thanks to our good friend Web Guy @ Tevie for the header pics on this page!.
south normanton's luck holds at neutral eastwood
With Lees Lane beaten by the weather promotion chasing South Normanton had hired out the 3G facility at Eastwood's Coronation Park bringing about a return to a former Notts stomping ground for the usually Derby bound Eagles.
Arnold fielded relatively few changes from the narrow midweek home defeat at the hands of Derby SB. Leading goal scorer Jake Ogden returned to the starting line-up replacing the guest staring striker Kieran Wells whilst on the bench the maroons welcomed back Billy Bradley and Callum Jones who took their seats beside new signings Curtis Rigley and Ryan Koral.
In blustery but sunny conditions and after a first minute corner forced by the Eagles the game exploded into life early doors when a ball through the middle of the park was latched onto superbly by Tremere Lindo who was then yanked to the floor a couple of yards shy of the box by an obvious pull on his shirt. How the referee failed to see this and more to the point his hapless assistant who was bang in line with the action is a complete mystery which only served to keep South Normanton with all eleven men on the pitch.
As it happened the ball continued its run into the area with Dan Chambers hot its heels before the Arna striker was felled by a clumsy tackle leaving the referee no other option than to point to the spot. Unfortunately for the "visitors" Dan proceeded to miss both his initial spot kick and the second he was invited to take after the Normo keeper Charlie Clayton had moved off his line. The fact that he then proceeded to save Dan's second attempt from under the striker's nose was presumably allowed to stand because ....well....no one gets given a third go do they!
All in all it was massive let off for Normanton who were clearly rattled by Arnold's forceful start and indeed the Eagles pretty much maintained their early momentum for the next fifteen minutes or so led for the most part by some energetic forward play by Lindo.
On 13 mins good work by Trem released Jake Ogden down the left flank from where Oggy cut inside to open up space for a shot on goal which sadly lacked any power to trouble Clayton. Out on the right winger Eddie Morgan was also making early headway and his run on 19 mins cut through the Normo defence before delivering a ball into the area for Lindo whose low drive wasn't too far shy of the target.
Around the twenty minute mark however South Normanton began to crank up their game and there were loud roars for a penalty when one of their number had his short pulled in the Arnold box. Clearly they had completely forgotten this ref's amnesty regarding such things!
However, it proved a temporary reprieve for the Eagles as minutes later a swift Normo attack down the right ended with a dangerous ball into the box which was volleyed strongly at Strycharz's goal with the keeper managing to parry it away at point blank range. The loose ball was contested on its way out though with a Normanton player brought to the ground and the ref pointing to the spot.
With Piotr no doubt playing to the rules and staying on his line Normanton's Josh Scully drove the ball confidently into the net to give the "home" side a lead which frankly their play up to this point had barely deserved.
The goal certainly seemed to put Arnold back into their shell somewhat and they were reduced to a couple of half chances for Lindo and Oggy as the match entered into a quiet period before Normanton again took control of things as we moved towards the break.
A strong run down the left by Normo's Josh Parfitt on 37 mins gave the centre forward an opportunity to send in a dangerous cross which the Arna defence failed to clear before it made its way to Elliott Bland at the back post area where he had the fairly straight forward task of slamming the ball into the net to provide his side with a two goal cushion.
In the remaining minutes of the half it was Normanton on the offensive with the Arnold defence and Strycharz working hard to limit the damage as the game threatened to run away from them. At this point only the most optimistic of Arna supporters (and we don't possess too many) would have predicted that it would be their opponents clinging on for dear life come the end of ninety minutes.
The second half began with another quiet period which in itself represented something of an achievement for the Eagles. Minutes before the hour mark Jake Ogden's return to the side was cut short to be replaced by Callum Jones. The game continued to meander along with Arnold making two further substitutions on 68 mins bringing on Billy Bradley for Eddie Morgan and debutant Curtis Rigley for Lewis Neville.
Still things were fairly quiet but we couldn't help noticing that possession wise Arnold were slowly getting on top with any attempts to play the ball around the park left to the Eagles to perform. The other thing that was soon becoming clear was that in the fairly substantial shape of Curtis Rigley the Arna had suddenly gained a strong mobile target man for their forward play.
In short for the remaining quarter of an hour or so we had an entirely different game on our hands. Meanwhile Tremere Lindo's effort throughout the afternoon had not diminished and he began the charge on 76 mins with a speculative long range effort from the right wing which with the help of the swirling wind managed to give Normo keeper Clayton the chance to make a pretty good save from underneath his crossbar.
Moments later the Normo defence gathered around Rigley in their area as the new Arna striker turned them one way then another before seeing his close range effort blocked off for a corner as the maroons suddenly were playing with a new lease of life.
The action was all at one end now and another corner on 80 mins came in high into the box for Rigley to head towards goal. The ball was somehow battered away but fell to the feet of Dan Chambers who gleefully rammed it into the roof of the net to really send Normanton into shock mode which basically consisted of attempting to waste time at every available opportunity with the previous multi ball system suddenly disappearing from Coronation Park.
It was real backs to the wall stuff for the "home" side now but Arnold still managed to create that one more chance which should have brought them a deserved point. A throw out by Strycharz found Lindo in space deep on the left flank. Trem looked up and proceeded to float up a peach of a pass some twenty yards into the path of Rigley who had timed his run through the defence to perfection. With defenders in tow the striker tore into the box before releasing his low shot at goal which went agonisingly wide of the left hand post with Clayton doing well to narrow the angle.
So, for the second time this season the Eagles had well and truly let Athletic off the hook. Left with nothing for their efforts however the Arna didn't have far to look for some form of compensation in defeat. He was stood there as large as life in the oversized shirt our tireless kit-lady lovingly provides.....we can only hope that the talented Mr Rigley is not one of the many here today gone tomorrow signings we've seen coming through the Eagles A - Z in recent years!
eagles at the double at tevie
Arnold recorded their first double of the season with a much needed win away at Teversal. The win halts a winless run and gives us our second away victory of the season.
With regular keeper Piotr Strycharz unavailable in came Under 18 teenager Patryk Kociolek for his league debut. In addition a hasty change at the last minute saw Callum Jones added to the bench |
when he was able to arrive shortly after kick-off giving the Eagles a full quota of subs. A special mention to Cal for making the effort - he certainly played his part in the 30 or so minutes he played. Full marks also to Liam Black whose surgery was cancelled the day before at the eleventh hour and Tyler Cobb who had a 5am start from Cornwall to get to the ground whilst Joe Harrison (dualled at Clifton) whose game was off also made a welcome return.
Tevie's pitch was in fine fettle in view of all the rain and was in sharp contrast to last week's pudding of a pitch the Eagles had to endure at Mickleover RBL.
Arnold were quickly in to their stride and after a poor clearance by the Tevie keeper, Liam Black was on hand to pick the ball up and thread a pass through to Tremere Lindo who calmly slotted home for the lead. Having scored so early Arnold sensed opportunity to kill the game and a run from the half-way line saw Jake Ogden cut in and to his disappointment hit the outside of the post.
The missed chance to extend our lead was to prove costly with Tevie drawing level on 15 minutes. A high ball into the box saw Patryk come to collect and he was judged incredibly harshly to have pushed the Tevie striker when there appeared the minimum of contact. Tom Widdowson stepped up to take the resultant penalty and duly levelled the score at 1-1.
Joe Harrison was beginning to orchestrate things in midfield and always looked to have extra time on the ball to make things happen. The game continued to ebb and flow with Arnold largely in the ascendancy but Tevie always looked a threat on the break and Lenny Jenkins, Kyme Mason and Billy Bradley were kept busy at the back.
Patryk made an important save with an attacker bearing down on him, rushing out quickly to not only block but hold on to the ball under extreme pressure
Arna restored their lead 5 minutes before the interval - Liam Black who looked offside picked up the ball and deftly flicked it over both a defender and keeper to finish before ending up in an heap in the back of the net that lifted the portable goal of it's settings.
2-1 up at the break and the Eagles were looking good value although the yellows would have liked a cushion of at least a two goal lead. Within a minute of the restart Toby Francis looked to have extended our lead but his close range flicked header came off the inside of the post. Shortly after Black converted from close range after good work from Lindo out wide but this time the linesman did flag although on this occasion the goal looked like it should have stood.
That was Blacky's last contribution having once again run himself into the ground to be replaced by Callum Jones. Callum quickly adapted to the pace of the game and would prove to play an influential part over the remaining 30 minutes or so with his long range passing and work rate.
Further changes saw the hard working Lewis Neville replaced by Tyler Cobb and Francis, who had also put in a good shift replaced by Macauley Walker for his debut. 'Macca' was to suffer one of the harshest bookings of all time when he instinctively protected his face from a point blank rocket only to be yellowed for hands.
The game continued to be largely a midfield battle with Arna still unable to put clear blue water between them and their opponents and Patryk had to be on hand a couple of times dealing with difficult crosses in the breezy conditions.
With time nearly up a freekick on the edge of our area set alarm bells ringing but Tevie were unable to convert and we ran-out worthy winners to put us in good shape for next Tuesday's visit of Holbrook to Eagle Valley (ko 7.45pm)
MOM went to young Patryk who rose well to the challenge of the step up to senior football and overall today brought a much more cohesive performance from the lads.
Tevie's pitch was in fine fettle in view of all the rain and was in sharp contrast to last week's pudding of a pitch the Eagles had to endure at Mickleover RBL.
Arnold were quickly in to their stride and after a poor clearance by the Tevie keeper, Liam Black was on hand to pick the ball up and thread a pass through to Tremere Lindo who calmly slotted home for the lead. Having scored so early Arnold sensed opportunity to kill the game and a run from the half-way line saw Jake Ogden cut in and to his disappointment hit the outside of the post.
The missed chance to extend our lead was to prove costly with Tevie drawing level on 15 minutes. A high ball into the box saw Patryk come to collect and he was judged incredibly harshly to have pushed the Tevie striker when there appeared the minimum of contact. Tom Widdowson stepped up to take the resultant penalty and duly levelled the score at 1-1.
Joe Harrison was beginning to orchestrate things in midfield and always looked to have extra time on the ball to make things happen. The game continued to ebb and flow with Arnold largely in the ascendancy but Tevie always looked a threat on the break and Lenny Jenkins, Kyme Mason and Billy Bradley were kept busy at the back.
Patryk made an important save with an attacker bearing down on him, rushing out quickly to not only block but hold on to the ball under extreme pressure
Arna restored their lead 5 minutes before the interval - Liam Black who looked offside picked up the ball and deftly flicked it over both a defender and keeper to finish before ending up in an heap in the back of the net that lifted the portable goal of it's settings.
2-1 up at the break and the Eagles were looking good value although the yellows would have liked a cushion of at least a two goal lead. Within a minute of the restart Toby Francis looked to have extended our lead but his close range flicked header came off the inside of the post. Shortly after Black converted from close range after good work from Lindo out wide but this time the linesman did flag although on this occasion the goal looked like it should have stood.
That was Blacky's last contribution having once again run himself into the ground to be replaced by Callum Jones. Callum quickly adapted to the pace of the game and would prove to play an influential part over the remaining 30 minutes or so with his long range passing and work rate.
Further changes saw the hard working Lewis Neville replaced by Tyler Cobb and Francis, who had also put in a good shift replaced by Macauley Walker for his debut. 'Macca' was to suffer one of the harshest bookings of all time when he instinctively protected his face from a point blank rocket only to be yellowed for hands.
The game continued to be largely a midfield battle with Arna still unable to put clear blue water between them and their opponents and Patryk had to be on hand a couple of times dealing with difficult crosses in the breezy conditions.
With time nearly up a freekick on the edge of our area set alarm bells ringing but Tevie were unable to convert and we ran-out worthy winners to put us in good shape for next Tuesday's visit of Holbrook to Eagle Valley (ko 7.45pm)
MOM went to young Patryk who rose well to the challenge of the step up to senior football and overall today brought a much more cohesive performance from the lads.
bare bone arna eleven hold their heads up high
Kicks in the teeth are a regular feature for your long suffering Arna supporter. On 17th February in their last game the Eagles' 16 man squad had put together one of their most fluid fast flowing performances for many a moon and things were looking decidedly promising.
Three weeks on and exactly half of that squad were suddenly "unavailable" for various reasons, none of which appeared to involve injuries. Manager Ash White was thus forced to include Liam Black (actually nursing a long term serious injury) and recall veteran striker Stephen King who had not seen action since the beginning of September in order to come up with sufficient bodies to fill the eleven shirts. With ninety minutes stretched out before them the threadbare line-up suffered an immediate set-back conceding a soft goal from the kick off. Mickleover's opening move down the right rolled along unhindered all the way into the Oxton Road penalty area where the carefree winger simply looked up and passed across to Sam Vickers who calmly slotted the ball home as easy as you like. |
In stark contrast to Arnold's start the weather was bright and a fierce freezing Eagle Valley wind was fully behind the home side who thankfully soon began setting about their arduous task with surprising conviction given the circumstances.
Seven minutes in a lofted cross from the left into the Colin End box saw Lenny Jenkins rising highest amongst a group of players but the skipper's backward header over shot the crossbar by a foot or so. Multi player moves and a succession of corners soon followed as the Eagles clearly were not prepared to go down without a fight.
Indeed throughout the afternoon the visitors were displaying few signs of being a top four side and it was the beleaguered yellows making most of the running with RBL's first half threats reduced to a couple of long range free kicks the last of which taken by Jordan Lee on the stroke of half time hitting the crossbar.
Sadly for Arnold though their lively first 45 minute play through midfield (with Lewis Neville again having an excellent game whilst also carrying a knock) had often suffered from a unhappy mix of the ball being speeded up by the following wind over running an understandably less than mobile forward line.
Above all however the contest as a whole was being severely hampered by an extraordinary performance from a totally inept card happy official who had clearly graduated with flying colours from the Brian Glover school of refereeing.
The second half began fairly quietly with the Eagles again somehow managing to look the more threatening of the two sides and their efforts were duly rewarded nine minutes after the re-start.
An Arnold move had created some chaos in Mickleover's area and at one point Lewis Neville threatened to open his goal scoring account for the Eagles but his blocked shot bounced back to the edge of the box from where Owen Taylor launched the sweetest of volleys which rocketed into the roof of the net. RBL's keeper Bran Meehan couldn't have been better positioned for the shot but he simply didn't have time to react as the ball whistled past him at blistering pace.
Not content with getting themselves back on terms in such a spectacular fashion the Eagles carried on in a positive manner and some heroic performances were really beginning to blossom, not least from Stephen King who was proving to be a bit of a handful for the visiting defence as he tried his level best to carve out an opening for himself.
From such unpromising pre-match beginnings the afternoon was taking an unbelievably positive turn for the Arna faithful who should have known it couldn't last. With Arnold largely on top the Eagles were cruelly reduced to ten men on 66 mins. A promising Arna move down the right wing was brought to an abrupt holt by a dangerous flying tackle on Eddie Morgan.
Scything Morgan to the ground was clearly not enough for the Mickleover offender who then attempted to grab Eddie by the neck at which point Morgan understandably flew his arms up to defend himself. Queue our imposter of a "ref" who sprinted a full fifteen yards to gleefully show the Arnold winger a straight red.
Mission impossible had just become even harder as the ten Arna watched Mickleover reloading from the bench whilst Liam Black was forced to transfer his brave display of nuisance value from one end of the pitch to the other. With Arna well worth at least a draw up to this point in proceedings it was now only a matter of time before a rejuvenated Mickleover moved in for the kill.
With about 13 minutes remaining RBL duly regained the lead after some toing and froing in the Arna box resulted in a half stop by Piotr Strycharz before Mickleover's Ben Rushby found the net with a well directed punt from close range.
Arnold refused to give up the ghost however and impressive left winger Callum Jones continued to demonstrate some slinky skills right up to the end and on 80 mins he almost created a goal from nowhere following a long run into and across the Oxton Road area.
As the game came to a conclusion there was just time for a remarkable last ditch goal line clearance by Kyme Mason, a second yellow card dismissal for debutant Dylan Humphrey (who can look back with some pride on his first outing for the Eagles) and a rather tame penalty conceded by the limping Liam Black providing Mickleover's Connor Livingston with the opportunity to make the final score an extremely flattering 3-1 following up after Strycharz had managed to save his initial spot kick.
At the end of the ninety minutes never mind the fully anticipated loss, never mind having to suffer the egotistical antics of a complete joke of a "look at me referee", never mind the eight players who had more important things to do on a Saturday afternoon none of this could begin to scupper the fact that the home supporters had been privileged to be on hand to witness eleven players prepared to dig deep and put in a proper shift for the sake of Arnold Town.
Hats off to every single one of them!
Seven minutes in a lofted cross from the left into the Colin End box saw Lenny Jenkins rising highest amongst a group of players but the skipper's backward header over shot the crossbar by a foot or so. Multi player moves and a succession of corners soon followed as the Eagles clearly were not prepared to go down without a fight.
Indeed throughout the afternoon the visitors were displaying few signs of being a top four side and it was the beleaguered yellows making most of the running with RBL's first half threats reduced to a couple of long range free kicks the last of which taken by Jordan Lee on the stroke of half time hitting the crossbar.
Sadly for Arnold though their lively first 45 minute play through midfield (with Lewis Neville again having an excellent game whilst also carrying a knock) had often suffered from a unhappy mix of the ball being speeded up by the following wind over running an understandably less than mobile forward line.
Above all however the contest as a whole was being severely hampered by an extraordinary performance from a totally inept card happy official who had clearly graduated with flying colours from the Brian Glover school of refereeing.
The second half began fairly quietly with the Eagles again somehow managing to look the more threatening of the two sides and their efforts were duly rewarded nine minutes after the re-start.
An Arnold move had created some chaos in Mickleover's area and at one point Lewis Neville threatened to open his goal scoring account for the Eagles but his blocked shot bounced back to the edge of the box from where Owen Taylor launched the sweetest of volleys which rocketed into the roof of the net. RBL's keeper Bran Meehan couldn't have been better positioned for the shot but he simply didn't have time to react as the ball whistled past him at blistering pace.
Not content with getting themselves back on terms in such a spectacular fashion the Eagles carried on in a positive manner and some heroic performances were really beginning to blossom, not least from Stephen King who was proving to be a bit of a handful for the visiting defence as he tried his level best to carve out an opening for himself.
From such unpromising pre-match beginnings the afternoon was taking an unbelievably positive turn for the Arna faithful who should have known it couldn't last. With Arnold largely on top the Eagles were cruelly reduced to ten men on 66 mins. A promising Arna move down the right wing was brought to an abrupt holt by a dangerous flying tackle on Eddie Morgan.
Scything Morgan to the ground was clearly not enough for the Mickleover offender who then attempted to grab Eddie by the neck at which point Morgan understandably flew his arms up to defend himself. Queue our imposter of a "ref" who sprinted a full fifteen yards to gleefully show the Arnold winger a straight red.
Mission impossible had just become even harder as the ten Arna watched Mickleover reloading from the bench whilst Liam Black was forced to transfer his brave display of nuisance value from one end of the pitch to the other. With Arna well worth at least a draw up to this point in proceedings it was now only a matter of time before a rejuvenated Mickleover moved in for the kill.
With about 13 minutes remaining RBL duly regained the lead after some toing and froing in the Arna box resulted in a half stop by Piotr Strycharz before Mickleover's Ben Rushby found the net with a well directed punt from close range.
Arnold refused to give up the ghost however and impressive left winger Callum Jones continued to demonstrate some slinky skills right up to the end and on 80 mins he almost created a goal from nowhere following a long run into and across the Oxton Road area.
As the game came to a conclusion there was just time for a remarkable last ditch goal line clearance by Kyme Mason, a second yellow card dismissal for debutant Dylan Humphrey (who can look back with some pride on his first outing for the Eagles) and a rather tame penalty conceded by the limping Liam Black providing Mickleover's Connor Livingston with the opportunity to make the final score an extremely flattering 3-1 following up after Strycharz had managed to save his initial spot kick.
At the end of the ninety minutes never mind the fully anticipated loss, never mind having to suffer the egotistical antics of a complete joke of a "look at me referee", never mind the eight players who had more important things to do on a Saturday afternoon none of this could begin to scupper the fact that the home supporters had been privileged to be on hand to witness eleven players prepared to dig deep and put in a proper shift for the sake of Arnold Town.
Hats off to every single one of them!
impressive eagles give title contenders a scare
Despite ending up on the wrong end of a five goal score line against a team pulling out all the stops in an effort to gain promotion to Step 6 there were a heck of a lot of positives for the long suffering Arna faithful to take from this game.
For sustained periods the Eagles were playing with a fluidity rarely seen from an Arnold side in recent times. On this evidence a slight reshuffle following the departure of skipper Adam Clift and one or two fresh faces have served to light a long overdue fire under the team. Midfielder Craig Taylor switched to the vacant central defensive spot with his berth taken by new signing Joe Harrison from AFC Mansfield via a short stop off at Eastwood.
Elsewhere right back Jordon Percival returns for another Arna spell from Bilborough accompanied by fellow Romany Callum Jones who would impress on the left wing when coming on from the bench. The new look line up had looked promising on paper before kick off and with all five subs involved by the end of the ninety minutes the refreshed squad had certainly more than lived up to expectations.
Following a couple of early corners for the visitors the Eagles began to crank up their own game and an early spark was provided by Jordon Percival with 5 mins gone when JP launched a typical long ball from deep on the right perfectly flighted for Tremere Lindo to pounce on and force a brave save from keeper Joe Dunn with his legs. Moments later the same two Eagles combined again. This time JP had himself moved towards the right bi-line before launching a fierce low ball across the Colin End goal which the lunging Lindo just failed to make contact with.
An early setback arrived on 11 minutes however. A strong Normanton attack through the middle initially seemed to be well marshalled by Taylor retreating into the Arnold box but the ball broke loose once more towards opposing centre forward Josh Parfitt who promptly thumped the ball home to give the visitors the lead.
Arnold reacted well though and continued to press forward with menace and some five minutes later were duly rewarded for their resilience. After another strong move down the right flank Dan Chambers collected the ball deep into the right side of a crowded area, turned and protected it well from the attention of a couple of defenders as he made his way back across goal before firing in an unstoppable shot into the bottom left hand corner to level matters.
With parity restored the Eagles were now fizzing the ball around at will and almost took a deserved lead in dramatic fashion on 22 mins. After swarming around the Colin End penalty area once more the ball bounced up invitingly for Joe Harrison on the edge of the area and his thunderous volley brought about a tremendous save from Dunn who did extremely well to palm the ball over his crossbar.
After some good defensive work by new skipper Lenny Jenkins calling a holt to a sudden Normanton counter attack the Arna were soon again looking threatening. A pin point thread needle ball by Lewis Neville dissected the visitors' midfield to spring Lindo for a clear run on goal. Tremere's shot had the keeper well beaten but sadly struck the post just below the crossbar only to rebound kindly for a fortunate Normo defence.
Straight down the other end Normanton's Ty Macaskill relieved the pressure somewhat with a fine run and shot on goal which Piotr Strycharz in the Arna goal did well to parry away for a corner. Moments later the busy Lindo was this time making strides down the left wing for Arnold and his cross come shot was only half saved by the keeper allowing Dan Chambers to take up possession only to see a rather harsh looking yellow card for his efforts.
With 38 minutes on the clock largely against the run of play the Eagles suddenly conceded two quick goals which in the end would effectively undue all their afternoon's efforts. A shot on Strycharz's goal from the left saw the keeper make a decent half stop but sadly a swift clearance by his defenders wasn't forthcoming and Normo's Reece Shaw took full advantage with a well directed punt into the right hand corner of the net.
A minute later the Arnold defence were completely caught off guard when Josh Scully tore down the right wing with a spare man in the middle to pass to and only one Arnold defender anywhere near the action. Using his mate as a decoy the confident Scully merely let loose with a powerful low drive which flew into the bottom left hand corner to provide the visitors with the softest of two goal cushions.
Walking off towards the changing rooms the otherwise impressive Eagles could only shake their heads as to how they had managed to find themselves 1-3 down at the break.
Arnold enjoyed a steady start when play resumed with some early pressure and a Dan Chambers effort from Scully territory which this time flew just wide of the left hand post. Not long afterwards a neat Arnold move flowing from one side of the field to another ended with a somewhat rushed effort by leading scorer Jake Ogden flying well over the Oxton Road cross bar.
Increasingly as the game wore on the visitors, perfectly happy to play to their own physical strengths, were loudly up in arms at any sign of contact from a pesky yellow shirt. Amidst prolonged claims for a foul on Parfitt Arnold proceeded to put together a well worked move which ended with Trem Lindo's goal bound effort being deflected away for a corner. The resultant flag kick swung over from the right to find Dan Chambers lurking at the back stick to volley home his 15th goal for the club and reduce the arrears.
The volume coming from the side lines only increased around the hour mark when Normanton's Reece Shaw pulled down Joe Harrison advancing in midfield to receive his second yellow card and subsequent rather soft marching orders.
Arnold boss Ash White began making use of his strong bench with the introduction of Tyler Cobb and new signing Callum Jones. Wide man Jones was soon making a favourable impression down the left wing and carved out a couple of opportunities to get the Eagles level. On 78 mins the former Bilborough winger ran a full twenty yards down his flank before cutting in and sending in a curled effort at goal which didn't quite bend sufficiently to trouble the net.
Not long after the Eagles bench was fully emptied Jones was threatening again. This time taking a right turn to run across the face of the penalty area before unleashing a powerful shot which again didn't miss the target by much to mounting disquiet on the Normanton bench.
Arnold kept up the pressure right to the end but sadly the equaliser just wouldn't come on a day when the Eagles had more than matched their promotion chasing visitors who had endured a highly challenging 90 mins before adding another three points towards their title quest.
A finish of low to mid table obscurity for the 2023/24 season it may be for the Arna but if there's any remote chance of bottling this worthy effort for future use then who knows what could lie ahead?
For sustained periods the Eagles were playing with a fluidity rarely seen from an Arnold side in recent times. On this evidence a slight reshuffle following the departure of skipper Adam Clift and one or two fresh faces have served to light a long overdue fire under the team. Midfielder Craig Taylor switched to the vacant central defensive spot with his berth taken by new signing Joe Harrison from AFC Mansfield via a short stop off at Eastwood.
Elsewhere right back Jordon Percival returns for another Arna spell from Bilborough accompanied by fellow Romany Callum Jones who would impress on the left wing when coming on from the bench. The new look line up had looked promising on paper before kick off and with all five subs involved by the end of the ninety minutes the refreshed squad had certainly more than lived up to expectations.
Following a couple of early corners for the visitors the Eagles began to crank up their own game and an early spark was provided by Jordon Percival with 5 mins gone when JP launched a typical long ball from deep on the right perfectly flighted for Tremere Lindo to pounce on and force a brave save from keeper Joe Dunn with his legs. Moments later the same two Eagles combined again. This time JP had himself moved towards the right bi-line before launching a fierce low ball across the Colin End goal which the lunging Lindo just failed to make contact with.
An early setback arrived on 11 minutes however. A strong Normanton attack through the middle initially seemed to be well marshalled by Taylor retreating into the Arnold box but the ball broke loose once more towards opposing centre forward Josh Parfitt who promptly thumped the ball home to give the visitors the lead.
Arnold reacted well though and continued to press forward with menace and some five minutes later were duly rewarded for their resilience. After another strong move down the right flank Dan Chambers collected the ball deep into the right side of a crowded area, turned and protected it well from the attention of a couple of defenders as he made his way back across goal before firing in an unstoppable shot into the bottom left hand corner to level matters.
With parity restored the Eagles were now fizzing the ball around at will and almost took a deserved lead in dramatic fashion on 22 mins. After swarming around the Colin End penalty area once more the ball bounced up invitingly for Joe Harrison on the edge of the area and his thunderous volley brought about a tremendous save from Dunn who did extremely well to palm the ball over his crossbar.
After some good defensive work by new skipper Lenny Jenkins calling a holt to a sudden Normanton counter attack the Arna were soon again looking threatening. A pin point thread needle ball by Lewis Neville dissected the visitors' midfield to spring Lindo for a clear run on goal. Tremere's shot had the keeper well beaten but sadly struck the post just below the crossbar only to rebound kindly for a fortunate Normo defence.
Straight down the other end Normanton's Ty Macaskill relieved the pressure somewhat with a fine run and shot on goal which Piotr Strycharz in the Arna goal did well to parry away for a corner. Moments later the busy Lindo was this time making strides down the left wing for Arnold and his cross come shot was only half saved by the keeper allowing Dan Chambers to take up possession only to see a rather harsh looking yellow card for his efforts.
With 38 minutes on the clock largely against the run of play the Eagles suddenly conceded two quick goals which in the end would effectively undue all their afternoon's efforts. A shot on Strycharz's goal from the left saw the keeper make a decent half stop but sadly a swift clearance by his defenders wasn't forthcoming and Normo's Reece Shaw took full advantage with a well directed punt into the right hand corner of the net.
A minute later the Arnold defence were completely caught off guard when Josh Scully tore down the right wing with a spare man in the middle to pass to and only one Arnold defender anywhere near the action. Using his mate as a decoy the confident Scully merely let loose with a powerful low drive which flew into the bottom left hand corner to provide the visitors with the softest of two goal cushions.
Walking off towards the changing rooms the otherwise impressive Eagles could only shake their heads as to how they had managed to find themselves 1-3 down at the break.
Arnold enjoyed a steady start when play resumed with some early pressure and a Dan Chambers effort from Scully territory which this time flew just wide of the left hand post. Not long afterwards a neat Arnold move flowing from one side of the field to another ended with a somewhat rushed effort by leading scorer Jake Ogden flying well over the Oxton Road cross bar.
Increasingly as the game wore on the visitors, perfectly happy to play to their own physical strengths, were loudly up in arms at any sign of contact from a pesky yellow shirt. Amidst prolonged claims for a foul on Parfitt Arnold proceeded to put together a well worked move which ended with Trem Lindo's goal bound effort being deflected away for a corner. The resultant flag kick swung over from the right to find Dan Chambers lurking at the back stick to volley home his 15th goal for the club and reduce the arrears.
The volume coming from the side lines only increased around the hour mark when Normanton's Reece Shaw pulled down Joe Harrison advancing in midfield to receive his second yellow card and subsequent rather soft marching orders.
Arnold boss Ash White began making use of his strong bench with the introduction of Tyler Cobb and new signing Callum Jones. Wide man Jones was soon making a favourable impression down the left wing and carved out a couple of opportunities to get the Eagles level. On 78 mins the former Bilborough winger ran a full twenty yards down his flank before cutting in and sending in a curled effort at goal which didn't quite bend sufficiently to trouble the net.
Not long after the Eagles bench was fully emptied Jones was threatening again. This time taking a right turn to run across the face of the penalty area before unleashing a powerful shot which again didn't miss the target by much to mounting disquiet on the Normanton bench.
Arnold kept up the pressure right to the end but sadly the equaliser just wouldn't come on a day when the Eagles had more than matched their promotion chasing visitors who had endured a highly challenging 90 mins before adding another three points towards their title quest.
A finish of low to mid table obscurity for the 2023/24 season it may be for the Arna but if there's any remote chance of bottling this worthy effort for future use then who knows what could lie ahead?
RESSES into semi-final after hard fought win at cotgrave
Cotgrave res 2 arnold town 2 - eagles go through 6-5 on pens
Eagles' Reserve Team Manager Ashley Marshall has very kindly sent us a brief report on yesterday's NSL Junior Cup Quarter Final win at Cotgrave.
A great result for the lads yesterday with Cotgrave taking the opportunity to field a few 1st teamers in their squad with their first team not in action.
Arnold were rather poor in the first half and struggled to get any passing or rhythm going in their game. Jacob Marshall saved a penalty in the first half following a dubious decision from the ref. Cotgrave then took the lead, but as bad as we played, we managed to get an equaliser through James Wade to go in at half time level at 1-1.
We opted for a change at the interval, bringing on U18s player Max Elliott and wow what a talented young man he is. Max helped provide just the spark we needed and we played much better football during the 2nd period whilst matching the physicality of a strong Cotgrave outfit.
