NUNEATON 0 BURTON 10

A woeful performance from Nuneaton saw them thrashed handsomely by a Burton team riding high in the Coaching Solutions East Midlands Premier Division.

The difference in positions did not justify the result however as Nuneaton have played better than this on numerous occasions.

The first ten minutes were actually positive and did not give a hint of things to come as the home side enjoyed an equal share of possession and forced the first short corner.

However, Burton quickly got in to their stride and started to turn the goals in, from both open play and a devastating short corner routine that has netted them over fifty goals this season so far.

The only reply Nuneaton had to the onslaught was to lose their shape and their marking which opened up more space for Burton to exploit as they went into the half time break five nil up on Nuns.

The second half continued in much the same vein although Nuneaton did shape a couple of scoring opportunities that they failed to convert. Meanwhile, Burton continued to score at will despite heroic efforts from keeper Hubbard, who made many fine saves during the barrage on the Nuneaton goal.

The defeat leaves Nuns still rooted to the bottom of the table and confidence sorely knocked going in to a crucial game away at relegation rivals Soar Valley

BOOTS II 1 NUNEATON II 4

This was a great result for the second team who went out flying at the start of this Coaching Solutions East Midlands Division One game and took an early lead after some slick and conclusive hockey.

Sam WIGGINS opened the scoring with his maiden goal after being played in by Roger Stokes, after some fine build-up play. Nuneaton continued to press as the hosts reeled under the incessant probing of the visiting forwards.

The visitors soon went further ahead after the enigmatic Stokes unselfishly squared the ball to Mark HUTCHINSON who slotted the ball home from short range.

This remained the score until half time, and with the home side not troubling the visitors’ defence, Nuneaton started to enjoy their trip to the banks of the Trent with the gentle breeze wafting across the sunlit complex.

The second half was as one-sided as the first with Nuneaton dominating the game. Ten minutes in and a clinical passing movement from the back resulted in a 40-yard through ball by Stokes to Dave HOLMES, who controlled the ball on the top of the ‘D’ and fired a bullet of a shot into the roof of the net. A contender for the team’s Goal Of The Season.

Boots tried hard to recover from their wretched position, but Nuneaton were solid at the back and successfully defended a series short corners from the home side. Ironically, when Nuneaton were awarded a short corner with ten minutes remaining, Stu JESSON capped a fine performance by rifling home.

With a minute left, Boots finally beat the visiting defence and scored from a short corner, but the game was already won and provided some redress for the 5-1 mauling in the season’s earlier fixture against the same team.

NUNEATON III 1 BOOTS III 0

Nuneaton Thirds faced Boots in this close fought Coaching Solutions East Midlands Division One game to claim three points.

Nuneaton were on top of the game for the majority of the first half, with many chances created from Paul Sidwell’s runs down the right hand side, and were unfortunate not to score.

Boots tried hard to gain the lead, but were broken down competently by Nuneaton’s hard working defence and particularly Ian Nixon.

In the second half, the ball was worked down the left into the opposition’s “D”, where Ken Lapsley was able to win Nuneaton a short corner, thus allowing Ben DODDS to hit a screamer from the edge of the “D” to put Nuneaton into the lead.

Subsequently, Nuneaton had to work tirelessly to stop the wave of Boots’ attacks, but in the end came away with a well battled victory and more importantly, a much needed three points.

BEESTON V 3 NUNEATON IV 1

Having been soundly thrashed earlier in the season by Beeston’s fifth string, Nuneaton faced the return Coaching Solutions East Midlands Premier Division fixture with some trepidation.

The fact that unavailability led to the inclusion of six youngsters, one of whom had never played a match previously, was also a cause of apprehension for the captain.

Apprehension turned to horror as within thirty seconds of the start, and without a Nuneaton player touching the ball, Beeston clipped the ball past a dumbfounded Mike Loveless.

However, despite this titanic setback, the visitors clawed a way back into the game as Ryan Stokes created and missed two golden opportunities to level the scores. With Peter Sidwell beavering in midfield, Beeston found that things would not be one-way.

A defensive misunderstanding between keeper and sweeper led to Beeston scoring a second before the break, but there was plenty of encouragement to be gained from the performances of debutants Matty Pegg and Richard Morris.

When Stokes forced Nuns only short corner of the game just after the restart, Steve TALLIS was on hand to maintain the team’s excellent corner strike ratio by crashing the ball past a statuesque keeper.

As legs tired, Beeston dominated most of the second half but found a resolute defence difficult to penetrate thanks to the sterling efforts of Mahon, Tilley, Morris and Pegg. With keeper Loveless back to his best form behind them, it required a special corner strike from Beeston’s outstanding playmaker to seal the game.

Nick Perry, Matt Trotman and the inexperienced Chris Lynch made valuable contributions to a fine team performance, in which youngster Peter Sidwell showed his capability as an outfield player.

NUNEATON V 0 BELPER VII 2

A Coaching Solutions South East Division Two match which was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone taking part ended with highly placed Belper being fortunate to take all the points.

Both sides played constructive hockey with the umpires letting the game flow but despite this, scoring opportunities were very few with both defences playing well.

It was Nuneaton who came closest early on with Jonathon Tatum forcing a save from the Belper keeper and hitting the sideboards with another attempt. With Nuneaton’s central defenders John Raywood and Harry Mayou giving very little away, it was against the run of play when Belper went ahead from a well struck shot at a short corner.

Apart from a few clearance kicks the Nuneaton keeper had a quiet first half and in the early part of the second half, Nuneaton took the game to Belper. They too had an outstanding defender at the heart of the defence.

Despite this, Nuneaton went close on several occasions. Matt Trotman had a shot cleared off the line with the Belper defence in disarray and Tatum was again denied by the keeper when it looked as if he must score.

However the effort took its toll and as they tired, Nuneaton looked increasingly vulnerable to Belper breaks. From one of these Belper found themselves with a man over which who they used well to pass the ball round Mike Norrington in goal and into an empty net.

With only a few minutes left this ‘pinch’ put the game beyond an unfortunate Nuneaton’s reach.

LEICESTER IV 3 NUNEATON VI 0

This Coaching Solutions South East Division Two match showed Nuneaton what they need to aspire to before they can challenge for league honours.

Leicester were in charge of this game right from the start, but some fine defending meant that it was five minutes from the end of the half before Leicester scored.

This was only what the home side deserved and the goal was scored by the dangerous right winger, who flicked the ball over Nuneaton’s helpless keeper.

The second half started with a bang and Leicester scored two quick goals to which the visitors were powerless to reply.

The game was played in a great spirit and the young members of the Nuns team can see how they will develop if they keep working hard.

As the Leicester side consisted of mostly older players, but full of talent and no little tactical awareness, the final result reflected how well the visitors’ youngsters had performed.