Ilkeston Fc 1 - 0 Chorley Fc

Christmas Shopping then a deluge which left Sheffield Fc`s pitch water-logged last Saturday have seen Dudsey side-lined for the last two weekends, so a game was well and truly on the cards. Having cast my eye on this weekend`s fixture list this one really whetted my appetite.

The intrigue with today`s fixture is Chorley Fc`s manager...none other than ex Man City and Blackburn mid-fielder Garry Flitcroft...what has his experience bought to Non-League football?

Dudsey hasn`t been to the NMG since the play-off final against Leek Town at the end of April, although if it was a little closer to home I could quite easily make this place a regular haunt, it`s a great club with a good fan-base.

The `Ilson Crew`are out in force, they create a great atmosphere around the ground, their repertoire of quick witted ditties is second to none which keep all in attendance fully entertained.

After enjoying the highs of a good season at Step 4 in the Evo-Stik Division 1 South it`s fair to say that Ilkeston haven`t found life so easy in the Premier Division with only five wins from their nineteen games positioning them fifteenth in the league whilst Chorley currently sit in ninth spot.

Dudsey arrives in plenty of time, it`s nine pound at the turnstile and a pound for what must be one of the best quality programs published. Feeling a tad peckish I decide to sample the delights of  'The NMG`s' catering facility, for me it`s up there in my top three along with Staveley but Belper still comes out 'Top of the Pile' catered for by the excellent 'Derbyshire Catering Co'.

Talking of 'Belper', Dudsey was surprised to see Gary Ricketts` former strike partner Daryl Thomas has left Ilkeston and returned to Christchurch Meadow. With Thomas gone, Matt Richards has been pushed up-front to partner 'Ilson`s' skipper.

Ilkeston win the toss and get the game rolling. The pace from the off is awesome, Matt Richards is looking very sharp down the left wing for the home-side whilst Tom Ince seems to be the one to watch for the visitors, he`s back and forward like a 'Worker Bee' with a great centre of balance and a great engine, Dale Witham is also looking very lively in 'The Magpies mid-field.

The flow of the game is excellent with both sides probing and testing each other to the max, Ilkeston have a series of corners in the opening quarter but the usually arial dominant Ricketts is winning very little in the box with Jack Cudworth effectively mopping up anything that does head toward Chorley`s goal.

Ince continues to drive 'The Magpies' forward supported by Steve Flitcroft but the visitors seem to be failing in the last quarter as Chorley`s usual goal-maestro..Darren Stephenson is struggling to get to grips with the game.

Although the first half remained goal-less the chances were there in abundance, Cudworth made several spectacular saves, non more-so than a double clearance from Aaron Hooton. Chorley also went close on a couple of occasions with the best opportunity falling to Witham whose sweet strike from the eighteen yard box just fizzed wide of Chris Martin`s goal.

Matt Richards could only look on in dis-belief as his drive had got the 'Ilson Crew' prematurely celebrating the goal only to see it somehow return off the right post. 0-0 at Half-Time

As the players leave the field of play so does the Sun, what had been a lovely afternoon soon turned bitterly cold, gloves, hats and hot drinks start to appear in abundance as the teams re-enter the field of play.

Chorley get the second half underway and initially look to be having the better of the play as Ilkeston seem unable to pick up any loose balls. Ince and sub, John Cunliffe are fronting the visitors charge but in all honesty they`re doing  it on their own as the mid-field fail to provide any support for them, eventually they end up getting crowded off the ball due to the lack of options available.

For the first quarter of an hour 'The Magpies' still look dangerous in spells but eventually the lads in red start to gain a little momentum, Jack Watts is looking a menace and is providing the front men with some cracking openings. Ricketts misses two sitters followed by another as Hooton shanks the ball to the left of Cudworth`s goal.

Eventually the deadlock is broken as a short corner finds it`s way into a very crowded box and despite a few scrappy attempts to clear it, Ryan Wilson manages to get his head on it and over the top of Cudworth. 1-0 with about twenty minutes left.

The goal really spurs 'The Robins` on, they are looking rampant and should have added to their single goal but when you`re only one goal ahead the game and the points are still in the balance. Tbh Chorley are not out of it yet and continue to press as the opportunity arises and could easily have took a point back over the Pennines as Ince forced an excellent save from Martin in the dying minutes but the home side managed to hold out for the win.

On today`s showing, the pace of the game at Step 3 is relentless...one lapse in concentration can result in you finding yourself a goal down at the drop of a hat. A missed opportunity can be very costly, what could easily have been four goals for Ilkeston could quite as easily been points shared if Chorley had took one of their chances.

A cracking game of football in front of a very appreciative crowd!!


My men of the Match - Ilkeston; Jack Watts shaded it for his second half performance and for Chorley, the lively Tom Ince.