The lads stood tall and continued to play some impressive football. We took the lead through another sub coming off the bench when Cairan Wright converted a header. It was then all about focusing on the task and getting through to the semi-final.
Unfortunately, with literally the last kick of the game Cotgrave's experienced striker tried his luck from about 35 yards out with a hit and hope lob to make it 2-2 and take the tie straight to pens.
Penalty order for the Eagles :-
Kian Leavesley (converted) Liam Cunningham (converted) Riley Whitelocks (miss) Tom York (converted) Max Elliott (converted) Quentin Hayes (converted) James Wade (converted)
So we managed to win the shoot out 6-5 with the help of two saves by Jacob who with his first half penalty stop certainly earned the days man of the match honours.
A special mention to Cotgrave's management team a fantastic set of guys who are doing a great job with the young lads at Cotgrave. Thanks to them for their hospitality and good luck for the remainder of the season.
A great result for the lads yesterday with Cotgrave taking the opportunity to field a few 1st teamers in their squad with their first team not in action.
Arnold were rather poor in the first half and struggled to get any passing or rhythm going in their game. Jacob Marshall saved a penalty in the first half following a dubious decision from the ref. Cotgrave then took the lead, but as bad as we played, we managed to get an equaliser through James Wade to go in at half time level at 1-1.
We opted for a change at the interval, bringing on U18s player Max Elliott and wow what a talented young man he is. Max helped provide just the spark we needed and we played much better football during the 2nd period whilst matching the physicality of a strong Cotgrave outfit.
The lads stood tall and continued to play some impressive football. We took the lead through another sub coming off the bench when Cairan Wright converted a header. It was then all about focusing on the task and getting through to the semi-final.
Unfortunately, with literally the last kick of the game Cotgrave's experienced striker tried his luck from about 35 yards out with a hit and hope lob to make it 2-2 and take the tie straight to pens.
Penalty order for the Eagles :-
Kian Leavesley (converted) Liam Cunningham (converted) Riley Whitelocks (miss) Tom York (converted) Max Elliott (converted) Quentin Hayes (converted) James Wade (converted)
So we managed to win the shoot out 6-5 with the help of two saves by Jacob who with his first half penalty stop certainly earned the days man of the match honours.
A special mention to Cotgrave's management team a fantastic set of guys who are doing a great job with the young lads at Cotgrave. Thanks to them for their hospitality and good luck for the remainder of the season.
first away win of the season bagged at holbrook
It was definitely a case of never mind the quality feel the first away win of the season after a scrappy encounter at one of Arnold's numerous bogey grounds in the Central Midlands league. On balance the Eagles pretty much deserved the three points on offer from a contest which began after the announcement that club skipper Adam Clift had decided to call time on his Arna playing career following 62 games wearing the arm band.
Two changes in the starting line up this time for the travelling maroons with Craig Taylor moving back into midfield in place of departing Lewis Radford and Owen Taylor taking up the number eleven shirt from the unavailable Tyler Cobb. A three man bench of Billy Bradley, Darnel Beeson and new signing Dylan Humphrey would be left uncalled upon for this one.
Ending a three match losing skid would clearly be cause for celebration for the Arna but in truth the actual game today was not the most riveting of encounters with neither side managing to get into any sort of meaningful rhythm.
With the benefit of playing down the slight slope at Holbrook Park the visitors had the better of things in the early going. Dan Chambers sent in a rather speculative shot from way out on the right wing on 5 mins with the keeper beaten but the ball flew a yard or so wide of his right hand post.
Later a decent advance by Trem Lindo on the left led to him feeding a decent ball into the path of Owen Taylor who connected well from 30 yards out but again the ball just failed to hit the target. With Holbrook unable to make any serious headway towards the other end the next chance again fell to the Arna on 18 mins. A high ball from midfield dropped invitingly for Jake Ogden who controlled the ball expertly in the Holbrook box only for an alert St Michaels keeper to smother Jake's goal bound shot with his legs.
The home side's first real scoring opportunity arrived with 24 mins gone when a sudden counter attack down the right produced a high cross over Piotr Strycharz's six yard box. A waiting Holbrook striker was handily placed to launch a well struck effort which needed Kyme Mason's timely intervention, throwing his body into the firing line.
At the other end a busy Dan Chambers began causing problems for Holbrook's defence. Firstly by being brought down in a central position on the edge of the area to give Owen Taylor the chance to test the home keeper once more with a tricky gather just beneath the crossbar. Then on 34 mins Lewis Neville danced his way into the area before glancing up to find Chambers in a yard of space. A simple sideways pass led to an almost inevitable clatter from behind from a Holbrook defender to send Dan crashing to the floor and the ref immediately pointing to the spot.
Chambers, electing to take the penalty himself, drove in a decent shot at shoulder height but the ball wasn't heading for the right hand corner enough to really test a keeper guessing the right way which the St Michael's custodiam did and was thus able to parry the ball away with relative ease.
Clearly Arnold's recent goal drought was intent on continuing with the toothless Eagles perhaps not having as many opportunities as they had conjured up at Mayfield the previous week but nevertheless the chances of finding the net still looked pretty remote as a rather tame goalless first half petered out.
After the break a role reversal came for the first ten minutes or so with Holbrook now making decent use of their slope. Firstly a rare corner for the home side created some panic in the Arna defence and a point blank range hook towards goal appeared to be diverted from going into the net by striking a handily placed Eagle on the goal line. On 55 mins a direct free kick from the edge of the area brought about a fine double save from Strycharz who having half stopped the initial delivery did well to save again at the feet of an alert follow up from the Holbrook forward line at the base of his left hand post.
A game with few highlights was being played in quite a niggly fashion and for once Arnold's opponents were finding themselves in the book more than the Eagles. With an hour gone Holbrook's centre forward seemingly couldn't take it anymore and whilst out of ear shot for the Arna faithful on the opposite side of the pitch his outburst was unsavoury enough for every single player from both sides to turn round as one to stare at the offender.
The referee, some ten yards away, also turned round instantly whilst deftly producing a straight red card from his pocket. Whilst we half expected a bar of soap to be produced from the changing rooms the doomed number nine was clearly determined to extract maximum value for his fine. The lad basically went on a four letter farewell tour of the pitch cursing at anyone and everyone before opting to launch a particularly random rant towards the Arna bench. His choice of words left a few heads scratching for a while. Suffice to say he made rather a meal of his long drawn out flounce towards the showers..
Thankfully such theatrics provided scope to pad out a threadbare report for what continued to be a pretty drab affair as Arnold struggled to gain any noticeable boost from their numerical man advantage. Another lengthy delay ensued with Holbrook's number two going down with cramp which together with the earlier drama would later result in almost 12 mins of added time.
The balance of possession undoubtedly continued in eleven man Arnold's favour but they still looked miles away from mustering up any real threat. They needed some help and Holbrook's centre-half duly provided it with six minutes of normal time remaining.
A fairly speculative punt from the right wing into Holbrook's crowded area looked fairly innocuous upon its arrival but then the home number five opted to nudge the ball into the air rather than clear it away from danger. Basically he'd only managed to tee the ball up a treat for the inrushing Jake Ogden who gleefully prodded it home to give the Eagles a most unexpected lead.
As indicated Holbrook would still have a good 18 minutes in order to rectify the error. Pressure was indeed applied as the lengthy period of added time slowly ticked by. However, a resolute Arnold defence aided by some excellent handling by Strycharz managed to navigate themselves through a nervy final period.
Well, it certainly wasn't pretty but a first victory away from the Valley this season is more than welcome and from what I can tell a first ever win against Holbrook since our relegation to Step 7.
As the well worn saying goes "every little helps."
Two changes in the starting line up this time for the travelling maroons with Craig Taylor moving back into midfield in place of departing Lewis Radford and Owen Taylor taking up the number eleven shirt from the unavailable Tyler Cobb. A three man bench of Billy Bradley, Darnel Beeson and new signing Dylan Humphrey would be left uncalled upon for this one.
Ending a three match losing skid would clearly be cause for celebration for the Arna but in truth the actual game today was not the most riveting of encounters with neither side managing to get into any sort of meaningful rhythm.
With the benefit of playing down the slight slope at Holbrook Park the visitors had the better of things in the early going. Dan Chambers sent in a rather speculative shot from way out on the right wing on 5 mins with the keeper beaten but the ball flew a yard or so wide of his right hand post.
Later a decent advance by Trem Lindo on the left led to him feeding a decent ball into the path of Owen Taylor who connected well from 30 yards out but again the ball just failed to hit the target. With Holbrook unable to make any serious headway towards the other end the next chance again fell to the Arna on 18 mins. A high ball from midfield dropped invitingly for Jake Ogden who controlled the ball expertly in the Holbrook box only for an alert St Michaels keeper to smother Jake's goal bound shot with his legs.
The home side's first real scoring opportunity arrived with 24 mins gone when a sudden counter attack down the right produced a high cross over Piotr Strycharz's six yard box. A waiting Holbrook striker was handily placed to launch a well struck effort which needed Kyme Mason's timely intervention, throwing his body into the firing line.
At the other end a busy Dan Chambers began causing problems for Holbrook's defence. Firstly by being brought down in a central position on the edge of the area to give Owen Taylor the chance to test the home keeper once more with a tricky gather just beneath the crossbar. Then on 34 mins Lewis Neville danced his way into the area before glancing up to find Chambers in a yard of space. A simple sideways pass led to an almost inevitable clatter from behind from a Holbrook defender to send Dan crashing to the floor and the ref immediately pointing to the spot.
Chambers, electing to take the penalty himself, drove in a decent shot at shoulder height but the ball wasn't heading for the right hand corner enough to really test a keeper guessing the right way which the St Michael's custodiam did and was thus able to parry the ball away with relative ease.
Clearly Arnold's recent goal drought was intent on continuing with the toothless Eagles perhaps not having as many opportunities as they had conjured up at Mayfield the previous week but nevertheless the chances of finding the net still looked pretty remote as a rather tame goalless first half petered out.
After the break a role reversal came for the first ten minutes or so with Holbrook now making decent use of their slope. Firstly a rare corner for the home side created some panic in the Arna defence and a point blank range hook towards goal appeared to be diverted from going into the net by striking a handily placed Eagle on the goal line. On 55 mins a direct free kick from the edge of the area brought about a fine double save from Strycharz who having half stopped the initial delivery did well to save again at the feet of an alert follow up from the Holbrook forward line at the base of his left hand post.
A game with few highlights was being played in quite a niggly fashion and for once Arnold's opponents were finding themselves in the book more than the Eagles. With an hour gone Holbrook's centre forward seemingly couldn't take it anymore and whilst out of ear shot for the Arna faithful on the opposite side of the pitch his outburst was unsavoury enough for every single player from both sides to turn round as one to stare at the offender.
The referee, some ten yards away, also turned round instantly whilst deftly producing a straight red card from his pocket. Whilst we half expected a bar of soap to be produced from the changing rooms the doomed number nine was clearly determined to extract maximum value for his fine. The lad basically went on a four letter farewell tour of the pitch cursing at anyone and everyone before opting to launch a particularly random rant towards the Arna bench. His choice of words left a few heads scratching for a while. Suffice to say he made rather a meal of his long drawn out flounce towards the showers..
Thankfully such theatrics provided scope to pad out a threadbare report for what continued to be a pretty drab affair as Arnold struggled to gain any noticeable boost from their numerical man advantage. Another lengthy delay ensued with Holbrook's number two going down with cramp which together with the earlier drama would later result in almost 12 mins of added time.
The balance of possession undoubtedly continued in eleven man Arnold's favour but they still looked miles away from mustering up any real threat. They needed some help and Holbrook's centre-half duly provided it with six minutes of normal time remaining.
A fairly speculative punt from the right wing into Holbrook's crowded area looked fairly innocuous upon its arrival but then the home number five opted to nudge the ball into the air rather than clear it away from danger. Basically he'd only managed to tee the ball up a treat for the inrushing Jake Ogden who gleefully prodded it home to give the Eagles a most unexpected lead.
As indicated Holbrook would still have a good 18 minutes in order to rectify the error. Pressure was indeed applied as the lengthy period of added time slowly ticked by. However, a resolute Arnold defence aided by some excellent handling by Strycharz managed to navigate themselves through a nervy final period.
Well, it certainly wasn't pretty but a first victory away from the Valley this season is more than welcome and from what I can tell a first ever win against Holbrook since our relegation to Step 7.
As the well worn saying goes "every little helps."
heavy going for off target eagles at ashbourne
Arnold Town succumbed to their third successive three goal margin defeat on a heavy sloping pitch at Ashbourne Rec. Any thoughts of an advantage for hosts Mayfield due to the conditions however are countered by the fact that until the ever obliging Arna rolled up Mayfield hadn't managed to find a single team they could beat on home soil, muddy or otherwise, all season.
Dressed in their old yellow and blue kit to avoid a colour clash with the home claret the Eagles' starting line-up contained just one change from their previous loss at Linby with new signing from Teversal Eddie Morgan taking the place of the unavailable Billy Bradley. Meanwhile a further new arrival midfielder Owen Taylor (from Ashland) shared the subs bench with James Martin.
Arna were kicking up the slope in the first half and thus defending the boggier end. At left back Kyme Mason had himself half an acre of marshland to patrol and in the absence of any hard standing the spectators along the line nearby had a fair idea of the terrain he faced.
An extraordinary chance in the first minute should have seen the Eagles ahead from the off. Eddie Morgan began as he meant to go on down the right wing and promptly advanced play towards the bi-line. Somehow a pass inside to Trem Lindo saw the ball float across the goal from Trem's kneecap (or some such) and brush against the crossbar. Following up Tyler Cobb was literally so close to the goal he was in danger of heading the post. Only in an Arna report could we have the effort flying wide of the target.
Two minutes later at the other end Mayfield's expansive target man John Ford rumbled into action down the incline finding only keeper Piotr Strycharz standing in his path. Thankfully yellows skipper Adam Clift was able to catch up with play and apply a well judged intervention receiving a hefty clip for his trouble.
Despite the heavy pitch and very unpredictable bounce the visitors were managing to play the ball around quite well at times in the early hard going. As the game progressed a frustrating pattern soon began to emerge. From the midfielder still looking to score his first goal for the club in his 31st appearance right through to the striker who has recently joined the 20 goal honours board no one in an Arna shirt looked capable of hitting a barn door from ten paces despite having numerous opportunities to do so.
With 21 minutes gone another incisive run by Morgan ended with a nicely rolled invitation to shoot for Lewis Neville on the edge of the area from where the ball whistled past the left hand post. Then, with Arnold continuing to press for an opener, they found themselves a goal down three minutes later following a quick Mayfield counter attack.
The danger sprang down the right flank from where a lofted ball found Ford patrolling acres of free space. With all the time in the word at his disposal the centre forward provided a swift contrast to Arnold's woeful finishing with a well directed low drive past the diving Strycharz into the bottom right hand corner.
Just as Arnold were attempting to re-group and set themselves up for some more much needed shooting practice they were caught out on the break again on 34 mins. An alert Mayfield midfielder approaching the centre circle spotted a huge gap in the Arna back line and applied a simple defence splitting pass out into the path of his left winger, Sam Handley. Handley to be fair still had several yards to travel with the ball, pick his spot and apply a clinical low drive past Strycharz to locate that pesky bottom right hand corner again to make it two out of two for the Mayfield conversion rate.
Now two down Arnold knew the next goal had to be theirs if they had any chance of getting something from the game and indeed they continued to create regular goalscoring opportunities. On 37 mins a ball towards the Mayfield area from the left was well controlled by Dan Chambers who managed a neat turn and forceful shot which flew just inches above the cross bar. Minutes later following more impressive wing play by Morgan another perfectly slotted pass to Jake Ogden produced a low drive which again failed to trouble the home keeper who probably retained the cleanest shirt on the pitch.
Just before the break an almighty scramble in the marsh from a Mayfield corner saw all hands to the pump as Arna defenders flew every which way to block two or three goal bound efforts in order to keep the half time deficit at 0-2. Opting not to trudge the quarter of a mile up the slope to the changing rooms Lenny Jenkins called the troops to the half way line where they attempted to make some al fresco sense of proceedings.
With the benefit of the slope and Mayfield's defence now having to contend with the tricky marshlands Arnold enjoyed even more of the attacking play throughout a second period in which the home team appeared quite content to sit deep and hold onto their advantage.
Again a string of chances were squandered. Good work by Dan Chambers provided another opportunity for Ogden to run through on goal and try his luck. Moments later the same striker was found by Neville to create a one on one chance against the home keeper but a chipped effort wasn't lifted quite high enough to get past the onrushing custodian.
With the misses mounting up and the hour mark passed manager Ash White sent on his two available subs providing a debut for midfielder Owen Taylor. But the body language on the pitch was now starting to suffer as an understandable degree of frustration began seeping into the Eagles' game. A frustration mirrored it must be said by those of us watching on the side lines.
Efforts to rectify matters were still being made however. Jake Ogden in particular, no doubt struggling to believe how it was he wasn't on the scoresheet, was rushing about all over the place trying to trigger some sort of upturn in the visitors' fortunes. Such efforts were further hindered after Arnold's man of the match Morgan was the subject of a hefty challenge which saw him virtually hobbling throughout the remainder of the game although he manfully did his best to keep up his notable contribution.
All hopes of a comeback were dashed with about ten minutes remaining. A Mayfield corner from the right was met at a crowded near post by Paul Williams who managed to beat everyone to the ball to head home from close range and complete the scoring at 3-0 for a most welcome three points for our hosts.
To their credit the Arna continued the search for some sort of consolation right to the end but despite enjoying the bulk of possession never really looked likely to break their duck on a day when numerous chances came and went.
All in all an afternoon pretty much to forget. Especially given the hour long traffic jam to contend with upon leaving a ground which had take your reporter and his co-pilot two hours to find in the first place!
Dressed in their old yellow and blue kit to avoid a colour clash with the home claret the Eagles' starting line-up contained just one change from their previous loss at Linby with new signing from Teversal Eddie Morgan taking the place of the unavailable Billy Bradley. Meanwhile a further new arrival midfielder Owen Taylor (from Ashland) shared the subs bench with James Martin.
Arna were kicking up the slope in the first half and thus defending the boggier end. At left back Kyme Mason had himself half an acre of marshland to patrol and in the absence of any hard standing the spectators along the line nearby had a fair idea of the terrain he faced.
An extraordinary chance in the first minute should have seen the Eagles ahead from the off. Eddie Morgan began as he meant to go on down the right wing and promptly advanced play towards the bi-line. Somehow a pass inside to Trem Lindo saw the ball float across the goal from Trem's kneecap (or some such) and brush against the crossbar. Following up Tyler Cobb was literally so close to the goal he was in danger of heading the post. Only in an Arna report could we have the effort flying wide of the target.
Two minutes later at the other end Mayfield's expansive target man John Ford rumbled into action down the incline finding only keeper Piotr Strycharz standing in his path. Thankfully yellows skipper Adam Clift was able to catch up with play and apply a well judged intervention receiving a hefty clip for his trouble.
Despite the heavy pitch and very unpredictable bounce the visitors were managing to play the ball around quite well at times in the early hard going. As the game progressed a frustrating pattern soon began to emerge. From the midfielder still looking to score his first goal for the club in his 31st appearance right through to the striker who has recently joined the 20 goal honours board no one in an Arna shirt looked capable of hitting a barn door from ten paces despite having numerous opportunities to do so.
With 21 minutes gone another incisive run by Morgan ended with a nicely rolled invitation to shoot for Lewis Neville on the edge of the area from where the ball whistled past the left hand post. Then, with Arnold continuing to press for an opener, they found themselves a goal down three minutes later following a quick Mayfield counter attack.
The danger sprang down the right flank from where a lofted ball found Ford patrolling acres of free space. With all the time in the word at his disposal the centre forward provided a swift contrast to Arnold's woeful finishing with a well directed low drive past the diving Strycharz into the bottom right hand corner.
Just as Arnold were attempting to re-group and set themselves up for some more much needed shooting practice they were caught out on the break again on 34 mins. An alert Mayfield midfielder approaching the centre circle spotted a huge gap in the Arna back line and applied a simple defence splitting pass out into the path of his left winger, Sam Handley. Handley to be fair still had several yards to travel with the ball, pick his spot and apply a clinical low drive past Strycharz to locate that pesky bottom right hand corner again to make it two out of two for the Mayfield conversion rate.
Now two down Arnold knew the next goal had to be theirs if they had any chance of getting something from the game and indeed they continued to create regular goalscoring opportunities. On 37 mins a ball towards the Mayfield area from the left was well controlled by Dan Chambers who managed a neat turn and forceful shot which flew just inches above the cross bar. Minutes later following more impressive wing play by Morgan another perfectly slotted pass to Jake Ogden produced a low drive which again failed to trouble the home keeper who probably retained the cleanest shirt on the pitch.
Just before the break an almighty scramble in the marsh from a Mayfield corner saw all hands to the pump as Arna defenders flew every which way to block two or three goal bound efforts in order to keep the half time deficit at 0-2. Opting not to trudge the quarter of a mile up the slope to the changing rooms Lenny Jenkins called the troops to the half way line where they attempted to make some al fresco sense of proceedings.
With the benefit of the slope and Mayfield's defence now having to contend with the tricky marshlands Arnold enjoyed even more of the attacking play throughout a second period in which the home team appeared quite content to sit deep and hold onto their advantage.
Again a string of chances were squandered. Good work by Dan Chambers provided another opportunity for Ogden to run through on goal and try his luck. Moments later the same striker was found by Neville to create a one on one chance against the home keeper but a chipped effort wasn't lifted quite high enough to get past the onrushing custodian.
With the misses mounting up and the hour mark passed manager Ash White sent on his two available subs providing a debut for midfielder Owen Taylor. But the body language on the pitch was now starting to suffer as an understandable degree of frustration began seeping into the Eagles' game. A frustration mirrored it must be said by those of us watching on the side lines.
Efforts to rectify matters were still being made however. Jake Ogden in particular, no doubt struggling to believe how it was he wasn't on the scoresheet, was rushing about all over the place trying to trigger some sort of upturn in the visitors' fortunes. Such efforts were further hindered after Arnold's man of the match Morgan was the subject of a hefty challenge which saw him virtually hobbling throughout the remainder of the game although he manfully did his best to keep up his notable contribution.
All hopes of a comeback were dashed with about ten minutes remaining. A Mayfield corner from the right was met at a crowded near post by Paul Williams who managed to beat everyone to the ball to head home from close range and complete the scoring at 3-0 for a most welcome three points for our hosts.
To their credit the Arna continued the search for some sort of consolation right to the end but despite enjoying the bulk of possession never really looked likely to break their duck on a day when numerous chances came and went.
All in all an afternoon pretty much to forget. Especially given the hour long traffic jam to contend with upon leaving a ground which had take your reporter and his co-pilot two hours to find in the first place!
derby defeat as arna old boys put three past the eagles
Former Arna players Jack Smith and Joe Butler (2) got themselves on the score sheet to hand the Eagles a new year derby defeat at a bright sunny Church Lane where a crowd well in excess of 100 were on hand to witness a fairly underwhelming encounter.
Arnold's starting line up featured four changes from their previous game at Cromford with James Jackson, Matty Hubbard, Craig Taylor and Jamie Royle making way for Billy Bradley, Tremere Lindo, Dan Chambers and Tyler Cobb. Meanwhile on the bench the Eagles had four players all about to make their Arna debuts with Darnel Beeson having recently joined from Ashland Rovers and teenagers Max Elliott, Owen Crofts and Charlie Perkins-Rudd all stepping up from the U18s following an inter-squad friendly at Eagle Valley the previous Saturday.
The Eagles made a sluggish start to the game which to be frank they found difficult to rise from for much of the remainder of the afternoon. Former Arnold striker Joe Butler on the other hand was quick to cause problems, firstly sneaking past Adam Clift on the left in the 3rd minute to get away his first shot on target and then a minute or so later bursting past the visiting defence on the right with his effort this time glancing off the cross bar.
After a period of midfield stale mate involving some sturdy tackles from both sides Linby keeper Jack Walker was finally brought into meaningful action approaching the quarter hour mark. A well nudged ball by Billy Bradley released Tremere Lindo into the area and his low strike was smothered quickly by Walker.
Linby then applied pressure at the other end without conjuring up any real threat before Arnold had their best chance of the game on 20 mins. Tyler Cobb, who was doing his best to light a spark down the right flank, ran at the Linby defence and with nothing much happening in the middle concentrated on winning a corner. His subsequent near post delivery was well met by Lenny Jenkins but sadly the defender's header flew inches wide of the right hand post.
Minutes later a big miss at the other end as Linby's right winger Archie Brown fought his way to the line before putting the ball on a plate for Joe Butler in the centre of the box but the tall striker somehow managed to drag his shot wide of the left hand post when it looked far easier to find the net.
Brown's Arna counter part Tyler Cobb was soon causing similar mischief at the other end this time a flighted ball across the goal proved just too high for Dan Chambers to climb sufficiently enough to direct a serious header towards the target from a yard or so out.
These opportunities aside the first half was turning out to be quite a pedestrian affair with neither side really managing to get a firm grip on the game. However, one further exchange of chances was to occur as we headed towards the break which would end with Arnold gifting their hosts a lead.
Arnold began their best move of the match with Chambers sending out a pass to Bradley wide on the left. Arna's elected MotM Bradley then exchanged a one two with Lindo before the former delivered a well aimed cross towards Cobb who managed to direct his header goal wards under pressure from the defence but the ball once again fell the wrong side of the post.
Minutes before the interval the Eagles shot themselves in the foot when a high ball dropping into a crowded six yard box was totally misjudged by keeper Strycharz who ended up with the ball loose beneath him triggering a race between two nearby Linby strikers which Jack Smith won to gleefully nudge the ball home.
A true sucker punch to send Arnold into the changing rooms a goal down after a less than thrilling 45 minutes in which neither side had really done enough to deserve the advantage.
Now kicking towards the Church end the Eagles started the second half in brighter fashion and were beginning to look a little more threatening with Lindo, Cobb, Chambers and Jake Ogden (in his 50th appearance for the Eagles) all trying to create some much needed danger around the Linby area.
Ten minutes into the half Lindo delivered a good looking free kick in from the right giving Cobb an opportunity to head for goal but the ball ended up bouncing atop Walker's cross bar.
On the hour mark the first of the teenage trio Max Elliott was introduced in place of Lewis Radford and the youngster didn't waste much time getting involved in the game looking quite at home in a rather feisty midfield environment.
Just as Arnold were starting to enjoy the balance of play and beginning to look capable to forcing their way back into the game they unfortunately handed out another gift of a goal to their hosts with 68 mins on the clock.
Without any real threat of danger evident in Arnold's penalty area centre half Lenny Jenkins delivered a somewhat over enthusiastic nudge in the back of his opponent openly inviting him to make a hearty meal of the collision and thus obtain the ref's full blessing for a spot kick. Centre forward Joe Butler stepped up and delivered an unstoppable pen which flew into the extreme bottom left hand corner of the net to give Linby a fortunate 2-0 lead not entirely of their own making.
The set-back pretty much put paid to any thoughts of an Arna comeback and whilst admittedly from a pretty low bar the remainder of the game was made more interesting for the Arna faithful because of the chance to view the three Under 18 players as they each gave a pretty good account of themselves.
In a way the capitulating derby defeat was made a little more palatable by the arrival of a "proper" third goal for Linby. Whilst possibly on the down slope of his career Welfare's Joe Butler was literally head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch today. Joe left Eagle Valley on 19 goals for the Arna just one below our "20 Goal" honours board and he wrapped things up this afternoon with a terrific solo effort.
Taking possession of the ball on the left wing Butler, accompanied by a succession of yellow shirts took the ball almost all the way across Arnold's area. Just before he got to the end he quickened his pace a touch swivelled his body weight back towards goal and drilled home a low shot to find pretty much the same spot his penalty conversion had ended up earlier in the piece.
Not a great day for the Arna....except for the encouragement provided by our new teenage recruits who on today's evidence all appeared more than worthy of further opportunities at senior level.
Arnold's starting line up featured four changes from their previous game at Cromford with James Jackson, Matty Hubbard, Craig Taylor and Jamie Royle making way for Billy Bradley, Tremere Lindo, Dan Chambers and Tyler Cobb. Meanwhile on the bench the Eagles had four players all about to make their Arna debuts with Darnel Beeson having recently joined from Ashland Rovers and teenagers Max Elliott, Owen Crofts and Charlie Perkins-Rudd all stepping up from the U18s following an inter-squad friendly at Eagle Valley the previous Saturday.
The Eagles made a sluggish start to the game which to be frank they found difficult to rise from for much of the remainder of the afternoon. Former Arnold striker Joe Butler on the other hand was quick to cause problems, firstly sneaking past Adam Clift on the left in the 3rd minute to get away his first shot on target and then a minute or so later bursting past the visiting defence on the right with his effort this time glancing off the cross bar.
After a period of midfield stale mate involving some sturdy tackles from both sides Linby keeper Jack Walker was finally brought into meaningful action approaching the quarter hour mark. A well nudged ball by Billy Bradley released Tremere Lindo into the area and his low strike was smothered quickly by Walker.
Linby then applied pressure at the other end without conjuring up any real threat before Arnold had their best chance of the game on 20 mins. Tyler Cobb, who was doing his best to light a spark down the right flank, ran at the Linby defence and with nothing much happening in the middle concentrated on winning a corner. His subsequent near post delivery was well met by Lenny Jenkins but sadly the defender's header flew inches wide of the right hand post.
Minutes later a big miss at the other end as Linby's right winger Archie Brown fought his way to the line before putting the ball on a plate for Joe Butler in the centre of the box but the tall striker somehow managed to drag his shot wide of the left hand post when it looked far easier to find the net.
Brown's Arna counter part Tyler Cobb was soon causing similar mischief at the other end this time a flighted ball across the goal proved just too high for Dan Chambers to climb sufficiently enough to direct a serious header towards the target from a yard or so out.
These opportunities aside the first half was turning out to be quite a pedestrian affair with neither side really managing to get a firm grip on the game. However, one further exchange of chances was to occur as we headed towards the break which would end with Arnold gifting their hosts a lead.
Arnold began their best move of the match with Chambers sending out a pass to Bradley wide on the left. Arna's elected MotM Bradley then exchanged a one two with Lindo before the former delivered a well aimed cross towards Cobb who managed to direct his header goal wards under pressure from the defence but the ball once again fell the wrong side of the post.
Minutes before the interval the Eagles shot themselves in the foot when a high ball dropping into a crowded six yard box was totally misjudged by keeper Strycharz who ended up with the ball loose beneath him triggering a race between two nearby Linby strikers which Jack Smith won to gleefully nudge the ball home.
A true sucker punch to send Arnold into the changing rooms a goal down after a less than thrilling 45 minutes in which neither side had really done enough to deserve the advantage.
Now kicking towards the Church end the Eagles started the second half in brighter fashion and were beginning to look a little more threatening with Lindo, Cobb, Chambers and Jake Ogden (in his 50th appearance for the Eagles) all trying to create some much needed danger around the Linby area.
Ten minutes into the half Lindo delivered a good looking free kick in from the right giving Cobb an opportunity to head for goal but the ball ended up bouncing atop Walker's cross bar.
On the hour mark the first of the teenage trio Max Elliott was introduced in place of Lewis Radford and the youngster didn't waste much time getting involved in the game looking quite at home in a rather feisty midfield environment.
Just as Arnold were starting to enjoy the balance of play and beginning to look capable to forcing their way back into the game they unfortunately handed out another gift of a goal to their hosts with 68 mins on the clock.
Without any real threat of danger evident in Arnold's penalty area centre half Lenny Jenkins delivered a somewhat over enthusiastic nudge in the back of his opponent openly inviting him to make a hearty meal of the collision and thus obtain the ref's full blessing for a spot kick. Centre forward Joe Butler stepped up and delivered an unstoppable pen which flew into the extreme bottom left hand corner of the net to give Linby a fortunate 2-0 lead not entirely of their own making.
The set-back pretty much put paid to any thoughts of an Arna comeback and whilst admittedly from a pretty low bar the remainder of the game was made more interesting for the Arna faithful because of the chance to view the three Under 18 players as they each gave a pretty good account of themselves.
