time cutting in on his right to hit another powerful effort past the helpless Welton keeper. It didn’t take long for the next goal either after a through ball by Johnjo Mcgovern sent Cann clear on goal and after a 50/50 challenge with the keeper the ball fell kindly for him to roll into the empty net. The next goal was perhaps the goal of the game as Stokes stepped up to lash a 25 yard trademark free kick into the top corner of the net and although the keeper got a hand to it the sheer power made it too much to keep out. The rain had finally let up after 70 minutes, as Liam Barker and Anu Pier were introduced on both flanks to inject some new energy to the side and this proved the case as Barker was in resurgent form. First he threaded a delightful ball through the defence into the path of Cann, who was in no mood to let another chance pass by, despatching a left foot effort in to the roof of the net, and then Barker was in the act again linking up with Bridge and Cann before the latter slotted home his 6th and Ivy’s 8th of the morning.
Apart from the score line the positives for Ivy on the day were Kevin Smith putting in another excellent 70 minutes on his return to fitness, skipper Matty Chenko and Stokes reforming their centre half partnership and Liam Uzzel, who put in an assured 90 minute performance at left back. Jordan Curtis is starting to revel in his new role in midfield, with some driving runs, Craig Bridge was tasked with patrolling the left side and never gave the ball away, creating several opportunities from set pieces. Mr versatile, Steven Swinburn, stepped in defensive midfield and won every header and second ball. Perhaps the only blot on the copy book was the injury sustained by Kieran Helsdown who has tweaked his groin after his return from suspension, but on the day it mattered little as Johnjo McGovern was more than adept stepping into the midfield to produce a competent performance whilst driving the team forward. Jordan Taylor is fast becoming Mr dependable with his infectious energy and tireless running and of course Cann has to get mention for some clinical finishing, culminating in him registering a double hat-trick again.
Lincoln Moorlands 4
Ruston Sports AFC 5
For their second league game of the season Sports travelled to local rivals Moorlands. The visitors started badly and were 3-0 down within the first 20 minutes, down to defensive mistakes. Their first half consolation goal came from Tom Scutt who was on the end of an acrobatic assist from Tom Sharpe.
Going into the second half Ruston’s dominated early on only to be undone by a brilliant Moorlands goal and found themselves 4-1 down. After 2 changes Rustons scored with a great header from Jake Read after an even better cross from substitute Matty Coe. Shortly after this the Moorlands keeper retaliated by lashing out at Rustons striker Mackinder after a late challenge from the striker which resulted in the keeper seeing red and Mackinder scoring the resulting penalty to make it 4-3. Almost straight away Read and Mackinder cut through the Moorlands defence and Read’s cross was turned in by former Rustons favourite Craig Hiatt. With the game poised at 4-4 going into the final two minutes poacher Daniel Nicholson latched onto a cross and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to score the winner after a remarkable turnaround.. Moorlands applied pressure for the final minute but Rustons parked the bus and saw out the result to complete a memorable victory.
Division 1
AFC Harpars 1
Old Boys United 4
Old Boys travelled to Horncastle for the second successive Sunday hoping for the same result as the previous week which had seen them return home with a 1-6 victory. On a dull day it was Old Boys that started the brightest and Shaun Hudson could have put the visitors in the lead but he couldn’t convert from a yard out. The rumour is that Shaun only likes to score in cup games! Harpars had chances but couldn’t find a way past visiting keeper Neil Griffiths. Old Boys took the lead thanks to Scott Knibbs tapping home from a Stefan Barnes flick on.
Jack Hobson wasted no time in the second half rounding the Harpars’ keeper and making it 2 for the visiting team, Adam Gardiner and everyone else thought he had made it 3 but only to see his goal ruled out by the referee for shouting “i’ll have” so with the game still poised at 0-2 Harpars put themselves back in the game with the striker finally beating the young Old Boys keeper. Adam Gardiner finally got his goal from the penalty spot giving making it 1-3 then Matt Kennedy found himself beating two Harpars players before playing a through ball to super sub Dave Skelding who left the keeper stuck in the mud to make it another successful trip to Horncastle for the visitors.
St Helens 3
Welton FC 3
Welton FC travelled to St. Helens FC on a wet Sunday morning. St. Helens started the brightest and the pressure soon told as a good strike gave the home team the 1-0 lead.
The visitors bounced back and created a number of good chances. A bizarre hand ball half way through he first half by a St Helens FC defender, stopping the ball reaching the Welton striker who was surely going to head the ball in, resulted in a straight red card and penalty, which Charlie Jenner calmly finished to give them the equaliser.
Welton pushed and created a number of chances, utilising the extra man on the pitch, but the scores remained level at half time.
Surely feeling that the game was slipping away from them, St Helens FC scored a good header to give them the unlikely lead. It wasn’t long before Welton responded after good build up play saw the ball fall to Callum Bowman who struck a fierce effort from outside the box which beat a number of players and eventually the keeper. At 2-2 Welton continued the high pressure and created a number of chances but struggled to take the lead.
A good counter attack move saw St Helens FC break and finish well to give the home team the lead for the third time. The away team continued to play in the same fashion and Matthew Atkinson eventually scored after a corner fell to him at the far corner of the box which he superbly volleyed in to the top corner. At 3-3 Matthew Atkinson had a good few chances to win the game for the visitors, but the St Helens FC goalkeeper made some excellent saves to ensure that the points were shared.
Division 3
HBW United 4
Dynamo Varsity 5
There was a goal fest at this game, which the visitors started brightly. Varsity began in confident fashion and they were ahead early on through Vincent Van Doninck. The home side responded with an own goal through Aiden Vaughan before they doubled their lead converting at the second time of asking when they broke through. Varsity, who were having a poor first half, then fell further behind through a headed own goal from Stuart Andrews. Varsity would though get a life line just before half time when Captain Vaughan steered home to reduce the deficit going into the break.
With time to regroup at half- time Varsity began the second half the brighter and were soon level through a well hit drive from Craig Jones. Some good work down the right from Sam Joyce then found Jamie Green who powered home a header with 15 minutes to go. With 10 minutes to go HBW fought back and levelled with a header that was spilled looking like the points would be shared. Varsity though pushed on until the final minute and a crude foul on Vincent Van Doninck gave Paul Norris the chance to earn all three points, which he calmly did, by sending the keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot.
This was definitely a game for the neutral and Jamie Green picked up the man of the match award for Varsity.
Ian Stephenson