Click here for Match Pictures (Sorry about some of the quality today)

Attendance - 405

Admission - £9

Staveley Mw 1 - 3 Brighouse Town (aet) - FA Vase 2nd Round

Having missed out on Staveley`s FA Vase journey last season which saw them make it all the way to the semi-final, Dudsey`s pick of today`s local fixtures has brought me back to Inkersall Road for today`s Second Round tie against Brighouse Town.

It`s funny how certain things stick in the mind for life....whenever I come across the name Brighouse my mind immediately flashes back to a freezing cold Saturday afternoon back in February of 2009.

Town were entertaining Rainworth Mw in the Ncel Division 1, Rudy Funk`s high flying 'Wrens' emerged from Calderdale as 1-4 Victors, Danny Bainbridge and Massiah McDonald bagged two apiece in a very memorable day out in West Yorks.

By far the most memorable sight was the Tea-Ladies cautiously carrying a steaming tray of hot drinks down to both dugouts, it really made me appreciate what a great community spirit Non-League football has at times.

Brighouse look to have flourished since that cold February day, sitting just one place below table topping Bridlington Town in the Premier Division with six points and five places separating themselves from today`s hosts.

Before we go any further I`m going to hold my hands up and claim 'Tw*t of the week Award", half way through the first half Dudsey enquired if today`s game would go to a replay...to which the reply was "Yes mate". Just wondering if the dozen or so people who also made a quick escape in front of me after ninety minutes now feel as daft as I do.

With that off my chest, it`s only right I should carry on with my post for one very heart rendering reason....Joe Thornton.!!

Not only did Joe put in a great shift today, he managed to do it only 24hrs after the sad loss of his Mum, such was Joe`s determination to play in the Vase today it reduced Staveley`s Chairman...Terry Damms to tears last night as he prepared the necessary paperwork for today`s game.

A perfectly observed minutes silence preceded the game in respect of Joe`s Mum...a bit of a choker Tbh.

Joe Thornton in action today

Brighouse get the tie underway, it`s good end-to-end stuff with both sides enjoying good spells of play, unfortunately Staveley`s keeper, Tom Turner pulled up and was replaced by Richard Ayres.

Town`s main contributors early on are Ernest Boafa, Joe Mitchell, Daniel Naidole and Tom Matthews, with the usual candidates... McGrory, Eagers, Fox, Damms, Barraclough and Thornton doing the business at the sharp end for the home-side.

Despite Brighouse`s initial push early on in the half, Staveley looked the more likely of the two sides to take the lead going into the interval after a really good ten minutes saw them go close on a couple of occasions especially Ben Leonard`s header in the final minute of the first half.

Having sensed the end of the first half was going Staveley`s way, the visitors decide to introduce Ryan Hall into the mix, his presence has the desired effect for the Brighouse bench as the visitors looked really dangerous from the restart, Hall is tearing off down the right-wing and has the home-side on the back foot.

Boafa, Mitchell and Matthews are also prevalent with some good support from right-back James Sutcliffe and eventually the deadlock is broken as Boafa puts the ball beyond Ayres on the hour. 0-1.

Staveley slowly get it going but look a little wasteful at times, trying to thread a ball into a congested box instead of playing a simple one-two whilst in space, but it`s all very entertaining stuff.

The goal really gets Staveley`s heckles up and it`s the kick up the arse they needed, not only does it wake them up it see`s them really get down to business, the left-wing is being utilised to the maximum and without the presence of Wilson and Jagger who are doing a sterling job in Brighouse`s defence it could have been all square much earlier.

Thornton is withdrawn to a rapturous applause and is replaced by Chris Youlden.

Staveley are moving the ball about well using the available width afforded to them out wide left, eventually the home-side get the break they are looking for as Brighouse`s clearance goes out for a corner. Fox takes it quickly and the game is squared through Jordan Eagers on seventy five minutes.

All square with fifteen minutes left, both sides continued to produce some cracking football but failed to break each other down so at what Dudsey believed was full-time it ended 1-1, can`t honestly believe how many other people exited the ground like me thinking it was going to a re-play.

Ah well at least the ninety minutes I had witnessed was very entertaining but a little sad given today`s circumstances to find out that Staveley had lost 1-3 in to a Tom Matthews double strike in extra-time but good luck to Brighouse in the next round.

On the face of what I saw today, Brighouse are a well crafted side and will surely be in the mix at the end of the season in the Ncel Prem and should be in with a good chance of progressing in the next round of the Vase.

Staveley`s strength come from squad stability, you could virtually name the starting line up week in-week out and they have a good bunch of players who know and understand each others.


Click her for match pictures


My Man of the Match - Some excellent candidates today,  but for reasons far and beyond football there was only one hero on the pitch today and I`m sure his Mum would be very proud of him....Well done and the upmost respect to Joe Thornton!!

