Carlton Boys 2000 0 Hucknall Sports U13's 3

Saturday 16th April 2005

PLAYED 20, WON 17, DRAWN 3, LOST 0.

WOW!  The numbers have certainly done all the talking for this amazing football team this season, and what a tremendous season they have had.  13 straight wins from the start made sure that Hucknall Sports topped their divisional table and remained there throughout the entire season, and finish 11 points clear of their nearest rivals. 

This was the last league game for both teams, and was set to be a hotly contested from the start; Carlton Boys chasing 3 essential points in a bid to boost their promotional prospects, faced a formidable Hucknall side, determined to remain unbeaten in the league all season.  The game got under way promptly at noon, each team eager to not let the other settle, and although both sides played some excellent football throughout the game, initially the run of play was too high off the ground for any serious chances to emerge in the early stages.  Hucknall adapted to this style to the better, winning most of the loose high balls in the midfield, and then quickly building on this to take control of the game. 

It took 16 minutes for Hucknall to find and turn on their famous magic, managing brilliantly to string together half a dozen passes in quick succession with devastating results.  Digpal’s control in the centre passing on to Westrik to touch out to Sims, who stormed the box and cross to find the incoming boot of Harry Beal to break the deadlock, was a joy to behold.  Carlton tried to respond on several occasions using their first half wind advantage, only to be confronted by the well spread hands of Hucknall ‘keeper Josh Priestley commanding his area with the determination to get his 10^th clean sheet of the season. 

Hucknall continued their strong presence after the restart, and with the through balls to the forwards now being blown out of their reach, a change in strategy was necessary.  The vision of the multi-talented midfielder Ross Lamb, allowed him to take a chance from 25 yards out.  Ed Roe tapped a pass back to tee up the perfect ball for Lamb to hammer a shot, taking the paint off the underside of the cross bar, well beyond the reach of any goal keeper to take his season’s total to 22 goals, in the 58^th minute of the game.  With just 5 minutes left on the clock a similar opportunity fell to Vijay Digpal, when a Carlton free-kick from 10 yards inside Hucknall’s half was cunningly foiled by Danny Jones who quickly fed it through to Shaun Holmes.  Digpal collected and delivered with the same precision as Lamb and from virtually the same spot, this time tingling the ‘keepers’ fingers as the score-line was taken well beyond any aspirations of a Carlton comeback. 

Hucknall’s ability to field its strongest team on so many demanding occasions throughout this season, is dependant on the strong support from their faithful substitutes, who train equally as hard and deliver the goods as and when required.  Appearances from Hasanali, Lynch and Roe allow the team to change shape so alternative tactics can be deployed.  The efforts of Josh Wells from the start today helped tremendously in the strong defence to achieve this critical final league result, earning him the Man-of-the-Match award.