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Match Reports 07/08


Match Report   - Sunday 2nd September 2007      by Jon Atkin 

Plumtree FC   2   Real Bulwell   0 

(Jon Atkin, Chris Kay)

  

On a warm Sunday morning in September, the players from Plumtree FC walked out to begin a new era in the clubs’ 20 year history by playing league football for the first time. Despite having a number of players unavailable for this historic fixture, Jose was able to field a strong team, led by new club captain Chris Kay. The opposition, Real Bulwell had been playing at this level for a number of years and following a mid table finish last season, would be a good indication of whether we could cope with league football or not.

The game started at a frenetic pace with Bulwell having the first and best opportunity of the first half when a dangerous cross from their right winger fizzed across the face of goal and went out for a goal kick. The Plumtree back four, well marshalled by Captain Kay coped well with the frequent Bulwell attacks and with Big John Acaster in goal, didn’t really look like scoring. Tom, Luke and Jason up front looked lively but didn’t really create many opportunities, apart from a clear penalty which the referee missed. Despite playing into a strong headwind, Plumtree went into the half time break with the score at a respectable 0-0.

The second half started well and the Plumtree players started to stamp their authority on the game. Mike, Tom and Jason continually harried the Bulwell defence and eventually the keeper made his first mistake of the game. A misplaced goal kick found Mike 40 yrds out with an open goal to aim at, despite hitting the shot well, the wind took it just past the post and out of play.

It was only five minutes into the second half when Jon Atkin made the breakthrough, a clearance from the Bulwell defence was headed towards the centre circle by Mike and instinctively Jon volleyed the ball goalwards from just inside his own half. The keeper who was off his line was caught out by the audacious effort and with the aid of a slight following wind, the ball flew into the Bulwell net. An early contender for goal of the season and by his own admission, Jon will probably never score a better goal.

Spurred on by the goal, Plumtree drove forwards and forced a number of corners which were adequately dealt with by the Bulwell defence. The second goal wasn’t far off and it followed a dangerous corner by Richard, which was bravely headed into the top corner by Chris Kay. 2-0 up and Plumtree started to cruise, lost a bit of defensive discipline and have Big John to thank for making a number of important saves which kept the final score at 2-0.

All in all, a great start to the new season with 3 points, a number of good performances and Plumtree sitting comfortably in 4th place in Division 4 of the EMPAL.
  

Jon Atkin was the players choice as Man of the Match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 9th September 2007     by Jon Atkin  

 

Mastec United    2   Plumtree FC   2 

(Luke Murray 2)

  

Plumtree made a confident start to their 2nd league game with a well marshalled defence and a lively attack.  Luke, Tom and Mark regularly had the beating of a slow Mastec defence and it was no surprise when Luke opened the scoring with a low shot which was turned in after good work by Mark Hawkins.

 

The second half started and Plumtree came under sustained pressure from Mastec who were desperate to find a way back into the game.  A defence splitting pass from centre half Neil Brealey enabled Luke to beat the offside trap and smash the ball past the Mastec keeper for a 2-0 lead.

 

In last 30 minutes, it was all one way traffic with Mastec constantly on the attack and in the end a poor clearance led to their first goal.  With Plumtree camped in their own half, Mastec pushed for the equaliser and despite some inspired defending from the back four, Mastec gained their 10th corner of the game.  A dangerous corner was missed by the keeper and their forward had a simple tap in.  Plumtree managed to survive the last 10 minutes and even had a chance to win the game, when a difficult chance fell to Nigel who shot slightly over from the edge of the box.

 

On balance a draw was a fair result and Plumtree are still unbeaten and not at all out of their depth in EMPAL Divison 4.

  

Chris Kay was once again the unanimous choice as Man of the Match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 16th September 2007       by Jon Atkin

 

Plumtree FC   1   Strelley   1 

(Jason Allen)

  

This game was a fairly bad tempered affair which Plumtree should have won easily but which ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw.