Teams - Staveley: Turner, McGrory, Mycoe, Fawcus, Colliver, Leonard, Eagers (c), Fox, Damms, Barraclough, Thornton. Subs: Coy, Youlden, Ellis, Finlaw, Ayres.

Brighouse - Turner, Sutcliffe, Brown, Wilson, Jaggar, Thornton, Naidole, Mitchell, Boafa, Mathews, Hurtley. Subs: Hall, Rose, Charlesworth, Thompson, Brown

Attendance - 130

Admission -£5

Rainworth Mw 0 - 4 Stamford Afc

Stamford Afc

Dudsey`s taste for mid-week football had waned in recent month`s and having tossed the coin around in my head all day I decided to take the plunge based on a couple of factors...the temperature was still a balmy twelve degrees and secondly, Rainworth`s recent rise up the table had got me a little intrigued as to what they were doing differently these days.

Accompanied by Mrs H (a bit of a rare occasion these days), we took a seat in the main stand and enjoyed the company of Hucknall Town`s commercial manager Steve Peat and our good friends...Mick and Pete.

These two should have been snapped up by the Beeb years ago, they are the 'Banter Kings' of non-league footie and bounce of each other like 'Morecambe and Wise, so entertainment is assured tonight in one form or another.

Stamford come here in good form having won ten of their fifteen league game and impressively dumped FC of Manchester out of the FA Trophy, whilst 'The Wrens' sit a respectable fourth in the league.

 Blair Anderson

If anything can be attributed to Rainworth`s current turn of form surely consistency of squad must be one of them and the second had to be the predatory presence of young striker Blair Anderson...well up until tonight that is, if  'The Word' is right the mercurial youngster has been lured to Barnsley Fc, not surprising really, the kid is a class act!!

From the opening whistle it`s easy to see what is making 'The Daniels' tick, the front pairing of Ricky Miller and Gary King are as good a duo that I`ve seen since Higginson and Woolley at Sheffield, they think alike have great spacial awareness of each others movement, with a turn of pace capable of ruining any defences day (or night on this occasion).

Make no mistake, the visitors were too good on the night but three of the four goals arose from indecision in the rear ranks, in as little as four minutes 'The Wrens' were in trouble as Miller made the best of a good throw in which lacked no real attempt to clear it, giving him enough time to thump it high into McCormack`s net.

Rainworth did enjoy some good spells of play, Callum Lloyd was prevalent in the midfield and Jordan Turner looked good in flashes whilst Ricky Hanson ran his socks off from back to front, in the abscence of Anderson Rainworth are pinning their hopes on new signing Corey Dyer-Stewart producing a goal or two, he`s nimble and seems confident on the ball, but he`s not in Anderson`s league.

Other than that, Stamford have everything pretty much covered, a solid defence very well Captained by the tall figure of Richard Jones and a good productive midfield servicing the impressive strikers, Matt Finley also looks decent in goal as well.

Just as the game was getting warmed up the dreaded clunk of the Floodlight`s tripping echoed around the ground, in-fact the whole village is plunged into darkness..!!

"You there Mick? " yes Pete... you can let go of my leg now"

Fifteen minutes of 'mirth and merriment' ensued as the entertainment moved from the pitch to the two characters to our left, meanwhile the groundstaff and officials are getting things back up and running, the Ref restarts the game from the point it was stopped and Stamford took to the offensive once again.

A wide ball is played out to the left by the visitors and is duly collected by Miller, he riggles by his marker on the edge of the box and unleashes a beast of a shot which whistles by McCormack into the far right corner. 0-2 after half an hour and that`s how it finished at the interval.

Gary King

Stamford start the second half as they ended the first...in control, Rainworth are struggling to contain the visitors and within ten minutes of the restart the deficit is raised to three goals as the influential King gets a well deserved goal of his own.

 

With little else in reply to Stamford`s dominance, Rainworth look to the bench for salvation, Ryan Goward and Karl Slack are on for Turner and Holmes and Tbh  it initially looks promising.

 Slack had the best chance of the night for the home-team and could only look on in disbelief as his bullet of a header which had Finlay well beaten returned back to the six yard line after rocking the woodwork.

Ricky Miller

Three goals up with the closure of the game imminent Stamford withdraw their dynamic duo, to cap the night off a mistimed back pass towards McCormack gifted replacement striker Jake Gibson the ball on the edge of the box, with only the keeper to beat he rounded Rainworth`s No1 and buried the fourth goal in the last minute of play.

Four nil looked a bit harsh on tonight performance but Rainworth really had no answer for Miller and King tonight and if anything helped their cause.

It`s easy to be cynical but Rainworth are not in the top six for nothing, but without Anderson`s cutting edge up-front they looked like the toothless beast we had all become accustomed to                                                       last season.

My only concern tonight was of the errors made by the usually solid defence. One good positive tonight was the size of tonight`s crowd, 118 is a significant  improvement on Rainworth`s recent attendances.