In a way the capitulating derby defeat was made a little more palatable by the arrival of a "proper" third goal for Linby. Whilst possibly on the down slope of his career Welfare's Joe Butler was literally head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch today. Joe left Eagle Valley on 19 goals for the Arna just one below our "20 Goal" honours board and he wrapped things up this afternoon with a terrific solo effort.
Taking possession of the ball on the left wing Butler, accompanied by a succession of yellow shirts took the ball almost all the way across Arnold's area. Just before he got to the end he quickened his pace a touch swivelled his body weight back towards goal and drilled home a low shot to find pretty much the same spot his penalty conversion had ended up earlier in the piece.
Not a great day for the Arna....except for the encouragement provided by our new teenage recruits who on today's evidence all appeared more than worthy of further opportunities at senior level.
eagles end 2023 with a defeat in the dales
An undermanned Eagles squad concluded 2023 with a defeat in the soggy Derbyshire Dales after Cromford & Wirksworth's tight undulating ground managed to pass a mid-morning pitch inspection.
Having been warned beforehand to ensure we avoided parking on the grass unless we had a 4x4 we knew what to expect on arrival and the treacherous walk to the pitch took some negotiating. With Cromford's rudimentary facilities despite the lovely location we dropped off the kit and team sheet and as there was still 90 minutes until kick-off were recommended to head for Cromford's community centre in the village for a cheap and cheerful welcome. A couple of pints of Bass later in a cracking little pub and chips and gravy for Pete and Dennis (which the centre allowed you to buy from the local chippie and bring in) we headed off back for the game.
With a whole host of absentees (Trem Lindo and Tyler Cobb unavailable, Dan Chambers suspended, Aaron Wainaina ill, Kieron Lane injured) Arnold turned up with just 12 players. Matty Hubbard was included in the starting line-up for the first time since early November, Jamie Royle returned from his suspension whilst Toby Francis was able to stretch out and take up the whole of the Eagles' bench.
After negotiating the muddy walk (which injured manager Ash White manfully managed on his crutches) the match kicked off on a very poor uneven surface. A good sprinkling of Arna support in attendance saw us make a decidedly sluggish start against opponents who were quicker to the ball and seemed at ease on the postage stamp of a pitch.
Without Cromford's team sheet I was unable to identify their players but time and again they played the ball down the wings with Arna continuing to play out from the back on a pitch that really didn't suit this style frequently giving the ball away in poor positions. The only surprise was that Cromford took thirty or so minutes to puncture our defence with a well worked goal having already rattled the post. Keeper Piotr Strycharz made two fabulous saves, touching on to the bar and another finger-tip save to keep the score at 1-0 at the break.
Arna came out for the second half with a much more purposeful approach. Jake Ogden, industrious as ever, was becoming more involved and the midfield was beginning to put together some decent possession as we aimed to support Jamie Royle who was playing a lone role up front. Within three minutes of the restart we were given a way back when one of the Cromford defenders virtually caught the ball in the penalty box. Royle stepped up to take the penalty despatching it in to the corner to level the scores. For the next five-ten minutes we enjoyed our best period of the match as we looked to play longer balls over the top exposing Cromford's defence in much the same way they had to us earlier. However as Arnold began to tire the hosts were able to pick-up the pace and attacks on the Eagles goal became more frequent.
Toby Francis replaced James Jackson who appeared to pick-up a knock (later confirmed as calf) before the hosts restored their lead with some 25 minutes remaining with a penalty of their own. A cross from the right connected with Lenny Jenkins' hand at the near post leaving the ref no option but to point to the spot. Having already been booked some of the locals were baying for a red card but Lenny escaped further censure as Cromford restored their lead.
It was now an uphill struggle and although Cromford on the balance of play should have been well in front we had a couple of further chances to perhaps secure an unlikely point. Firstly Jamie Royle broke through and one on one with the keeper saw his shot rebound off the post; and then Francis out muscled the keeper at the far post from a deep cross who fumbled the ball but from close range Toby was unable to convert for the equaliser.
In the descending gloom Cromford were now well on top with Arnold having played their last cards and two close range efforts in the final 10 minutes made the score line perhaps a little more conclusive for all the Eagles' efforts. Piotr was on hand a couple of times with some fine close range saves to ensure the score did not spiral and was worthy winner of Arnold's Man of the Match award.
All of which brought about the end of the Yellow's unbeaten four match run. A good effort from the dirty dozen (you should see the state of the kit!) on a pitch which always suited the hosts on a day when playing any kind of cohesive football was difficult. We trudged back to the cars with a fair amount of Derbyshire mud clinging to our shoes as we attempted to exit the car park where a good deal of blocking in had been necessary to avoid sinking into the abyss!
A blank next Saturday so enjoy your New Year everyone and we'll see you at Linby on the 13th January.
Having been warned beforehand to ensure we avoided parking on the grass unless we had a 4x4 we knew what to expect on arrival and the treacherous walk to the pitch took some negotiating. With Cromford's rudimentary facilities despite the lovely location we dropped off the kit and team sheet and as there was still 90 minutes until kick-off were recommended to head for Cromford's community centre in the village for a cheap and cheerful welcome. A couple of pints of Bass later in a cracking little pub and chips and gravy for Pete and Dennis (which the centre allowed you to buy from the local chippie and bring in) we headed off back for the game.
With a whole host of absentees (Trem Lindo and Tyler Cobb unavailable, Dan Chambers suspended, Aaron Wainaina ill, Kieron Lane injured) Arnold turned up with just 12 players. Matty Hubbard was included in the starting line-up for the first time since early November, Jamie Royle returned from his suspension whilst Toby Francis was able to stretch out and take up the whole of the Eagles' bench.
After negotiating the muddy walk (which injured manager Ash White manfully managed on his crutches) the match kicked off on a very poor uneven surface. A good sprinkling of Arna support in attendance saw us make a decidedly sluggish start against opponents who were quicker to the ball and seemed at ease on the postage stamp of a pitch.
Without Cromford's team sheet I was unable to identify their players but time and again they played the ball down the wings with Arna continuing to play out from the back on a pitch that really didn't suit this style frequently giving the ball away in poor positions. The only surprise was that Cromford took thirty or so minutes to puncture our defence with a well worked goal having already rattled the post. Keeper Piotr Strycharz made two fabulous saves, touching on to the bar and another finger-tip save to keep the score at 1-0 at the break.
Arna came out for the second half with a much more purposeful approach. Jake Ogden, industrious as ever, was becoming more involved and the midfield was beginning to put together some decent possession as we aimed to support Jamie Royle who was playing a lone role up front. Within three minutes of the restart we were given a way back when one of the Cromford defenders virtually caught the ball in the penalty box. Royle stepped up to take the penalty despatching it in to the corner to level the scores. For the next five-ten minutes we enjoyed our best period of the match as we looked to play longer balls over the top exposing Cromford's defence in much the same way they had to us earlier. However as Arnold began to tire the hosts were able to pick-up the pace and attacks on the Eagles goal became more frequent.
Toby Francis replaced James Jackson who appeared to pick-up a knock (later confirmed as calf) before the hosts restored their lead with some 25 minutes remaining with a penalty of their own. A cross from the right connected with Lenny Jenkins' hand at the near post leaving the ref no option but to point to the spot. Having already been booked some of the locals were baying for a red card but Lenny escaped further censure as Cromford restored their lead.
It was now an uphill struggle and although Cromford on the balance of play should have been well in front we had a couple of further chances to perhaps secure an unlikely point. Firstly Jamie Royle broke through and one on one with the keeper saw his shot rebound off the post; and then Francis out muscled the keeper at the far post from a deep cross who fumbled the ball but from close range Toby was unable to convert for the equaliser.
In the descending gloom Cromford were now well on top with Arnold having played their last cards and two close range efforts in the final 10 minutes made the score line perhaps a little more conclusive for all the Eagles' efforts. Piotr was on hand a couple of times with some fine close range saves to ensure the score did not spiral and was worthy winner of Arnold's Man of the Match award.
All of which brought about the end of the Yellow's unbeaten four match run. A good effort from the dirty dozen (you should see the state of the kit!) on a pitch which always suited the hosts on a day when playing any kind of cohesive football was difficult. We trudged back to the cars with a fair amount of Derbyshire mud clinging to our shoes as we attempted to exit the car park where a good deal of blocking in had been necessary to avoid sinking into the abyss!
A blank next Saturday so enjoy your New Year everyone and we'll see you at Linby on the 13th January.
Gritty Eagles continue their resurgence with battling win
Since league battle was re-joined with Graham St Prims last season the Spondon side had plundered an easy nine points from their three games against the Eagles scoring eight goals without reply in the process. Today they came up against a rather more resilient Arnold side currently putting together a welcome run of form in the Central Midlands Alliance.
Without doubt the home side were greatly aided by the fact that the majority of their squad were fit and available for pre-Christmas selection. Strikers Jake Ogden, Tyler Cobb and Dan Chambers were all restored to the starting line-up with recent signing Tremere Lindo being the principle absentee through illness.
From the get go the Eagles took the game to their visitors with the Oxton Road penalty area hosting the bulk of the action. In bright sunny conditions the swirling wind was largely working in Arnold's favour and early corners were causing problems for the Prims defence particularly in the 4th minute when an almighty scramble in the six yard area somehow evaded a killer touch from the swarming Arna attack.
On eleven minutes as the Yellows' offensive continued a chipped effort from the edge of the area by midfielder Lewis Neville drifted a yard or so wide of the mark and then later a more powerful attempt from wide out on the left delivered by Dan Chambers had Prims keeper Jack Morley clearly beaten yet flew inches over the cross bar.
Prims first reply of note didn't arrive until the 20th minute when the home side conceded a free kick on the left edge of the Colin End area. The dead ball effort harmlessly cleared the bar and then only served to trigger Arnold's opening goal a minute later as one way traffic was restored.
Tyler Cobb sent in a fierce goal bound effort from just outside the area which the diving Morley was unable to cling onto. With the ball running a couple of feet clear an alert Jake Ogden was first on the scene to swiftly plant the ball to the right of the fallen keeper to give his side the lead and become only the 34th Eagle to notch 20 goals for the club since our reformation in 1989.
Arnold's lead came at a cost however as Oggy's landmark goal served to spark Prims into life. A forceful run down the left flank made progress despite repeated attempts to tackle from the Arna defence. The surge ended with a fine save by Strycharz at his right hand post and then a fairly easy gather for the keeper from a header following the resultant corner.
Moments later with 26 minutes on the clock the Eagles rather gifted their opponents an equaliser. A long ball down the left appeared to be rolling into no man's land for a moment and Strycharz appeared to be making the correct decision to rush from his line to meet it. For some inexplicable reason Piotr managed to over run the ball and thus allowed Prims centre forward Liam Gregg to nip in behind him and tuck the ball away into an empty Colin End net.
Soon after the half hour mark the Eagles appeared to regain the advantage with an absolute peach of a goal. Dan Chambers took receipt of the ball on the left wing and managed to hold off his markers well before delivering an excellent curling cross which Tyler Cobb met perfectly in a crowded six yard area to glance the ball past a helpless Morley.
A brilliant goal and from where we were standing more or less in line with the action nothing to suggest anything was wrong with it. Sadly the assistant on the far side disagreed for what could only have been the tightest of margins.
The game started to become more end to end now. An unfortunate slip by Lenny Jenkins allowed Alex Seale to run on towards the Arna goal but the striker only succeeded in dragging his shot wide of the target. Moments later a long low shot by Arna's Ogden produced another half save from Morley who was certainly advertising his occasional frailty to the home forwards.
With minutes to go to half time a significant shift to the game arrived in somewhat unsavoury circumstances. About five yards out of the Prims area in a fairly crowded midfield Prims' Callum Wilson opted to scythe down Lewis Neville with an extremely reckless and dangerous looking tackle which understandably enraged the Arna contingent.
After a lengthy kerfuffle the referee seemed much more interested in booking Arna's Kieran Lane for passing a comment on proceedings than opting to do anything about a tackle which had clearly warranted a straight red. Sadly for the Eagles this unsettling turn of events seemed to rattle them and they would struggle to return to their early dominance of the game whilst the least said about the referee's woeful performance throughout the remainder of the match the better.
It didn't take long for the second half to throw up more controversy although it should be noted that this time matters appeared to be contrived in the home side's favour. Late out of the club house the first thing I saw was Adam Clift challenging for the ball in his own area and the whistle loudly blown. Expecting a penalty kick to arise I was somewhat relieved when the official appeared to bring the action back for an earlier Arna misdemeanour some ten yards out of the box.
As mentioned the Eagles were now struggling to keep their composure at times and in addition Prims now had the advantage of the gusting wind and fierce sunlight beating down towards the capless Strycharz's goal. The ingredients were all there for a shift in the balance of play and the visitors were indeed now looking the much more threatening side with Arnold's counter attacks becoming few and far between.
Arnold's defence were sometimes reduced to panic mode but aided by some effective stops by Strycharz and marshalled well by skipper and eventual man of the match Adam Clift the improving Eagles managed to weather the storm. Despite the heroic efforts being made things were not looking too good at this stage with Dan Chambers sin-binned at one point and Craig Taylor having to depart the action for some minutes whilst trying to locate an elusive blood shirt.
Thankfully a full and experienced bench were on hand to help shore up Arnold's efforts as they sought to keep hold of something from a game which on the basis of their earlier "pre-tackle" play they certainly deserved.
Over the years the weary Arna faithful have come to terms with the fact that things very rarely seem to go the Eagles' way. Well today would prove to be different as the lads not only doggedly held on for grim death at the back they only went and grabbed all three points with a dramatic and well executed goal as the game headed towards nearly ten minutes of added time.
Jake Ogden's non stop running played a big part in triggering the winner. Oggy repeatedly ran at the Prims defence as they played across the back four. Eventually a break appeared for him to run onto and tear into the Colin End area and see sub James Jackson well placed on the left side of the box. A perfect pass from Oggy still needed a coolly slotted home effort from the youngster who gleefully saw his effort glide into the bottom left hand corner for his first ever senior goal.
Further intense pressure was unsurprisingly heaped upon the Arna defence as the added minutes were painfully played out. However, is has to be said that the best chance came on a swift break for the home side again with Jake Ogden this time bearing down on goal with a clear intention to add to his earlier strike. His low drive went agonisingly wide of the mark to the dismay of the Arna faithful and sub Toby Francis who had kept pace with the action and was standing in acres of space to Jake's right.
But never mind all that Christmas had indeed come early to Eagle Valley. Admittedly with more games played than all the other teams surrounding them the Arna had lifted themselves up to 9th in the table. That might not sound much to many folks reading this but with our recent track record it represents a most welcome step in the right direction!
Without doubt the home side were greatly aided by the fact that the majority of their squad were fit and available for pre-Christmas selection. Strikers Jake Ogden, Tyler Cobb and Dan Chambers were all restored to the starting line-up with recent signing Tremere Lindo being the principle absentee through illness.
From the get go the Eagles took the game to their visitors with the Oxton Road penalty area hosting the bulk of the action. In bright sunny conditions the swirling wind was largely working in Arnold's favour and early corners were causing problems for the Prims defence particularly in the 4th minute when an almighty scramble in the six yard area somehow evaded a killer touch from the swarming Arna attack.
On eleven minutes as the Yellows' offensive continued a chipped effort from the edge of the area by midfielder Lewis Neville drifted a yard or so wide of the mark and then later a more powerful attempt from wide out on the left delivered by Dan Chambers had Prims keeper Jack Morley clearly beaten yet flew inches over the cross bar.
Prims first reply of note didn't arrive until the 20th minute when the home side conceded a free kick on the left edge of the Colin End area. The dead ball effort harmlessly cleared the bar and then only served to trigger Arnold's opening goal a minute later as one way traffic was restored.
Tyler Cobb sent in a fierce goal bound effort from just outside the area which the diving Morley was unable to cling onto. With the ball running a couple of feet clear an alert Jake Ogden was first on the scene to swiftly plant the ball to the right of the fallen keeper to give his side the lead and become only the 34th Eagle to notch 20 goals for the club since our reformation in 1989.
Arnold's lead came at a cost however as Oggy's landmark goal served to spark Prims into life. A forceful run down the left flank made progress despite repeated attempts to tackle from the Arna defence. The surge ended with a fine save by Strycharz at his right hand post and then a fairly easy gather for the keeper from a header following the resultant corner.
Moments later with 26 minutes on the clock the Eagles rather gifted their opponents an equaliser. A long ball down the left appeared to be rolling into no man's land for a moment and Strycharz appeared to be making the correct decision to rush from his line to meet it. For some inexplicable reason Piotr managed to over run the ball and thus allowed Prims centre forward Liam Gregg to nip in behind him and tuck the ball away into an empty Colin End net.
Soon after the half hour mark the Eagles appeared to regain the advantage with an absolute peach of a goal. Dan Chambers took receipt of the ball on the left wing and managed to hold off his markers well before delivering an excellent curling cross which Tyler Cobb met perfectly in a crowded six yard area to glance the ball past a helpless Morley.
A brilliant goal and from where we were standing more or less in line with the action nothing to suggest anything was wrong with it. Sadly the assistant on the far side disagreed for what could only have been the tightest of margins.
The game started to become more end to end now. An unfortunate slip by Lenny Jenkins allowed Alex Seale to run on towards the Arna goal but the striker only succeeded in dragging his shot wide of the target. Moments later a long low shot by Arna's Ogden produced another half save from Morley who was certainly advertising his occasional frailty to the home forwards.
With minutes to go to half time a significant shift to the game arrived in somewhat unsavoury circumstances. About five yards out of the Prims area in a fairly crowded midfield Prims' Callum Wilson opted to scythe down Lewis Neville with an extremely reckless and dangerous looking tackle which understandably enraged the Arna contingent.
After a lengthy kerfuffle the referee seemed much more interested in booking Arna's Kieran Lane for passing a comment on proceedings than opting to do anything about a tackle which had clearly warranted a straight red. Sadly for the Eagles this unsettling turn of events seemed to rattle them and they would struggle to return to their early dominance of the game whilst the least said about the referee's woeful performance throughout the remainder of the match the better.
It didn't take long for the second half to throw up more controversy although it should be noted that this time matters appeared to be contrived in the home side's favour. Late out of the club house the first thing I saw was Adam Clift challenging for the ball in his own area and the whistle loudly blown. Expecting a penalty kick to arise I was somewhat relieved when the official appeared to bring the action back for an earlier Arna misdemeanour some ten yards out of the box.
As mentioned the Eagles were now struggling to keep their composure at times and in addition Prims now had the advantage of the gusting wind and fierce sunlight beating down towards the capless Strycharz's goal. The ingredients were all there for a shift in the balance of play and the visitors were indeed now looking the much more threatening side with Arnold's counter attacks becoming few and far between.
Arnold's defence were sometimes reduced to panic mode but aided by some effective stops by Strycharz and marshalled well by skipper and eventual man of the match Adam Clift the improving Eagles managed to weather the storm. Despite the heroic efforts being made things were not looking too good at this stage with Dan Chambers sin-binned at one point and Craig Taylor having to depart the action for some minutes whilst trying to locate an elusive blood shirt.
Thankfully a full and experienced bench were on hand to help shore up Arnold's efforts as they sought to keep hold of something from a game which on the basis of their earlier "pre-tackle" play they certainly deserved.
Over the years the weary Arna faithful have come to terms with the fact that things very rarely seem to go the Eagles' way. Well today would prove to be different as the lads not only doggedly held on for grim death at the back they only went and grabbed all three points with a dramatic and well executed goal as the game headed towards nearly ten minutes of added time.
Jake Ogden's non stop running played a big part in triggering the winner. Oggy repeatedly ran at the Prims defence as they played across the back four. Eventually a break appeared for him to run onto and tear into the Colin End area and see sub James Jackson well placed on the left side of the box. A perfect pass from Oggy still needed a coolly slotted home effort from the youngster who gleefully saw his effort glide into the bottom left hand corner for his first ever senior goal.
Further intense pressure was unsurprisingly heaped upon the Arna defence as the added minutes were painfully played out. However, is has to be said that the best chance came on a swift break for the home side again with Jake Ogden this time bearing down on goal with a clear intention to add to his earlier strike. His low drive went agonisingly wide of the mark to the dismay of the Arna faithful and sub Toby Francis who had kept pace with the action and was standing in acres of space to Jake's right.
But never mind all that Christmas had indeed come early to Eagle Valley. Admittedly with more games played than all the other teams surrounding them the Arna had lifted themselves up to 9th in the table. That might not sound much to many folks reading this but with our recent track record it represents a most welcome step in the right direction!
eagles fortunes continue to rise with seven goal thriller
No great surprise that opponents with two of the worst defensive records in the division should serve up an exciting end to end seven goal thriller which made for a terrific afternoon's entertainment for a sparse Eagle Valley crowd. The Eagles were made to work extremely hard to ensure that Tevie's eight game losing streak coming into this fixture was extended to nine, grimly hanging onto their slender 4-3 lead throughout a tense final quarter of the match.
Even by Arnold Town standards there were massive changes to the home starting eleven for this game with no less than six positions taken up by different personnel from the midweek cup defeat against Chesterfield. Notable incomers were Tremere Lindo making his full debut, Keiron Lane coming in as a dual signing from Hucknall Town and Toby Francis returning from a similar arrangement at Selston.
The Eagles started the game on the front foot with an early sighter for Toby Francis after being found by a Billy Bradley's long throw but the striker's mis-hit shot bounced well wide of the Oxton Road goal. Following a brief succession of Tevie corners at the other end Francis was back in the action again on 9 mins this time threading through a pass for fellow striker Tremere Lindo whose curled effort sailed a mere foot or so over the bar.
Two minutes later the Eagles gained an early lead. Lindo made meaningful progress through the right side of Teversal's defence before launching a goal bound shot which keeper Leon Turton could only parry back into the path of a handily placed Craig Taylor who calmly slotted home the game's opener like the ruthless goal machine the midfielder has suddenly become.
The goal initially seemed to increase the home side's grip on the game but Tevie fought back on 17 mins and were awarded a free kick in a dangerous looking position after one of their strike force was bundled to the floor. The resultant curled free kick seemed to have the beating of Strycharz but thankfully for the Arna keeper it somehow nestled itself on the top of the Colin End net.
Shortly afterwards a badly skewed clearance by Strycharz went directly to a visiting striker and only prompt rescue work by centre half Lenny Jenkins prevented an easy chance for an equaliser. The game now threatened to become a little unruly with the Arnold defence and midfield looking a little unsettled by a Tevie unit not afraid to get stuck in.
Around the half hour mark however Arna began to find their stride again and good work by the industrious Wainaina provided Toby Francis with another opportunity to test the Tevie keeper who this time reacted with a fine save.
A minute later though keeper Turton made a complete hash of a fairly simple ball making its way towards him in his six yard area. The air shot squirted the ball for an alert Tremere Lindo to pick up the pieces and slot home his first goal for the Eagles from an acute angle on the left bi-line to give the home side a brief two goal cushion.
Always ready to prove the old axiom "you're at your most likely to concede after scoring" Arnold allowed Teversal back into the game just two minutes later. A free kick from way out on the right dropped from the sky into the Eagles' area with the flight path totally misjudged by Strycharz who subsequently allowed the ball to drop behind him for the eager James Whitmore to nip in and nudge it into the net to reduce the arrears.
Despite the setback Arnold finished the half looking the more threatening of the two sides and but for two poor looking offside decisions could easily have re-extended their lead with dangerous looking one on one opportunities cruelly cut short for Lindo and later Francis who had both appeared to time their breaking runs to perfection.
After a five minute wait for the ref to make a reappearance for the second half the visitors were levelling matters within a minute of the delayed re-start. A bit of an "after you Claude" in midfield by Craig Taylor saw the visitors burst through Arnold's back line with menace and Cameron Pinnock running on to convert a one on one chance against Strycharz with a well placed drilled shot to the right of the advancing keeper to make it 2-2.
Parity lasted some five minutes before a well worked Arna goal saw them back in front. Billy Bradley began the move on the left finding Tremere Lindo eager to carry the ball down the flank and into the left side of the area before looking up and weighing up his options. For a split second Francis appeared best placed in the middle but an onrushing Kyme Mason suddenly entered the scene and took advantage of a perfectly placed pass to send in a delicious curled effort into the right hand corner of the net for his 5th Arna goal.
Play was getting more frantic as the game progressed with both sides looking equally threatening in turn. Cracks looked likely to appear in either defence at any moment and Tevie took full advantage of a horlicks on the right of Arna's back line just after the hour mark to level matters at 3-3. Dwelling too long on the ball Adam Clift was dispossessed just outside the Eagles penalty box resulting in a bit of a gift for the hunting Robbie Savage who was left with the easiest of finishes to equalise once again.
Momentum appeared to be with the visitors now and Strycharz was called upon to make a couple of decent saves to prevent Teversal taking the lead. With eight straight defeats behind them the visitors were clearly not wanting to pass up on an opportunity to end their dismal run.
But the new look Eagles weren't ready to throw in the towel and it was the home side who managed to apply the final killer punch on 67 mins. A Lindo throw in from the right was redirected by Francis to springboard Wainaina on his way, dribbling into the area past two or three defenders. After a clumsy attempt to scythe him to the ground failed Aaron retained his footing, steadied himself and threaded a close range side footed shot between the keeper and further defenders gathered on the line for his first goal for the club.
I expect not many watching would have been prepared to put money on the fact that 4-3 would be the final score with some twenty odd minutes still on the clock. Before the re-start the Eagles brought on James Martin to replace Toby Francis and the former's pace helped to provide a fresh occasional outlet up front which was much needed as Tevie began to throw all their efforts forward in the search of yet another equaliser.
Arnold's gritty defending would be pretty rudimentary at times with bodies flying all over the place in the face of some sustained Tevie pressure. The visitors squandered their clearest chance on 72 mins after Keiron Lane initially did well to quell an attack down the right but then lost his footing to allow a dangerous ball flash across the box were Whitmore somehow managed to lift it over the bar from only a yard or so out when it appeared far easier to score.
After riding the storm the Eagles were on the hunt themselves to restore their two goal cushion. Strycharz appeared more eager than usual to opt for the long ball with his more pacey forward line and a drop kick did well to find substitute James Jackson free on the left wing. JJ was quick to advance and send over a high cross which found Lindo free in the area and Tremere's close range header only cleared the bar by inches.
A succession of subs and one or two lengthy delays for injuries ensured a fair bit of added time which Teversal used to the full in keeping up the pressure on a tiring Arna defence. For the final minutes it was all hands to the pump as the home side got everything behind the ball to hang on to another vital three points in their quest to improve their league position.
Certainly a tense finish for all concerned but thankfully ending with a well deserved hard fought victory for a steadily improving Arnold squad.
light goes out on eagles cup involvement this season
The Eagles completed a set of first round cup exits this season against a very youthful looking Chesterfield side who clearly have the benefit of long hours coaching, refining ball juggling skills and on this evening's evidence scoring goals from some very acute angles.
With manager Ash White indisposed through injury the home side were under the control of player coaches Adam Clift and Lenny Jenkins. Absent from last Saturday's starting line-up against Normanton were Aaron Wainaina (?) Craig Taylor (hamstring) and the suspended Jamie Royle. Replacements for this Floodlit Cup tie were James Martin, Liam Black and Dan Chambers. However, perhaps the most significant change as far as the Arna supporters were concerned was the naming of new signing Tremere Lindo (from Step 5 AFC Mansfield via Step 6 Clipstone) on the bench.
I have to confess I suspect this will be a fairly brief report. In line with the general feeling that this competition is often more trouble than its worth the game was a pretty low key affair. The first half was a very evenly fought contest with chances few and far between at both ends. The Eagles appeared to be gainfully using a more overly employed back line of three or four across the back and as a result looked comfortable for the majority of the first 45 mins.
Midway through the half the spritely visitors created their best opening when a well crafted move down the left caught out the Arna back line which had pushed up to the half way line. The ball broke kindly for Chesterfield's left winger who went on to bring about a terrific full length save from Strycharz diving to his left.
Chesterfield's over eager forwards were repeatedly jumping the gun and one of the busiest men on the ground was the assistant on the far side from us who must have put his flag up at least a dozen times in the first period. Clearly our man on the clubhouse side wanted to get into the act.
Coming up to the half hour mark Dan Chambers was given the chance to time his run perfectly to run on to a ball from midfield and round the last man. The action was directly in line where the Arna fans were largely gathered but sadly for "our" assistant it was all taking place a good five yards ahead of him and he hastily employed the old "if in doubt stick up your flag like you mean it" ploy.
In an even game up to this point Liam Black was doing his level best to create something for his colleagues with some terrific distribution despite clearly struggling with his fitness after a long period out of action. As half time approached Blacky almost got on the end of a chance when Chambers and James Martin combined to carve out an opening on the left with the ball coming in to Liam in the six yard area where the striker suddenly lost his footing amid claims of a push.
Nil-Nil at the break and to be honest no real sign of the lop-sided second half to come.
Four minutes after the re-start the Eagles suddenly found themselves 0-2 down. A rush towards the Colin End down the left by the visitors drew everyone across towards the action like a magnet except for Chesterfield's Fallet Bamber who calmly took possession of a cross standing on his own on the right side of Arnold's area from where he calmly directed his low drive into the left hand corner.
Two minutes later Chesterfield muscled their way into possession at the half way line and centre forward James Simmonite left everyone in his wake before scoring from an acute angle sending his shot flashing across the face of the goal with the ball nestling itself inside the left hand post once more.
The Eagles made a triple substitution on 57 mins with all three incoming players going on to make their mark on the game. Tyler Cobb was to see plenty of the ball down the left flank, Joe Rock slotted in well in defence and put across some awkward corners for the Chesterfield defence to deal with and then there was the entrance of Tremere Lindo who certainly does not look shy of getting himself involved in the action.
One of Rock's corners almost got Arnold back into the game on 70 mins when the high delivery found Dan Chambers in the six yard area but the striker couldn't quite get on top of the ball directing it over the bar.
Three minutes later a killer third goal arrived after a hotly contested ball towards the right hand corner flag at Colin ended with a Chesterfield player managing to squeeze it across the area locating substitute Tom Pawson standing on his own a yard out from goal to score with the simplest of tap-ins.
Rocky's corners continued to give Arnold their best opportunities. This time an exellent swinging ball from the right was well met by skipper Adam Clift at the near post but the ball bounced wide of the left hand post.
The scoring thankfully concluded with another Chesterfield sub getting his name on the score sheet as Yassor Rby took his turn to raid down the right and launch an impossibly acute looking shot from the bi-line which still managed to find itself bulging the left hand side of the net to make it 0-4.
I say "thankfully" because in most respects the tie was not a "0-4" game. In many departments the Eagles had managed to match their youthful opponents but at the end of the day you couldn't deny the visitors their win especially after displaying such well honed finishing skills.
Out of the Floodlit Cup then. But with two of Eagle Valley's bulbs refusing to play ball all evening it's probably just as well. A much more meaningful 2pm encounter with Tevie awaits.
With manager Ash White indisposed through injury the home side were under the control of player coaches Adam Clift and Lenny Jenkins. Absent from last Saturday's starting line-up against Normanton were Aaron Wainaina (?) Craig Taylor (hamstring) and the suspended Jamie Royle. Replacements for this Floodlit Cup tie were James Martin, Liam Black and Dan Chambers. However, perhaps the most significant change as far as the Arna supporters were concerned was the naming of new signing Tremere Lindo (from Step 5 AFC Mansfield via Step 6 Clipstone) on the bench.
I have to confess I suspect this will be a fairly brief report. In line with the general feeling that this competition is often more trouble than its worth the game was a pretty low key affair. The first half was a very evenly fought contest with chances few and far between at both ends. The Eagles appeared to be gainfully using a more overly employed back line of three or four across the back and as a result looked comfortable for the majority of the first 45 mins.
Midway through the half the spritely visitors created their best opening when a well crafted move down the left caught out the Arna back line which had pushed up to the half way line. The ball broke kindly for Chesterfield's left winger who went on to bring about a terrific full length save from Strycharz diving to his left.