 

Once again, Plumtree played into a strong headwind and made hard work of a first half against a poor Strelley team who turned up over 30 minutes late.  Plumtree created numerous first half chances which unfortunately came to nothing until the ball broke to Jon Atkin on the right who crossed for Jason Allen to head in from a yard out and 30cms above the surface of the pitch.

 

The second half started in the same vein as the first ended with Plumtree pushing forward for the second goal. Unfortunately, a pinpoint pass to their striker was smashed into the top corner, with Neil able to get a hand to it but unable to keep it out. After the goal Plumtree lost their composure and allowed Strelley to continue to attack their goal.  A couple of good saves by Neil kept it level and finally Plumtree started to play their passing game with 20 minutes left.

 

Plumtree pushed for the winning goal and Tom Blades, with his first touch of the game, hit a shot just wide with the keeper to beat.  Then Matt Court went on a marauding 40yrd run and narrowly failed to score.  A combination of poor decisions by their lineman, numerous fouls and 'innits' from the Strelley players meant that this game disintigrated into an ill tempered 1-1 draw.

 

Still we're unbeaten after 3 games in a new league and the Manager has yet to receive the dreaded 'vote of confidence'...

  

Matt Court was the opposition players choice as Man of the Match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 23rd September 2007       by Simon Maggs

 

Notts Medics B   0 Plumtree 0

Not exactly a game for the purists, not helped by a very strong wind which took the majority of Paul Gray’s goal kicks about two pitches to the left.

A fairly close game which Plumtree shaded and should probably have won, there were a couple of decent chances for Plumtree to win the game late on, but unfortunately the medics keeper made a couple of very good saves.

Highlights

1. Chris Spragg’s late tackle, which would have been the seasons first booking, if the ref had been able to find a card.
2. Chris Spragg and the refs new found friendship!!
3. The return of Jason’s joke!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Spragg was the managers choice as Man of the Match

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 7th October 2007       by Paul Gray

 

Notts Medics A   3 Plumtree 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Jon Atkin)

 

CUP FEVER HITS PLUMTREE !!

And so it came to pass that another milestone in the long and proud history of Plumtree FC was realised. A band of elite lithe sportsmen representing the ecclesiastic parish of Plumtree were to enter the ‘theatre of dreams’, ‘the hallowed halls of heightened athleticism’, that very special place ‘CUP FOOTBALL’.

To celebrate this momentous event Brumptons the local butcher had knocked up a special batch of sausages dedicated to the team. The result – a robustly flavoured banger resplendent in the club colours of red and orange yet subtly infused with spices – surely tangible meaty representation of the key skillset of this fine sporting institution !!
Not to be outdone the local rag ‘The Plumtree Examiner’ ran an in depth article covering the triumvirate of exciting youthful talent that had joined the club in the close season, namely Thomas, Hankinson and Atherton. The former labouring at length in the column inches over his genetically enhanced right foot (six toes + webbed feet) that gave him an almost supernatural ability in the dead ball situation.

And so the scene was set for a giant killing of epic proportions !!

Manager Atkin was able to name a strong starting eleven as evidenced by the make-up of the bench, which boasted the versatile Spragg, the strong running Maggs and new boy Atherton. The mood of the team was serious and focussed in the dressing room prior to the game as was evident through the absence of a suitable deputy to step into the sizeable shoes of the Gagmeister Jason Allen and amuse all present with an offering from the Penguin Book of Jokes.

Plumtree’s opponents, Notts Medics A, made a sound start passing the ball around well and approaching the game with great vigour. This troubled Plumtree little as the well drilled back four comprising Kay, Thomas, Craw and Gray coupled with industrious offerings from midfield duo Davies and Atkin reduced the Medics to speculative long-range efforts. Plumtree were able to exert themselves in turn particularly at corners and dead ball situations where the students were not so clinical at clearing their lines. Several melees ensued where a stray shin or a loose buttock could have easily nudged Plumtree in front. Then disaster struck – a poorly defended corner saw one of the doctors leaping like a ‘Spirit in the Sky’ to nod home at the far post leaving keeper Vaughan stranded who until this point had gathered all presented before him.