Teams - Rainworth : McCormack; Walker; Hanson; Camm; Kitchen; Craven; Lloyd; Bacon; Turner; Bacon; J. Holmes; Dyer-Stewart. Subs : Goward, Slack, Cooksey,  Burton; Barcherini.

Stamford : Finlay; Maddox; Mayo; Batchelor; Jones; Jacklin; Hall; Ozmen; King; Miller; Brooks. Subs: Smith; Cotton; Gibson; Hamilton; Mullarkey

Admission - £7

Attendance - 118

Sheffield Fc 2 - 2 Chasetown Fc

Another one of those Saturday`s where Dudsey is left wondering where to go..Rainworth are away, Ilkeston are at home to FC of Manchester (Bedlam.!!), so it`s back to one of my favourite away venues and a chance to see another one of this seasons newcomers to the Evo-Stik Division 1 South.

You could probably fit on the back of a postage stamp what I know about Chasetown Fc....other than they had a cracking run in the FA Cup back in 2008 reaching the third round against Cardiff.

It`s a lovely afternoon in South Yorkshire, clear Blue Skies...although I must admit it is a tad nippy when you are out of the sun. There`s a healthy crowd at the BT Local Stadium with a good contingent making the journey from Staffordshire.

A perfectly observed minutes silence was held in respect of all our fallen Heroes and to remember the untimely passing of a Lady involved with Sheffield Fc.

They sure as hell bring their fair share of flags to display at away grounds, in-fact a group of them must have spent the best part of twenty minutes decorating the hoardings at the score-board end of the ground.

'The Scholars' looked to start the better of the two teams in the opening ten minutes but Sheffield soon settled down and became the most productive of the two sides with Shoquilee (Shak) McKenzie and Steve Woolley really pushing deep into the visitors half with some great over-lap play from Lee Featherstone and Jobe Shaw.

Chasetown look very well structured in defence and if not for the excellent organisation and dominance in the air of their skipper Richard Teesdale, perhaps Sheffield`s efforts might have been more fruitful sooner rather than later, the high ball over the top was never going to beat this lad so the home-sides focus turned to a more wide approach.

Chasetown aren`t sitting on their laurels though and look for every opportunity to hit Sheffield on the break. Theo Robinson seems to be the preferred route in down the right-flank, being supplied by Jack Farmer and Gavin Saunders although the ever dependable Jamie Hatfield looks to be keeping the nimble striker in check for the home-side

It`s really good end-to-end stuff and although Sheffield look to be shading it possession wise, two off the cuff breaks give the visitors a two goal cushion. Robinson snatched the opener on 27 minutes from Mark Branch`s excellently executed free kick.

Whether or not Sheffield were dazed at finding themselves a goal adrift against the run of play as they did against Sutton Coldfield, they are caught out yet again with another quick break, Robinson turns provider this time, laying off a perfectly weighted ball to the feet of Nicholas Wellecomme.

From the second he picked the ball up Dudsey sensed there was only one outcome, faced directly one-on-one with Liam Flynn he made no mistake in punishing 'Club' for their defensive lapse, chipping the ball over the keeper. 2-0 up with fifteen minutes of the first half remaining.

Two goals adrift in as many minutes, Sheffield now have to set about reducing the deficit, the mid-field is pretty evenly contested as Rickards and Saunders square up against the home pairing of Roney and Gascoigne. Woolley and McKenzie remain full of beans and spend alot of time in and around the visitors eighteen yard box.

Sheffield finally manage to breach Chasetown`s defence as a decent build up gave Featherstone the opportunity to loft the ball into the box, seeing it take a fortunate touch from the immaculate and slightly unlucky Teesdale as Steve Woolley added the final touch.

So Sheffield manage to pull one back just before the interval, 1-2 at Half-Time, with three goals in the first half and the game looking very open Dudsey has a good feeling that there is more to come from this game in the second half.

The lads in Red had obviously had their ears bent at half-time from manager Curtis Woodhouse, but if there`s something Sheffield are good at in the last two games I`ve watched here, it`s pulling themselves back from behind, (not what any manager wants, but at least they have the ability to do it).

Quick out of the blocks, the home-side took no time in levelling the game as a well crafted build up finds the ball at the feet of McKenzie whose well taken drive left Ryan Price with little chance of stopping it in the third minute of the second period.

Dudsey bumps into Rainworth`s manager..Kev Gee who was doing a bit of groundwork on today visitors and Tbh I got slightly lost in the conversation. The pace of the second half was scintillating, Woolley and McKenzie were immaculate for the home-side going forward, Chasetown`s Daniel Smith was on fire in the last twenty minutes, he ran riot down the right wing and on any other given day he would surely have been rewarded for his tireless efforts.