Chesterfield's over eager forwards were repeatedly jumping the gun and one of the busiest men on the ground was the assistant on the far side from us who must have put his flag up at least a dozen times in the first period. Clearly our man on the clubhouse side wanted to get into the act.
Coming up to the half hour mark Dan Chambers was given the chance to time his run perfectly to run on to a ball from midfield and round the last man. The action was directly in line where the Arna fans were largely gathered but sadly for "our" assistant it was all taking place a good five yards ahead of him and he hastily employed the old "if in doubt stick up your flag like you mean it" ploy.
In an even game up to this point Liam Black was doing his level best to create something for his colleagues with some terrific distribution despite clearly struggling with his fitness after a long period out of action. As half time approached Blacky almost got on the end of a chance when Chambers and James Martin combined to carve out an opening on the left with the ball coming in to Liam in the six yard area where the striker suddenly lost his footing amid claims of a push.
Nil-Nil at the break and to be honest no real sign of the lop-sided second half to come.
Four minutes after the re-start the Eagles suddenly found themselves 0-2 down. A rush towards the Colin End down the left by the visitors drew everyone across towards the action like a magnet except for Chesterfield's Fallet Bamber who calmly took possession of a cross standing on his own on the right side of Arnold's area from where he calmly directed his low drive into the left hand corner.
Two minutes later Chesterfield muscled their way into possession at the half way line and centre forward James Simmonite left everyone in his wake before scoring from an acute angle sending his shot flashing across the face of the goal with the ball nestling itself inside the left hand post once more.
The Eagles made a triple substitution on 57 mins with all three incoming players going on to make their mark on the game. Tyler Cobb was to see plenty of the ball down the left flank, Joe Rock slotted in well in defence and put across some awkward corners for the Chesterfield defence to deal with and then there was the entrance of Tremere Lindo who certainly does not look shy of getting himself involved in the action.
One of Rock's corners almost got Arnold back into the game on 70 mins when the high delivery found Dan Chambers in the six yard area but the striker couldn't quite get on top of the ball directing it over the bar.
Three minutes later a killer third goal arrived after a hotly contested ball towards the right hand corner flag at Colin ended with a Chesterfield player managing to squeeze it across the area locating substitute Tom Pawson standing on his own a yard out from goal to score with the simplest of tap-ins.
Rocky's corners continued to give Arnold their best opportunities. This time an exellent swinging ball from the right was well met by skipper Adam Clift at the near post but the ball bounced wide of the left hand post.
The scoring thankfully concluded with another Chesterfield sub getting his name on the score sheet as Yassor Rby took his turn to raid down the right and launch an impossibly acute looking shot from the bi-line which still managed to find itself bulging the left hand side of the net to make it 0-4.
I say "thankfully" because in most respects the tie was not a "0-4" game. In many departments the Eagles had managed to match their youthful opponents but at the end of the day you couldn't deny the visitors their win especially after displaying such well honed finishing skills.
Out of the Floodlit Cup then. But with two of Eagle Valley's bulbs refusing to play ball all evening it's probably just as well. A much more meaningful 2pm encounter with Tevie awaits.
eagles revival continues with excellent 10 man performance
Newly promoted AFC Normanton arrived at Eagle Valley with a fine set of debut Step 7 results to their name but it was the home side who put together the more impressive overall display on an excellent pitch despite the dual setbacks of losing Craig Taylor (hamstring injury on 30 mins) and being reduced to ten men on 46 mins with a fully justified straight red issued to Jamie Royle.
Manager Ash White though had earlier been blessed with the rare opportunity of naming an unchanged starting eleven in addition to which a full bench only had to receive one tweak with Tyler Cobb named in place of Joe Rock absent through work commitments. A striker heavy Arnold bench then with no less than 44 goals for the club between them!
With the days winds subsided the match was played in perfect footballing conditions provided of course you'd remembered to wrap up warm on the side lines. The Eagles began the game playing in their new much more confident style and Lewis Radford was pretty soon showing his long throw in ability to the visitors which they would have to contend with throughout the ninety minutes - and they did very well to be fair.
But then just seven minutes in Normanton took the lead following a quick break down the left wing which saw the aptly names Jak Lightly dance his way to the bi-line before cutting in to see fellow striker Kian Brewin ideally placed at the near post to receive a low pass and redirect it with some aplomb to the left of Arna keeper Piotr Strycharz.
Without creating too much at the other end at this stage Arnold survived another scare on 13 mins when Normanton suddenly opted for the dreaded long ball from deep within the left of their defence swung out to the right wing. The ball seemed to bounce in no mans land for a moment but then out of nowhere a Normo wide man gathered it up and tore towards the Oxton Road area where thankfully his curled attempt of goal went outside the right hand post. Moments later Strycharz's goal was under major threat once more but a couple of close range headers failed to find the target.
Thankfully the Eagles started to get a former grip on things and Lewis Radford's dead ball skills sent in a dangerous looking free kick into the Colin End where the Yellows didn't quite get the run of the ball in a crowded box. A Radford long throw from the right was the result and this triggered a shooting opportunity for Jake Ogden whose punted shot at full stretch provided keeper Parkes with a fairly easy save low to his right.
The unlucky Craig Taylor suffered another injury set-back on the half hour mark when a pulled hamstring saw him replaced by Dan Chambers with Jamie Royle now employed in a deeper role. Minutes later though the home side found themselves level with an absolute wonder goal from Lenny Jenkins.
A corner from the right was punched away by Parkes only to arrive bouncing a foot or two off the ground to Arnold's centre half on the left edge of the area. Lenny promptly delivered an unstoppable curled exocet which flew into the top right hand corner of the net to make it 1-1 with just his second goal for the club to mark his 50th appearance.
Understandably buoyed by such an incredible goal the Eagles were playing the ball around with some fluency now although the visitors were also creating one or two problems at the other end. As the first half drew to a close Jake Ogden almost gave the Arna the lead when a punt from twenty yards took an awkward bounce on its way to goal and a scrambling Parkes was almost caught out before forcing it away for a corner.
In a closely contested match Arnold appeared to press the self destruct button a minute into the second half when Jamie Royle was dismissed with a straight red card following a totally unnecessary and extremely clumsy tackle a few yards outside the Oxton Road area.
However, the rest of the game didn't quite play out as we may have feared. If anything Arnold had more possession and created more chances in the second half than they did in the first and as the match wore on it appeared that the visitors were content to try and slow the game down as it became apparent the Eagles were often looking the more likely team to score.
Jake Ogden was of course on the hunt for his 20th Arna goal and he made a valiant attempt at it on 53 mins. The bustling Chambers had won the ball down the right and laid it on for Jake who proceeded to jink his way past two or three defenders into the area and send in a deft chip towards goal which the visiting keeper made rather a meal of saving.
Ten man Arna continued to do the bulk of pressing and the revitalised midfield and defence were looking solid with Normanton unable to make much headway despite having the numerical advantage. With not long left to go the Eagles almost snatched all three points in what would have been quite remarkable fashion.
A defence splitting pass had sent Dan Chambers charging for the area and with the keeper well advanced the ball somehow managed to rebound at some speed back towards goal where for some time it seemed destined to find the empty net but ended its long journey just wide of the left hand post.
There was just time for Normanton to finally conjure up an attacking scare when a ball delivered in from the left was prodded tentatively towards the goal but thankfully somehow managed to bounce inches over the bar much to the relief of those on the side lines as a late goal would have indeed been remarkably cruel on the valiant Eagles.
Four consecutive games of highly competitive football for the Arna now as things seem to be falling more into place throughout a side which appears to have taken on a much more robust feel about it. A tremendous effort from everyone tonight.
Certainly a tense finish for all concerned and a well deserved hard fought victory for the steadily improving Arnold squad.
Manager Ash White though had earlier been blessed with the rare opportunity of naming an unchanged starting eleven in addition to which a full bench only had to receive one tweak with Tyler Cobb named in place of Joe Rock absent through work commitments. A striker heavy Arnold bench then with no less than 44 goals for the club between them!
With the days winds subsided the match was played in perfect footballing conditions provided of course you'd remembered to wrap up warm on the side lines. The Eagles began the game playing in their new much more confident style and Lewis Radford was pretty soon showing his long throw in ability to the visitors which they would have to contend with throughout the ninety minutes - and they did very well to be fair.
But then just seven minutes in Normanton took the lead following a quick break down the left wing which saw the aptly names Jak Lightly dance his way to the bi-line before cutting in to see fellow striker Kian Brewin ideally placed at the near post to receive a low pass and redirect it with some aplomb to the left of Arna keeper Piotr Strycharz.
Without creating too much at the other end at this stage Arnold survived another scare on 13 mins when Normanton suddenly opted for the dreaded long ball from deep within the left of their defence swung out to the right wing. The ball seemed to bounce in no mans land for a moment but then out of nowhere a Normo wide man gathered it up and tore towards the Oxton Road area where thankfully his curled attempt of goal went outside the right hand post. Moments later Strycharz's goal was under major threat once more but a couple of close range headers failed to find the target.
Thankfully the Eagles started to get a former grip on things and Lewis Radford's dead ball skills sent in a dangerous looking free kick into the Colin End where the Yellows didn't quite get the run of the ball in a crowded box. A Radford long throw from the right was the result and this triggered a shooting opportunity for Jake Ogden whose punted shot at full stretch provided keeper Parkes with a fairly easy save low to his right.
The unlucky Craig Taylor suffered another injury set-back on the half hour mark when a pulled hamstring saw him replaced by Dan Chambers with Jamie Royle now employed in a deeper role. Minutes later though the home side found themselves level with an absolute wonder goal from Lenny Jenkins.
A corner from the right was punched away by Parkes only to arrive bouncing a foot or two off the ground to Arnold's centre half on the left edge of the area. Lenny promptly delivered an unstoppable curled exocet which flew into the top right hand corner of the net to make it 1-1 with just his second goal for the club to mark his 50th appearance.
Understandably buoyed by such an incredible goal the Eagles were playing the ball around with some fluency now although the visitors were also creating one or two problems at the other end. As the first half drew to a close Jake Ogden almost gave the Arna the lead when a punt from twenty yards took an awkward bounce on its way to goal and a scrambling Parkes was almost caught out before forcing it away for a corner.
In a closely contested match Arnold appeared to press the self destruct button a minute into the second half when Jamie Royle was dismissed with a straight red card following a totally unnecessary and extremely clumsy tackle a few yards outside the Oxton Road area.
However, the rest of the game didn't quite play out as we may have feared. If anything Arnold had more possession and created more chances in the second half than they did in the first and as the match wore on it appeared that the visitors were content to try and slow the game down as it became apparent the Eagles were often looking the more likely team to score.
Jake Ogden was of course on the hunt for his 20th Arna goal and he made a valiant attempt at it on 53 mins. The bustling Chambers had won the ball down the right and laid it on for Jake who proceeded to jink his way past two or three defenders into the area and send in a deft chip towards goal which the visiting keeper made rather a meal of saving.
Ten man Arna continued to do the bulk of pressing and the revitalised midfield and defence were looking solid with Normanton unable to make much headway despite having the numerical advantage. With not long left to go the Eagles almost snatched all three points in what would have been quite remarkable fashion.
A defence splitting pass had sent Dan Chambers charging for the area and with the keeper well advanced the ball somehow managed to rebound at some speed back towards goal where for some time it seemed destined to find the empty net but ended its long journey just wide of the left hand post.
There was just time for Normanton to finally conjure up an attacking scare when a ball delivered in from the left was prodded tentatively towards the goal but thankfully somehow managed to bounce inches over the bar much to the relief of those on the side lines as a late goal would have indeed been remarkably cruel on the valiant Eagles.
Four consecutive games of highly competitive football for the Arna now as things seem to be falling more into place throughout a side which appears to have taken on a much more robust feel about it. A tremendous effort from everyone tonight.
Certainly a tense finish for all concerned and a well deserved hard fought victory for the steadily improving Arnold squad.
eagles upswing continues with welcome win
photos - Jim Bethell
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For the third game in a row the Eagles were fully in contention for the whole ninety minutes of an enjoyable encounter at the Valley which this time saw them rewarded with their first win in a shade over two months.
Just one change in the starting line-up today with Adam Clift returning to reclaim his captain's armband replacing Billy Bradley absent with work commitments. It was one in one out on the bench as well with Matt Hubbard making way for the return of the influential Liam Black. |
The game began in rather an unusual manner for an Arna match with the Eagles encamped in Mickleover's half for the first eight minutes or so leaving Piotr Strycharz at the Oxton Road End a virtual spectator peering into the bright sunshine.
But then a swift period of end to end play kicked in with the home side suddenly finding themselves a goal down against the early run of play. Mickleover's first attack forced a corner on nine minutes which Kyle Mason was on hand to clear. Then a menacing run down the right by Arnold resulted in a dangerous looking ball flashing across the Colin End box which just evaded a touch from the advanced Wainaina waiting in the middle.
The play quickly switched to Mickleover raiding their right wing and creating panic with a low cross into the Ox End area. Failing to clear the danger the Arna defence were faced with a Mickleover striker seeing his initial close range effort rebounding back off the floored Strycharz's legs. A crowd of players were involved now and somehow the ball managed to find itself heading goal wards once again and despite a last ditch effort from Adam Clift to hook it away the net result was an early lead for the visitors.
The Eagles almost equalised on 14 mins with a direct free kick awarded to them left of centre on the edge of the penalty area. Lewis Radford proceeded to unleash a ripper of a shot which would have flown into the top left corner but for a spectacular full length save by young Mickleover keeper Josh Bull.
General play was becoming more even now and Mickleover were threatening again on 19 mins when centre forward Lois Marshall broke through Arnold's back line to latch onto an intelligent lofted pass from midfield. With only the advancing Strycharz to beat the forward's low drive went inches wide of the left hand post with Piotr clearly getting his angles right.
Seven minutes later an even bigger missed opportunity this time at the Colin End. An error on the left of Mickleover's defence allowed the ball to run on for Jamie Royle with his route to goal opening up invitingly. Sadly Jamie dragged his shot wide of the left hand post and what looked like a certain chance for an equaliser went begging.
Thankfully the momentum was not lost by the miss. The Eagles continued to press in search of parity with Jake Ogden and Aaron Wainaina prominent in the home side's attacking efforts. The pressure duly paid off on 33 mins when a delightful pass from Lewis Radford gave Ogden the opportunity to control the ball a yard or two from goal in a crowded six yard box before slamming it home to the left of the keeper to deservedly put the Eagles level.
Towards the end of the half the team's traded chances again in a closely contested entertaining affair. Jake Ogden came close with some three minutes to go to the break when a long ball from deep gave him a chance to break the offside trap and run on to force another fine save from Bull conceding a corner in the process which Lenny Jenkins almost headed home.
With seconds to go Mickleover put together a quick raid down the left from where the winger cut in and launched a goal bound effort which the diving Strycharz was relieved to see dragged wide of his right hand post.
After the break Oggy continued to be in the thick of the action first combining well with Radford before sending in a curled effort which wasn't too far off target drifting wide. Then with Arnold beginning to find the right flank a rich vein Jamie Royle battled his way towards the bi-line before sending over an open invitation for Ogden who managed to slice his shot wide from a couple of yards out with the goal at his mercy.
The Eagles were certainly looking the more threatening at this point but Strycharz had to improvise quickly on 55 mins when a high ball was launched towards his area with one or two Mickleover shirts incoming. A timely run out of his area and a high jump to head away the danger was one way of dealing with the situation.
On the overall balance of play Arnold would be good value for a lead and on 57 mins the Eagles second goal duly came albeit from a pretty unlikely source. Aaron Wainaina had battled well for the ball in midfield and then directed it over the Mickleover defence for Craig Taylor to pursue. The race was on between the advancing keeper and Craig. The latter correctly opted to lunge for the ball as he reached the edge of the area and was richly rewarded with the sight of his first Arna goal in his 27th appearance as the ball bypassed Josh Bull and carried on its merry way to the bottom right hand corner of the net triggering an almighty celebration amongst his teammates as well as the amazed onlookers along the side lines.
After the drama Mickleover were able to get themselves back on level terms less than a minute later. A high ball pumped into the Colin End area from the right prompted panic in Arnold's six yard area where Strycharz's mis-timed punch only served to deliver the ball gift wrapped to the back stick where a Mickleover striker had the simplest of tap ins to drag the game back to 2-2.
Thankfully the Arna faithful only had a couple of minutes or so to rue the Eagles' oft occurring ability to concede so soon after scoring. A sublime lofted ball from midfield by Jamie Royle fell unerringly into the path of Ogden who easily outpaced his markers to bear down on goal and direct his shot passed Bull into the bottom right hand corner for his 19th goal for the club to make it 3-2 to the home side.
Oggy's 20th Arna goal almost followed a minute or so later. Another raid down the fruitful right led to a dangerous bouncing ball flying into the box which Josh Bull this time made a bit of a hash of allowing it to drop at the feet of Ogden with his landmark goal beckoning only for the referee to blow his whistle at the vital moment.
As the game drew to a close most of the serious action was happening at the right end as far as the Yellows were concerned with the visitors perhaps tiring somewhat owing to their lack of any substitutes to draw upon which would subsequently reduce them to ten men with minutes remaining following what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
A highly entertaining game enjoyed by a sparce Eagle Valley crowd. The yellows appear to be playing with a growing sense of belief at the moment which will hopefully continue to stand them in good stead in the weeks to come.
But then a swift period of end to end play kicked in with the home side suddenly finding themselves a goal down against the early run of play. Mickleover's first attack forced a corner on nine minutes which Kyle Mason was on hand to clear. Then a menacing run down the right by Arnold resulted in a dangerous looking ball flashing across the Colin End box which just evaded a touch from the advanced Wainaina waiting in the middle.
The play quickly switched to Mickleover raiding their right wing and creating panic with a low cross into the Ox End area. Failing to clear the danger the Arna defence were faced with a Mickleover striker seeing his initial close range effort rebounding back off the floored Strycharz's legs. A crowd of players were involved now and somehow the ball managed to find itself heading goal wards once again and despite a last ditch effort from Adam Clift to hook it away the net result was an early lead for the visitors.
The Eagles almost equalised on 14 mins with a direct free kick awarded to them left of centre on the edge of the penalty area. Lewis Radford proceeded to unleash a ripper of a shot which would have flown into the top left corner but for a spectacular full length save by young Mickleover keeper Josh Bull.
General play was becoming more even now and Mickleover were threatening again on 19 mins when centre forward Lois Marshall broke through Arnold's back line to latch onto an intelligent lofted pass from midfield. With only the advancing Strycharz to beat the forward's low drive went inches wide of the left hand post with Piotr clearly getting his angles right.
Seven minutes later an even bigger missed opportunity this time at the Colin End. An error on the left of Mickleover's defence allowed the ball to run on for Jamie Royle with his route to goal opening up invitingly. Sadly Jamie dragged his shot wide of the left hand post and what looked like a certain chance for an equaliser went begging.
Thankfully the momentum was not lost by the miss. The Eagles continued to press in search of parity with Jake Ogden and Aaron Wainaina prominent in the home side's attacking efforts. The pressure duly paid off on 33 mins when a delightful pass from Lewis Radford gave Ogden the opportunity to control the ball a yard or two from goal in a crowded six yard box before slamming it home to the left of the keeper to deservedly put the Eagles level.
Towards the end of the half the team's traded chances again in a closely contested entertaining affair. Jake Ogden came close with some three minutes to go to the break when a long ball from deep gave him a chance to break the offside trap and run on to force another fine save from Bull conceding a corner in the process which Lenny Jenkins almost headed home.
With seconds to go Mickleover put together a quick raid down the left from where the winger cut in and launched a goal bound effort which the diving Strycharz was relieved to see dragged wide of his right hand post.
After the break Oggy continued to be in the thick of the action first combining well with Radford before sending in a curled effort which wasn't too far off target drifting wide. Then with Arnold beginning to find the right flank a rich vein Jamie Royle battled his way towards the bi-line before sending over an open invitation for Ogden who managed to slice his shot wide from a couple of yards out with the goal at his mercy.
The Eagles were certainly looking the more threatening at this point but Strycharz had to improvise quickly on 55 mins when a high ball was launched towards his area with one or two Mickleover shirts incoming. A timely run out of his area and a high jump to head away the danger was one way of dealing with the situation.
On the overall balance of play Arnold would be good value for a lead and on 57 mins the Eagles second goal duly came albeit from a pretty unlikely source. Aaron Wainaina had battled well for the ball in midfield and then directed it over the Mickleover defence for Craig Taylor to pursue. The race was on between the advancing keeper and Craig. The latter correctly opted to lunge for the ball as he reached the edge of the area and was richly rewarded with the sight of his first Arna goal in his 27th appearance as the ball bypassed Josh Bull and carried on its merry way to the bottom right hand corner of the net triggering an almighty celebration amongst his teammates as well as the amazed onlookers along the side lines.
After the drama Mickleover were able to get themselves back on level terms less than a minute later. A high ball pumped into the Colin End area from the right prompted panic in Arnold's six yard area where Strycharz's mis-timed punch only served to deliver the ball gift wrapped to the back stick where a Mickleover striker had the simplest of tap ins to drag the game back to 2-2.
Thankfully the Arna faithful only had a couple of minutes or so to rue the Eagles' oft occurring ability to concede so soon after scoring. A sublime lofted ball from midfield by Jamie Royle fell unerringly into the path of Ogden who easily outpaced his markers to bear down on goal and direct his shot passed Bull into the bottom right hand corner for his 19th goal for the club to make it 3-2 to the home side.
Oggy's 20th Arna goal almost followed a minute or so later. Another raid down the fruitful right led to a dangerous bouncing ball flying into the box which Josh Bull this time made a bit of a hash of allowing it to drop at the feet of Ogden with his landmark goal beckoning only for the referee to blow his whistle at the vital moment.
As the game drew to a close most of the serious action was happening at the right end as far as the Yellows were concerned with the visitors perhaps tiring somewhat owing to their lack of any substitutes to draw upon which would subsequently reduce them to ten men with minutes remaining following what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
A highly entertaining game enjoyed by a sparce Eagle Valley crowd. The yellows appear to be playing with a growing sense of belief at the moment which will hopefully continue to stand them in good stead in the weeks to come.
ImpresSive eagles take league leaders to the wire
Driving through some mucky weather on the way up to Junction 28 we can't pretend we didn't have our doubts about today's game but upon arriving at Pinxton it was clear that the pitch was in surprisingly good fettle and made for some fine passing football from both teams.
Although fielding a rather re-shuffled line-up the Eagles actually only had to make one forced change from the previous week's epic encounter at Melbourne. Skipper Adam Clift's place went to Callum Triance and his arm band to Lenny Jenkins. The maroons were pleased to have the services of Dan Chambers and Matty Hubbard restored to the bench alongside a welcome return for young striker James Martin.
Both sides seemed content to ease themselves into the match playing the ball on the deck with short simple passing moves, a situation which I believe rather played to the Eagles stronger suit to some extent. Arnold were the first to conjure up a real threat on goal when after five minutes Craig Taylor managed to locate Aaron Wainaina in space on the right. The young winger sped passed his marker before sending over a tempting cross providing an open invitation to any Arna forward on the six yard line with, sadly, no one alert enough to accept the offer.
Possession wise the game continued on a fairly even keel with Piotr Strycharz in the Arnold goal for once enjoying a reasonably quiet period. On 17 mins Arnold created another decent chance when Jake Ogden gathered a lively punted ball from midfield with some skill before turning his attention towards goal. Oggy, with three defenders descending on him let fly with a decent shot which the Pinxton keeper could only parry away and was then a little lucky not to see the loose ball come back at him with interest.
At this stage the league leaders may well have been somewhat surprised at the way things were turning out and two minutes later it was clear they were concerned enough to try and clutch at the odd straw which came their way.
Forsaking the short sharp passing option for a moment Pinxton sent in a high ball towards the right of Arnold's area where Strycharz was alert enough to dash out and punch it away with a Pinxton striker rushing to be included in the action before falling to the floor with some aplomb. Despite an incredibly load home bench uproar and a thirty yard dash by Pinxton's number ten the ref and his handily placed nearby assistant were thankfully having none of it.
To further frustrate the home side they managed to get the ball in the net on 26 mins with a close range volley but this time there was little disputing a hand ball offence during the build up which kept the game goal less. Nevertheless danger signs were starting to appear for the Eagles.
A less than stellar clearance by Strycharz moments later was quickly seized upon by the home attack and a lofted ball towards goal seemed to spend far too much time making its way towards the net before Arna's nearest defender Callum Triance coolly stepped in at the last moment to clear the line.
Five minutes later the growing pressure led to Pinxton scoring the only goal of the game in some style. A quick move down the left had presented the Eagles with a couple of opportunities to step in and halt proceedings but the ball still found its way to the feet of Pinxton's number three as he approached the bi-line. A terrific back post cross from there at some pace was met with an absolute bullet header from Aaron Northgate who was duly rewarded with his first goal of the season flying into the left hand corner of the net.
The home side were enjoying their best spell of the game now and two minutes later a slip in the Arnold defence had given the dangerous Sion Green half a chance on the edge of the area before Callum Triance stepped in with a tackle to earn himself the game's first yellow card. The resultant free kick was a fierce low drive which allowed Strycharz to display his handling capabilities diving well to his right.
Arnold managed to claw their way back into the action for the remainder of the half though and around 40 mins a well worked move from right to left through midfield ended with Ogden carving out a shooting opportunity for himself on the left of Pinxton's area which flew only a foot or so wide of the right hand post.
Towards the end of the first period Billy Bradley had suffered a knock which he clearly couldn't shake off and his place on the left wing was taken up by Matty Hubbard upon the resumption. Not long after the re-start Lewis Neville found himself in space in a central position and his long range effort was saved less than convincingly by the home keeper. Four minutes later a well worked Arnold move around the area saw the ball break back for incoming midfielder Craig Taylor to take his turn at goal but this time without troubling the goalie as the ball flew over the bar.
Arnold continued searching for what would have been a deserved equaliser and they came closest to achieving it with 55 mins on the clock. The ball had broken kindly for Jamie Royle giving the striker the chance to run at goal but his shot rebounded off the legs of the advancing keeper into the path of Lewis Neville following up from behind. Nev opted to side foot a precision pass towards a virtually empty net from around 25 yards out only to see his attempt thud into the base of the right hand post.
Once again it was clear that the home side were getting a little rattled no doubt expecting to be running away with things by now. Minutes later tackles were flying into the advancing Arnold forwards before the busy Aaron Wainaina was finally deemed to have been fouled on the edge of the Pinxton area. Both Radford and Royle hovered over the free kick before the latter sent in a well struck effort which couldn't quite curl itself into the right hand corner.
The Eagles began introducing fresh legs into the contest with long term injured Dan Chambers entering the game (for Royle) just before the hour mark and later James Martin and Joe Rock replacing Neville and Wainaina. But the head of steam the Eagles had managed to work up after the break seemed to gradually fizzle out as the game wore on.
Pinxton now realising that their goal difference was not going to receive the boost they had expected began to tighten things up and understandably game delaying tactics began to appear as they settled for their slim victory. The Arna meanwhile unfortunately began to struggle to maintain much in the way of constructive forward momentum.
However, for the second week in a row the Eagles had put in a highly creditable performance this time running the league's leaders sufficiently close as to have made a draw a very fair result had the maroons only managed to be more clinical in front of goal.
Still, encouraging signs without a doubt.
Although fielding a rather re-shuffled line-up the Eagles actually only had to make one forced change from the previous week's epic encounter at Melbourne. Skipper Adam Clift's place went to Callum Triance and his arm band to Lenny Jenkins. The maroons were pleased to have the services of Dan Chambers and Matty Hubbard restored to the bench alongside a welcome return for young striker James Martin.
Both sides seemed content to ease themselves into the match playing the ball on the deck with short simple passing moves, a situation which I believe rather played to the Eagles stronger suit to some extent. Arnold were the first to conjure up a real threat on goal when after five minutes Craig Taylor managed to locate Aaron Wainaina in space on the right. The young winger sped passed his marker before sending over a tempting cross providing an open invitation to any Arna forward on the six yard line with, sadly, no one alert enough to accept the offer.
Possession wise the game continued on a fairly even keel with Piotr Strycharz in the Arnold goal for once enjoying a reasonably quiet period. On 17 mins Arnold created another decent chance when Jake Ogden gathered a lively punted ball from midfield with some skill before turning his attention towards goal. Oggy, with three defenders descending on him let fly with a decent shot which the Pinxton keeper could only parry away and was then a little lucky not to see the loose ball come back at him with interest.
At this stage the league leaders may well have been somewhat surprised at the way things were turning out and two minutes later it was clear they were concerned enough to try and clutch at the odd straw which came their way.
Forsaking the short sharp passing option for a moment Pinxton sent in a high ball towards the right of Arnold's area where Strycharz was alert enough to dash out and punch it away with a Pinxton striker rushing to be included in the action before falling to the floor with some aplomb. Despite an incredibly load home bench uproar and a thirty yard dash by Pinxton's number ten the ref and his handily placed nearby assistant were thankfully having none of it.
To further frustrate the home side they managed to get the ball in the net on 26 mins with a close range volley but this time there was little disputing a hand ball offence during the build up which kept the game goal less. Nevertheless danger signs were starting to appear for the Eagles.
A less than stellar clearance by Strycharz moments later was quickly seized upon by the home attack and a lofted ball towards goal seemed to spend far too much time making its way towards the net before Arna's nearest defender Callum Triance coolly stepped in at the last moment to clear the line.
Five minutes later the growing pressure led to Pinxton scoring the only goal of the game in some style. A quick move down the left had presented the Eagles with a couple of opportunities to step in and halt proceedings but the ball still found its way to the feet of Pinxton's number three as he approached the bi-line. A terrific back post cross from there at some pace was met with an absolute bullet header from Aaron Northgate who was duly rewarded with his first goal of the season flying into the left hand corner of the net.
The home side were enjoying their best spell of the game now and two minutes later a slip in the Arnold defence had given the dangerous Sion Green half a chance on the edge of the area before Callum Triance stepped in with a tackle to earn himself the game's first yellow card. The resultant free kick was a fierce low drive which allowed Strycharz to display his handling capabilities diving well to his right.
Arnold managed to claw their way back into the action for the remainder of the half though and around 40 mins a well worked move from right to left through midfield ended with Ogden carving out a shooting opportunity for himself on the left of Pinxton's area which flew only a foot or so wide of the right hand post.
Towards the end of the first period Billy Bradley had suffered a knock which he clearly couldn't shake off and his place on the left wing was taken up by Matty Hubbard upon the resumption. Not long after the re-start Lewis Neville found himself in space in a central position and his long range effort was saved less than convincingly by the home keeper. Four minutes later a well worked Arnold move around the area saw the ball break back for incoming midfielder Craig Taylor to take his turn at goal but this time without troubling the goalie as the ball flew over the bar.
Arnold continued searching for what would have been a deserved equaliser and they came closest to achieving it with 55 mins on the clock. The ball had broken kindly for Jamie Royle giving the striker the chance to run at goal but his shot rebounded off the legs of the advancing keeper into the path of Lewis Neville following up from behind. Nev opted to side foot a precision pass towards a virtually empty net from around 25 yards out only to see his attempt thud into the base of the right hand post.
Once again it was clear that the home side were getting a little rattled no doubt expecting to be running away with things by now. Minutes later tackles were flying into the advancing Arnold forwards before the busy Aaron Wainaina was finally deemed to have been fouled on the edge of the Pinxton area. Both Radford and Royle hovered over the free kick before the latter sent in a well struck effort which couldn't quite curl itself into the right hand corner.
The Eagles began introducing fresh legs into the contest with long term injured Dan Chambers entering the game (for Royle) just before the hour mark and later James Martin and Joe Rock replacing Neville and Wainaina. But the head of steam the Eagles had managed to work up after the break seemed to gradually fizzle out as the game wore on.
Pinxton now realising that their goal difference was not going to receive the boost they had expected began to tighten things up and understandably game delaying tactics began to appear as they settled for their slim victory. The Arna meanwhile unfortunately began to struggle to maintain much in the way of constructive forward momentum.
However, for the second week in a row the Eagles had put in a highly creditable performance this time running the league's leaders sufficiently close as to have made a draw a very fair result had the maroons only managed to be more clinical in front of goal.
