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Superb SAL defence not quite enough!
The Southern Amateur League so very nearly won their qualifying section of the UEFA Amateur Leagues competition in Alessandria, Italy last week. Arriving at the Seria C ground in Alessandria for the big-match decider against the Italian team it was not really clear what the England team needed to do, on the day, in order to qualify. They were in position A on goal difference but there were rumours that if three teams finished on level points then all games against Scotland would be discounted. On count-back that would mean that it would be between Italy and the Republic of Ireland who had shared a 2-2 draw whilst England were to draw their games against Ireland and Italy 0-0. With 20 minutes to go and Italy down to 10 men (yes the amateurs play just like the pro’s) England seemed content to play for a draw when one goal would have settled the tournament! Although the Republic of Ireland eventually hammered Scotland 5-1, a win by England against Italy would have given them 7 points and the tournament outright.
In the first game against the Republic of Ireland at Tortona a superb England defence held a very strong Ireland team to a 0-0 draw. To this observer the Ireland team did not look like amateurs, but maybe that is a testament to the quality also of the SAL players. The England defence of Adam Freeman (West Wickham), Neil Currie (West Wickham), James Ayres (Old Salesians), and Chris Shaw (Old Salesians) was superb throughout the tournament, but never more so than in this game. With Dan Ashley (Nottsborough) also having a good game the back 5 always gave the England team a chance in all the games, and against the Republic that chance came midway through the first half when Alex Ewin’s sharp turn lost the Irish centre half for a moment and the cross shot flew narrowly past the far post with Michael Ayres just failing to make the final touch.
Against East of Scotland the England management made changes and Nick Stavri (Nottsborough) was brought in alongside Alex Ewin (Nottsborough). Also introduced in midfield was Matt Kerr (Nottsborough), and I made Matt my man of the match for a performance full of energy. Nottsborough therefore started this game with 5 players on the pitch, including Nathan Violet and Dan Ashley. Although I am biased I thought that this made the difference because the ball retention and movement was better in this game than the other two. Maybe it was just easier against the Scots. In the first half England destroyed the Scottish defence down the left hand side with Violet, Ewin, Stavri and Kerr continually linking well. Stavri had a particularly good first half bringing the other players into the game and he made the first goal for Ewin and then scored a superb second himself. When Alex Ewin put England 3-0 up in the second half you felt that England had taken a very strong position as Italy only beat Scotland 3-1 and we felt that extra goal would be crucial. Nottsborough got a sixth player onto the pitch for the last 20 minutes as Chris Kerr played a vital role in keeping the ball and defending solidly as Scotland tried to nick a goal back. For me a vital trick was missed during this second half because Stavri, who has a bad back, was kept on the pitch too long if England wanted him to play against Italy.
So we all travelled into Alessandria again on the Friday for the group decider. What a cagey game this was! Italy kept the ball better and England seemed happy with a draw. England chose to bring back Mark Henry (Old Finchleians) for Matt Kerr, and Henry is a good player but I felt a spot should have been kept for Matt Kerr who had done so well against Scotland. I also felt that Chris Kerr would have been a good choice against Italy with his energy and ball retention. As with the Ireland game England rarely looked like conceding, and rarely looked like scoring. Nathan Violet spent a lot of time defending and not enough getting forward as he did against Scotland. Alex Ewin had a header cleared off the line, and with the game opening up in the last 20 minutes he then failed to take what looked to be a very good chance with 5 minutes to go. Italy almost snatched it when a fierce cross shot just missed and a 45 yard speculative effort clipped the top of the England bar with Dan Ashley scrambling and colliding with the post. At the end it was completely unclear who had taken the tournament, but the Irish 5-1 win put them on top on goal difference and to this observer they rightly took the qualifying place.
For Nottsborough to have 6 players selected for this tournament has been a big honour for the club. The Football Association treated this completely as an England occasion and the players will remember it for as long as they remember their football. The support from friends, family, and league representatives was superb.
Nottsborough players selected :
Dan Ashley; Matt Kerr; Chris Kerr; Nathan Violet; Alex Ewin; Nick Stavri.
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