Although there was to be no more goals in the game after a few tactical changes, the openness and flow of the game was a credit to both sides as they pushed each other hard in a bid to take all three points. A special mention has to go to today`s Referee, Mr Karaivanov, keeping his cards in his pocket he allowed the game to be what it was today, exciting, fast paced with no unnessesary hold-ups.

A credit to the Evo-Stik today and 2-2 at the final whistle was probably a fair result for the efforts of both sides in front of a very appreciative 306 strong crowd.

The saying goes, "It`s boring drawing"....far from it today, for as far as entertainment goes you couldn`t have wished for anything more from today`s fixture, especially the second half. (As a neutral anyway!!)

Click here for Match pictures


Teams - Sheffield; Flynn, Turner, Featherstone, Foster (c), Hadfield, Shaw, Roney, Gascoigne, McKenzie, Wall, Woolley.  Subs - Powell, White, Burrell, Knowles, Harrison.

Chasetown; Price, Downs, Branch, Farmer, Ashton, Teesdale (c), Rickards, Saunders, Wellecomme, Smith, Robinson.  Subs - Robinson, Westwood, Brown, Jackson, Kisiel.

Admission £6

Attendance - 306

Hucknall Town 0 - 2 Mickleover Sports

With the departure of the management duo of Brett Marshall and Graham Walker after Tuesday night`s defeat at Belper, it looks like our friends Julian Topliss, Rob Paling and Jason Fisher are going to need all the support they can get so Dudsey and Hales have decided to go and give the Lads a shout against local rivals..Mickleover Sports.

Sitting five places above Hucknall in seventeenth spot, 'Sports' have also had a bit of a chequered start to life in the Evo-Stik Division 1 South, Won-3, Drawn-5 and Lost-6, so on paper the fixture looks fairly evenly balanced.

In the absence of a regular manager, Tony Crook, Jody Caudwell and Physio..Dave Lester have taken up the reigns until a new manager is unveiled.

Looking at the today`s result it looks as though it`s a case of...."Hucknall have lost again", and points wise they have.. but anyone in attendance will definitely concur, there wasn`t two goals difference between the sides on display this afternoon.

Hucknall were definitely the better of the two sides and richly deserved something from a game in which they played with a great passion and flair, despite the events of the last four days.

The game flowed well from the off and Mickleover enjoyed a decent share of the play early on in the first half, although if  Hucknall`s front pairing of Topliss and Ben Spargo had not been so quick out the blocks the numerous off-sides they found themselves pulled up for would have surely led to at least one or two decent goalscoring opportunities from the excellent link play supplied by Alton Rennals and Evan Garnett in the opening half-hour.

'Sports' then had their brightest spell of the game for the last twenty minutes of the first-half, which resulted in two goals within six minutes. A quick substitution for Mickleover proved to be the undoing of the home-side as with only his fourth touch of the ball Robert Smith had the ball in the back of Fisher`s goal, 0-1 with ten minutes to go.

A couple more chances for the visitors go begging as Kieran O`Connell and Alex Steadman push on hard and eventually supply Micky Williams with a great opening as he makes it two with five minutes of the half remaining. Hucknall are still trying to push for a goal as the Sun and the stop-watch fade into the break, ht 0-2.

Without the warmth of the Sunshine we enjoyed in the first-half it`s turned decidedly cold for the second half, we share a hot drink and a chat with Rob Paling`s parents in the early part of the second half. Hales comments how impressed he`s been with Hucknall`s commitment, to which we all agree. The visitors have a few flurries down the left-flank but Paling seems to have it covered and Topliss is giving him good support on the over-lap when required.

From the hour mark on, it`s all Hucknall. Warren Hatfield and Topliss are forging some good openings down the right wing, and on any other given day the home-side should have had three in the net, but when your lucks out, it`s out, and despite numerous corners the second half remains goal-less. 0-2 at the final whistle.

A cracking performance from a side who had little to cheer about in previous days and although it`s another three points gone, there were plenty of good points from today`s game, Mickleover`s keeper, Tom Gutteridge was definitely the busier of the two, and when called into action Jason Fisher made some fine saves for the home-side and no doubt will be a bit peeved at the two goals which did manage to beat him. 

So where did it go wrong for 'The Yellows', Mickleover took there chances and converted them.On the break Hucknall looked very sharp and once the off-side trap is beaten it looks as though there`s goals in the front pairing of Topliss and Spargo, plus unfortunately the finishing just didn`t drop into place for them this afternoon but a performance well appreciated by the Watnall Road faithful.


My Man of the Match - Evan Garnett`s first half contribution was faultless for Hucknall and apart from the finishing touch, Topliss was on fire in the second half.  Well done lads!!


Attendance - 113


Click here for the match pictures.


Teams - Hucknall: Fisher, Paling, Leggitt, McAnulty, Green, Hayes, Garnett, Rennalls, Spargo, Hatfield, Topliss. Sub - Brown

Mickleover - Gutteridge, Land, Guy, Martin, Wood, Storey, Raves, Williams, Steadman,O`Connell, Smyth.
Subs- Munn, Smith, Moon, Hoyle.