The game reverted back to a similar vein with the Medics looking dangerous on the break and Plumtree threatening at every dead ball situation. Again, Disaster struck, the ball bounced loose in midfield and was quickly latched onto by the Medics dynamic centre midfielder who coolly lofted the ball over the head of Vaughan. 2 – 0 and things were not going Plumtree’s way but then a moment of inspiration from player/manager Atkin who unleashed a long-range ‘bomb’ from near the left touchline which dipped into the top right hand corner of the net. 2 – 1, the referee blew for half time and it was all to play for.
Kelly was switched for Atherton at half time and the game re-started with the Medics again pressing but Plumtree standing firm. An opportunity from a corner presented itself at the Medics’ end early in the second half but Gray was just unable to steer his header inside the left hand post. Further good interplay followed between Gray and Hankinson with the latter just failing to get on the end of a ‘cheeky dink’ over the head of the Medics’ full back. This represented Plumtree’s best spell of the game and so they were unlucky to concede a third goal shortly afterwards.
A cross from the right wing was flicked on at the near post and was met fairly and squarely by the Medics centre-half. This effectively killed off Plumtree’s hopes and the Medics started to press home their superiority retaining possession for extended periods and launching numerous attacks. The back four however resisted with Kay again turning in a commanding performance and Thomas making several important tackles and in addition winning the mind games with his opposite number.
Gray was substituted with approximately 15 minutes to go after landing heavily. Spragg took to the pitch assuming a berth wide on the right and Plumtree re-organised to a 3-5-2 formation to try to up the tempo. As a final throw of the dice Maggs replaced Craw but he was left with little time to influence the result. The game finished with the Medics defending stoutly giving Hawkins and Court precious few openings.

With 2 goal line clearances against them a little bit of luck on Plumtree’s side and the result may have been very different. Overall a solid performance against a team three leagues above them from which Plumtree can take heart in their pursuit for league honours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 21st October 2007       by Paul Thomas

 

Mapplewells   3 Plumtree 6 (after extra time)

 (Luke Murray 3, Jon Atkin, Paul Thomas, Chris Hankinson)

 

 

 

So the scene was set as the troops met at the Showcase Cinema to prepare for what promised to be a gruelling physical encounter against a team of Mansfield's finest dead heads. As the wagons rolled out of the car park this player couldn't help but cast a longing glance at Senorita's and wish that he had a gruelling physical encounter lined up in that fine establishment instead.

Upon arrival at what can only be described as a sh1thole, the team prepared itself for the game in what appeared to be north Nottinghamshire's oldest portacabin. After the usual scramble for the largest shirt/short combo, the next pre match ritual was about to take place. Hankinson, showing a fleet of foot that was a precursor to his on field performance, nipped past a couple of ageing centre halves and got into the en suite before all others... only to find that there was no flush option to dispense of last nights curry. Undeterred, it seemed that all remaining players took turns to add to the pile that seemed symbolic of the area in which we were about to deliver a severe Sunday morning footballing sermon.

The game got underway and after a couple of well taken goals from the predatory Luke, Plumtree finished the half with a well deserved 2-0 lead. However, the game was by no means over, the opposition were a collection of finely tuned half wits who looked like they had the athletic capability to strike fear into any local drinking establishment. A defensive mix up allowed the opposition back into the game. At 2-1 the game was back in the balance. Another well taken goal from Luke seemed to have not only clinched ownership of the match ball, but also put the tie beyond doubt.

