Boots lost their final pre-season friendly in farcical circumstances against a confident but under-strength Kinoulton Villa side. Wednesday actually started strongest, with Pete, Chibbert, Sam and Hawrylak producing some confident passing moves down the right, with the best chance falling to Chibbert who failed to lob the spread-eagled keeper on the edge of the area. Suddenly the game took a tumble into an alternative comedy universe, with the referee (Darth Vader with laryngitis) losing all senses as decision after decision was misconstrued or hilariously given to the team with the loudest yell. Kinoulton had a goal disallowed (with their midfielder eventually admitting that the ball had gone out of play during the build-up) before the Boots defence suddenly appeared to be mesmerised by the bounce of the ball as the next five minutes turned into a game of pinball in the area. Boots then gifted Kinoulton a breakthrough when Phil Parrot’s strong backpass rolled under the foot of Barnesy (on his goalkeeping debut) who managed to recover and snaffle the ball on the line. The referee awarded a free-kick 5 yards from the goal-line, and Kinoulton somehow managed to find the net (after a retake), although Rowan did his best to save the ball with his arm on the line!
After a reshuffle, Boots slowly recovered and dominated possession for much of the game. Man of the Match Sicky Sam had a great game, winning everything in the middle, while linking up well with Chibbert, Patto, Phil and Crozier. Bally and Danny showed plenty of running in the final third, although Boots still lacked the killer pass when it mattered, and despite seeing a lot of ball were often restricted to half-chances. Patto played in Rowan over the top for the best chance of the game, but his return ball was too close to the keeper. Fletch also had a string of chances from corners, with a shinned shot, header and looping volley from 15 yards all go narrowly wide, while Patto slid in Bally for a good one-on-one that was eventually smothered by the keeper. As well as seeing a direct free-kick palmed away by the keeper, Crozier had the opportunity to cross on many occasions, with his best pass only inches away from finding a sliding Chibbert at the back post. Due to Boots’ midfield domination, Fletch, Brett. Daz and Hawrylak were surprisingly untroubled for most of the second half, and Barnesy was only called upon twice for a brave block on the line and a strong sliding save on the edge of the box. Unfortunately with 5 minutes remaining Kinoulton struck twice on the counter-attack to produce a flattering scoreline, with ex-Boots Wednesday striker Ian Dean outpacing Phil to score the first, before a lack of defensive composure in the box allowed their striker a second chance at the third goal, which he gladly took. At the death Bally saw a looping header athletically saved by the Kinoulton keeper, but it simply wasn’t our day in front of goal despite numerous chances, although there were encouraging passages of composed short-play in midfield which we can be pleased with.