Rainworth Mw 3 - 2 Newcastle Town

Having not ventured over to Rainworth for a week or two Dudsey decides to pop over and see how things are shaping up at Kirklington Road.

Looking at Rainworth`s current squad certainly gives the impression of a Club who are moving in a positive direction, the only disappointment is that the once full stand now seems sparsely populated, whether that will change now the results are coming good remains to be seen.

Prior to the kick off Newcastle Town were sitting one spot above Rainworth by virtue of goal difference so both teams really needed to secure all three points if they had any desire to chase the leading pack. If today`s weather is anything to go by you wouldn`t bet on much more in the way of support....It`s Baltic!! 

Thompson puts the visitors ahead in the third minute

Newcastle get the game of to a decent start and an early free kick for the visitors shatters Dudsey`s optimism as Rainworth find themself a goal down as a bit of slack defending allowed the ball to skate across the face of Joe McCormack`s goal and onto the boot of Nev Thompson, 0-1 after three minutes.

Shades of previous seasons are still rattling around in my head as Ryan Goward threads a lovely weighted ball into the path of Rainworth`s current impresario, Blair Anderson; on loan from Alfreton Town, this kid is electric and he draws himself out to the left and releases a sublime curler which sailed beyond Dave Parton and into the top right-hand corner. All square after eight minutes.

Parton watches on as Anderson`s shot finds the net

Both sides hustled it out and although the first half failed to produce any more goals it certainly entertained the seventy nine souls who had braved the elements. Rainworth play a completely different game to previous seasons, gone has the long-ball approach as they now pass the ball around in a series of neat moves.

Karl Slack who had failed to impress me over at Hucknall recently looks a completely different prospect in a Rainworth shirt and seems to fit the side like a glove with 'The Wrens' style of play.

The central defence is crammed with experience as Ashley Kitchen now rubs shoulders with the ever dependable Mark Camm, whilst the 'Midfield Generals', Danny Bacon, Jared Holmes and Callum Lloyd provide some decent link play.

Newcastle are a busy industrious side who look to the right flank as their in-road, James Askey and Kyle Diskin cross over well and seek to thread balls over towards the powerful frame of Thompson and Tom France whilst Christian Millar sheriffs their midfield.

Newcastle thought their afternoon was about to take a turn for the better as McCormack came out to make a clearance and slipped in the process seeing the ball strike his arm as he slid beyond the eighteen yard box.

For me it`s a bit of a toughie for the Ref as to what colour card he would produce for Rainworth`s No1, after consulting his assistant he decides a booking would suffice although the Staffordshire contingent certainly had a stronger opinion about it in the Tea-Bar at half-time.

With the wind behind their backs, Rainworth get the second half off to a start but it`s the visitors who come out stronger and nearly catch the home-side with another early stinger but an unorganised scramble in the box saves the home-sides blushes.

The visitors hit a bit of a lull and it`s the turn of the white-shirted Wren`s to enjoy a decent spell of play, Slack goes close before being replaced by Ian Holmes, the home-side`s diligence eventually pays off and they get their noses back in front via Danny Bacon`s deflected shot, 2-1 after twenty minutes of the second half.

Bacon`s deflection makes it 2-1

For the second time in the game the usual dependable Rainworth defence slip into a brief defensive lapse allowing 'The Castle' to square the game as Christian Millar is given way to much time, allowing him to pick his spot and deliver the shot which pulls the game all square again, 2-2 with twenty minutes remaining.

Anderson is replaced by Jordan Turner who also looks a very lively prospect, Rainworth look to be shading it in the last ten minutes as Holmes and Turner who have the benefit of fresh legs look evermore a threat but are at times a little too eager for the linesman`s flag.

McCormack gets caught out 2-2

Kieran Walker and  Ryan Goward are now able to push on at will as the visitors come under a sustained spell of pressure and eventually a break down the right from Goward pushes the ball just beyond Newcastle`s defence and into Turner`s path who coolly chips Parton as he attempts to close him down, 3-2 with five minutes left.

The visitors continue to plug away at it till the end but fail to pose any serious threat in the closing minutes seeing 'The Wrens` collect all three points.

A pretty evenly contested affair although Newcastle`s bench might feel a little aggrieved by the McCormack incident which had it gone their way would surely have impacted on today`s result but it`s refreshing that at last after three arduous seasons at Step 4 it looks like under the guidance of Kevin Gee it appears as though 'The Wrens' are at last starting to fly a little higher.


Click Here for all Match Pictures


Teams - Rainworth: McCormack, Walker, Goward, Camm (c), Kitchen, Burton, Slack,, Lloyd, J.Holmes, Bacon, Anderson. Subs - Cooksey, Turner, Hanson, I Holmes

Newcastle: Parton, Asky, Wint, Bayley (c), Carter; Lowe, Diskin, Millar, Thompson, France, Thorley.
Subs - Hutchinson, Ashman, Nicholls, Harrison.