A wise man once said that there is no crueller mistress than football, and so it came to pass. With 10 minutes to go and with Plumtree coasting, 2 further goals for the home team meant the game was tied 3-3 at the final whistle. Get ready fight fans, we were about to go into extra time! This is a moment where games are won and lost, players nerve is tested along with stamina and mental strength. As was to be expected, this was where Plumtree's pre-season training session paid dividends. A bold move by the manager re-organised the team into a shape that was just too hot to handle for the opposition. First, a Hankinson bullet header found the back of the net from a corner. There was no way he was missing this one and the keeper didn't stand a chance as he thumped it in from the edge of the 6 yard box, and it only bounced 4 times before crossing the line as well! Next up came what can only be described as a textbook training ground free kick. Following on from the 'cheeky dink' style adopted by Gray the week before, Neil 'dinked' a ball over the defensive line and Thomas stole a march on his opponent to emphatically volley home. Comments on the touchline included 'a finish worthy of Welsh legend Sparky Hughes in his pomp', and 'b0llocks, that us finished then!'. The final nail was delivered by player manager Atkin with a delightful finish from 25 yards that was, contrary to other goals scored this season, actually a shot. With this the opposition fell into disarray and the game petered out with a final score of 6-3 to Plumtree.

All that was left was for the team to hold their breath while they got changed in the now pungent portacabin that had festered away for over two hours, and a drive back home with the sweet smell of success replacing the lingering smell that seemed indicative of our hosts native land.

Wembley here we come!

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 28th October 2007       by Jon Atkin

 

Attsu   1 Plumtree 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Mark Hawkins 3, Jason Allen 2, Chris Hankinson)


Plumtree's unbeaten league run continues after scoring 6 goals for a second successive game.  The game against Attsu was played in tricky conditions but Plumtree settled early after a Mark Hawkins goal with an assist from Big John Acaster making his return to the team. Jason Allen scored a second goal a few minutes later and Plumtree were cruising until a the ref awarded a very dubious penalty, which was converted to make the score 2-1.  Despite not getting the run of the decisions, The team got stuck in and a third was scored by Mark Hawkins following good work by Allen.  Towards the end of the half, Mark was chopped down for the umpteenth time just outside the box and Chris Hankinson stepped up to strike a glorious free kick into the top corner.

 

Leading 4-1 at half time, Plumtree still had plenty to do as the second half would be into a strong wind.  Big John made a couple of early saves to deny the Attsu strikers and a counter attack by Simon Atherton led to a parried shot from Alex and a tap in for Hawkins to complete his hat trick.  The sixth goal was set up by Mark who beat the right back and placed a perfect cross onto Jasons toe who was lurking on the goal line.

 

A good team performance which sets us up for the rematch next week.

 

Despite a number of good performances (Paul Gray, Chris Hankinson & Jason Allen) the man of the match has to go to Mark Hawkins. 

 


Match Report   - Sunday 4th November 2007       by Jon Atkin

 

Plumtree   1 Attsu 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Jason Allen)

The less said about this game the better! After an encouraging 6-1 victory against Attsu the week before, Plumtree went into the return fixture full of confidence and over sure of another victory. The first half started well with Plumtree attacking the Attsu goal and being denied on a number of occasions by a combination of the goalkeeper and dubious offside decisions by the opposition linesman.

The breakthrough came following a precise through ball from Matt Court to Jason Allen, who beat the offside trap, rounded the keeper with ease and scored from the heady distance of 6 yards.

Unfortunately, Plumtree couldn’t build on their good start and allowed Attsu to score after failing to clear the ball despite having a couple of chances to do so. The goal was well taken by the Attsu no 11 who drilled a fierce shot past Lee from 15 yards.

The half ended 1-1 and Jon made a couple of changes to try and force a result. Unfortunately, Plumtree then proceeded to play their worst half for a very long time with few coherent passes and a distinct lack of fight. Attsu sensed that a victory was on the cards and they pressed forwards and forced a penalty following a contentious hand ball by Rich Blades.

As the Attsu striker placed the ball on the spot, Manager Atkin decided to change keepers and put Neil in goal in place of Lee (partially due to Neils excellence at saving penalties and partially due to the extra area he takes up!). The crowd held their breath as the striker stepped up to take the penalty and Neil pulled off a great save to deny Attsu victory and gain a scarcely deserved point for Plumtree.

With only a couple more half chances to either side, the game ended 1-1. It’s not often that so many of us have bad games and we were lucky to get away with a point but it does act as a wake up call for the rest of the season.

The man of the match award goes to Paul Gray for a commanding centre half performance.