Still, encouraging signs without a doubt.
massive team effort stops dynamo
Well we were certainly handed a perfect afternoon in which to visit Melbourne Dynamo's impressive multi purpose sports complex. Lovely weather combined with an immaculate pitch made for ideal football conditions.
A pre-game sweep amongst the Arna faithful was basically attempting to guess which minute the fragile Arna defence would be breached against a hugely confident side with just about the best record in the division and a string of impressive recent results behind them.
Well, what did we know! As things turned out a hugely determined Eagles side clearly had other ideas today. Instead of rolling over they doggedly held on for well over 100 minutes for their first clean sheet in a little over six months defending under great pressure for much of the game with a terrific fighting spirit.
Defence would be very much the order of the day which was just as well with strikers Tyler Cobb (impending fatherhood) Toby Francis (holiday) and Ben Cooke all unavailable. Jamie Royle, just back from a lengthy injury, manfully stepped in to lead the line with Lewis Radford also getting a much deserved start along with the equally deserving Aaron Wainaina.
The maroons began the game well with Jamie Royle having a couple of good early touches to release Ogden and then Wainaina on positive runs. The first of many close calls for the Eagles wasn't far away however and on 4 minutes a low ball delivered across Arnold's six yard line somehow managed to avoid the attentions of the quick moving Dynamo hoards.
it was soon becoming clear how Dynamo could be capable of dominating opponents with some lively approach play particularly down the right flank. An endless stream of balls were flying across the face of Arnold's goal from the right but thankfully they were all sailing rather harmlessly past Piotr's right hand post with a busy Arnold defence operating in a much more orderly fashion.
One of our sweep members had their winnings snatched from their grasp on 13 minutes when Dynamo had the ball in the net only for the goal to be disallowed for offside which had to be a tight decision given the number of players battling away in Arnold's area.
The Eagles were manfully trying to put together an all together better performance despite their energetic opponents rarely giving them a moments peace. On 18 mins a questionable back pass from the knee cap of Jake Ogden forced Strycharz to act quickly to come out and clear the danger.
Piotr's all round game was getting increasingly tested as the balls kept flying into his area and corners were causing the usual havoc.....but getting cleared! Just before the half hour mark a Dynamo forward had the space to swing his leg at the ball from just a couple of yards out only to see Strycharz diving full length to make a fine save at the base of his left hand upright. Moments later an amazing stop from Piotr as he blocked a full blooded point blank shot diving to his right with one goal saving hand outstretched.
As the half came to a close the Eagles tried desperately to give their overworked defence some respite with brief forays into Dynamo territory. With the maroon's goal having lead a decidedly charmed life for much of the first 45 minutes the half actually ended with a chance for Arnold to snatch a lead. The ball broke free for Royle on the right side of Melbourne's area after a Kyme Mason free kick had been flicked on by Adam Clift's header setting up Jamie for a shot on goal which unfortunately flew wide.
With a measure of confidence no doubt inspired by a first half clean sheet the Eagles began the second period with a little more offensive purpose. Spending more time in their opponents half almost paid off six minutes in when Jamie Royle carved out an opening for Lewis Neville whose goal bound effort produced a fine save from the Dynamo keeper.
Offensive periods of any description were thankfully providing much needed moments of relief for the defence. On 55 mins a quick break through the middle by Ogden saw Jake try his luck from some way out with a long range punt when perhaps he had an opportunity to run on further.
A moment or two later the home side's first real chance of the half arrived when a quick raid down the right saw the winger cut inside before launching a missile towards the right hand corner prompting another fine save from Strycharz. After some less than stellar performances in recent weeks the Arna faithful were being treated to a fine competitive encounter.
With Billy Bradley fading after a lack of playing time recently he was replaced on 65 mins by Joe Rock. Joe would go on to play a full part on the left side of an Arnold defence which still (as it turned out) had well over half an hour to hold out against a Dynamo side who were now looking dangerous again. Activity was largely centred in Arnold's half with Strycharz by far the busier of the two keepers at one point bravely saving at the feet of a couple of Dynamo forwards on his six yard line.
Ten minutes on from the first substitution a warm round of applause marked Wainaina's exit with Aaron having run his socks off up and down the right flank for 75 minutes to be replaced by James Jackson who did very well to pick up the pace of the game right from the get go.
A minute later though there was a major let off for the Arna as another low drive made its way across their entire penalty area just out of reach of at least three advancing forwards. Looking at the division table Dynamo's record is certainly impressive but it has to be said that they have only managed to score 14 goals thus far which is one less than the Eagles.
After a long delay whilst the busy Strycharz had been given treatment most likely for cramp the Eagles created a rare chance when Royle fed a through ball for Ogden to run onto with the home keeper doing very well to come out to smother the danger.
As the referee managed to conjure up well over ten minutes of added time the clearly sagging Arnold players were now defending to a man with some desperation as Dynamo continued to create half chances at will. It was a difficult watch for those of us on the side lines who were equally desperate, hoping that the players would get something out of the game in return for such a mammoth effort.
In amongst a tense final few minutes though the Arna could have snatched an extremely unlikely three points. First of all a well directed ball from midfield provided Lewis Neville with a chance on goal with only the keeper to beat but his slightly chipped shot went over the bar and then just before the end Jamie Royle once again had a half chance in the box with the final whistle looming.
When the referee's long overdue final blast came though it was nothing but celebration for an exhausted Arnold side. They may have been put to the sword in recent weeks but they well and truly showed their collective mettle today giving a battling performance that hopefully will provide some much needed hope and heart for even better days ahead.
A pre-game sweep amongst the Arna faithful was basically attempting to guess which minute the fragile Arna defence would be breached against a hugely confident side with just about the best record in the division and a string of impressive recent results behind them.
Well, what did we know! As things turned out a hugely determined Eagles side clearly had other ideas today. Instead of rolling over they doggedly held on for well over 100 minutes for their first clean sheet in a little over six months defending under great pressure for much of the game with a terrific fighting spirit.
Defence would be very much the order of the day which was just as well with strikers Tyler Cobb (impending fatherhood) Toby Francis (holiday) and Ben Cooke all unavailable. Jamie Royle, just back from a lengthy injury, manfully stepped in to lead the line with Lewis Radford also getting a much deserved start along with the equally deserving Aaron Wainaina.
The maroons began the game well with Jamie Royle having a couple of good early touches to release Ogden and then Wainaina on positive runs. The first of many close calls for the Eagles wasn't far away however and on 4 minutes a low ball delivered across Arnold's six yard line somehow managed to avoid the attentions of the quick moving Dynamo hoards.
it was soon becoming clear how Dynamo could be capable of dominating opponents with some lively approach play particularly down the right flank. An endless stream of balls were flying across the face of Arnold's goal from the right but thankfully they were all sailing rather harmlessly past Piotr's right hand post with a busy Arnold defence operating in a much more orderly fashion.
One of our sweep members had their winnings snatched from their grasp on 13 minutes when Dynamo had the ball in the net only for the goal to be disallowed for offside which had to be a tight decision given the number of players battling away in Arnold's area.
The Eagles were manfully trying to put together an all together better performance despite their energetic opponents rarely giving them a moments peace. On 18 mins a questionable back pass from the knee cap of Jake Ogden forced Strycharz to act quickly to come out and clear the danger.
Piotr's all round game was getting increasingly tested as the balls kept flying into his area and corners were causing the usual havoc.....but getting cleared! Just before the half hour mark a Dynamo forward had the space to swing his leg at the ball from just a couple of yards out only to see Strycharz diving full length to make a fine save at the base of his left hand upright. Moments later an amazing stop from Piotr as he blocked a full blooded point blank shot diving to his right with one goal saving hand outstretched.
As the half came to a close the Eagles tried desperately to give their overworked defence some respite with brief forays into Dynamo territory. With the maroon's goal having lead a decidedly charmed life for much of the first 45 minutes the half actually ended with a chance for Arnold to snatch a lead. The ball broke free for Royle on the right side of Melbourne's area after a Kyme Mason free kick had been flicked on by Adam Clift's header setting up Jamie for a shot on goal which unfortunately flew wide.
With a measure of confidence no doubt inspired by a first half clean sheet the Eagles began the second period with a little more offensive purpose. Spending more time in their opponents half almost paid off six minutes in when Jamie Royle carved out an opening for Lewis Neville whose goal bound effort produced a fine save from the Dynamo keeper.
Offensive periods of any description were thankfully providing much needed moments of relief for the defence. On 55 mins a quick break through the middle by Ogden saw Jake try his luck from some way out with a long range punt when perhaps he had an opportunity to run on further.
A moment or two later the home side's first real chance of the half arrived when a quick raid down the right saw the winger cut inside before launching a missile towards the right hand corner prompting another fine save from Strycharz. After some less than stellar performances in recent weeks the Arna faithful were being treated to a fine competitive encounter.
With Billy Bradley fading after a lack of playing time recently he was replaced on 65 mins by Joe Rock. Joe would go on to play a full part on the left side of an Arnold defence which still (as it turned out) had well over half an hour to hold out against a Dynamo side who were now looking dangerous again. Activity was largely centred in Arnold's half with Strycharz by far the busier of the two keepers at one point bravely saving at the feet of a couple of Dynamo forwards on his six yard line.
Ten minutes on from the first substitution a warm round of applause marked Wainaina's exit with Aaron having run his socks off up and down the right flank for 75 minutes to be replaced by James Jackson who did very well to pick up the pace of the game right from the get go.
A minute later though there was a major let off for the Arna as another low drive made its way across their entire penalty area just out of reach of at least three advancing forwards. Looking at the division table Dynamo's record is certainly impressive but it has to be said that they have only managed to score 14 goals thus far which is one less than the Eagles.
After a long delay whilst the busy Strycharz had been given treatment most likely for cramp the Eagles created a rare chance when Royle fed a through ball for Ogden to run onto with the home keeper doing very well to come out to smother the danger.
As the referee managed to conjure up well over ten minutes of added time the clearly sagging Arnold players were now defending to a man with some desperation as Dynamo continued to create half chances at will. It was a difficult watch for those of us on the side lines who were equally desperate, hoping that the players would get something out of the game in return for such a mammoth effort.
In amongst a tense final few minutes though the Arna could have snatched an extremely unlikely three points. First of all a well directed ball from midfield provided Lewis Neville with a chance on goal with only the keeper to beat but his slightly chipped shot went over the bar and then just before the end Jamie Royle once again had a half chance in the box with the final whistle looming.
When the referee's long overdue final blast came though it was nothing but celebration for an exhausted Arnold side. They may have been put to the sword in recent weeks but they well and truly showed their collective mettle today giving a battling performance that hopefully will provide some much needed hope and heart for even better days ahead.
come and get yer three points!
Well, losing 0-6 away at Southwell to a well organised, well disciplined, impressive City side in a fairly meaningless cup competition is one thing. Gifting three points on your own turf to quite frankly distinctly average looking opponents is another. It all made for a decidedly miserable afternoon for the Arna faithful I'm afraid.
Personnel wise Kyme Mason dropped back to left back for this one with the returning James Jackson taking up the right back slot. Last week's full backs Joe Rock and Callum Triance were absent whilst Ben Cooke returned to the starting line-up having been on the bench at Southwell.
Kicking towards Colin the Eagles started the game quite brightly for the first five minutes with the early action mostly at the right end. However, a minute later a typical gift of a goal was handed to the visitors as a speculative high ball from deep within the left of Wirksworth's defence dropped to give a one one for their number seven to compete for just ten yards or so into Arnold's half. Beating his man with some ease the winger sped away to plant a low drive into the bottom right hand corner of Strycharz's net.
If the gaps at the back are not going to be squeezed perhaps we might as well start lining up on each side of the attacker and applaud them as they make their way to goal.
Frustratingly the Eagles continued to enjoy the bulk of possession. The only problem was that most of our approach work was fairly aimless and creating any sort of real threat up front seemed quite beyond us against a side who at times appeared there for the taking.
Instead on 21 mins more generosity at the back served to double Ivanhoe's lead. Following a delivery from deep on the right into Arnold's six yard box a quite stunning few seconds saw various defenders standing like statues almost as if waiting for a striker to put them out of their misery. After a few tentative prods towards goal Ryan Marchington finally obliged.
Three minutes later a free kick by Kyme Mason from the left of midfield found Craig Taylor in a promising position in the box but his attempted volley badly mis-fired.
Approaching the half hour mark the visitors were invited to make it three nil when a move through the centre of the field saw Arnold's defence simply melt away to present Wirksworth with a clear path to goal. As if slightly embarrassed Ivanhoe did prolong matters by passing the ball around between themselves for a bit before tapping it home from a yard out.
With dark clouds heading towards EV both literally and figuratively the Eagles conjured up their best chance of the half a few minutes later. A long ball from midfield gave Francis the opportunity to seek out Ogden with a deft header. Jake quickly saw Ben Cooke had a clear route to goal on the right and executed a perfect pass into the striker's path but Cooke's shot cleared the Colin cross bar by about a foot.
After the right hand post had come to Arnold's rescue at the Oxton Road End Cooke was again in the action riding a strong tackle deep on the right before sending over a cross which almost found Francis closing in at the back post.
The half ended with more head scratching however as James Jackson found himself in a typical do or die one on one situation at the back and attempted to head the bouncing ball back to his keeper. However, Piotr had advanced to the edge of his area, the ball sailed over his head thus starting a three man rush back towards goal which Jackson somehow managed to keep up with and divert the Wirksworth striker into a wide position from where he could only find the side netting as the end of the half approached.
Craig Taylor had taken a hefty knock towards the end of the first period and his place was taken up by Matt Hubbard on the resumption.
Hopes that we might see an improved Arnold performance in the second half were encouraged almost instantly when a quick break from midfield allowed Jake Ogden to speed towards the area from where his 30 yard effort produced a fine save from the visiting keeper.
But such hopes were fairly short lived. Whilst possession would be quite even as the game wore on Arnold continued to try and find ways of getting themselves into trouble at the back whilst not really causing the visiting defence too many problems at the other end.
The only notes I was making now were the usual string of subs coming off the bench after the horse had well and truly bolted. Sadly the last change came as a result of Kyme Mason falling awkwardly on the same ankle he had injured in pre-season. Kyme was clearly in some pain although later reports suggest it may not be as bad as it first seemed but will still see him side lined again for some time I would imagine.
Mason's departure brought Aaron Wainaina into the game for the last 20 or so minutes and he at least provided some sort of target man on the right hand side. Aaron's energy and potential to create mischief are at least something we can look forward to in the last knockings of a game.
If we weren't going to muster up a goal then at least with Ivanhoe largely coasting at this point we may be able to achieve a Colin End clean sheet. Well, any port in a storm as the heavy rain clouds moved in once more.
Not to be unfortunately. With about five minutes remaining the visitors again couldn't help but score. Another massive gap had appeared through the middle of Arnold's back line leaving Stycharz standing on his own and the Wirksworth striker with all the time in the world to pick his spot to complete the scoring at 0-4.
Never mind folks. We have a visit to title favourites South Normanton coming up next.
Personnel wise Kyme Mason dropped back to left back for this one with the returning James Jackson taking up the right back slot. Last week's full backs Joe Rock and Callum Triance were absent whilst Ben Cooke returned to the starting line-up having been on the bench at Southwell.
Kicking towards Colin the Eagles started the game quite brightly for the first five minutes with the early action mostly at the right end. However, a minute later a typical gift of a goal was handed to the visitors as a speculative high ball from deep within the left of Wirksworth's defence dropped to give a one one for their number seven to compete for just ten yards or so into Arnold's half. Beating his man with some ease the winger sped away to plant a low drive into the bottom right hand corner of Strycharz's net.
If the gaps at the back are not going to be squeezed perhaps we might as well start lining up on each side of the attacker and applaud them as they make their way to goal.
Frustratingly the Eagles continued to enjoy the bulk of possession. The only problem was that most of our approach work was fairly aimless and creating any sort of real threat up front seemed quite beyond us against a side who at times appeared there for the taking.
Instead on 21 mins more generosity at the back served to double Ivanhoe's lead. Following a delivery from deep on the right into Arnold's six yard box a quite stunning few seconds saw various defenders standing like statues almost as if waiting for a striker to put them out of their misery. After a few tentative prods towards goal Ryan Marchington finally obliged.
Three minutes later a free kick by Kyme Mason from the left of midfield found Craig Taylor in a promising position in the box but his attempted volley badly mis-fired.
Approaching the half hour mark the visitors were invited to make it three nil when a move through the centre of the field saw Arnold's defence simply melt away to present Wirksworth with a clear path to goal. As if slightly embarrassed Ivanhoe did prolong matters by passing the ball around between themselves for a bit before tapping it home from a yard out.
With dark clouds heading towards EV both literally and figuratively the Eagles conjured up their best chance of the half a few minutes later. A long ball from midfield gave Francis the opportunity to seek out Ogden with a deft header. Jake quickly saw Ben Cooke had a clear route to goal on the right and executed a perfect pass into the striker's path but Cooke's shot cleared the Colin cross bar by about a foot.
After the right hand post had come to Arnold's rescue at the Oxton Road End Cooke was again in the action riding a strong tackle deep on the right before sending over a cross which almost found Francis closing in at the back post.
The half ended with more head scratching however as James Jackson found himself in a typical do or die one on one situation at the back and attempted to head the bouncing ball back to his keeper. However, Piotr had advanced to the edge of his area, the ball sailed over his head thus starting a three man rush back towards goal which Jackson somehow managed to keep up with and divert the Wirksworth striker into a wide position from where he could only find the side netting as the end of the half approached.
Craig Taylor had taken a hefty knock towards the end of the first period and his place was taken up by Matt Hubbard on the resumption.
Hopes that we might see an improved Arnold performance in the second half were encouraged almost instantly when a quick break from midfield allowed Jake Ogden to speed towards the area from where his 30 yard effort produced a fine save from the visiting keeper.
But such hopes were fairly short lived. Whilst possession would be quite even as the game wore on Arnold continued to try and find ways of getting themselves into trouble at the back whilst not really causing the visiting defence too many problems at the other end.
The only notes I was making now were the usual string of subs coming off the bench after the horse had well and truly bolted. Sadly the last change came as a result of Kyme Mason falling awkwardly on the same ankle he had injured in pre-season. Kyme was clearly in some pain although later reports suggest it may not be as bad as it first seemed but will still see him side lined again for some time I would imagine.
Mason's departure brought Aaron Wainaina into the game for the last 20 or so minutes and he at least provided some sort of target man on the right hand side. Aaron's energy and potential to create mischief are at least something we can look forward to in the last knockings of a game.
If we weren't going to muster up a goal then at least with Ivanhoe largely coasting at this point we may be able to achieve a Colin End clean sheet. Well, any port in a storm as the heavy rain clouds moved in once more.
Not to be unfortunately. With about five minutes remaining the visitors again couldn't help but score. Another massive gap had appeared through the middle of Arnold's back line leaving Stycharz standing on his own and the Wirksworth striker with all the time in the world to pick his spot to complete the scoring at 0-4.
Never mind folks. We have a visit to title favourites South Normanton coming up next.
eagles easily swept aside by southwell's second string
Well it's impossible to soften the blow this time folks. This was an absolute horror show for which there was quite literally no defence.
Southwell's second string quite simply ripped the Eagles apart right from the get go and should really have run up a cricket score with the endless chances served up on a plate to them. Team wise the versatile Kyme Mason was moved up the left wing to replace Matt Hubbard with Joe Rock taking up the right back slot. Meanwhile Craig Taylor returned to midfield with Ben Cooke relegated to the bench. In bright sunshine and a swirling wind the home side were soon on the offensive. |
A high bouncing ball down the left managed to deceive Joe Rock in the wind and quick as a flash City's number 10 leapt on the loose ball proceeding to shoot inches wide of Strycharz's left hand post. Moments later though the home side went ahead after a nifty back heel caught out the visiting defence resulting in a simple tap in to commence the onslaught.
The Eagles did conjure up some early resistance however with Toby Francis and Jake Ogden combining well down the left flank. Oggy in particular was causing City some problems and on 7 mins he did well to beat off a hefty shoulder charge from a home defender twice his size to find Kyme Mason in space on the edge of the area who went on to feed the ball to Lewis Neville who sadly mis-fired from the edge of the area.
Shortly afterwards an Arna free kick in from the right made its way to Francis in space in the penalty area but for once the striker was unable to sort his feet out in time although the ball did then run on for Neville to have another go but this time he fired well over the bar.
Clearly Arnold were trying to make a game of it at this point and Tyler Cobb was certainly doing his level best to create some sort of spark. A quick ball out from the Eagles defence saw Cobb tearing down the right wing managing to get within 20 yards of goal but his well struck effort was mis-directed and didn't trouble the home keeper.
Seconds later a poor defensive header by last man Clift merely resulted in the the ball floating into the path of City's right winger who nipped in for a swift one on one with Piotr Strycharz who was well up to the challenge producing a fine save with his legs.
It was around this point that the penny dropped for Southwell. All they had to do was pick a channel, make sure a one of their strikers was somewhere in the vicinity, pump the ball forward and their man was odds on favourite to win the leg race and bear down on poor old Piotr last man standing in the Arnold goal.
That the score remained at just 0-1 until around the half hour mark was largely down to Strycharz's heroics and some poor finishing by the home strikers. A ball from midfield splitting the Arnold defence saw Lenny doing his best to hamper the Southwell winger but he simply couldn't prevent his man slipping the ball across the box to where his fellow striker had the simplest of tap ins to make it 2-0.
Southwell were continually at the races now and piling chance upon chance with the spaced out maroon defence in a sorry state. Nevertheless Arnold could and should have reduced the arrears on 37 mins.
A long ball into the Southwell box from the right was crying out to be headed home but Francis missed his opportunity. Not only that the ball flew on to give Craig Taylor a clear sight of goal from just a yard out but he opted for some sort of bicycle kick and failed to make a connection.
It should be noted that Arnold's chances were arriving as mere punctuations amidst the continuing City pressure created at the other end. On 42 mins Southwell were gifted their third goal. An aimless ball played out of defence was picked up by City and for a moment or two we wondered if anyone in a maroon shirt was remotely interested in winning it back. Left outnumbered again Strycharz was unable to keep the ball out and it became 0-3.
Shortly before the interval Southwell added a fourth when Arnold lost possession at the half way line and City's eager attack simply waltzed their way through a non existent defence to make it 0-4 at half time when it could so easily have been double figures.
Arnold's fully manned bench would be cleared during the second half beginning with Aaron Wainaina and Ben Cooke replacing full backs Joe Rock and Callum Triance at the break. Soon after the re-start Arnold forced a corner with the cross falling to Adam Clift in the six yard box and the skipper's side footed effort didn't miss the target by much.
As with every single one of his sub appearances to date Aaron Wainaina entered the fray like a breath of fresh air instilling some much needed energy to Arnold's midfield. A fairly bright start to the half then for the maroons but Southwell remained dangerous with attack after attack and over a period of minutes Arnold's crossbar mounted a serious challenge to become our Man of the Match as City struck it at least five times as their finishing continued to be their shortest suit.
The Eagles still managed to throw in the odd chance for themselves and just before the hour mark a battling solo run by Francis saw the youngster create his own opening leading to a low drive which just flew wide of the upright.
As Piotr's cross bar continued it's defensive work for the Arna Francis left the action on 67 mins to be replaced by Alex Walker making his second sub appearance which would include some extremely deft touches and encouraging play which on this evidence should surely see him gaining more playing time in the future.
Two minutes after his introduction though Southwell were awarded a penalty which was duly converted to make it 5-0 to the home side but Arnold still kept plugging away for a consolation and four minutes later a fierce volley by Ben Cooke forced an awkward punch from the home keeper who then had to quickly spin round and tip the falling ball over his bar. A scramble from the resultant corner saw close range chances for both Lenny Jenkins and Walker whose effort went agonisingly close.
Minutes later a swift move by Southwell went from one end to the other in the space of four or five passes without an Arnold player getting a sniff before the ball ended up in their net to complete the scoring at 6-0.
Yet still the game saw two further chances for the visitors. First of all a lovely lay off by the impressive Walker let in Ogden to let fly with a goal bound effort forcing a decent save from the City keeper. Then a lovely move by Lewis Neville saw the midfielder dancing his way through the Southwell defence almost creating his first goal for the club but he couldn't quite find the final killer touch. A shame as it could have provided a small beacon of light amidst an afternoon of pure horror for the maroons.
The day saw a rare appearance by Arna on the Grassroots TV service making the full game available to view on You Tube. As you might expect I can't really recommend it although as a coaching tool I would imagine it may be quite useful as anyone watching should soon be able to spot the areas which are currently causing the Eagles major defensive problems.
The Eagles did conjure up some early resistance however with Toby Francis and Jake Ogden combining well down the left flank. Oggy in particular was causing City some problems and on 7 mins he did well to beat off a hefty shoulder charge from a home defender twice his size to find Kyme Mason in space on the edge of the area who went on to feed the ball to Lewis Neville who sadly mis-fired from the edge of the area.
Shortly afterwards an Arna free kick in from the right made its way to Francis in space in the penalty area but for once the striker was unable to sort his feet out in time although the ball did then run on for Neville to have another go but this time he fired well over the bar.
Clearly Arnold were trying to make a game of it at this point and Tyler Cobb was certainly doing his level best to create some sort of spark. A quick ball out from the Eagles defence saw Cobb tearing down the right wing managing to get within 20 yards of goal but his well struck effort was mis-directed and didn't trouble the home keeper.
Seconds later a poor defensive header by last man Clift merely resulted in the the ball floating into the path of City's right winger who nipped in for a swift one on one with Piotr Strycharz who was well up to the challenge producing a fine save with his legs.
It was around this point that the penny dropped for Southwell. All they had to do was pick a channel, make sure a one of their strikers was somewhere in the vicinity, pump the ball forward and their man was odds on favourite to win the leg race and bear down on poor old Piotr last man standing in the Arnold goal.
That the score remained at just 0-1 until around the half hour mark was largely down to Strycharz's heroics and some poor finishing by the home strikers. A ball from midfield splitting the Arnold defence saw Lenny doing his best to hamper the Southwell winger but he simply couldn't prevent his man slipping the ball across the box to where his fellow striker had the simplest of tap ins to make it 2-0.
Southwell were continually at the races now and piling chance upon chance with the spaced out maroon defence in a sorry state. Nevertheless Arnold could and should have reduced the arrears on 37 mins.
A long ball into the Southwell box from the right was crying out to be headed home but Francis missed his opportunity. Not only that the ball flew on to give Craig Taylor a clear sight of goal from just a yard out but he opted for some sort of bicycle kick and failed to make a connection.
It should be noted that Arnold's chances were arriving as mere punctuations amidst the continuing City pressure created at the other end. On 42 mins Southwell were gifted their third goal. An aimless ball played out of defence was picked up by City and for a moment or two we wondered if anyone in a maroon shirt was remotely interested in winning it back. Left outnumbered again Strycharz was unable to keep the ball out and it became 0-3.
Shortly before the interval Southwell added a fourth when Arnold lost possession at the half way line and City's eager attack simply waltzed their way through a non existent defence to make it 0-4 at half time when it could so easily have been double figures.
Arnold's fully manned bench would be cleared during the second half beginning with Aaron Wainaina and Ben Cooke replacing full backs Joe Rock and Callum Triance at the break. Soon after the re-start Arnold forced a corner with the cross falling to Adam Clift in the six yard box and the skipper's side footed effort didn't miss the target by much.
As with every single one of his sub appearances to date Aaron Wainaina entered the fray like a breath of fresh air instilling some much needed energy to Arnold's midfield. A fairly bright start to the half then for the maroons but Southwell remained dangerous with attack after attack and over a period of minutes Arnold's crossbar mounted a serious challenge to become our Man of the Match as City struck it at least five times as their finishing continued to be their shortest suit.
The Eagles still managed to throw in the odd chance for themselves and just before the hour mark a battling solo run by Francis saw the youngster create his own opening leading to a low drive which just flew wide of the upright.
As Piotr's cross bar continued it's defensive work for the Arna Francis left the action on 67 mins to be replaced by Alex Walker making his second sub appearance which would include some extremely deft touches and encouraging play which on this evidence should surely see him gaining more playing time in the future.
Two minutes after his introduction though Southwell were awarded a penalty which was duly converted to make it 5-0 to the home side but Arnold still kept plugging away for a consolation and four minutes later a fierce volley by Ben Cooke forced an awkward punch from the home keeper who then had to quickly spin round and tip the falling ball over his bar. A scramble from the resultant corner saw close range chances for both Lenny Jenkins and Walker whose effort went agonisingly close.
Minutes later a swift move by Southwell went from one end to the other in the space of four or five passes without an Arnold player getting a sniff before the ball ended up in their net to complete the scoring at 6-0.
Yet still the game saw two further chances for the visitors. First of all a lovely lay off by the impressive Walker let in Ogden to let fly with a goal bound effort forcing a decent save from the City keeper. Then a lovely move by Lewis Neville saw the midfielder dancing his way through the Southwell defence almost creating his first goal for the club but he couldn't quite find the final killer touch. A shame as it could have provided a small beacon of light amidst an afternoon of pure horror for the maroons.
The day saw a rare appearance by Arna on the Grassroots TV service making the full game available to view on You Tube. As you might expect I can't really recommend it although as a coaching tool I would imagine it may be quite useful as anyone watching should soon be able to spot the areas which are currently causing the Eagles major defensive problems.
raining goals at the valley
Arnold secured a much needed victory only our second this season against a spirited Nottingham side in an entertaining encounter at the Valley. The game was notable in that the nine goals were shared between just three players.
Nottingham were much changed from the previous week with a new manager drafting in new recruits; for our part Ash had the luxury of naming 5 subs despite injuries and suspensions. Captain Adam Clift was making his 50th appearance for the Eagles a notable milestone after the turmoil and player turnover of recent seasons.
Arnold were first to show with Toby Francis being flagged for offside. Tyler then had our first chance with the visitors responding through Wognin who fired wide. Arna took the lead on 10 minutes Tyler Cobb linking well with Jake Ogden with Oggy finding a smart finish to make it 1-0. Piotr made an important save in the Arnold goal before we extended our lead on 20 minutes through a fine solo effort from Oggy who squeezed home from a tight angle.
Just as the home support were getting comfortable we were almost immediately pegged back to 2-1 - with the lively Olu Oguntuga boosting through the home defence. The Eagles were then indebted to Piotr whose outstretched leg pushed Dior Anderson's effort on to the bar as the visitors quick forwards continued to trouble the home defence.
What then followed was a nine minute Toby Francis hat-trick all at the Colin end. A mistake on the half-way line saw the visitors lose possession and Oggy played Toby in who slammed home with some aplomb. It was 4-1 five minutes later, Cookie initially missing a chance but still having the composure to sit up a cross to the back post for Toby to head home. On 39 minutes it was five and a personal treble for Toby with Ben Cooke again involved.
Further chances followed for Tyler, Toby again and Cookie as the Eagles threatened to run riot but there was no further score at the break.
The second half started with a quick break by Matt Hubbard who found Tyler to score only for his effort to be chalked off for offside. Kyme Mason and Matt then made way for Lewis Radford and Joe Rock with Ash shuffling his pack with the game safe (not often we say that!). As if to remind us Oguntuga hit the post as Nottingham continued to look lively as an attacking force.
On 58 minutes Oggy completed his own hat-trick after a fine run from Toby who played in his strike partner to finish.
Toby left the field to warm applause to be replaced by Aaron Wainaima. Shortly after Oggy made it 7-1 with his fourth a sublime placed finish after more good work from Tyler.
Nottingham however to their great credit continued to play some eye catching stuff going forward and reduced the arrears to 7-2 from the sot; Oguntuga adding his second.
Substitute Joe Rock went on an enterprising run and was showing some good touched following his introduction. JJ replaced Callum Triance who had again had a solid game and Alex Walker finally made his Arna debut after being beset by injury problems coming on for Cookie whose performance probably merited a goal.
There was still time for Oguntuga to hit the bar which would have seen three players secure hat-ticks and Tyler another player who perhaps deserved a goal for his efforts saw a chance go narrowly wide.
