Nottsborough – Six of the Best! 

Bob Leeds, the SAL Representative Team manager, announced his squad of 16 players for the F.A. Inter-League Cup Quarter Final on Monday afternoon. This was communicated via Twitter on the SAL website. Nottsborough are delighted to announce that six Nottsborough players have been included for the game against the Sussex County League at Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday 28th January. Many congratulations to Dan Ashley, Matt Kerr, Arren Sutcliffe, Richard Parker, Ian Cooper and Alex Ewin. Back in 2008 the SAL won this competition and earned the right to represent England in the European Cup, effectively amateur caps for England. Dan Ashley, Matt Kerr and Alex Ewin remain from that squad. It is good to see them selected again but with 3 new Nottsborough players also gaining recognition. The club is very proud of this selection and hope they will help the SAL to get through to the Semi Final.

Weekly Review

Oranges and Lemons 

The comeback of the weekend came from the Vets. Making the long trip to Old Lyonians we were on top for 70 minutes and found ourselves 2-1 down when a cross went in from 40 yards out. It looked like being one of those days, despite a lovely free kick from Dustin Seale. We could not score. However in the last 20 minutes we scored 3 terrific goals from Steve Hobbs on debut, a thumping header from Frank Lyons and a screamer from skipper Graham Appleby after a move that took us from one end to the other. The team showed a really good attitude and skill in a game we could have given up on. There are 5 matches to go. We are top and still in with a shout. A lot will depend on the return match against Double H. 

The 2’s continued their great run.  We went 2-0 up early on with an own goal and a penalty from skipper Johnny Briggs. We passed it around well but somehow let them back in it. Their pacey winger sprung the offside trap and finished well. Then John Grant handled for a penalty although we would dispute whether it was in the box. 2-2 at half time. With about 20 minutes left Paul Jacobs linked up very well with Rory O’Brien and Paul Jacobs rounded the keeper for his 14th goal of the season. With 1 minute left O’Brien moved on to a Ted Datta pass to make it 4-2 against his old club. Great to see Ted Datta back in the 2’s 18 months after he broke his leg in the AFA Senior semi-final. With Winchmore dropping points we have moved 5 clear at the top of the league.

The 3’s once again put in a good performance winning 3-1 against our old rivals Old Actonians. We took a 2-0 lead into half time after playing on the lawns of Tolworth with the wind. Firstly Ben Hughes latched onto a long clearance and lobbed the keeper before David Shaw got back on the goal trail with a right foot rocket from 18 yards. In fairness we should have finished the half more than 2-0 up as we flashed ball after ball across the box with their keeper making some excellent saves. We were playing some of our very best football of the season. We went off the boil a little bit in the second half, as they came out fired up with a strong wind at their back. They pulled one back with an unstoppable 30 yard volley which kicked us into gear. Shaw moved into centre mid replacing the pass master Ross Emry and steadied the ship with Paul Collins and a returning Gary Cullinan stepping off the bench to give us some much needed legs and defensive nouse. Ben Hughes wrapped the game up with 10 minutes to go after firing in a great strike from the right channel - on the balance of play it was thoroughly deserved. All in all a good performance from every one. Simon Stanko was full of energy from left back and later centre mid, Hughesy linked up excellently with Leon Roberts and Jimbo McNeil worked his socks off but MOM has to go to David Shaw who whipped in some great crosses from the left before moving into the middle and playing the DCM role to perfection. 

It is hard to describe the 1’s game at HAC. The home team are a big strong side who play to a set pattern and do it well. The pitch was not the biggest and the strong breeze rather spoiled the game. Oddly each team played their best into the breeze. HAC got maximum reward for their first half performance and the 1’s can feel a little aggrieved that they went in at half time 3-1 down. HAC were worth a lead but Nottsborough had not taken advantage of a couple of great chances. Slowly but surely Nottsborough ramped up the pressure in the second half as James Taylor added to the goal scored by Alex Ewin in the first half. By the end of the game all the HAC side were defending but Nottsborough could not find the equaliser. It was great to see Matt Rolfe make his first team comeback in the second half more than 18 months after his injury in the AFA Final. 

Increasingly I am not hearing from our 4’s as their season starts to unravel. I cannot give you any detail on a 7-0 defeat at Norsemen. The scoreline looks very odd when you look at the league table, and I can only assume that this was a very bad day at the office. The whole of the 4’s season hangs on getting a win next Saturday. The league title is still there to be won. 

The really good news I think is that the injury crisis is starting to abate. Matt Rolfe and Ted Datta continued their comebacks, whilst Gary Cullinan made his first appearance for 3 months. Dan McEwan returned to training last week and Ben Hickes and Arren Sutcliffe are only a couple of weeks away.