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 11th November 2007       by Jon Atkin

 

Plumtree   3  Beeston Athletic B 2

 

(Mark Hawkins, Mike Davies, OG)

 

There was an air of expectancy at Gresham aka the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ as the Plumtree players arrived to play a game against a team who’d failed to score so far in the league. After the previous weeks performance, this game looked like a 0-0 draw on paper but Plumtree started brightly with Mark Hawkins and Jason Allen creating a couple of good chances in the first 15 minutes.

Happily for the home supporter (a rather bedraggled Simon Maggs), Plumtree opened the scoring. Taking notice of the ‘inspirational’ team talk delivered by Manager Atkin before the game, Chris Hankinson placed a perfectly weighted corner to the far post, where it was firmly headed into the back of the net by Mark Hawkins.

As usual this season, Plumtree failed to build on this early goal and Beeston scored an equaliser a few minutes later. A hopeful long ball split the defence and left the centre forward with an easy chance to score.

Plumtree then went 2-1 ahead following an own goal after good work by Tom Dowsett who was playing his first game after an exhausting 2 months at Uni attending up to an incredible 4 lectures a week. Again this lead didn’t last long and Beeston equalised with a well taken goal from the right hand side, which gave our keeper no chance.

The second half started with the Plumtree players determined to avoid another league draw, which would have severely dented any hopes of finishing in the top 3 this season.

Fortunately the winning goal came after a sustained period of Plumtree pressure and was scored by Mike Davies, who miscontrolled the ball, readjusted and smashed the ball just inside the post through a crowd of players for his first goal of the season.

Matt Fry in his first game in goal made a couple of great saves to deny Beeston a third and despite having a clear penalty disallowed, Plumtree hung on to claim all three points.

After another commanding performance, Chris Hankinson was voted the man of the match with Paul Thomas a close second.

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 25th November 2007      by Jon Atkin 

 

Laxton Athletic  4   Plumtree   0 

 

The third round of the County Cup saw Plumtree make the tedious trip to the middle of nowhere to play Laxton Athletic.  With the majority of his squad not fancying the trip, he was left with 12 fit players and no goalkeeper for this game.

 

With a bit of gentle persuasion, Dick 'volunteered' to go in goal and the manager spent Saturday night formulising the tactics for the forthcoming game.  Unfortunately, on Sunday morning Matt's boiler also refused to play, breaking down just as winter started to bite.  This meant that Plumtree only had 11 players to make the trip into the back of beyond.

 

Despite the 'trainspotting' toilet facilities, the pitch was in great condition with quaint little dugouts which we only useful if you had any subs..

 

With a revised formation, Plumtree started brightly but conceded an early goal from a corner within 10 minutes.  Five minutes later, disaster struck as the Laxton centre forward, despite being offside, ran through on goal and in making a brave save to deny them a second, Dick had to leave the field injured.  Plumtree were down to 10 men for the remaining 75 minutes of the game. Despite creating few chances, Plumtree survived until half time and came out in the second half with a revised 3-5-1 formation and despite being a man down, dominated from the kick off.  Paul Thomas and Chris Hankinson controlled the midfield with support from Alex Kelly and Luke Murray.  Mark Hawkins somehow managed to keep 4 defenders busy on his own and Jon Atkin made a number of important tackles in midfield. With a combined age of over 100, Scott Craw, Andrew Dufty and Jason Allen belied their years and dealt well with the Laxton forwards.

 

But with the game at 1-0 and 10 mins to go, tiredness finally took it's toll on the team.  Substitute goalkeeper Gray after making a number of good saves, was beaten 3 times in quick succession to give Laxton a flattering victory.

 

So just the league to concentrate on, if we'd had a couple more players then we may have won..

 

Jon Atkin was voted Man of the Match.

