After two solid performances against fellow Division 3 teams would going head to head with a division 2 team prove too much ??? No but yeah but no but yeah but no but…… you get the point, we lost but we were never out played !!
On a slightly grey miserable evening we started off once again strongly pushing forward, putting the division 2 side on the back foot. Chances were pouring in but could we put one in the back of the net ? Of course we could and it would be no other than Captain fantastic Connor with a goal Ronaldo would have been proud of. As the ball passed in front of him a cheeky flick put it past an outstanding goalkeeper who used to be on the books for Burton. 1-0 to Chellaston and that makes 3 goals from 3 games for our striker with renewed confidence Connor.
With no subs however going towards the end of the first half the lads were starting to become tired, Jayden was hobbling and Jamie looked in pain but on we went holding it at 1-0 when the whistle blew for half time. A truly outstanding gritted first half performance that no spectator could argue, the lads deserved.
With no subs the second half was always going to be a struggle when the lads had given so much in the first half but on they went until mid way through the half when Spondon equalised. Unfortunately our chief linesman Rob (Toms dad) had missed his appointment earlier that day with specsavers therefore missed the clearest off side decision of the decade…… Luckily for him he’s bigger than Brendan and I so we quickly let him off lol !!! You can’t get them all right Rob and as an integral member of our team, we back his decisions every time.
Some time after this goal Jamie was clearly in a lot of pain and was forced to come off leaving us with only 10 on the field. As you all know Jamie is an absolute warrior so if he says he needs to come off….. he needs to come off. A cracking game he was having once again aswell.
If the lads were tired with 11 men, they certainly would be with 10. Finlay tried working the whole of the wing but even with his enthusiasm it wouldn’t be enough. Spondon started finding holes all over the pitch with missing players and tired legs and this was just the uplift they needed.
The game ended with Spondon winning 4-1 and although on a normal day I’m sure Brendan would have had a lot to say, he rightly advised them all they had been in a tough battle with tough opposition and with more players available to enable us to rest some tired legs, it would have been another story. We were never outplayed and all the lads hopefully knew this, they all should be proud of their performance.
The players that were available played with absolute grit and determination and it was a pleasure to watch and those sentiments are not just mine, but also that of the opposition management team who couldn’t believe we were Division 3 opposition.
A special mention this week has to go to Shay who worked tirelessly at left back doing everything (and more) that was asked of him. When the chips were down he dug deep and gave great inspiration to the rest of the team so 100% deserved the accolade of “man of the match”.
Anyway onto the next one tomorrow lunchtime where we play Mickleover and with hopefully a bigger squad available to us, we will get back on track with the results.