Admission - £7

Attendance - 79

Sheffield Fc 2 - 3 Sutton Coldfield

The only real option all week was Hucknall Town against table-topping Coalville, how I ended up here today is still a bit of a mystery to me other than the fact the girls were up for a touch of 'Retail Therapy' and Chesterfield is their town of choice so the ten minute nip up the A61 was a good second choice.

On the way up the Bypass.. Dudsey`s mulling over how many goals Sheffield would win by this afternoon.. not dismissing Sutton but the form table and league position just lead you to believe this one was a home-banker. "Just shows how wrong you can be".

Sheffield take the toss and decide to swap ends and kick towards the main-stand and look well up for it in the opening minute taking an early corner, from the clearance a couple of swift advances by 'The Royals' let the Sheffield back four (who are looking a little disjointed early on) know that they are here to make a game of it,  then came a fifteen minute spell that silenced the home contingent of the 269 strong crowd as the visitors racked up a three goal lead.

The first two taken comprehensively by Sutton`s Kristian Ramsey-Dickson, who`s powerful frame brushed aside his markers taking two very convincing goals in the second and fourteenth minutes which had the oldest club in the country lost in a bit of a spin, enough of a spin to see them get caught napping again two minutes later as Luke Chapman slotted in the third.

Ramsey-Dicksons second strike nestles in Liam Flynn`s goal.

0-3 down with only just over a quarter of an hour gone, the home supporters seemed a tad disgruntled that the team currently occupying fifteenth position in the league could be making their beloved 'Club' look such easy pickings. ("I won`t go into detail, ladies might be reading").

It`s looking all too easy and Tbh even at this early stage it seemed like a bit of 'Bridge too Far' on the early evidence of Sutton`s dominance, but if there`s anything Dudsey has learn`t about this Sheffield side is the fact they are usually composed and seldomly look flustered. The afore mentioned attribute rewarded the home-crowd with a little solace as a well constructed move see`s Jamie Hadfield reduce the deficit to two goals in the twenty first minute.

Sheffield remain focused despite the early onslaught

Game on..or that's what everyone was thinking..!! Four goals in just over twenty minutes and both sides playing an open game lead you to believe that we were in for a right treat today, not totally inaccurate as the game was flowing well but Sutton seemed to have gone off the boil whilst Sheffield seemed to be struggling in the final third although enough chances were being created.

Sutton`s failure to make the best of the width Daryl Taylor was offering often lead them into a dead-end and that was the pattern up until the break, 1-3 at half-time.

Not much between the teams in the second quarter.

I suppose four goals in one half would satisfy anyone looking down the barrel of a nil-niler but in a game which showed so much promise in the opening fifteen minutes the hope that a good Pep-Talk by both Manager`s at half time will hopefully inspire a few more goals in the second half.

The second half does lack goals but the game still looks promising, the creativity is there but a lack of awareness see`s it become more of a mid-field menagerie, arms and legs everywhere. Sheffield look slightly the more likely side to break the second half deadlock but Sutton`s back four are well composed.

Middle of the park muddle

The Sun breaks out and brings a little welcome warmth to a lovely Autumn afternoon, the place looks lovely as the tree fringed sidelines come to life, on the pitch there`s still plenty of life and Sutton have found a little momentum, primarily down the left side-line and in the main they are giving as good as they are getting.

Louis Keenan and Dean Rathbone continue to plug away at it for the visitors whilst Sheffield look happy enough to remain composed and take their breaks as the opportunity arises.

Rathbone is watched on by Louis Keenan

Still harboring a two goal deficit, Sheffield decide to introduce a little more fire power in the form of Vill Powell and although he has shedloads of experience and a presence about him he doesn`t quite make the impact the locals are expecting although he does a good job at holding the ball up.

Looking as though it`s destined to be a goal-less second half, Sheffield continue to push and look the stronger of the two sides in the last ten minutes and eventually a run in from the left see`s the first real defensive error by the visitors as a trailing leg brings down Chris Adam in the box, the Ref rightly points to the spot and Woolley steps up to slip it neatly by Lee Evans into the right hand corner. 

Woolley slots it just beyond Evans` reach, 2-3.

With only one goal separating the sides there`s a bum squeaking three minutes of normal time plus stoppages for Sheffield to salvage a point or for Sutton to return home with all three, unfortunately the clock beat the home-side and the travelling 'Royal`s' had something to celebrate. 

Shame the second half fell short of the first but that`s football, either way a decent afternoon, four goals and a bit of welcome Sunshine. Sheffield`s early lapse gave them too much of a hill to climb, Good game though.