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 3rd February 2008      by Jon Atkin 

 

Plumtree 1  Abakon 3

 

(Matt Court)

 

A disappointing result from a game which we should have won.  Plumtree started brightly and scored first, Matt Court lobbing the goal keeper following good work by Mark Hawkins & Paul Thomas.  Despite creating a number of subsequent chances, Plumtree were unable to increase their lead and soon after Abakon scored a deserved equaliser.  The score was 1-1 at half time and Plumtree made a sluggish start to the second half.  The ref then sent off the Abakon goalkeeper for a horrendous challenge on Mark Hawkins which left him with stud marks imprinted on his torso.  Even with the opposition down to 10 men, Plumtree couldn't find a way through and conceded a breakaway goal to trail 2-1 with 15 minutes to go.  The third came after some tired defending and the result summed up which team really wanted to win the game.

 

Man of the Match:- Andrew Dufty


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Report   - Sunday 17th February 2008      by Jon Atkin 

 

Plumtree 3  Mastec 1

 

(Mark Hawkins, Matt Court, Andrew Dufty)

 

After a couple of poor team performances, Manager Atkin decided to organise a mid season friendly in order to fill a gap in the fixtures and give everyone a game without the pressure for league points.

A ‘friendly’ was duly arranged against Mastec United who had beaten Plumtree 3-2 a few weeks earlier and would provide a good physical challenge and the opportunity to give a new signing his debut and for Chris ‘glass bones’ Kay to see if his body could withstand 90 minutes of football.

The Plumtree team waited nervously whilst the pitch was inspected, fearful that they may have to go home to screaming children and dirty nappies. Luckily, the ref needed the £15 fee and decided that if we delayed the kick off then the pitch would be playable.

The game got off to a frantic start with everyone heeding the team talk and getting stuck in. Chris Kay and Andy Cameron quickly formed a formidable partnership in the centre of defence whilst the midfield dominated the early exchanges. With 10 minutes gone, Jon nipped in front of Mastec’s resident headcase and played the ball out to the wing. Annoyed that someone had dared to tackle him, the meathead then launched himself at Jon, kicked him twice and then thumped him on the side of the head sending him to the ground. As the players stepped in to stop Jon getting a thorough if undeserved beating, the ref decided that he’d seen nothing amiss and let the meathead remain on the pitch. Apparently, the meathead felt that Jon had tried to elbow him in the face and damage his new £3k gold tooth whilst the ref momentarily thought he was officiating at Madison Square Gardens rather then the Embankment.

Slightly rattled and somewhat fearful that he was one challenge away from a wheelchair, Jon let Paul Thomas mark the meathead for the remainder of the half. Plumtree then took a deserved lead following good work by Mark Hawkins and Paul Thomas. Matt Court managed to put aside his raging hangover, miscontrol the ball and bobble it past the Mastec keeper for a 1-0 lead.

Thanks to a couple of good saves by Matt, the first half ended with Plumtree in front. Manager Atkin then made a couple of tactical changes that quickly came undone after Mastec scored an equaliser after the break. Despite having numerous chances to clear the ball, it broke loose and the striker beat Matt from 5 yards out.

Plumtree then started to dominate the game and forced a corner. Mark Hawkins took it and hit the perfect ball into the box which was met powerfully by Andy Dufty to score his first Plumtree goal with a well placed header. The second goal seemed to drive the Mastec meathead into an uncontrollable fury and he threw himself into every challenge with no regard for his own or others safety. Unfortunately, in one ugly challenge, his head missed the ball and connected with the side of Simon Atherton’s head which ended his participation in the game.

With 5 minutes to go, Plumtree sealed a deserved win with Mark Hawkins scoring a true poachers goal after having the ball passed to him by the opposition in the box.

So, a good workout, a deserved victory and a punch in the head for the Manager! All in all a satisfying game of football with many plus points, Chris Kay back in commanding form after a long injury, a solid debut by Andy Cameron and a good team performance.

For not breaking anything, the man of the match is Chris Kay.

 

 

 

 

 

Plumtree 1  Wollaton Pirates 3

 

The same score as the previous week but a much better performance. Against a free scoring Wollaton team, we had to improve on past performances or we were in danger of taking a beating.  Despite a quiet dressing room pre match, Plumtree started the game well and restricted Wollaton to a couple of speculative efforts.  Unfortunately, after giving away one free kick too many Wollaton took the lead.  Matt then pulled off an amazing one handed save to deny Wollaton a second and it looked like the half would end with Plumtree a goal down. 