So a much needed win for the Eagles who moved up a place in the league to leap-frog Mansfield. Whilst we we will come up against tougher opposition the visitors showed a lot of spirit and have a forward line always likely to cause problems. Obviously Toby and Jake will grab the headlines but there were notable performances across the team with some great passing and movement that has been absent in recent weeks.
Nottingham were much changed from the previous week with a new manager drafting in new recruits; for our part Ash had the luxury of naming 5 subs despite injuries and suspensions. Captain Adam Clift was making his 50th appearance for the Eagles a notable milestone after the turmoil and player turnover of recent seasons.
Arnold were first to show with Toby Francis being flagged for offside. Tyler then had our first chance with the visitors responding through Wognin who fired wide. Arna took the lead on 10 minutes Tyler Cobb linking well with Jake Ogden with Oggy finding a smart finish to make it 1-0. Piotr made an important save in the Arnold goal before we extended our lead on 20 minutes through a fine solo effort from Oggy who squeezed home from a tight angle.
Just as the home support were getting comfortable we were almost immediately pegged back to 2-1 - with the lively Olu Oguntuga boosting through the home defence. The Eagles were then indebted to Piotr whose outstretched leg pushed Dior Anderson's effort on to the bar as the visitors quick forwards continued to trouble the home defence.
What then followed was a nine minute Toby Francis hat-trick all at the Colin end. A mistake on the half-way line saw the visitors lose possession and Oggy played Toby in who slammed home with some aplomb. It was 4-1 five minutes later, Cookie initially missing a chance but still having the composure to sit up a cross to the back post for Toby to head home. On 39 minutes it was five and a personal treble for Toby with Ben Cooke again involved.
Further chances followed for Tyler, Toby again and Cookie as the Eagles threatened to run riot but there was no further score at the break.
The second half started with a quick break by Matt Hubbard who found Tyler to score only for his effort to be chalked off for offside. Kyme Mason and Matt then made way for Lewis Radford and Joe Rock with Ash shuffling his pack with the game safe (not often we say that!). As if to remind us Oguntuga hit the post as Nottingham continued to look lively as an attacking force.
On 58 minutes Oggy completed his own hat-trick after a fine run from Toby who played in his strike partner to finish.
Toby left the field to warm applause to be replaced by Aaron Wainaima. Shortly after Oggy made it 7-1 with his fourth a sublime placed finish after more good work from Tyler.
Nottingham however to their great credit continued to play some eye catching stuff going forward and reduced the arrears to 7-2 from the sot; Oguntuga adding his second.
Substitute Joe Rock went on an enterprising run and was showing some good touched following his introduction. JJ replaced Callum Triance who had again had a solid game and Alex Walker finally made his Arna debut after being beset by injury problems coming on for Cookie whose performance probably merited a goal.
There was still time for Oguntuga to hit the bar which would have seen three players secure hat-ticks and Tyler another player who perhaps deserved a goal for his efforts saw a chance go narrowly wide.
So a much needed win for the Eagles who moved up a place in the league to leap-frog Mansfield. Whilst we we will come up against tougher opposition the visitors showed a lot of spirit and have a forward line always likely to cause problems. Obviously Toby and Jake will grab the headlines but there were notable performances across the team with some great passing and movement that has been absent in recent weeks.
threadbare eagles limp out of league cup
Arnold's dreadful luck with player availability continues to plague them with Tyler Cobb, Jake Ogden, Lenny Jenkins, Liam Cunningham and Dan Chambers all dropping out from last week's starting line-up for various reasons.
Yet another major reshuffle saw the return of James Jackson, Callum Triance and Matt Hubbard with the injured Craig Taylor bravely answering the call and super sub Toby Francis in this one for the long haul. |
photos by Jim Bethell
|
Basically the only redeeming feature of the pre-match news was that the threadbare Eagles weren't playing for vital league points, merely for progress in a competition which under the circumstances is hardly at the top of our list of priorities.
In bright sunny conditions the home side were looking much the sharper outfit right from the off employing regular swift breaks which continually left the young linesman on our flank struggling to keep up with play and having to resort to guess work for the most part.
Arnold's brightest early moments came from good combination play between Toby Francis and Matty Hubbard down the left wing. On 13 mins the pair's interplay released Ben Cooke in a central position where the striker was soon felled by the Linby defence. Cooke took the resultant free kick which sadly crashed low into the Linby wall.
The home side were soon taking control however and almost opened the scoring from a corner five minutes later but wide man Dylan Walker in acres of space headed well wide from close range. Seconds later the break through arrived however when somehow the Eagles contrived to direct the goal kick right back towards trouble from where Mason Moore coolly slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner of Strycharz's net.
A minute later the lead was almost doubled when Linby had four against two tearing towards the Arna goal. With players free and screaming in the middle Walker took it upon himself to run on and try his luck from the right side of the area only to see his shot crash into the base of the post.
Again Arnold's only answer came from another excellent Toby Francis give and go from midfield releasing Hubbard on the left. The ball came back to Toby in the box but his shot was half saved by keeper Wass with Ben Cooke's follow up attempt drifting wide but adjudged offside in any case.
Minutes earlier young right back James Jackson had sustained a nasty knock but in view of the lack of cover on the Arna bench had manfully attempted to struggle on. Unfortunately just before the half hour he was forced to hobble off and the somewhat unlucky start to his Arna career continued with him being replaced by Aaron Wainaina.
The busy Walker continued to rush past the Arna back line at will with the help of the assistant referee and on 36 mins his low drilled shot across the face of the goal was almost prodded home by a fellow striker at the left hand post as Linby's forward line continued to squander chances. Indeed as we approached the interval it was difficult to see how the Eagles were still managing to stay in the game although on the stroke of half time they themselves missed out on a golden opportunity to equalise.
Wainaina's introduction had provided a much needed boost for the visitors and a typically skilful run by him deep on the right led to a teasing ball towards the near post providing Craig Taylor with an excellent opportunity to head home which was badly miscued.
Sadly for the heroic Taylor it proved to be his last meaningful contribution to the game and although he bravely re-appeared for the second half the midfielder left the action on 48 mins after the home side had grabbed their second killer goal. A ball swung over from the right flank sailed over the Arna box to be hammered home by an unmarked Brad Gregory to double Linby's lead.
With over 40 mins remaining and both available subs already used it was beginning to look a long way home for the yellows' walking wounded at this point in proceedings.
Nevertheless we now had the encouragement provided by Aaron Wainaina's trickery on the right and his teasing ball into the danger area on 52 mins gave the diminutive Ben Cooke a chance to challenge for the ball with Wass with the inevitable result of the hefty keeper going down like a sack of spuds.
Meanwhile the Francis & Hubbard show continued minutes later when the pair combined well once again with Hubbard delivering a cross from the left which was somehow kept out of the net by a combination of the recovered Wass and his right hand post.
Some promising signs from the beleaguered Eagles then but these were soon to be extinguished by an extremely poor decision by the referee. A ball punted towards the Arna area from Linby's midfield gave a dangerous looking one on one situation for Piotr Strycharz to deal with and bravely diving at the incoming striker's feet the keeper did an excellent job of smothering the ball to guide it away from danger.
A terrific piece of keeping. Not, sadly in the opinion of the official who pointed to the spot much to the amazement of the usually laid back Strycharz who was quite rightly incensed by the decision only to be awarded a yellow card to add to his displeasure.
Linby's Alex Paterson stepped up to convert the kick and effectively end any chance of an Arna fightback especially minutes later when Billy Bradley was rightfully issued with his marching orders for the second of two fairly wreckless challenges to reduce Arna's stragglers to ten men.
The remainder of the game was most notable for one or two further amazing misses by the Linby forward line, the home side's capacity to moan for England at every given opportunity and the valiant efforts of the Arna players to keep themselves operating in some sort of working order.
Toby Francis in particular drew admiration from the Arna faithful with his continued efforts throughout the ninety minutes which rightly earned him the days man of the match award. However, there were a number of other positives not least the eye catching performance (yet again) of young Aaron Wainaina, a stout midfield display from the ever present Lewis Neville and a brave showing from the injured Craig Taylor which rather typified the tremendous team spirit we are blessed with at our club at the moment.
If only we could add a sprinkling of good luck to the mix!
In bright sunny conditions the home side were looking much the sharper outfit right from the off employing regular swift breaks which continually left the young linesman on our flank struggling to keep up with play and having to resort to guess work for the most part.
Arnold's brightest early moments came from good combination play between Toby Francis and Matty Hubbard down the left wing. On 13 mins the pair's interplay released Ben Cooke in a central position where the striker was soon felled by the Linby defence. Cooke took the resultant free kick which sadly crashed low into the Linby wall.
The home side were soon taking control however and almost opened the scoring from a corner five minutes later but wide man Dylan Walker in acres of space headed well wide from close range. Seconds later the break through arrived however when somehow the Eagles contrived to direct the goal kick right back towards trouble from where Mason Moore coolly slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner of Strycharz's net.
A minute later the lead was almost doubled when Linby had four against two tearing towards the Arna goal. With players free and screaming in the middle Walker took it upon himself to run on and try his luck from the right side of the area only to see his shot crash into the base of the post.
Again Arnold's only answer came from another excellent Toby Francis give and go from midfield releasing Hubbard on the left. The ball came back to Toby in the box but his shot was half saved by keeper Wass with Ben Cooke's follow up attempt drifting wide but adjudged offside in any case.
Minutes earlier young right back James Jackson had sustained a nasty knock but in view of the lack of cover on the Arna bench had manfully attempted to struggle on. Unfortunately just before the half hour he was forced to hobble off and the somewhat unlucky start to his Arna career continued with him being replaced by Aaron Wainaina.
The busy Walker continued to rush past the Arna back line at will with the help of the assistant referee and on 36 mins his low drilled shot across the face of the goal was almost prodded home by a fellow striker at the left hand post as Linby's forward line continued to squander chances. Indeed as we approached the interval it was difficult to see how the Eagles were still managing to stay in the game although on the stroke of half time they themselves missed out on a golden opportunity to equalise.
Wainaina's introduction had provided a much needed boost for the visitors and a typically skilful run by him deep on the right led to a teasing ball towards the near post providing Craig Taylor with an excellent opportunity to head home which was badly miscued.
Sadly for the heroic Taylor it proved to be his last meaningful contribution to the game and although he bravely re-appeared for the second half the midfielder left the action on 48 mins after the home side had grabbed their second killer goal. A ball swung over from the right flank sailed over the Arna box to be hammered home by an unmarked Brad Gregory to double Linby's lead.
With over 40 mins remaining and both available subs already used it was beginning to look a long way home for the yellows' walking wounded at this point in proceedings.
Nevertheless we now had the encouragement provided by Aaron Wainaina's trickery on the right and his teasing ball into the danger area on 52 mins gave the diminutive Ben Cooke a chance to challenge for the ball with Wass with the inevitable result of the hefty keeper going down like a sack of spuds.
Meanwhile the Francis & Hubbard show continued minutes later when the pair combined well once again with Hubbard delivering a cross from the left which was somehow kept out of the net by a combination of the recovered Wass and his right hand post.
Some promising signs from the beleaguered Eagles then but these were soon to be extinguished by an extremely poor decision by the referee. A ball punted towards the Arna area from Linby's midfield gave a dangerous looking one on one situation for Piotr Strycharz to deal with and bravely diving at the incoming striker's feet the keeper did an excellent job of smothering the ball to guide it away from danger.
A terrific piece of keeping. Not, sadly in the opinion of the official who pointed to the spot much to the amazement of the usually laid back Strycharz who was quite rightly incensed by the decision only to be awarded a yellow card to add to his displeasure.
Linby's Alex Paterson stepped up to convert the kick and effectively end any chance of an Arna fightback especially minutes later when Billy Bradley was rightfully issued with his marching orders for the second of two fairly wreckless challenges to reduce Arna's stragglers to ten men.
The remainder of the game was most notable for one or two further amazing misses by the Linby forward line, the home side's capacity to moan for England at every given opportunity and the valiant efforts of the Arna players to keep themselves operating in some sort of working order.
Toby Francis in particular drew admiration from the Arna faithful with his continued efforts throughout the ninety minutes which rightly earned him the days man of the match award. However, there were a number of other positives not least the eye catching performance (yet again) of young Aaron Wainaina, a stout midfield display from the ever present Lewis Neville and a brave showing from the injured Craig Taylor which rather typified the tremendous team spirit we are blessed with at our club at the moment.
If only we could add a sprinkling of good luck to the mix!
eagles end losing run with derby draw
On the face of it this 1-1 draw merely represents another in a growing line of closely contested games between the Arna and Linby. However, whilst the point earned is certainly a most welcome one for the injury ravaged Eagles the yellows will still be left rueing a number of missed opportunities to take all three.
With young James Jackson's suspension confirmed at the eleventh hour the recovering Kyme Mason took up the left back spot with Billy Bradley making his first start of the season at right. Craig Taylor (achilles I believe) has been added to our ever expanding injury list so manager Ash White took advantage of the Reserve's imposed rest day by promoting former first team regular Liam Cunningham. Up front Ben Cooke returned to the starting line-up in the absence of Matt Hubbard on a day when Tyler Cobb was making his 50th appearance for the club whilst Aaron Wainaina had to make a last minute withdrawal from the squad with food poisoning. |
So, it was very much a case of "go with what you've got" again as the Eagles started the first half attacking the Oxton Road End for the first time in living memory .....well I can't recall the last time we didn't attack Colin first....not sure if we lost the toss or were simply attempting to find a way of changing our luck....either way I'm all for it!
And indeed after an early exchange of chances it only took five minutes for Arna's fortunes to change as Tyler Cobb celebrated his landmark game by putting the Eagles ahead. For the second week running I was happily distracted by selling raffle tickets but this time I still managed to catch sight of Tyler tumbling backwards at the far post as the ball (deflected I'm advised) dropped over former Eagle Jack Walker to nestle in the Ox End net.
As often seems to happen when our two sides meet the contest was keenly fought with the teams looking evenly matched. Cancelling each other out to a degree meant that chances were few and far between after Arnold's early goal but the visitors did manage to create a few openings for themselves with Piotr Strycharz in the Arna goal having to make one or two saves in order to achieve a fairly rare Colin End clean sheet.
After recent travails the full back pairing of Kyme Mason and Billy Bradley appeared to be helping matters with Linby's best chance to level the score coming on the half hour mark. A poor ball out by Strycharz was easily picked up by the visitors' left winger whose shot floated just wide of the right hand post.
Other than that there were few scares at either end for the remainder of a half which the referee chose to swiftly draw to a close dead on 45 minutes.
The action certainly livened up in the second half though with the Eagles playing some of their best football of the season so far. Not long after the re-start a smart ball out to the flank by an industrious Lewis Neville invited Cobb to make a rush to the bi-line to deliver a low bullet cross which Ben Cooke almost managed to convert but for a timely deflection by the Linby defence grouped on the line.
Minutes later Neville was again the catalyst sending Cobb on his way this time to involve Ogden on the flank. Jake's cross took the aerial route and proved just too high for Dan Chambers advancing on goal at the back post.
Tyler Cobb's one man purple patch continued a minute later forcefully winning the ball on the right before threading a perfect ball forward for Cooke who finding himself in a one on one with Walker cut a step to the left before sending his chip thumping onto the crossbar, an agonising miss after such an excellent move.
The Arnold front line were buzzing now but after a long range effort by Ogden was easily gathered by Walker they were forced to ring the changes with Dan Chambers having to limp off with what we later discovered was a broken ankle as if we hadn't had enough bad luck already this season with long term injuries.
Enter birthday boy Toby Francis with 57 mins gone and the Arna faithful trying to figure out how their team weren't two or three goals to the good at this point. Poor finishing wasn't helping the cause as further evidenced on the hour mark after some clever close trickery by both Ogden and then Francis set up another chance for Cooke on the right edge of the area but the striker's scuffed shot was never going to trouble Walker to any degree.
Moments later a lovely ball from deep by Kyme Mason pin-pointed Toby Francis in the Colin area with Toby controlling it perfectly before nudging it a half yard and unleashing a short range shot on goal which the busy Walker did extremely well to parry.
Linby were not entirely buckling under the pressure however and on 66 mins a slip by sub Joe Rock (on for Bradley) allowed the visitors' right winger access to the danger area to prod the ball goalward only for Strycharz to mishandle it forcing panic in the Arna defence until a covering defender thankfully managed to clear.
Six minutes later lovely control by Cunningham in the middle of the park saw Liam deliver a neat defence splitting ball through the middle for Ben Cooke to run onto, unfortunately the pace of the pass proved just a tad too strong and Cooke's outstretched effort gave Walker a chance to smother the shot.
Danger signs continued to appear at the Ox End however and on 78 mins the ball broke loose in the final third for centre forward Ashoon Bernard to run at goal and deliver a decent low shot which produced a fine stop from Strycharz. Three minutes later a long throw into Arnold's penalty area from deep on the left caused bedlam in a crowded six yard box creating half chances and missed clearances galore before being finally hoofed away.
With just seven minutes to go Arnold's attempt to keep a clean sheet for the first time this season were duly thwarted when the increasing Linby pressure finally took its toll. A low ball across goal from the right was only half saved by Piotr with the ball running loose at the right hand post for debut sub Luke Dye to gleefully prod home from a yard out with virtually his first touch.
A cruel goal to concede certainly, but the visitors had managed to step up the pressure no doubt sensing an increasing nervousness in the home defence. With the equaliser the momentum largely swung in Linby's favour and for the brief time remaining it was the visitors who were showing more signs of going for the win with Arnold more concerned with clinging onto a morale boosting point to at least put an end to their losing run.
Overall though a much tighter defensive performance over the course of the ninety minutes (and it was 90 mins with nothing added to the second half either) and moreover a far brighter looking Arnold side going forward with a much higher degree of menace created. Hopefully we can build upon these improvements in the weeks ahead despite the continued disruption caused by a seemingly unending run of injuries coming our way.
improved eagles showing - sadly same result
Despite a much improved first half performance in searing heat at Eagle Valley the Arna sadly succumbed to their six defeat in seven league games as Pinxton took full advantage of two early opportunities in the second half to put this game to bed as the porous yellows' defence continues to leak goals at an alarming rate.
Both Arnold's full backs were making their debut for the Eagles this afternoon with former Ashland Rovers defender Callum Triance at left back and 16 year old James Jackson at right having been promoted to the senior squad from the Arnold youth system. Dan Chambers makes a return to the line-up whilst Liam Black misses the game through injury with Tyler Cobb moving to a more central attacking role.
Understandably the game got off to a fairly sedate start given the scorching temperature and indeed the pace of the match throughout was rather slower than usual which actually seemed to play into Arnold's hands a little at times.
The Eagles were looking good in the initial stages and young James Jackson was getting well involved in the action without looking at all overawed by his promotion. As always attacking towards Colin initially Dan Chambers began a promising move early doors letting loose Jake Ogden for a run at the Pinxton defence with his eventual shot sailing over the bar.
Out of the blue however the Arna found themselves behind on 7 mins when a floated cross from the right wing by Harley Kozluk managed to deceive keeper Strycharz and sail over his head to nestle in the top left hand corner of the Oxton Road net.
Given the fragility of Arnold's confidence this was of course the last thing we needed but to the Eagles credit they managed to pick themselves up and dominate much of the remainder of the half with plenty of chances created in the process.
Tyler Cobb in his revived central role was suddenly looking twice the player and was unlucky not to force an early equaliser on 10 mins. A swift Arna move begun by Hubbard saw Matty thread a lovely pass to Cobb through the Pinxton back line. Tyler had three players on his case but still managed to get off his shot which was gathered gratefully by Will Sherwood in the visitors goal.
The visitors could easily have doubled their lead on the quarter hour mark after an almost comical sequence in the Ox End penalty area when two Pinxton headers from close range thundered against the crossbar amidst a mixture of other short range opportunities appearing to crop up before the Arnold defence finally managed to get a grip of things.
Led by Cobb's example the Eagles continued to apply a fair degree of pressure. On 20 mins a lovely ball out to Hubbard from Lewis Neville led to Matty slipping in a well directed low cross to Craig Taylor who didn't quite get enough on his shot to really trouble Sherwood on his line. A minute or so later Strycharz was called upon to make full length diving save from a Pinxton free kick as both sides were providing good entertainment considering the conditions as we moved towards a much needed drinks break on 25 mins.
The Eagles enjoyed the bulk of clear chances after the re-start. On 33 mins a lovely defence splitting pass by Ogden released Cobb through the middle but sadly Tyler just couldn't quite catch up with the ball as an alert Sherwood came out to smother the danger.
Young James Jackson was continuing to impress with some confident defensive work and then on 42 mins he played a part in Arnold's best move of the half. Exchanging a quick one two with Neville James then found Cobb who sent Ogden on a run to the right of the area where Jake's cross found Dan Chambers at the back post but Dan couldn't quite get over the ball and his header cleared the crossbar.
Several half chances for the Arna throughout the first half then yet still they found themselves behind at the break to a rather fortunate Pinxton goal. However, they could only have been bolstered by what had been a far better showing in the first 45 minutes.
Such a shame then that things should go so far south in such a short space of time after a re-start which firstly saw the withdrawal of Dan Chambers to be replaced by Stephen King. This would prove to be of some significance as it moved Tyler Cobb back out to a left wing slot which put a massive dampener on his impact on the game.
Arnold actually had the first significant attack of the half on 49 mins. King had attempted to win a long ball punted by Strycharz which was defensively headed back into the path of Ogden whose sliced shot seared wide of the left hand post.
Two minutes later a stretched Arnold defence opened up for Bradley Newby to send in a wicked shot off the outside of his boot which, intentional or not, managed to whizz past the despairing dive of Strycharz to make it 0-2. Three minutes later two became three with the all too familiar gaps now appearing in the Arna defence which allowed sub Morgan Richards to catch Lenny Jenkins on his heels and nip past and confidently thump the ball from the left side of the area flying into the right hand corner.
After such a promising first half a little over ten minutes later the Arna were now reduced to a case of damage limitation. On 64 minutes the situation was made much worse with an extremely harsh looking red card issued by referee Lewis.
Energised by their sudden 3-0 lead Pinxton were coming at the Arnold defence much more now. A move down the left saw a mis-step by James Jackson who in trying to rectify his mistake only managed to bring down his man just on the edge of the Colin End area. A number of players were grouped in the vicinity including the odd Arna colleague and so for the match official to issue the youngster with a straight red was a little mystifying to say the least.
Such a shame of course because up until that mis-judgment Jackson's debut had been a major plus point for the Eagles. Genuinely the MotM quorum on the side lines had James in line for the award at this juncture and with his untimely despatch we all agreed there could only be one recipient.
As a contest the game was well and truly up now although it should be noted that the 10 man Arna knuckled down well to try and put a lid on things. However, Pinxton still managed a fourth on 78 mins with a good looking move down the right wing ending with a bullet header from Ross Hardy which flew past Strycharz giving the keeper no chance to react.
Arnold had by now used all their available five subs and thus were further reduced to nine in the dying minutes when Jake Ogden was forced to limp away from the action having received a heavy knock.
All in all then another bad day at the office but this time at least tempered by some very encouraging signs especially in a first half which despite being a goal down the Arna had managed to carve out numerous chances. Still with the yellows conceding an unhealthy three goals per game at the moment its pretty clear where urgent improvements need to be made with two local derbies against Linby coming up next.
Both Arnold's full backs were making their debut for the Eagles this afternoon with former Ashland Rovers defender Callum Triance at left back and 16 year old James Jackson at right having been promoted to the senior squad from the Arnold youth system. Dan Chambers makes a return to the line-up whilst Liam Black misses the game through injury with Tyler Cobb moving to a more central attacking role.
Understandably the game got off to a fairly sedate start given the scorching temperature and indeed the pace of the match throughout was rather slower than usual which actually seemed to play into Arnold's hands a little at times.
The Eagles were looking good in the initial stages and young James Jackson was getting well involved in the action without looking at all overawed by his promotion. As always attacking towards Colin initially Dan Chambers began a promising move early doors letting loose Jake Ogden for a run at the Pinxton defence with his eventual shot sailing over the bar.
Out of the blue however the Arna found themselves behind on 7 mins when a floated cross from the right wing by Harley Kozluk managed to deceive keeper Strycharz and sail over his head to nestle in the top left hand corner of the Oxton Road net.
Given the fragility of Arnold's confidence this was of course the last thing we needed but to the Eagles credit they managed to pick themselves up and dominate much of the remainder of the half with plenty of chances created in the process.
Tyler Cobb in his revived central role was suddenly looking twice the player and was unlucky not to force an early equaliser on 10 mins. A swift Arna move begun by Hubbard saw Matty thread a lovely pass to Cobb through the Pinxton back line. Tyler had three players on his case but still managed to get off his shot which was gathered gratefully by Will Sherwood in the visitors goal.
The visitors could easily have doubled their lead on the quarter hour mark after an almost comical sequence in the Ox End penalty area when two Pinxton headers from close range thundered against the crossbar amidst a mixture of other short range opportunities appearing to crop up before the Arnold defence finally managed to get a grip of things.
Led by Cobb's example the Eagles continued to apply a fair degree of pressure. On 20 mins a lovely ball out to Hubbard from Lewis Neville led to Matty slipping in a well directed low cross to Craig Taylor who didn't quite get enough on his shot to really trouble Sherwood on his line. A minute or so later Strycharz was called upon to make full length diving save from a Pinxton free kick as both sides were providing good entertainment considering the conditions as we moved towards a much needed drinks break on 25 mins.
The Eagles enjoyed the bulk of clear chances after the re-start. On 33 mins a lovely defence splitting pass by Ogden released Cobb through the middle but sadly Tyler just couldn't quite catch up with the ball as an alert Sherwood came out to smother the danger.
Young James Jackson was continuing to impress with some confident defensive work and then on 42 mins he played a part in Arnold's best move of the half. Exchanging a quick one two with Neville James then found Cobb who sent Ogden on a run to the right of the area where Jake's cross found Dan Chambers at the back post but Dan couldn't quite get over the ball and his header cleared the crossbar.
Several half chances for the Arna throughout the first half then yet still they found themselves behind at the break to a rather fortunate Pinxton goal. However, they could only have been bolstered by what had been a far better showing in the first 45 minutes.
Such a shame then that things should go so far south in such a short space of time after a re-start which firstly saw the withdrawal of Dan Chambers to be replaced by Stephen King. This would prove to be of some significance as it moved Tyler Cobb back out to a left wing slot which put a massive dampener on his impact on the game.
Arnold actually had the first significant attack of the half on 49 mins. King had attempted to win a long ball punted by Strycharz which was defensively headed back into the path of Ogden whose sliced shot seared wide of the left hand post.
Two minutes later a stretched Arnold defence opened up for Bradley Newby to send in a wicked shot off the outside of his boot which, intentional or not, managed to whizz past the despairing dive of Strycharz to make it 0-2. Three minutes later two became three with the all too familiar gaps now appearing in the Arna defence which allowed sub Morgan Richards to catch Lenny Jenkins on his heels and nip past and confidently thump the ball from the left side of the area flying into the right hand corner.
After such a promising first half a little over ten minutes later the Arna were now reduced to a case of damage limitation. On 64 minutes the situation was made much worse with an extremely harsh looking red card issued by referee Lewis.
Energised by their sudden 3-0 lead Pinxton were coming at the Arnold defence much more now. A move down the left saw a mis-step by James Jackson who in trying to rectify his mistake only managed to bring down his man just on the edge of the Colin End area. A number of players were grouped in the vicinity including the odd Arna colleague and so for the match official to issue the youngster with a straight red was a little mystifying to say the least.
Such a shame of course because up until that mis-judgment Jackson's debut had been a major plus point for the Eagles. Genuinely the MotM quorum on the side lines had James in line for the award at this juncture and with his untimely despatch we all agreed there could only be one recipient.
As a contest the game was well and truly up now although it should be noted that the 10 man Arna knuckled down well to try and put a lid on things. However, Pinxton still managed a fourth on 78 mins with a good looking move down the right wing ending with a bullet header from Ross Hardy which flew past Strycharz giving the keeper no chance to react.
Arnold had by now used all their available five subs and thus were further reduced to nine in the dying minutes when Jake Ogden was forced to limp away from the action having received a heavy knock.
All in all then another bad day at the office but this time at least tempered by some very encouraging signs especially in a first half which despite being a goal down the Arna had managed to carve out numerous chances. Still with the yellows conceding an unhealthy three goals per game at the moment its pretty clear where urgent improvements need to be made with two local derbies against Linby coming up next.
exposed eagles carved up by cromford
A beautiful sunny day at the Valley. The pitch looks in fine fettle and the ground is all neat and tidy as we gathered together to watch the Eagles get completely ripped to pieces. It's not for the first time this season either, in fact I'm beginning to wonder if we should contact The Samaritans to see if they might consider sponsoring these match reports.
With only three subs on the bench we can take it that the following are "unavailable" for this game for one reason or another; Billy Bradley, Dan Chambers, Toby Francis, Ben Cooke, Stephen King, Jentzen Davies and Lewis Radford. On the incoming side we welcome back Delane Hylton into his now customary right back slot whilst Kyme Mason is hopefully sufficiently recovered to safely occupy a seat on the bench.
The opening minutes gave us a fair indication of how the game would go as the visitors quickly enjoyed two or three early sighters of the Oxton Road goal with both Dan Watson and Cromford's skipper Dec Jenkins testing Arna keeper Piotr Strycharz early doors.
Combining the selling of raffle tickets with keeping an eye on the action was always likely to be a little tricky and on 8 mins I totally missed Cromford's opening goal. My two companions on the gate seemed a little reluctant to put into words what had exactly gone off but I had the feeling that the old "defensive error" may have crept in somewhere.
Arnold rode the early set back quite well and were passing with some confidence as they tried to make headway at the Colin End with young Aaron Wainaina again providing a willing fulcrum for much of our efforts. With a quarter of an hour gone he jinked his way neatly into the area past two or three defenders only to see his final shot blocked for a corner.
Cromford's swift early raids and Wainaina's trickery through a wall of defenders provided a stark contrast which would pretty much continue throughout the whole game. The visitors basically had no objection to both defending in numbers and switching promptly from defence to attack. Arnold on the other hand were leaving acres of space behind them when moving forward and when the ball was quickly channelled through or over our largely nullified midfield the two or three defenders left manning the shop quite often found themselves helplessly outnumbered.
So let's see where that takes us.
On 22 mins Arna captain Adam Clift delivered a long range free kick from inside Arnold's half right onto a densely populated penalty area where Liam Black did well to leap highest and direct a fierce header towards the Colin net which keeper Tom Wilmott did equally well to parry away one handed. A minute later though the ball was sent fizzing down to the other end where the raiding Cromford strikers with freedom to roam, played the ball from one end of the area to another with Arnold's defence stretched wafer thin and succumbing to the inevitable eventual tap in which doubled Cromford's lead at 2-0.
Well if gaps had been appearing before now with the Eagles chasing the game the visitors would enjoy a stream of chances for the remainder of the half without, thankfully managing to convert any of them. Arnold meanwhile carved out a number of chances for themselves, although as mentioned before these were far harder to generate against a well drilled Cromford back line.
Just before the half hour mark a quick throw to Oggy saw Jake skip to the bi-line before threading a pass to Matt Hubbard whose shot on goal was kicked away by the keeper allowing Craig Taylor a follow up chance which flew wide of the left hand post. After a couple of corners the Eagles continued the pressure with Wainaina gliding past more defenders on the right before finding Hubbard whose teasing cross into the danger area was crying out to be converted but sadly had no takers.
The busy Wainaina continued to try his best to unlock the Cromford defence and was unlucky to see his efforts largely going to waste with chances created in the area snuffed out by the visitors' sheer numbers in the box and frustratingly leaving the deficit at 0-2 when the half time whistle sounded.
At half time Jake Ogden was forced to leave the action with his troubled ankle flaring up to be replaced by Kyme Mason who himself is not exactly 100% recovered from his own injury worries.
Cromford started the second period as they had the first and forced two chances to increase their lead within the first three minutes with the latter opportunity thumping onto the Colin End cross bar after a fine long range effort from the left edge of the penalty area. Four minutes later however their third killer goal duly arrived.