Match pictures - Click here

Man the Match - Ramsey-Dickson, Sutton (two killer goals)

Teams - Sheffield : Flynn, Turner, Featherstone, Foster (c), Hadfield, Burrell, Roney, Knowles, Martin, McKenzie, Woolley. Subs - Anderson, Adam, Wall, Bryan, Powell.

Sutton Coldfield.- : Evans, Quiggin, Keenan, Parsons (c), Kettle, Male, Taylor, Rathbone, Ramsey-Dickson, Sheldon. Chapman. Subs - Gumery, Leek, Thompson, Ling, Bedford (Gk).

Admission £6

Attendance 269

Staveley Mw 3 - 0 Winterton Rangers

Not what Dudsey had got planned for this afternoon....The plan was to drop in and see what Mark Shaw was doing with Shirebrook Town... I dropped Mrs H and 'The Little Chic' off in Chesterfield in what I thought was bags of time only to find the ring-road absolutely at a standstill.

Realising that time was well against me I decided to drop into Inkersall Road for Staveley`s game against Ncel Premiership strugglers Winterton Rangers.

I managed to pull up with three minutes to the kick-off, ironically at the same time as an old mining colleague Dave Ward (Poo Bear) who`s company I enjoyed at Staveley`s game against Worksop Parramore, hence I spent most of the game in Dave`s company (he`s a top bloke and has football running through every vein of his body).

Looking at it on paper though I honestly couldn`t see today being too much of a problem given the fact that virtually all of last seasons Winterton squad had followed their manager to Retford United at the beginning of the season leaving a massive task for any predecessor.

Dudsey has a brief chat with Staveley`s Chairman...Terry Damms who explains that the abscence of one of their most influential players, Jordan Eagers was down to nothing  more than a recently acquired injury.

To keep it brief it was probably as one sided as games come, Sky Stats would have been drooling at this one, Staveley must have had 75% of the game and although the game for a staunch Staveley fan must have been a delight, for a neutral it was a bit of a tooth-puller, 'easy meat' by anyone`s standards.

The first half was as the second, total domination by a squad who were totally in control in every area of the pitch, Winterton huffed and puffed but rarely forced the home-side out of second gear.

The Match belonged to Staveley`s No 9, Ryan Damms..Terry`s son, who racked himself a well-deserved hat-trick, the first goal falling on eighteen minutes and if not for a little more spacial awareness the result could have been more substantial, offside`s halted play with alarming regularity such was the degree of the home-sides ability to make a quick-fire break.

Damms celebrates his opener on 18 mins

Within minutes of Ryan`s first goal, his second is also being retrieved from Leigh Herricks net once again, 2-0 on twenty two minutes.

Once again the only fault I could find in Staveley`s game-plan was the void created in the right back position as Scott McGrory continually presses high up the pitch in his wing-back role, despite this Winterton`s No 10, Tom Finnighan looks a little uneasy with the ball on his left-hand side and fails to capitalise on the space he finds himself in, out on the wide left.

The usual flamboyant duo of Andrew Fox and Kyle Hawthorn are having a game of mixed fortunes for the home-side whilst Scott Ellis looks to be revelling in the mid-field, and although the visitors do enjoy the odd flurry created by a useful looking Ryan Evans, Finnigan and Robbie Start.

Despite some early shows of promise both me and 'Poo Bear' agree the chance of the visitors bagging looks to be pretty slim, primarily down to some mean defending by the Staveley`s central defenders, Colliver and Copping who are skin tight on anything in the six-yard box.

Winterton`s front-line look to make a break

So it goes into the break at 2-0 and tbh it`s hard to see how the visitors are going to be able to reverse the position they now find themselves in, but you never can tell in football.

As much as we`d hope for a little more from the boys in red in the second half, the game if anything fell into a mix of confusion and stagnation as Staveley`s front line were unable to convert their dominance into goals and Winterton being unable to take command of any of ball-play in the middle of the park.

With minutes left on the clock Dudsey and Poo Bear decide to make our way round to the exit as Damms is up-ended in the box giving the perfect opportunity to claim the match-ball which he converts with consummate ease. 3-0 on the final whistle.

Damms slots his third of the day in..

An easy days work for the home-side and although I honestly expected Staveley to be up at the sharp end of the table this season it`s early days yet, one thing for sure an afternoon out at Inkersall Road is always a delight for any Step 5 supporter.

Man of the Match - Ryan Damms- Staveley

Attendance - 104

Click here for match pictures

Staveley - Turner, McGrory, Fawcus, Colliver(c), Copping, Patterson, Fox, Ellis, Damms, Barraclough, Hawthorne.  Subs- Brissett, Coy, Youlden, Thornton, Cooper.

Winterton- Herrick(c), Coulbeck, Corcoran, Tracey, Spence, Watson, Anderson, Turgoose, Evans, Finnigan, Start.  Subs- Batty, Wibberley, Pickering, Buckley, Danysz.