 

On the stroke of half time, Wollaton doubled their lead, a good cross from their left winger was put in from 2 yrds giving Matt no chance in goal.  The second half started in the same vein as the first, with Wollaton continuing to attack but being repelled by some excellent defending by the entire back four and midfield.  It was proving difficult to break out and mount an attack but finally, we made the breakthrough.  Jon intercepted a ball in the middle of the pitch and played a speculative through ball to Matt upfront, who controlled it and shot at the keeper who seemed to be deceived by the lack of power and palmed it into his goal.

 

Not being used to conceding a goal, Wollaton upped their game and continued to attack the Plumtree goal.  We managed to keep the score down to 2-1 until the final minutes when another free kick was bundled into the goal by the Wollaton centre forward.

 

Overall, a really good performance against an unbeaten team who have scored almost 80 goals in the league and only conceded 9.

 

Man of the match (as voted by the captain) was Jon Atkin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strelley 0  Plumtree 2

 

After a few weeks of cancelled games, Plumtree were keen to play and make up for a dire 1-1 draw against Strelley earlier in the season.  Playing on a poor sloping pitch, Chris won the toss and decided to play uphill in the first half, hoping that we could contain them and win the game in the second.

 

Plumtree began the first half like a team who'd not played for a few months never mind a few weeks and were second best against a really poor Strelley team.  Gradually Plumtree started to improve and with Chris and Andy in commanding form at the back, didn't look like conceding a goal.  Strelley were limited to punting the ball long and hoping that the back four would make a mistake, which they did on one occasion, luckily Jim made a great save in goal to deny their striker.  Apart from a few bad tackles, the first half fizzled out and the teams went into the break level at 0-0.

 

After a rousing team talk from the Captain and with the advantage of playing downhill, Plumtree started to play some good football and began to dominate the game.  The first goal was scored by Omar, who managed to place a neat volley into the bottom corner whilst almost lying flat on the floor. 

 

The goal seemed to galvanise Strelley who stopped arguing and fouling and started to play attacking football.  Despite throwing men forward, the midfield and defence dealt easily with any potential goal threats. The second and decisive goal was scored midway through the second half following a corner by Jon Atkin which may have crossed the line, but was bundled in by Matt Court to make sure.

 

Plumtree then created numerous chances but were unable to finish while Strelley bizarrely began to fight amongst themselves and deservedly lost the game.

 

A good committed performance in the end gave us the three points we deserved.

 

Man on the Match was Chris Hankinson 

 

 

Plumtree 0  Punjab Colts 2

 

This was always going to be one of our toughest games of the season and it was.  Punjab who were riding high in the league and in the EMPAL Cup Final needed to win to keep their promotion hopes alive and they started the brighter team, passing the ball well and creating space with intelligent runs.  Plumtree seemed to be a bit overawed by the oppositions reputation and took some time to settle, eventually getting closer to Punjab and winning their fair share of challenges.

 

With the slope in their favour, Punjab attacked for the majority of the first half and the back four were hard pressed to keep the wingers at bay.  Alex Kelly staked his claim to the right back position with a great first half performance where he won everything in the air and managed to keep up with one of their best players. Then, just as Plumtree were starting to believe that they could get something out of the game, an unforced error let in Punjab for the opening goal and 5 minutes later they scored with a stunning volley direct from a corner (you could almost hear Andy Gray saying 'you dooon't stop those...').

 

The half ended and following a rousing half time team talk, Plumtree came out with the intention of not losing the second half.  Paul and Jon in midfield started to get into the game and the back four moped up the Punjab attacks with ease.  Jon then forced a save from the keeper following a speculative cross/shot from 30yrds as Plumtree continued to look for their first goal.