Yet another long ball over the top left Lenny Jenkins in a foot race down the left side of Arnold's "defence". Cromford's nippy winger unsurprisingly roared ahead with the ball and delivered a low cross into the six yard box where it was gleefully slotted home, like taking candy from a baby.
Quite frankly Cromford should really have ended up with a cricket score with the amount of chances they were creating and with Liam Black limping away from the action on 64 mins Arnold's attacking options were looking even more limited in comparison.
Cromford's fourth and final goal came on 72 mins and was virtually walked into the Colin End net after some woeful defending by the home side who by now had largely given up the ghost. Thankfully, the visitors seemed quite content with their four goal tally and the last close chance of the game actually fell to the Arna as we entered time added on.
A lovely ball from the centre of midfield fell invitingly into Tyler Cobb's path out on the left wing. Tyler worked his way into the area before directing the ball to Wainaina whose close range effort hit the left hand post to leave the Eagles' goal less for their afternoon's efforts.
Deep breath count to ten.
So folks, where exactly do we go from here? Well, actually we go nowhere in the immediate future because our run of home games is set to continue and so it's all back to Eagle Valley next Saturday when 10th placed Pinxton are our visitors. For those of us reeling under the strains of our less than stellar start to the season please remember to keep away from high cliffs at all times and if necessary please give our brand new sponsors a ring on 0845 790 9090.
With only three subs on the bench we can take it that the following are "unavailable" for this game for one reason or another; Billy Bradley, Dan Chambers, Toby Francis, Ben Cooke, Stephen King, Jentzen Davies and Lewis Radford. On the incoming side we welcome back Delane Hylton into his now customary right back slot whilst Kyme Mason is hopefully sufficiently recovered to safely occupy a seat on the bench.
The opening minutes gave us a fair indication of how the game would go as the visitors quickly enjoyed two or three early sighters of the Oxton Road goal with both Dan Watson and Cromford's skipper Dec Jenkins testing Arna keeper Piotr Strycharz early doors.
Combining the selling of raffle tickets with keeping an eye on the action was always likely to be a little tricky and on 8 mins I totally missed Cromford's opening goal. My two companions on the gate seemed a little reluctant to put into words what had exactly gone off but I had the feeling that the old "defensive error" may have crept in somewhere.
Arnold rode the early set back quite well and were passing with some confidence as they tried to make headway at the Colin End with young Aaron Wainaina again providing a willing fulcrum for much of our efforts. With a quarter of an hour gone he jinked his way neatly into the area past two or three defenders only to see his final shot blocked for a corner.
Cromford's swift early raids and Wainaina's trickery through a wall of defenders provided a stark contrast which would pretty much continue throughout the whole game. The visitors basically had no objection to both defending in numbers and switching promptly from defence to attack. Arnold on the other hand were leaving acres of space behind them when moving forward and when the ball was quickly channelled through or over our largely nullified midfield the two or three defenders left manning the shop quite often found themselves helplessly outnumbered.
So let's see where that takes us.
On 22 mins Arna captain Adam Clift delivered a long range free kick from inside Arnold's half right onto a densely populated penalty area where Liam Black did well to leap highest and direct a fierce header towards the Colin net which keeper Tom Wilmott did equally well to parry away one handed. A minute later though the ball was sent fizzing down to the other end where the raiding Cromford strikers with freedom to roam, played the ball from one end of the area to another with Arnold's defence stretched wafer thin and succumbing to the inevitable eventual tap in which doubled Cromford's lead at 2-0.
Well if gaps had been appearing before now with the Eagles chasing the game the visitors would enjoy a stream of chances for the remainder of the half without, thankfully managing to convert any of them. Arnold meanwhile carved out a number of chances for themselves, although as mentioned before these were far harder to generate against a well drilled Cromford back line.
Just before the half hour mark a quick throw to Oggy saw Jake skip to the bi-line before threading a pass to Matt Hubbard whose shot on goal was kicked away by the keeper allowing Craig Taylor a follow up chance which flew wide of the left hand post. After a couple of corners the Eagles continued the pressure with Wainaina gliding past more defenders on the right before finding Hubbard whose teasing cross into the danger area was crying out to be converted but sadly had no takers.
The busy Wainaina continued to try his best to unlock the Cromford defence and was unlucky to see his efforts largely going to waste with chances created in the area snuffed out by the visitors' sheer numbers in the box and frustratingly leaving the deficit at 0-2 when the half time whistle sounded.
At half time Jake Ogden was forced to leave the action with his troubled ankle flaring up to be replaced by Kyme Mason who himself is not exactly 100% recovered from his own injury worries.
Cromford started the second period as they had the first and forced two chances to increase their lead within the first three minutes with the latter opportunity thumping onto the Colin End cross bar after a fine long range effort from the left edge of the penalty area. Four minutes later however their third killer goal duly arrived.
Yet another long ball over the top left Lenny Jenkins in a foot race down the left side of Arnold's "defence". Cromford's nippy winger unsurprisingly roared ahead with the ball and delivered a low cross into the six yard box where it was gleefully slotted home, like taking candy from a baby.
Quite frankly Cromford should really have ended up with a cricket score with the amount of chances they were creating and with Liam Black limping away from the action on 64 mins Arnold's attacking options were looking even more limited in comparison.
Cromford's fourth and final goal came on 72 mins and was virtually walked into the Colin End net after some woeful defending by the home side who by now had largely given up the ghost. Thankfully, the visitors seemed quite content with their four goal tally and the last close chance of the game actually fell to the Arna as we entered time added on.
A lovely ball from the centre of midfield fell invitingly into Tyler Cobb's path out on the left wing. Tyler worked his way into the area before directing the ball to Wainaina whose close range effort hit the left hand post to leave the Eagles' goal less for their afternoon's efforts.
Deep breath count to ten.
So folks, where exactly do we go from here? Well, actually we go nowhere in the immediate future because our run of home games is set to continue and so it's all back to Eagle Valley next Saturday when 10th placed Pinxton are our visitors. For those of us reeling under the strains of our less than stellar start to the season please remember to keep away from high cliffs at all times and if necessary please give our brand new sponsors a ring on 0845 790 9090.
eagles second half surge secures season's first win
There was tangible relief around the Valley as the Eagles came from behind to take their first points of the campaign against fellow early season strugglers Mayfield. The newly promoted side had given Arnold plenty of cause for concern in the first 45 mins but a storming second half showing from the yellows secured a worthy and most welcome win.
Although niggling injuries persist in some cases the Eagles received a number of boosts with the return of Jake Ogden, Liam Black and Dan Chambers to the starting line-up. New signing Macauley Barber was given a full debut, Aaron Wainaina was making his full start after two highly promising sub appearances and finally we were to catch first sight of Billy Bradley this term coming on from the subs bench for the second period.
There was a bit of a cagey start to the game with both sides seemingly weighing each other up. Arnold's first major threat coming on 11 mins when good work by Barber and Wainaina down the right forced a corner. The delivery was well met by Liam Black whose floated header sailed a yard or so above the Colin End goal.
With the Eagles confidence understandably a little fragile disaster struck on the quarter hour when we virtually gifted the visitors the lead. A woefully mis-hit back pass by the usually ever reliable Lenny Jenkins left Piotr Strycharz stranded with two strikers gleefully heading his way. A neat pass between the pair resulted in an easy tap into an empty for Mayfield's Joe Stelfox.
Encouraged by their goal Mayfield almost doubled their advantage two minutes later. A wayward clearance by Adam Clift let in centre forward Ian Goddfrey who sent in a tremendous curving effort heading for the right hand corner before producing an equally impressive one handed save from Strycharz.
In lovely sunny Eagle Valley weather the yellows began putting some better moves together with Liam Black and Tyler Cobb starting to create problems for the visiting defence with good assistance from the busy Wainaina who was repeatedly contributing from the right wing despite close attention from Mayfield's Zak Yates.
Arnold's cause was further aided just before the half hour mark with Mayfield's goal scorer Stelfox despatched to the Sin Bin to provide the Eagles with an opportunity to gather even more momentum and grab themselves an equalising goal.
Tyler Cobb had not been shy of getting in the thick of things from the start and his persistence eventually paid off when he created space to chip into the Colin End area finding Liam Black with his back to goal. Blacky adjusted his position well, turned and prodding the ball home into the bottom right hand corner despite having two or three markers in his immediate vicinity.
Arnold were pretty much in charge now and enjoyed the bulk of chances for the remainder of the half. Liam Black's energetic pressure on Mayfield's back line on 38 mins created a mistake for him to latch onto but unfortunately the striker's shot on goal with just the keeper to beat lacked any pace and was easily gathered. Minutes later Mayfield's keeper Scott Lyon was mighty relieved to catch a long range chip from Craig Taylor one handed on the edge of his area after the ball had bounced loose following an aerial challenge with Dan Chambers.
The half ended with a lovely bit of football from the Arna. Jake Ogden began the move with typical trickery in midfield before finding Wainaina free on the right. Aaron turned on the style drifting through three defenders into the Colin area with the help of a quick one two with Taylor. As the pathway to goal opened up the winger's left footed shot sadly let him down and was a yard or two wide of the mark. Even so the Arna faithful were fully appreciative of a terrific move.
The second half began with the introduction of Billy Bradley with debutant Barber making way. From the off Billy fully immersed himself in the action and his performance over the next 45 minutes was to provide a much needed boost, contributing much to the Eagles improved fortunes as the match progressed.
Just a minute after the re-start it was Mayfield's turn to press the self destruct button. A weird back pass from around thirty yards out without much Arna pressure totally caught keeper Lyon out and the ball rolled across the Oxton Road penalty area with two Mayfield defenders in hot pursuit. From our angle it seemed to be heading for the net but luckily for the visitors it finished its journey inches wide of the right hand post.
With Mayfield starting to show signs of attempting to slow the game down the Arna were moving up the gears even further. Dan Chambers had manfully played through his ligament strain for 52 mins before being replaced by Ben Cooke who soon found himself in the thick of the action a minute later.
A free kick from the right saw Cooke competing for the ball with keeper Lyon whose punch out was picked up by an alert Ogden picking his way back into the area before sending in a low drive which was just wide of the left hand post. Minutes later Ogden was again carving his way through midfield to punt the ball forward to Cooke who, with a one on one with Lyon. was a tad too heavy with his touch and the chance was squandered.
With the Arna on top the tiring Wainaina left the action to be replaced by Matty Hubbard. Hearing that the young Aaron is not quite match fit yet only served to increase our admiration for his efforts in an Arnold shirt to date and he was indeed a most worthy recipient of the day's man of the match award. That said Hubbard himself came on to provide a further spark to the Eagles' attempts to press ahead for the win.
Following a short spell of worrying Mayfield pressure the Eagles finally got the goal that they richly deserved on the overall balance of play with 77 mins gone. One of many moves channelled down the right flank saw Lewis Neville work his way into space just on the edge of the area. Nev's inviting cross was eagerly pounced on by Ogden who with trouble surrounding him neatly swerved to deliver a low goal bound shot to give the Arna a 2-1 lead.
Mayfield now of course were chasing the game and indeed they created one or two dicey moments for the Arna defence before the Eagles thankfully managed to extend their lead on 82 mins. Yet another swift move down the right gave the lively Hubbard a chance to rush at the Mayfield defence this time his cross found Cooke waiting in the area where the striker took a moment to create a half yard before slamming home his first goal for the club.
As we entered time added on the ball again found itself in the Oxton Road net but sub Toby Francis' well judged chip over the advancing Lyon was ruled offside by a vastly overworked assistant referee who had endured an extremely busy half with Arnold's constant raiding throughout the second period.
A marvellous heartening performance by the Arna particularly in the second half but as all know it's a result of even greater significance for the overall morale of the club. With the benefit of further improvements in squad availability there is certainly no reason why we can't compete with anyone in this division going forward.
Although niggling injuries persist in some cases the Eagles received a number of boosts with the return of Jake Ogden, Liam Black and Dan Chambers to the starting line-up. New signing Macauley Barber was given a full debut, Aaron Wainaina was making his full start after two highly promising sub appearances and finally we were to catch first sight of Billy Bradley this term coming on from the subs bench for the second period.
There was a bit of a cagey start to the game with both sides seemingly weighing each other up. Arnold's first major threat coming on 11 mins when good work by Barber and Wainaina down the right forced a corner. The delivery was well met by Liam Black whose floated header sailed a yard or so above the Colin End goal.
With the Eagles confidence understandably a little fragile disaster struck on the quarter hour when we virtually gifted the visitors the lead. A woefully mis-hit back pass by the usually ever reliable Lenny Jenkins left Piotr Strycharz stranded with two strikers gleefully heading his way. A neat pass between the pair resulted in an easy tap into an empty for Mayfield's Joe Stelfox.
Encouraged by their goal Mayfield almost doubled their advantage two minutes later. A wayward clearance by Adam Clift let in centre forward Ian Goddfrey who sent in a tremendous curving effort heading for the right hand corner before producing an equally impressive one handed save from Strycharz.
In lovely sunny Eagle Valley weather the yellows began putting some better moves together with Liam Black and Tyler Cobb starting to create problems for the visiting defence with good assistance from the busy Wainaina who was repeatedly contributing from the right wing despite close attention from Mayfield's Zak Yates.
Arnold's cause was further aided just before the half hour mark with Mayfield's goal scorer Stelfox despatched to the Sin Bin to provide the Eagles with an opportunity to gather even more momentum and grab themselves an equalising goal.
Tyler Cobb had not been shy of getting in the thick of things from the start and his persistence eventually paid off when he created space to chip into the Colin End area finding Liam Black with his back to goal. Blacky adjusted his position well, turned and prodding the ball home into the bottom right hand corner despite having two or three markers in his immediate vicinity.
Arnold were pretty much in charge now and enjoyed the bulk of chances for the remainder of the half. Liam Black's energetic pressure on Mayfield's back line on 38 mins created a mistake for him to latch onto but unfortunately the striker's shot on goal with just the keeper to beat lacked any pace and was easily gathered. Minutes later Mayfield's keeper Scott Lyon was mighty relieved to catch a long range chip from Craig Taylor one handed on the edge of his area after the ball had bounced loose following an aerial challenge with Dan Chambers.
The half ended with a lovely bit of football from the Arna. Jake Ogden began the move with typical trickery in midfield before finding Wainaina free on the right. Aaron turned on the style drifting through three defenders into the Colin area with the help of a quick one two with Taylor. As the pathway to goal opened up the winger's left footed shot sadly let him down and was a yard or two wide of the mark. Even so the Arna faithful were fully appreciative of a terrific move.
The second half began with the introduction of Billy Bradley with debutant Barber making way. From the off Billy fully immersed himself in the action and his performance over the next 45 minutes was to provide a much needed boost, contributing much to the Eagles improved fortunes as the match progressed.
Just a minute after the re-start it was Mayfield's turn to press the self destruct button. A weird back pass from around thirty yards out without much Arna pressure totally caught keeper Lyon out and the ball rolled across the Oxton Road penalty area with two Mayfield defenders in hot pursuit. From our angle it seemed to be heading for the net but luckily for the visitors it finished its journey inches wide of the right hand post.
With Mayfield starting to show signs of attempting to slow the game down the Arna were moving up the gears even further. Dan Chambers had manfully played through his ligament strain for 52 mins before being replaced by Ben Cooke who soon found himself in the thick of the action a minute later.
A free kick from the right saw Cooke competing for the ball with keeper Lyon whose punch out was picked up by an alert Ogden picking his way back into the area before sending in a low drive which was just wide of the left hand post. Minutes later Ogden was again carving his way through midfield to punt the ball forward to Cooke who, with a one on one with Lyon. was a tad too heavy with his touch and the chance was squandered.
With the Arna on top the tiring Wainaina left the action to be replaced by Matty Hubbard. Hearing that the young Aaron is not quite match fit yet only served to increase our admiration for his efforts in an Arnold shirt to date and he was indeed a most worthy recipient of the day's man of the match award. That said Hubbard himself came on to provide a further spark to the Eagles' attempts to press ahead for the win.
Following a short spell of worrying Mayfield pressure the Eagles finally got the goal that they richly deserved on the overall balance of play with 77 mins gone. One of many moves channelled down the right flank saw Lewis Neville work his way into space just on the edge of the area. Nev's inviting cross was eagerly pounced on by Ogden who with trouble surrounding him neatly swerved to deliver a low goal bound shot to give the Arna a 2-1 lead.
Mayfield now of course were chasing the game and indeed they created one or two dicey moments for the Arna defence before the Eagles thankfully managed to extend their lead on 82 mins. Yet another swift move down the right gave the lively Hubbard a chance to rush at the Mayfield defence this time his cross found Cooke waiting in the area where the striker took a moment to create a half yard before slamming home his first goal for the club.
As we entered time added on the ball again found itself in the Oxton Road net but sub Toby Francis' well judged chip over the advancing Lyon was ruled offside by a vastly overworked assistant referee who had endured an extremely busy half with Arnold's constant raiding throughout the second period.
A marvellous heartening performance by the Arna particularly in the second half but as all know it's a result of even greater significance for the overall morale of the club. With the benefit of further improvements in squad availability there is certainly no reason why we can't compete with anyone in this division going forward.
eagles bring their struggles home
The Eagle Valley opener wasn't enough to lift the Arna out of their doldrums as they slumped to their fourth defeat of the infant season at the hands of CMA South new boys Bakewell Town.
Absentees from injury and holidays were still impacting the Eagles squad with Dan Chambers added to the list of long term injured (ligament problem) as well as Jamie Royle after his fractured collar bone sustained at Graham St. Tonight would see Joe Rock, Jentzen Davies and Tyler Cobb in the starting line-up for the first time this term with Lewis Radford's name also getting a first showing on the sub's bench. On raffle duties I was expecting to struggle keeping up with the early action. As it was I was standing in just the right position to witness a succession of early corners earned by the visitors as Bakewell came out of the blocks looking a confident outfit who meant business. |
In other words the early signs were not at all good. I began to lose track of the corner count but it was a heck of a lot as wave after wave swept towards the Oxton Road End. Around about the 7th minute Arnold managed to come up for some air as Toby Francis carved out an opening through the middle and punted a low drive towards the Colin End goal to test Dranfield in the Bakewell goal.
Very shortly back at Oxton Bakewell's lively number 8, James Bean was suddenly through on goal with only Piotr to beat. His rather half hearted attempt which Strycharz was able to reach up and deflect away made you think that the Bakewell striker had been expecting the linesman flag which duly arrived.
The action continued very much in one direction as Arnold once again were presented with a pacey attack capable of quick inter passing which (Mansfield HM aside) has largely been their downfall so far this season. The inevitable opening goal came on 22 mins when a quick run by Bean opened up a wide gap through the Arna midfield. A neat lay off to centre forward Kane Snell saw the latter launch an unstoppable volley which flew into the left hand corner of the net leaving Piotr no chance.
The Eagles tried to rally themselves but their brief flurries were simply not creating chances and were being quickly snuffed out whereas for Bakewell Town it seemed the easiest thing in the world to pass the ball endlessly, without effort between themselves in the final third.
The visitors duly doubled their lead just after the half hour mark when another massive channel through the middle opened up, this time for Josh Jackson to race through and pick his moment to chip the advancing Strycharz and see his effort bounce inevitably towards the empty Ox End net.
During the remainder of the first period the Eagles actually had a couple of half chances which could have altered the game's momentum. Firstly a well directed long ball to Ben Cooke on the right saw the veteran striker rushing to the area with markers surrounding him. After creating a half yard of space Cooke's curling goal bound shot had to be well saved by Dranfield diving low to his right.
Then, just before the break, largely against the run of play it should be added, Francis managed to break free with sight of goal and needing no invitation let loose a fierce shot which sadly curled away from the target finally hitting the "Arna" portion of the boards behind the Colin Net.
Whilst at no time could we claim the Arna were ever on top at least during the early part of the second half they appeared to be clawing their way into some sort of contention. The improvement was helped by the introduction of Matt Hubbard and later Aaron Wainaina who both did their best to inject a little pace into the home side's play. Wainaina in particular was finally giving the visitors' defence something to worry about with his second successive stand out performance from the bench.
With 64 mins on the clock Arnold conceded a penalty. A ball delivered into the area at pace from the left was just about to exit the box stage right when Tyler Cobb just managed to upend a Bakewell striker chasing after the ball in time for the penalty to be awarded. Up stepped Bakewell's centre half Stuart Baker (thanks to our new board for me suddenly knowing all these names!) who proceeded to send his kick thumping into the left hand post from where it shot off at some pace away from the target.
Somehow this seemed to spur on Cobb who began to get himself increasingly involved in the action. Moments after the penalty miss Tyler went on a strong run down the left and sent a neat curled pass into the path of Ben Cooke who turned his marker before delivering a promising shot goal wards which didn't miss the right hand corner by much. Soon afterwards another volley from Cooke also just missed the target as at 0-2 the Arna were still retaining some hope of getting back into the contest.
I should emphasize though that Bakewell themselves always remained a threat throughout the 90 mins and should really have converted a hatful of goals on the night but at least at this point in proceedings their raids were being punctuated by the odd Arnold counter attack. On one of these the Eagles should really have halved the arrears on 75 mins after terrific pace and close control by Wainaina carved open the left of Bakewell's defence.
The ball was delivered low across the box screaming out for an Arnold finish but the closest anyone got was sub Stephen King who couldn't quite arrive in time to poke the ball home at the left hand post.
On 83 minutes the Eagles efforts to get back into the match were beginning to fade and almost mercifully the game was put to bed with Bakewell's third and final goal. For the umpteenth time Bakewell's forward line played their way through the Arnold defence with some ease, seemed to squander yet another chance only for the ball to somehow run free in their direction to allow a simple tap in to make it 0-3 with the surrounding yellow defence looking dead on their feet.
Four minutes later came the loudest cheer of the evening. A last ditch tackle by an Arnold defender on the left side of the area resulted in Bakewell's second penalty award of the game. Once again up stepped centre half Stuart Baker to gamely have another go. This time he sent the ball crashing against the Colin End cross bar much to the amusement of just about everyone. Indeed, with the game gone I would have been sorely tempted to create a third spot kick for him merely to try his luck with the right hand post in order to complete the set!
As it was the final act of proceedings was to see Tyler Cobb grab his 15th goal for the Arna and thus extend his personal lead in the "Race for 20 Goals" this season. Once again the trigger point was impressive work by Wainaina on the right flank, his ball into a crowded area was well picked up by Cobb who calmly side stepped his marker before finding the right hand corner with a well placed low drilled shot just out of the keeper's reach.
A welcome consolation to be sure but the cracks in the Eagles poor start to the campaign remain painfully wide. With some key players likely to remain unavailable the next few weeks may not look too promising but one thing's for sure Saturday's home game against Mayfield is certainly of vital importance to the overall morale of the club.
Very shortly back at Oxton Bakewell's lively number 8, James Bean was suddenly through on goal with only Piotr to beat. His rather half hearted attempt which Strycharz was able to reach up and deflect away made you think that the Bakewell striker had been expecting the linesman flag which duly arrived.
The action continued very much in one direction as Arnold once again were presented with a pacey attack capable of quick inter passing which (Mansfield HM aside) has largely been their downfall so far this season. The inevitable opening goal came on 22 mins when a quick run by Bean opened up a wide gap through the Arna midfield. A neat lay off to centre forward Kane Snell saw the latter launch an unstoppable volley which flew into the left hand corner of the net leaving Piotr no chance.
The Eagles tried to rally themselves but their brief flurries were simply not creating chances and were being quickly snuffed out whereas for Bakewell Town it seemed the easiest thing in the world to pass the ball endlessly, without effort between themselves in the final third.
The visitors duly doubled their lead just after the half hour mark when another massive channel through the middle opened up, this time for Josh Jackson to race through and pick his moment to chip the advancing Strycharz and see his effort bounce inevitably towards the empty Ox End net.
During the remainder of the first period the Eagles actually had a couple of half chances which could have altered the game's momentum. Firstly a well directed long ball to Ben Cooke on the right saw the veteran striker rushing to the area with markers surrounding him. After creating a half yard of space Cooke's curling goal bound shot had to be well saved by Dranfield diving low to his right.
Then, just before the break, largely against the run of play it should be added, Francis managed to break free with sight of goal and needing no invitation let loose a fierce shot which sadly curled away from the target finally hitting the "Arna" portion of the boards behind the Colin Net.
Whilst at no time could we claim the Arna were ever on top at least during the early part of the second half they appeared to be clawing their way into some sort of contention. The improvement was helped by the introduction of Matt Hubbard and later Aaron Wainaina who both did their best to inject a little pace into the home side's play. Wainaina in particular was finally giving the visitors' defence something to worry about with his second successive stand out performance from the bench.
With 64 mins on the clock Arnold conceded a penalty. A ball delivered into the area at pace from the left was just about to exit the box stage right when Tyler Cobb just managed to upend a Bakewell striker chasing after the ball in time for the penalty to be awarded. Up stepped Bakewell's centre half Stuart Baker (thanks to our new board for me suddenly knowing all these names!) who proceeded to send his kick thumping into the left hand post from where it shot off at some pace away from the target.
Somehow this seemed to spur on Cobb who began to get himself increasingly involved in the action. Moments after the penalty miss Tyler went on a strong run down the left and sent a neat curled pass into the path of Ben Cooke who turned his marker before delivering a promising shot goal wards which didn't miss the right hand corner by much. Soon afterwards another volley from Cooke also just missed the target as at 0-2 the Arna were still retaining some hope of getting back into the contest.
I should emphasize though that Bakewell themselves always remained a threat throughout the 90 mins and should really have converted a hatful of goals on the night but at least at this point in proceedings their raids were being punctuated by the odd Arnold counter attack. On one of these the Eagles should really have halved the arrears on 75 mins after terrific pace and close control by Wainaina carved open the left of Bakewell's defence.
The ball was delivered low across the box screaming out for an Arnold finish but the closest anyone got was sub Stephen King who couldn't quite arrive in time to poke the ball home at the left hand post.
On 83 minutes the Eagles efforts to get back into the match were beginning to fade and almost mercifully the game was put to bed with Bakewell's third and final goal. For the umpteenth time Bakewell's forward line played their way through the Arnold defence with some ease, seemed to squander yet another chance only for the ball to somehow run free in their direction to allow a simple tap in to make it 0-3 with the surrounding yellow defence looking dead on their feet.
Four minutes later came the loudest cheer of the evening. A last ditch tackle by an Arnold defender on the left side of the area resulted in Bakewell's second penalty award of the game. Once again up stepped centre half Stuart Baker to gamely have another go. This time he sent the ball crashing against the Colin End cross bar much to the amusement of just about everyone. Indeed, with the game gone I would have been sorely tempted to create a third spot kick for him merely to try his luck with the right hand post in order to complete the set!
As it was the final act of proceedings was to see Tyler Cobb grab his 15th goal for the Arna and thus extend his personal lead in the "Race for 20 Goals" this season. Once again the trigger point was impressive work by Wainaina on the right flank, his ball into a crowded area was well picked up by Cobb who calmly side stepped his marker before finding the right hand corner with a well placed low drilled shot just out of the keeper's reach.
A welcome consolation to be sure but the cracks in the Eagles poor start to the campaign remain painfully wide. With some key players likely to remain unavailable the next few weeks may not look too promising but one thing's for sure Saturday's home game against Mayfield is certainly of vital importance to the overall morale of the club.
stretched eagles squad put prims in easy street again
After last season's 0-4 multi-booking horror show a depleted Eagles squad were again unable to put up much resistance at Graham Street's Fred Harding Ground where a confident, mobile Prims side had precious little difficulty pocketing all three points on offer.
Earlier, none too encouraging reports had filtered through to our pre match watering hole, the Nags Head advising us that six players were absent from the line-up that had been on duty at Mickleover namely Messrs Mason, Ogden, Black, Hubbard, King and Cobb. Today's 13 man squad was bolstered by the return of Dan Chambers whilst Arna debuts would be handed to experienced striker Ben Cooke (on a dual from Beeston FC) and youngster Aaron Wainaina previously on the books at Carlton and Basford. |
The opening pattern of the game saw a number of balls played over the Arna defence for the nippy home forwards to latch onto without being caught in an offside position in the all important opinion of the Referee's Assistant. Prims' left winger Alex Seale was thus repeatedly finding himself behind the Eagles back line with very little resistance stopping him from keeping Piotr Strycharz in the Arna goal busy with a string of early saves.
Brief respite came on 6 mins when Dan Chambers and Lewis Neville began showing some mettle in the middle of the park which led to a long range opportunity for Jamie Royle sending in a well struck effort wide of the left post. Both sides of Arnold's defence was showing signs of strain however, and on 11 mins a slip by Delane Hylton on the right first saw the defender recover his mistake only for him to then compound it by gifting a Prims striker with a close range sight of goal happily not converted.
As Prims continued to look the far sharper outfit going forward there were some positive signs for the Eagles with Neville looking keen in midfield and Toby Francis as ever eagerly looking to carve out an opportunity for himself or his fellow strikers. Nevertheless when Prims opened the scoring on 17 mins it was pretty much in keeping with the overall balance of play.
The game's clear star, Alex Seale on his umpteenth raid down the right was again too quick for both left back Kyle Callan and the linesman and sped directly towards goal with only Strycharz remaining in his way before confidently dragging the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net. Minutes later Jamie Royle received a yellow card for bringing down the same Seale on the edge of the area and the winger's free kick only just cleared the bar from a tantalising angle.
With only two subs on the Arna bench Sod's Law came into play on 26 minutes when Jamie Royle allowed the ball to run away from him in midfield only to run into a hefty collision when he tried to retrieve it. It was immediately clear that he was in some trouble and from what we later learned he had sustained a fractured collar bone. The home physio quickly took control of the situation and remained with Jamie making him as comfortable as possible until he was later escorted from the ground for treatment for which the whole Eagles contingent were extremely grateful.
After an understandably lengthy stoppage new signing Aaron Wainaina took Royle's place and pretty soon was providing a much needed boost for the Arna faithful with some encouraging play helping to keep the visitors in the game. Indeed from this point to the break the balance of play evened out somewhat with further chances coming equally at both ends.
A scramble in the Arna area on 36 mins saw the busy Seale's shot half saved by Strycharz. The loose ball was crying out to be buried in the Eagles net but somehow Lenny Jenkins managed to get his body in the way to deflect the danger.
Now we arrive at Arnold's most threatening period. On 41 mins an excellent extended move by the yellows saw the ball played from one side of the field to the other before at least three Eagles couldn't quite create half a yard of space for themselves in the Prims box. A minute later creative play by Wainaina led to a long range shooting opportunity for Dan Chambers which didn't miss the target by much.
Finally, on 49 mins Arnold actually had the ball in the net. A sustained period of pressure saw Prims struggling in defence for a change and in a crowded area the ball bounced kindly for new signing Ben Cooke who neatly swung an overhead shot which beat the keeper to nestle in the left hand corner.
Difficult for us to have an opinion from where we were, but the effort was sadly ruled offside and with nine minutes added to the half the game eventually reached the interval with Arnold definitely encouraged and still very much in the game.
Owing to their changing room being "like a sauna" the Arnold contingent remained grouped out on the field in the fresh air for the break. After the re-start the game continued in its more even fashion and for the first ten minutes or so Arnold's midfield was helping to keep the home side's advances in check with notable good work from both Neville and Wainaina.
Brief respite came on 6 mins when Dan Chambers and Lewis Neville began showing some mettle in the middle of the park which led to a long range opportunity for Jamie Royle sending in a well struck effort wide of the left post. Both sides of Arnold's defence was showing signs of strain however, and on 11 mins a slip by Delane Hylton on the right first saw the defender recover his mistake only for him to then compound it by gifting a Prims striker with a close range sight of goal happily not converted.
As Prims continued to look the far sharper outfit going forward there were some positive signs for the Eagles with Neville looking keen in midfield and Toby Francis as ever eagerly looking to carve out an opportunity for himself or his fellow strikers. Nevertheless when Prims opened the scoring on 17 mins it was pretty much in keeping with the overall balance of play.
The game's clear star, Alex Seale on his umpteenth raid down the right was again too quick for both left back Kyle Callan and the linesman and sped directly towards goal with only Strycharz remaining in his way before confidently dragging the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net. Minutes later Jamie Royle received a yellow card for bringing down the same Seale on the edge of the area and the winger's free kick only just cleared the bar from a tantalising angle.
