Match Report by Crozier (Edited by Patto):
Boots played only their second league game of 2012 and registered their first points of the year after a hard fought draw against Nottingham Athletic. On a sunny, fresh morning a not-so-fresh Boots team started with a 4-5-1 set up; Frumpy was in goal with a defence of Crozier, Subo, Patto and Horlicks, a midfield five of Griff and Tooby (yes Tooby!) on the wings and a central trio of Ian, Rich and Chibbert, supporting Luke up front.
Athletic started on the front foot and immediately set the tone of their game with long balls down the wings before cutting into the box, and it was probably against the run of play when Boots broke down the right, and a tasty throughball by Rich released Luke onto the right by-line, who smashed the ball past the keeper from a tight angle. Athletic were quick to hit back, and a Delap-style throw from their left wing went unchallenged in the box and was finished with a back-post header. Following the equaliser, Boots started to play improved possession football with some good interchanges from midfield, with Chibbert and Brett putting pressure down the right (and were unlucky to not get free on goal), while Rich, Ian and Griffin were battling well and supporting Luke who tried to latch on to numerous through-balls. Boots’ second goal came from this hassling, as Chibbert chased down their floundering centre back on the wing and nipped the ball off his toes as it was shepherded out for a throw. Chibbert then bounded into the box before looking up and rolling the ball across to Luke, who kept calm and hit a low shot to finish his and Boots’ second goal. Wednesday could and should have extended their lead, with Ian coming close with a header from Rich’s corner that was tipped over, while SuBo crossed Patto’s long free kick back across goal, but an unmarked Luke could only volley his attempt over the bar. To their credit, the opposition continued to press but the Boots defence stayed strong, with Patto and Subo winning the headers and Chris and Crozier keeping the wingers at bay, and Rich was also in the right place as he cleared a corner from the post to keep the lead intact. Unfortunately Athletic did hit back just before half time when a harsh free kick was given against Patto on the edge of the area; the resulting free kick was whipped around the wall and over the despairing Frumpy into the top right corner to level the scores.
Starting the second half, Boots switched Kieran for Brett, and the game became a much closer affair with limited chances as legs began to tire. Boots’ best options came from set pieces having numerous headers from corners and free kicks drift wide (mostly Ian), while Ian also blazed several snap shots wide when the ball fell kindly in the area. Frumpy had to be on call a few times, and be strong when dealing with the long throws, receiving help from Patto, Subo and Ian with some strong defensive headers. A new slimmer and taller Pete Allaway (aka Pete Buist) came on for Chibs with 20 minutes to go, and as legs tired it looked like the game may end as a 2-2 draw, until their pacy winger cut in from the left and unleashed a shot that Frumpy probably had covered until it took a lucky deflection of their striker’s head, evading Frumpy’s outstretched hand to nestle in the top right corner. However, Boots rallied back and got a deserved equaliser when Luke was pulled down in the box by their physical defender (who’d been on Luke’s heels all day). Subo stepped up and took responsibility, finishing much better than Stevie G and Charlie Adam later in the day by rolling the ball into the bottom right corner! With the end of the game approaching, Boots still had chances to win it; Luke was put through and although forced wide managed to get a shot away (which rose over the bar), Pete saw a long range bobbling strike collected by the keeper, and after good work from Griff and Luke, Crozier was released down the left and his fizzed cross was just missed by the late substitute Spence, when any touch would have seen a certain goal.
So the game was a draw, but it was a good performance and Boots played much better football than their counterparts, who were lucky with two of their goals; the free kick was debatable and their striker knew very little about the third. Boots also created numerous opportunities and on another day it could have been a very different story had the finishing been better. Luke picked up Man of the Match for causing panic in their defence all game and finishing his goals with a clinical calmness, although SuBo also got an honourable mention for winning a plethora of headers throughout the game!