 

From the resulting corner, Paul Thomas leapt like a salmon and defied the laws of gravity to aim a bicyle kick into the top corner.  Unfortunately, the keeper made a great save and stopped Paul talking about 'that goal' for the next 10 seasons..  Simon Atherton had a good chance after being put through by Paul Thomas, but was unable to hit the target and that was pretty much the story of the game.  Despite being put under pressure by a very good Punjab side, Plumtree had enough chances to draw the game and we can go into the rematch next week with the knowledge that we can compete with teams of this quality.

  

Man of the Match was Chris Kay (again!)

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wollaton Pirates 4  Plumtree 0

   

A disappointing game for a number of reasons:-

 

A lack of available players meant that I had a small squad to pick from and we didn't have a sub to cover for when Rich Thornhill was injured playing in goal.  We played for 30 minutes against the top team in the league with 10 players, 4 days after playing a tough game against Punjab.  We need a larger squad next season or more commitment from some of our existing players in order for us to field 14 every game.

 

The game was largely an irrelevance with Wollaton already champions and with a more important game planned for Tuesday and with only 12 players available including a couple carrying injuries, it was always going to be difficult to get anything out of the game.

 

On the positive side, we battled well and restricted a free scoring team to a handful of chances throughout the game.  Paul Thomas and Chris Hankinson fought well in the middle and won more than fair share of challenges and Mark Hawkins and Ash put in a hard shift upfront. Wollaton have scored 102 goals in 20 league games so it was important that we didn't take a beating..

 

Unfortunately, we were undone by a couple of basic mistakes which gifted Wollaton 2 easy goals and our inability to create many clear cut chances meant that it was a fairly easy last game for the champions.

 

The man of the match was jointly shared by Paul Thomas and Chris Hankinson.

 

 

 

 

 

Real Bulwell 0  Plumtree 2

   

A much improved performance on Sunday, especially as this was the 3rd game in a week for some players.

 

The game took place on a dreadful pitch at Radford FC's ground in Hyson Green.  After safely negotiating the traffic, trams and pikeys, the Plumtree team turned up for the last game of the season.  This was a must win game with our opponents, Real Bulwell, a point above us in the league and 5th place was up for grabs.

 

Despite the evening kick off, Manager Atkin had assembled a strong squad and confidence was high as we'd beaten this team 2-0 in the first game of the season.  After a decent warm up and a rousing team talk, Plumtree started the game in a positive fashion with Atkin and Atherton making telling runs on the wings. Unfortunately the final ball continued to go astray and we couldn't capitalise on our superior possession.  As usual, the back four kept the opposition quiet and their only chance came from a free kick, which was struck against the post.

 

As the game progressed, Paul T and Chris H started to dominate the midfield and Mark H and Matt gave their back four a torrid time.  With support from Scott and Jason, Plumtree piled on the pressure and forced their keeper into a number of saves.

 

Amazingly the first half ended 0-0 with the Plumtree players wondering how they'd failed to score in such a one sided game.  Deciding to ignore the comfort of the changing rooms, the Plumtree players stayed on the pitch to discuss how they'd approach the second half.

 

The second half started with Plumtree again forcing the pace.  Atkin and Hawkins continued to combine well on the right and a surging run by Chris Hankinson led to a dangerous free kick on the edge of the Bulwell box.  Chris stepped up to deliver the perfect ball into the box which Paul Thomas managed to get one of his remaining hairs to and divert the ball past the stranded goalkeeper.  Conceding the goal spurred on the Bulwell team who were no longer content to play for a draw and they poured forward but the back line of Scott, Andy C, Chris K and Andy Dufty held firm and the midfield started to win the ball again.

The second and deciding goal came from an excellent cross field ball from Chris H to Matt whose intial shot was saved and the rebound was prodded home by Mark Hawkins to make it 2-0.

 

Once the second goal was scored, Plumtree settled down and played out the remaining 20 minutes fairly comfortably despite the poor ball and diminshing light.

 

The final whistle blew and Plumtree had finished their first season in the EMPAL Div 4 in a respectable 5th place, winning more then we lost and scoring more than we conceded.  I'm confident that with a good pre season, we can improve upon this next season.

  

The man of the match was Paul Thomas (for paying an extra £1 in his subs....)


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