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Club reports from Saturday, 6 March, 2010
Press Round-up will be posted later

League action...
Sad day for Saints
Laburnum Saints 1 Shirland Miners Welfare 2
Home scorers: A Clifton
Away scorer: I Hursthouse, S Wright

In a game which was marred by an injury to Jonathan 'Fuzzy' Sellors, Laburnum Saints fought hard and defended well. It was a scrappy first half with chances few and far between for both sides with Tim and Dan Killick standing out for the Saints.

   Both sides were level going into half time and after the break Shirland pressed for a goal only for their efforts to be thwarted by Killick, Michael Charlton and Simon Bunting.

   After soaking up the pressure well Shirland then took the lead with 10 minutes to go. After a good tactical decision by manager Nick Wildgoose, Saints pulled one back when John Dunsby set up Andy Clifton to head home the equaliser from six yards.

   With three minutes left on the clock Shirland's push for a winner paid off with a deflected shot finding its way past man-of-the-match Killick.

   Saints thoughts go out for Jonathan and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

Shirland's report...
Dave Thurnham's expansive side – a breath of fresh air this season, still fighting on all three fronts with a group of players who show no shortage of desire – came up against a Laburnum side third from bottom but a team that look like they should be in the top three.

   After only four minutes on the clock the game was stopped with a bad injury to a Laburnum player and sadly he was taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg.

   After twenty-five minutes the game got back underway and it was Laburnum who came at Shirland with real intent but as of late Shirland's defence which has been so solid dealt with it with ease.

   Potential matchwinners positioned all over the pitch, stationed on both sides by two adventurous, attack-minded managers Shirland knew they had a fight on there hands.

   Steven Boot's presence for Shirland in the centre of midfield yesterday was fantastic, a workhorse piling into challenges like a warrior, his determined character never allowing anyone to settle on the ball. It was his holding up of the ball, headers amd chasing down lost causes that led to Shirland's first goal late in the second half with a through ball to Ian Hursthouse whose first touch and intelligence around the box fired a sweet shot into the net.

   Shirland and Laburnum went on to create three or four good chances during the second half, with Laburnum's keeper making some good finger tip saves to keep the away side at bay.

   Laburnum's goal came with a fantastic run down the right wing, as the player got to the corner flag he skipped past a Shirland defender and crossed the ball which was met with a thunderbolt of a header to give Laburnum a well-deserved goal.

   With only four minutes left on the clock Shirland's winner came in the form of goal machine Steven Wright, who offers something different to the speed of Hursthouse and the strength of Dale Hegarty. Steve's got bags of skill, is very hard to mark and knows were the goal is! His goal gave Shirland a vital win and three points!! shirland's man of the match was Steven Boot .

• MOM Shirland: Steven Boot

Below par Holloway mauled by Lions
AFC Lea Holloway 2 Darley Dale Lions 5
Home scorers: S Bott (2)
Away scorer: S. Fox (og), R West, M French, M Ashton, M Marsden

AFC Lea Holloway suffered their first league defeat since September with a below par performance against table-topping Darley Dale Lions.

   The away side were much the better side in the opening exchanges with Holloway struggling to adapt to an unfamiliar 4-5-1 system. Holloway went a goal down when Steve Fox put through his own net and a second soon followed.

   Shaun Bott pulled one back after beating the offside trap and rounding keeper Gary Widdowson before slotting home to make it 3-1 at half-time.

    An electric start to the second half saw Bott intercept a pass straight from the kick-off and he managed to slip a pass through to Nigel Emberton, whose pinpoint cross found Bott at the back post who headed home to put Holloway right back into the game.

   The game didn't get any better for Holloway though as Darley showed their superiority in the game to add two more goals and put the game beyond doubt.

   Darley Dale scorers were Robert West, Martin French, Mark Ashton and Max Marsden.

• MOM Holloway: Shaun Bott. MOM Darley Dale: Arran Sellers.

Riddings return to winning ways
Riddings Rovers 5 Black Hippo 1
Home scorers: A Coleman, R Hardy, A Gugala (2), G Vardy
Away scorer: T McLean

Riddings looked to get back to winning ways against lowly Black Hippo and with six players missing from the squad it was a welcome return for former captain Brent Atkinson who's been away for a year and was thrown straight in at the deep end as Rovers started this game with a bare eleven.

   Hippo started the brightest and when Rovers' make shift back line switched off Toby McLean nipped in to score after four minutes.

   Riddings started to control proceedings from the early goal and responded quickly when a Hippo defender handled in the area after some good pressure from the forwards. Adam Coleman took responsibility this week and made no mistake from the spot sending the keeper the wrong way.