With only two subs on the Arna bench Sod's Law came into play on 26 minutes when Jamie Royle allowed the ball to run away from him in midfield only to run into a hefty collision when he tried to retrieve it. It was immediately clear that he was in some trouble and from what we later learned he had sustained a fractured collar bone. The home physio quickly took control of the situation and remained with Jamie making him as comfortable as possible until he was later escorted from the ground for treatment for which the whole Eagles contingent were extremely grateful.
After an understandably lengthy stoppage new signing Aaron Wainaina took Royle's place and pretty soon was providing a much needed boost for the Arna faithful with some encouraging play helping to keep the visitors in the game. Indeed from this point to the break the balance of play evened out somewhat with further chances coming equally at both ends.
A scramble in the Arna area on 36 mins saw the busy Seale's shot half saved by Strycharz. The loose ball was crying out to be buried in the Eagles net but somehow Lenny Jenkins managed to get his body in the way to deflect the danger.
Now we arrive at Arnold's most threatening period. On 41 mins an excellent extended move by the yellows saw the ball played from one side of the field to the other before at least three Eagles couldn't quite create half a yard of space for themselves in the Prims box. A minute later creative play by Wainaina led to a long range shooting opportunity for Dan Chambers which didn't miss the target by much.
Finally, on 49 mins Arnold actually had the ball in the net. A sustained period of pressure saw Prims struggling in defence for a change and in a crowded area the ball bounced kindly for new signing Ben Cooke who neatly swung an overhead shot which beat the keeper to nestle in the left hand corner.
Difficult for us to have an opinion from where we were, but the effort was sadly ruled offside and with nine minutes added to the half the game eventually reached the interval with Arnold definitely encouraged and still very much in the game.
Owing to their changing room being "like a sauna" the Arnold contingent remained grouped out on the field in the fresh air for the break. After the re-start the game continued in its more even fashion and for the first ten minutes or so Arnold's midfield was helping to keep the home side's advances in check with notable good work from both Neville and Wainaina.
But then, in the blink of an eye, Prims doubled their lead on 55 mins. A swift counter attack down the left ended with a lofted ball across the area met at the back post by Alex Searle in acres of space and ample time to pick his spot with a solid header to double the home side's lead.
It may be just my imagination but it seems to be a type of goal I describe us conceding more than our fair share of. Arnold's game was beginning to fall apart a little now and the team's frustration was starting to show. Toby Francis in particular had been desperately short of luck all afternoon despite his best efforts to create an opening. Then to compound matters on 70 mins Dan Chambers was sin-binned for almost quarter of an hour for presumed dissent although only a select few seemed to have been made aware of it. It just remained for the home side to add their third and final goal on 82 mins. Max Bulmer this |
time taking the left sided route into Arnold's area before coolly slotting the ball low into the bottom left hand corner of the net just defeating Strycharz's despairing dive.
All of which leaves the Eagles pointless after three away trips with our first game on home soil next Wednesday when we welcome CMA South newcomers Bakewell Town to the Valley. Let's hope the squad can galvanise themselves and begin turning the tide a little in our favour sooner rather than later otherwise it threatens to be a long hard season ahead!
All of which leaves the Eagles pointless after three away trips with our first game on home soil next Wednesday when we welcome CMA South newcomers Bakewell Town to the Valley. Let's hope the squad can galvanise themselves and begin turning the tide a little in our favour sooner rather than later otherwise it threatens to be a long hard season ahead!
bright start ends in cruel last minute defeat
Two Toby Francis goals to the good inside the first seven minutes of this game briefly disguised the fact that the Eagles were up against an extremely swift young Mickleover side who would spend the remainder of the evening reeking havoc upon a beleaguered Arna defence.
Repeatedly stretched to breaking point only an heroic performance by Arna Man of the Match Piotr Strycharz would prevent the yellows conceding a cricket score. Jamie Royle, fresh from serving his suspension, took his place in the Eagles starting line-up in the absence of Dan Chambers whilst Toby Francis began the game with Matty Hubbard relegated to a bench which included new signing Stephen King. Arnold's bright start matched the evening weather and saw them take the lead on three minutes after some tidy control by Royle on the left wing allowed him to release Jake Ogden on a brief run. |
Jake looked up and saw Toby Francis, although tightly marked, in a good position to receive and control an inviting pass which duly opened up a direct route to goal. Bearing down on his target a confident well struck shot from the centre forward found its mark with some certainty to give the Arna an early advantage.
Two minutes later the evening's entertainment was further enlivened when our "favourite" referee was forced to concede that he had managed to commence the game without any corner flags in place. Once installed Kyme Mason was given leave to launch a wicked corner from the right which flashed across the six yard box to be met by a perfect glancing header from Francis to double both his and Arna's early goal tally.
Two goals to the good the Arna faithful were further encouraged by their side's reaction to Mickleover playing the ball from their area (a la Mansfield HM). This time the lively Jake Ogden roamed the final third with some menace in an attempt to put a spoke in the tactic.
Despite this the whole complexity of the game changed around the quarter of an hour mark when suddenly the home side sparked into life and began playing the ball around at speed to open up the Arnold defence from all directions. An initial onslaught was stopped by the first of many, many saves by Strycharz but in truth the writing was pretty much on the wall on 17 mins when a fierce low drive from around ten yards out fizzed into the bottom right hand corner of the net to half the deficit to 1-2.
As the rapid fire home attacks quickly mounted up the odds on Arnold holding onto their tenuous lead were lengthening. The quick movement amongst the Mickleover forwards was simply too much for the Arnold defence to cope with although there was no shortage of effort in trying to stem the tide. In the face of this constant one way traffic there seemed only one chance for Arnold to get anything out of the game and that was to conjure up another goal from somewhere.
And against all the odds they did just that with 33 minutes on the clock. Kyme Mason was brought down some 35 yards out on the left side of midfield and he floated the resulting free kick teasingly into the crowded area where Delane Hylton rose above everyone else to head the ball into the left hand corner of the net to score his first goal for the Arna and restore some much needed breathing space.
Sadly the play soon resorted to attack, attack, attack from Mickleover and save, save, save from Piotr. Although I should add that amongst his saves Piotr was also able to count upon some pretty questionable finishing from the home side who were repeatedly firing off shots which sailed over the bar by some distance.
However they managed it the battered Eagles were able to cling on to their 3-1 lead until half time at which point they no doubt shared the belief amongst the travelling support that the length of time they could continue to hold firm after the break would probably play a major part in deciding the outcome of the game.
Unfortunately the answer was just three minutes. A free kick swung over to the right wing was whizzed back into the area at some speed where it was neatly side footed home to make it an ominous looking 2-3.
As the half progressed Arnold continued their attempts to keep a lid on their lively opponents but it was energy sapping work. On 54 minutes striker Stephen King entered the game for his debut and his introduction did much to encourage the Eagles that they could still hang on for some sort of result. This was especially so when on 65 mins his persistence down the right flank won a rare corner for the visitors. Another excellent delivery from Kyme found Liam Black rising at the back post to despatch a bullet header which flew inches above the cross bar for what could have been a crucial fourth goal.
As it was a minute later the scores were levelled when a lightening raid down the left wing ended with another teasing cross which was this time knee-capped past Strycharz from close range. Soon after the re-start our dear ol' ref came a cropper and sadly (for to be fair he had been having a good game) had to limp off in some pain to be replaced by one of his assistants. This called for one of the young Mickleover subs to take up a flag and thankfully he would make it to the end of the game without being called upon to make any tricky decisions.
For Arnold though they still had some extremely choppy waters to navigate with quite some time still remaining on the clock. The valiant Eagles did their best to hold on and for sheer effort alone they surely deserved to take home a share of the spoils.
To be honest though when the enormous number of chances Mickleover created is taken into account it's a little difficult to argue against them taking all three points. However, the manner of their somewhat questionable winning goal did come as a particularly cruel blow coming as it did some six minutes into added time.
Not only was the end virtually in sight for the embattled Eagles (the final whistle being blown very shortly afterwards) the hero of the evening Piotr Strycharz was left clearly less than impressed when he was clattered by a Mickleover striker as he bundled the ball home amidst a crowd of players to complete the scoring at 4-3.
A very dramatic affair at Mickleover then leaves the Eagles with nothing to show from their first two games of the new campaign. The performance at Mansfield had been disappointing but tonight's game had been different. Up against it for much of the night the squad nevertheless showed terrific team spirit as they battled their lively opponents every inch of the way.
Two minutes later the evening's entertainment was further enlivened when our "favourite" referee was forced to concede that he had managed to commence the game without any corner flags in place. Once installed Kyme Mason was given leave to launch a wicked corner from the right which flashed across the six yard box to be met by a perfect glancing header from Francis to double both his and Arna's early goal tally.
Two goals to the good the Arna faithful were further encouraged by their side's reaction to Mickleover playing the ball from their area (a la Mansfield HM). This time the lively Jake Ogden roamed the final third with some menace in an attempt to put a spoke in the tactic.
Despite this the whole complexity of the game changed around the quarter of an hour mark when suddenly the home side sparked into life and began playing the ball around at speed to open up the Arnold defence from all directions. An initial onslaught was stopped by the first of many, many saves by Strycharz but in truth the writing was pretty much on the wall on 17 mins when a fierce low drive from around ten yards out fizzed into the bottom right hand corner of the net to half the deficit to 1-2.
As the rapid fire home attacks quickly mounted up the odds on Arnold holding onto their tenuous lead were lengthening. The quick movement amongst the Mickleover forwards was simply too much for the Arnold defence to cope with although there was no shortage of effort in trying to stem the tide. In the face of this constant one way traffic there seemed only one chance for Arnold to get anything out of the game and that was to conjure up another goal from somewhere.
And against all the odds they did just that with 33 minutes on the clock. Kyme Mason was brought down some 35 yards out on the left side of midfield and he floated the resulting free kick teasingly into the crowded area where Delane Hylton rose above everyone else to head the ball into the left hand corner of the net to score his first goal for the Arna and restore some much needed breathing space.
Sadly the play soon resorted to attack, attack, attack from Mickleover and save, save, save from Piotr. Although I should add that amongst his saves Piotr was also able to count upon some pretty questionable finishing from the home side who were repeatedly firing off shots which sailed over the bar by some distance.
However they managed it the battered Eagles were able to cling on to their 3-1 lead until half time at which point they no doubt shared the belief amongst the travelling support that the length of time they could continue to hold firm after the break would probably play a major part in deciding the outcome of the game.
Unfortunately the answer was just three minutes. A free kick swung over to the right wing was whizzed back into the area at some speed where it was neatly side footed home to make it an ominous looking 2-3.
As the half progressed Arnold continued their attempts to keep a lid on their lively opponents but it was energy sapping work. On 54 minutes striker Stephen King entered the game for his debut and his introduction did much to encourage the Eagles that they could still hang on for some sort of result. This was especially so when on 65 mins his persistence down the right flank won a rare corner for the visitors. Another excellent delivery from Kyme found Liam Black rising at the back post to despatch a bullet header which flew inches above the cross bar for what could have been a crucial fourth goal.
As it was a minute later the scores were levelled when a lightening raid down the left wing ended with another teasing cross which was this time knee-capped past Strycharz from close range. Soon after the re-start our dear ol' ref came a cropper and sadly (for to be fair he had been having a good game) had to limp off in some pain to be replaced by one of his assistants. This called for one of the young Mickleover subs to take up a flag and thankfully he would make it to the end of the game without being called upon to make any tricky decisions.
For Arnold though they still had some extremely choppy waters to navigate with quite some time still remaining on the clock. The valiant Eagles did their best to hold on and for sheer effort alone they surely deserved to take home a share of the spoils.
To be honest though when the enormous number of chances Mickleover created is taken into account it's a little difficult to argue against them taking all three points. However, the manner of their somewhat questionable winning goal did come as a particularly cruel blow coming as it did some six minutes into added time.
Not only was the end virtually in sight for the embattled Eagles (the final whistle being blown very shortly afterwards) the hero of the evening Piotr Strycharz was left clearly less than impressed when he was clattered by a Mickleover striker as he bundled the ball home amidst a crowd of players to complete the scoring at 4-3.
A very dramatic affair at Mickleover then leaves the Eagles with nothing to show from their first two games of the new campaign. The performance at Mansfield had been disappointing but tonight's game had been different. Up against it for much of the night the squad nevertheless showed terrific team spirit as they battled their lively opponents every inch of the way.
eagles fluff their lines on opening night
Mansfield Hosiery Mills 2
Arnold Town 0
A disappointing opening night defeat at the Fieldings saw the Eagles failing to fire on any cylinders as they meekly handed over the three points to a fully deserving home side who could easily have won this rather one sided match by a far bigger margin than 2-0.
Uniquely the maroons opening day starting XI saw no Arna debuts handed out which, as far as any of us could recall is unlikely to have ever happened before in our 34 year history. A line-up used to playing with each other then, everyone familiar and fully on board with the team's tactics. It all seemed like a good omen before we kicked off.
The maroons began the game playing down the significant slope towards the infamous "Sutty Goal" and actually started the game the brighter of the two sides with some neat passing movement down both flanks. On 5 mins the returning Matty Hubbard created an opening down the right and his flighted cross came down on the home cross bar with Liam Black making great attempts to keep the attack going as the ball bounced towards the bi-line.
Three minutes later it was Kyme Mason's turn to float in a teasing ball from the left which the advancing Black was able to squeeze past his two markers and get a feather touch on only to see his effort bounce inches over the bar which would prove to be the nearest the Eagles would come to a first half goal.
As the half proceeded Arnold's forward momentum began to dry up despite the best efforts of Jake Ogden to create a much needed spark. What's more the Arna faithful on the side lines were becoming increasingly frustrated with the maroons allowing Mansfield far too much time on the ball playing the ball from deep in their own area and sometimes advancing to the half way line before finally being met with a maroon shirt.
Mills were therefore encouraged to begin mounting serious attacks up the hill and only some timely interventions by a busy Strycharz and his defenders (Lenny Jenkins in particular) were keeping the home side at bay. With the balance of playing gradually shifting in Mansfield's favour it came as no great surprise when they took a deserved lead just minutes before the break.
A well directed ball out to Mills' left winger saw the Arna defence completely standing off the play to allow the ball to be floated across the area where Cory Burton was on hand to head it back over the six yard box to finish up nestling in the bottom left hand corner of the net. One nil to the home side at the end of a half in which Arnold had enjoyed more than their fair share of possession but the tally of clear cut chances created was well in favour of the home side.
Upon the resumption Arnold attempted to perk things up with first Delane Hylton and then Matty Hubbard going on forceful runs which unfortunately both fizzled out around their opponents penalty area.
Then three minutes in the Eagles survived a major scare after a clumsily attempted clearance was merely hammered into an advancing striker. Bedlam quickly broke out at Piotr's right hand post with the keeper doing well to half parry a forceful shot which then proceeded to spin underneath him towards the goal. Somehow the maroon defence managed a hasty clearance under severe pressure and loud claims that the ball had crossed the line.
Mansfield were looking much the stronger unit going forward at this point and indeed is has to be said that the Arna were a little fortunate to still be in the game with just the one goal deficit. Things improved marginally however with the introduction of Toby Francis and Tyler Cobb just after the hour mark. Toby was soon showing his worth with some neat productive layoffs under tight marking whilst Tyler when released was starting to make the Mansfield's left back's life just a tad more difficult.
With the increase in pressure Arnold actually conjured up their one shot on goal of the second half when a combination move by Cobb and Jake Ogden provided Kyme Mason with an opportunity in a crowded area but his attempt at an equaliser was easily snaffled by a home keeper who probably won't enjoy many more event free 90 minutes this season.
If feint signs of an Arnold revival were providing fresh hope on the side lines this was soon dashed on 76 mins when the home side were gifted a decisive second goal. A rather aimless punt from wide on the right wing down the slope was heading nowhere near a Mansfield striker but sadly for Strycharz it was instead sailing over his head and falling into the left hand corner of the net to hand a Seaman-esque second goal to the home side.
All indeed looked lost now and a missed opportunity for sub Jentzen Davies with not long remaining rather summed up a poor night for the Eagles who will have to conjure up some purpose to their play if they are going to improve on things when they are next called to action..... whenever that will be!
Arnold Town 0
A disappointing opening night defeat at the Fieldings saw the Eagles failing to fire on any cylinders as they meekly handed over the three points to a fully deserving home side who could easily have won this rather one sided match by a far bigger margin than 2-0.
Uniquely the maroons opening day starting XI saw no Arna debuts handed out which, as far as any of us could recall is unlikely to have ever happened before in our 34 year history. A line-up used to playing with each other then, everyone familiar and fully on board with the team's tactics. It all seemed like a good omen before we kicked off.
The maroons began the game playing down the significant slope towards the infamous "Sutty Goal" and actually started the game the brighter of the two sides with some neat passing movement down both flanks. On 5 mins the returning Matty Hubbard created an opening down the right and his flighted cross came down on the home cross bar with Liam Black making great attempts to keep the attack going as the ball bounced towards the bi-line.
Three minutes later it was Kyme Mason's turn to float in a teasing ball from the left which the advancing Black was able to squeeze past his two markers and get a feather touch on only to see his effort bounce inches over the bar which would prove to be the nearest the Eagles would come to a first half goal.
As the half proceeded Arnold's forward momentum began to dry up despite the best efforts of Jake Ogden to create a much needed spark. What's more the Arna faithful on the side lines were becoming increasingly frustrated with the maroons allowing Mansfield far too much time on the ball playing the ball from deep in their own area and sometimes advancing to the half way line before finally being met with a maroon shirt.
Mills were therefore encouraged to begin mounting serious attacks up the hill and only some timely interventions by a busy Strycharz and his defenders (Lenny Jenkins in particular) were keeping the home side at bay. With the balance of playing gradually shifting in Mansfield's favour it came as no great surprise when they took a deserved lead just minutes before the break.
A well directed ball out to Mills' left winger saw the Arna defence completely standing off the play to allow the ball to be floated across the area where Cory Burton was on hand to head it back over the six yard box to finish up nestling in the bottom left hand corner of the net. One nil to the home side at the end of a half in which Arnold had enjoyed more than their fair share of possession but the tally of clear cut chances created was well in favour of the home side.
Upon the resumption Arnold attempted to perk things up with first Delane Hylton and then Matty Hubbard going on forceful runs which unfortunately both fizzled out around their opponents penalty area.
Then three minutes in the Eagles survived a major scare after a clumsily attempted clearance was merely hammered into an advancing striker. Bedlam quickly broke out at Piotr's right hand post with the keeper doing well to half parry a forceful shot which then proceeded to spin underneath him towards the goal. Somehow the maroon defence managed a hasty clearance under severe pressure and loud claims that the ball had crossed the line.
Mansfield were looking much the stronger unit going forward at this point and indeed is has to be said that the Arna were a little fortunate to still be in the game with just the one goal deficit. Things improved marginally however with the introduction of Toby Francis and Tyler Cobb just after the hour mark. Toby was soon showing his worth with some neat productive layoffs under tight marking whilst Tyler when released was starting to make the Mansfield's left back's life just a tad more difficult.
With the increase in pressure Arnold actually conjured up their one shot on goal of the second half when a combination move by Cobb and Jake Ogden provided Kyme Mason with an opportunity in a crowded area but his attempt at an equaliser was easily snaffled by a home keeper who probably won't enjoy many more event free 90 minutes this season.
If feint signs of an Arnold revival were providing fresh hope on the side lines this was soon dashed on 76 mins when the home side were gifted a decisive second goal. A rather aimless punt from wide on the right wing down the slope was heading nowhere near a Mansfield striker but sadly for Strycharz it was instead sailing over his head and falling into the left hand corner of the net to hand a Seaman-esque second goal to the home side.
All indeed looked lost now and a missed opportunity for sub Jentzen Davies with not long remaining rather summed up a poor night for the Eagles who will have to conjure up some purpose to their play if they are going to improve on things when they are next called to action..... whenever that will be!
photos by Jim Bethell / ATFC
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Eagles Soar in Dramatic Season Ending Victory Over Ivanhoe
Arnold Town 5 Wirksworth Ivanhoe 3
Arnold’s long awaited reverse gear on recent basement dwelling seasons culminated with a dramatic, entertaining victory over Wirksworth Ivanhoe which thoroughly delighted the end of season gathering at the Valley.
A major key to the upswing this term has been the stability of the squad and, playing their eighth game in a month, changes were again minimal with the suspended Jamie Royle the only absentee replaced in the following line up by fellow JR, Joe Rock.
Arnold Town:- Piotr Strycharz, Joe Rock (Clay McNulty 87 mins), Kyme Mason, Adam Clift, Lenny Jenkins, Delane Hylton, Lewis Neville, Jake Ogden, Liam Black, Dan Chambers (Jentzen Davies 80 mins), Craig Taylor – both subs used
Arnold began the game in a lively manner enjoying an Eagle Valley surface which afforded a fast-paced affair throughout the ninety minutes. I opted for a tour around the ground at kick off and was only halfway through the circuit when the Eagles took the lead with just five minutes gone.
A move down the right allowed Liam Black to compete for a header which saw the ball fly towards the Colin End area. A split-second slip by a Wirksworth defender was the only invitation the nippy Jake Ogden needed to pick up the loose ball, dance past his man before launching a side-footed effort which neatly curled its way past the diving keeper into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Dan Chambers would have one of his quieter performances tonight following an amazing purple patch in recent games but on nine minutes he tested the Ivanhoe keeper with a well struck effort from around 35 yard out. At the other end Ivanhoe themselves were keen to get back on terms and Strycharz had to be alert on the quarter hour mark advancing to the edge of his area to gather the ball with a well-timed sliding save at the feet of an approaching striker.
Both sides were moving the ball around at pace on a lovely evening at the Valley with the sun still shining when the lights were switched on approaching the half hour mark as Ivanhoe were midway through a sustained period of pressure with the Eagles struggling to get the ball out of their own half.
Despite having their backs to the wall for a time the Eagles defence held firm and the closest Ivanhoe got to an equaliser in the first period came with a well struck effort from the edge of the area which Piotr did well to tip over the bar.
Having rode the storm the yellows increased their lead on 36 mins with an attack beginning with Kyme Mason on the left-hand side. Kyme fought his way towards the box before feeding the ball to Black with defenders swarming around the striker. Somehow the ball broke loose for the lively Ogden to latch onto it once more. Jake sprinted around his marker before bearing down on goal and delivering an unstoppable shot bursting through the keeper’s hands and into the right-hand side of the Colin net.
Incredibly we were in with a shout of a second first half hat-trick at the Colin End in a row and indeed in the dying embers of the half the ball almost broke for Jake again in the area but the Ivanhoe keeper had a sufficient head start this time and managed to quell the danger with some ease as we moved towards the break holding a 2-0 advantage.
Not long into the second half the game was soon turned upside down thanks to a complete meltdown in the Arna defence and more goals for Ivanhoe’s primary goal machine Thomas Mellor.
Six minutes in the Arna back line were formed pretty well in a line, the only problem was with a ball pumped from midfield the five defenders merely turned to accompany Mellor who had gathered the pass in his stride, tore towards Colin, and slotted the ball perfectly past Strycharz to half the Eagles’ lead.
Wirksworth clearly smelt blood at this point and their momentum was soon panicking the home guard and on 58 minutes a self-inflicted disaster which even surpassed the early horror at Holbrook arrived to level terms to mounting dismay on the side lines.
Deep on the right of Arnold’s defence skipper Adam Clift appeared to have Ivanhoe’s latest foray under control. Having a second to assess his options he elected to slide the ball back to his keeper. Piotr, the keeper with nothing to do other than clear the ball provided a complete, and pretty dramatic, air shot which allowed the ball to keep rolling along on its merry way towards Colin with Thomas Mellor on hand to guide it home for surely the easiest amongst his 21 goals of the season.
Strycharz was soon able to atone for his error as Wirksworth continued to hold sway, a well struck goal bound effort had to be hastily parried away at his left-hand post and from the the corner a further dose of chaos in the box was concluded with a fine reaction save.
Two minutes later however the Ivanhoe onslaught was not to be denied. A fierce cross from the right biline whipped across the Arna area and managed to fly through Strycharz’s grasp only to be nudged home by Wirksworth sub Liam Bednall to put the visitors ahead.
For a little over a minute.
A quick decisive Arna move from the re-start released Liam Black who broke through the Ivanhoe back line before launching a rocket of a shot which flew across the keeper’s despairing dive to bulge the bottom right hand corner of the net and bring the Eagles back with a bang at 3-3.
Another minute later.
The Arna faithful had hardly completed their celebrations when louder cheers were called for as the home side took the lead once more. A simple ball over the top from midfield gave Liam Black the chance to out manoeuvre the two defenders flanking him, rush forward and chip the ball over the advancing keeper for it to bounce up into the roof of the net.
Their fortunes so quickly reversed Wirksworth to their credit never missed a beat and having seen how the home defence could develop cracks under pressure they proceeded to launch further attacks which at times quite frankly I am unable to describe how exactly the Eagles managed to keep the ball out with it flying around the Colin End area like a pinball.
What we desperately needed was another goal to calm the nerves and with two eager strikers on a brace apiece it was Oggy who claimed his hat-trick with about three minutes of normal time remaining.
Towards the end of the game tackles had started to become a little on the tasty side. This naturally didn’t bother Mr Black overmuch who was more than prepared to battle for possession before laying off to his partner in crime Jake to seal the three points with a screaming low drive which whistled into the left hand corner to complete the scoring at 5-3.
What a thrilling game to end on. The win had secured 11th place in the table for the Eagles which, to any neutral observers reading this won’t sound very much but believe you me these welcome signs of green shoots (as displayed on the nearby new Eagle Valley Garden) are absolutely priceless to long suffering Arna fans.
And on behalf of the Arnold Town supporters a huge thank you to the players and management for a most encouraging and enjoyable season. Yes it had its share of low points but mixed in were a fair amount of highs too and that is what football is all about....highs and lows.
See you all next season……C’mon the Arna!
MATCH SPONSOR - DENNIS PACE
Arnold Town 5 Wirksworth Ivanhoe 3
Arnold’s long awaited reverse gear on recent basement dwelling seasons culminated with a dramatic, entertaining victory over Wirksworth Ivanhoe which thoroughly delighted the end of season gathering at the Valley.
A major key to the upswing this term has been the stability of the squad and, playing their eighth game in a month, changes were again minimal with the suspended Jamie Royle the only absentee replaced in the following line up by fellow JR, Joe Rock.
Arnold Town:- Piotr Strycharz, Joe Rock (Clay McNulty 87 mins), Kyme Mason, Adam Clift, Lenny Jenkins, Delane Hylton, Lewis Neville, Jake Ogden, Liam Black, Dan Chambers (Jentzen Davies 80 mins), Craig Taylor – both subs used
Arnold began the game in a lively manner enjoying an Eagle Valley surface which afforded a fast-paced affair throughout the ninety minutes. I opted for a tour around the ground at kick off and was only halfway through the circuit when the Eagles took the lead with just five minutes gone.
A move down the right allowed Liam Black to compete for a header which saw the ball fly towards the Colin End area. A split-second slip by a Wirksworth defender was the only invitation the nippy Jake Ogden needed to pick up the loose ball, dance past his man before launching a side-footed effort which neatly curled its way past the diving keeper into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Dan Chambers would have one of his quieter performances tonight following an amazing purple patch in recent games but on nine minutes he tested the Ivanhoe keeper with a well struck effort from around 35 yard out. At the other end Ivanhoe themselves were keen to get back on terms and Strycharz had to be alert on the quarter hour mark advancing to the edge of his area to gather the ball with a well-timed sliding save at the feet of an approaching striker.
Both sides were moving the ball around at pace on a lovely evening at the Valley with the sun still shining when the lights were switched on approaching the half hour mark as Ivanhoe were midway through a sustained period of pressure with the Eagles struggling to get the ball out of their own half.
Despite having their backs to the wall for a time the Eagles defence held firm and the closest Ivanhoe got to an equaliser in the first period came with a well struck effort from the edge of the area which Piotr did well to tip over the bar.
Having rode the storm the yellows increased their lead on 36 mins with an attack beginning with Kyme Mason on the left-hand side. Kyme fought his way towards the box before feeding the ball to Black with defenders swarming around the striker. Somehow the ball broke loose for the lively Ogden to latch onto it once more. Jake sprinted around his marker before bearing down on goal and delivering an unstoppable shot bursting through the keeper’s hands and into the right-hand side of the Colin net.
Incredibly we were in with a shout of a second first half hat-trick at the Colin End in a row and indeed in the dying embers of the half the ball almost broke for Jake again in the area but the Ivanhoe keeper had a sufficient head start this time and managed to quell the danger with some ease as we moved towards the break holding a 2-0 advantage.
Not long into the second half the game was soon turned upside down thanks to a complete meltdown in the Arna defence and more goals for Ivanhoe’s primary goal machine Thomas Mellor.
Six minutes in the Arna back line were formed pretty well in a line, the only problem was with a ball pumped from midfield the five defenders merely turned to accompany Mellor who had gathered the pass in his stride, tore towards Colin, and slotted the ball perfectly past Strycharz to half the Eagles’ lead.
Wirksworth clearly smelt blood at this point and their momentum was soon panicking the home guard and on 58 minutes a self-inflicted disaster which even surpassed the early horror at Holbrook arrived to level terms to mounting dismay on the side lines.
Deep on the right of Arnold’s defence skipper Adam Clift appeared to have Ivanhoe’s latest foray under control. Having a second to assess his options he elected to slide the ball back to his keeper. Piotr, the keeper with nothing to do other than clear the ball provided a complete, and pretty dramatic, air shot which allowed the ball to keep rolling along on its merry way towards Colin with Thomas Mellor on hand to guide it home for surely the easiest amongst his 21 goals of the season.
Strycharz was soon able to atone for his error as Wirksworth continued to hold sway, a well struck goal bound effort had to be hastily parried away at his left-hand post and from the the corner a further dose of chaos in the box was concluded with a fine reaction save.
Two minutes later however the Ivanhoe onslaught was not to be denied. A fierce cross from the right biline whipped across the Arna area and managed to fly through Strycharz’s grasp only to be nudged home by Wirksworth sub Liam Bednall to put the visitors ahead.
For a little over a minute.
A quick decisive Arna move from the re-start released Liam Black who broke through the Ivanhoe back line before launching a rocket of a shot which flew across the keeper’s despairing dive to bulge the bottom right hand corner of the net and bring the Eagles back with a bang at 3-3.
Another minute later.
The Arna faithful had hardly completed their celebrations when louder cheers were called for as the home side took the lead once more. A simple ball over the top from midfield gave Liam Black the chance to out manoeuvre the two defenders flanking him, rush forward and chip the ball over the advancing keeper for it to bounce up into the roof of the net.
Their fortunes so quickly reversed Wirksworth to their credit never missed a beat and having seen how the home defence could develop cracks under pressure they proceeded to launch further attacks which at times quite frankly I am unable to describe how exactly the Eagles managed to keep the ball out with it flying around the Colin End area like a pinball.
What we desperately needed was another goal to calm the nerves and with two eager strikers on a brace apiece it was Oggy who claimed his hat-trick with about three minutes of normal time remaining.
Towards the end of the game tackles had started to become a little on the tasty side. This naturally didn’t bother Mr Black overmuch who was more than prepared to battle for possession before laying off to his partner in crime Jake to seal the three points with a screaming low drive which whistled into the left hand corner to complete the scoring at 5-3.
What a thrilling game to end on. The win had secured 11th place in the table for the Eagles which, to any neutral observers reading this won’t sound very much but believe you me these welcome signs of green shoots (as displayed on the nearby new Eagle Valley Garden) are absolutely priceless to long suffering Arna fans.
And on behalf of the Arnold Town supporters a huge thank you to the players and management for a most encouraging and enjoyable season. Yes it had its share of low points but mixed in were a fair amount of highs too and that is what football is all about....highs and lows.
See you all next season……C’mon the Arna!
MATCH SPONSOR - DENNIS PACE
photos - Jim Bethell.