GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY SQUANDERED

 

Old Whittington 2 Alfreton JFC 1

I'll start by thanking all the lads who turned out for us, your commitment is appreciated. Both sides had skeletal squads and on the field, early skirmishes saw half chances at both ends. Arrowsmith took full advantage of his start, taking the play forwards and threatening down the left to good effect, one of his crosses being latched on to by Higton who in turn put it beyond the keeper on 27 minutes. Old Whit were rocked by this and for the next 10 minutes were on the back foot. However, against the run of play, on 36 minutes they equalised with a poor shot to nothing which found its way into the net. The second half saw the opposition begin to press but Harker, Griffiths, Pickering and Greenwood held firm with another solid performance from the strong tackling Hill. Chances came and went for both sides but alas it was Old Whit who broke the deadlock on 62 minutes with yet another soft goal. To their credit, the Alfreton boys came back and began to believe again that they at least deserved a point for all their efforts. James came close with through balls from Riley and Bullen and as usual Boden's whipped crosses and corners came close to being rewarded but for goal line clearances by the Old Whit defence. Down to ten men for the last 10 minutes through injury, Old Whit put everyone behind the ball and cleverly kept possession to run down the clock to the final whistle. Despite pressing hard, the final score remained at 2-1. A good effort lads but I am sure we will look back on an opportunity missed and we all came away disappointed at a chance of taking points off last years league winners. Thanks also go to an unwell Carpenter and Langham for attendance, showing maturity in difficult circumstances.