   The home side pressed the Hippo back line deep into their own half from there on and were rewarded on fifteen minutes when Richard Hardy looped a great effort into the far corner of the net from a short corner at the edge of the eighteen yard box leaving Stuart Pearson in the Hippo goal with no chance.

   It was 3-1 minutes later when Artur Gugala found space in the area and beat the keeper at his near post to put Rovers firmly in command at half time.

   The second period was a pretty poor affair from both sides with some very scrappy patches of play at times but the one stand out moment came on 70 minutes when Hippo switched off from a free-kick on the half way line and the ball was played to Gugala who was able to try his luck from twenty yards out and rifled the ball into the top corner leaving the keeper with no chance.

   The scoring was all wrapped up on 85 minutes when Gareth Vardy scored with a headed effort from a corner to give Rovers a creditable 5-1 scoreline.

• MOM Rovers: Adam Coleman. MOM Hippo: Stuart Pearson.

Press Round-up
Darley retain four point cushion
6 March , 2010

Darley Dale Lions retained their four-point lead at the top of the Matlock & District Football League table with a 5-2 away victory over AFC Lea Holloway at Lea Green on Saturday.

   It was a below par Holloway that struggled to adapt to an unfamiliar 4-5-1 system and an own goal from Steven Fox early on that did the damage.

   As ever, the talented, pacy Shaun Bott shone for the home side and pulled one back after beating the offside trap and rounding keeper Gary Widdowson before slotting home to make it 3-1 at half-time.

   An electric start to the second half saw Bott intercept a pass straight from the kick-off and he managed to slip a pass through to Nigel Emberton, whose pinpoint cross found Bott at the back post who headed home to put Holloway right back into the game.

   The game didn't get any better for Holloway though as Darley showed their superiority in the game to add two more goals and put the game beyond doubt. Darley Dale scorers were Robert West, Martin French, Mark Ashton and Max Marsden.

   Shirland Miners Welfare kept up their winning ways and secured second spot with a 2-1 away victory on a sad day for Laburnum Saints whose Jonathan 'Fuzzy' Sellors broke his leg in three places.

   Laburnum fought hard and defended well in a scrappy first-half with chances few and far between for both sides.

   After the break Shirland pressed for a goal only for their efforts to be thwarted by Tim Killick, Michael Charlton and Simon Bunting. After soaking up the pressure well Shirland took the lead with ten minutes to go when Ian Hursthouse fired a sweet shot into the net.

   After a good tactical decision by manager Nick Wildgoose, Saints equalised when John Dunsby set up Andy Clifton to head home the equaliser from six yards.

   With three minutes left on the clock Shirland's push for a winner paid off with a deflected Steven Wright shot finding its way past man-of-the-match keeper Tim Killick.

   Riddings returned to winning ways with a 5-1 victory over lowly Black Hippo who are still searching for their first points of the season Hippo started the brightest and when Rovers' make shift back line switched off Toby McLean nipped in to score after four minutes.

   Riddings started to control proceedings from the early goal and responded quickly when a Hippo defender handled in the area. Up stepped Adam Coleman to make no mistake from the spot, sending the keeper the wrong way.

   he home side pressed the Hippo back line deep into their own half from there on and were rewarded on fifteen minutes when Richard Hardy looped a great effort into the far corner of the net from a short corner at the edge of the eighteen yard box leaving Stuart Pearson in the Hippo goal with no chance.

   It was 3-1 minutes later when Artur Gugala found space in the area and beat the keeper at his near post to put Rovers firmly in command at half-time.

   The second period was a pretty poor affair from both sides with some very scrappy patches of play at times but the one stand out moment came on 70 minutes when Hippo switched off from a free-kick on the half way line and the ball was played to Gugala who rifled the ball into the top corner from 20 yards leaving the keeper with no chance.

   The scoring was all wrapped up on 85 minutes when Gareth Vardy scored with a headed effort from a corner to give Rovers a creditable 5-1 scoreline.

   In the first Manor Pharmacy Shield semi-final Hilcote United's Danny Ryan scored a hat-trick with a 3-1 win over a poor Kings Arms. Richard West scored for the visitors.

• Manor Pharmacy Shield semi-final action sees Shirland v Laburnum on Saturday (13 March, 2010) while in the league it's Harveys Bar v Ashbourne, Darley Dale Lions v Matlock Town Youth, AFC Lea Holloway v Tibshelf Community and Hilcote United v Kings Arms.