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Club reports from Saturday, 13 March, 2010
Press Round-up will be posted later

Manor Pharmacy Shield action...
Shirland march into Shield final
Shirland Miners Welfare 3 Laburnum Saints 0
Home scorers: S Boot, D Cupit, S Wright.

Shirland Miners Welfare manager Dave Thurnham hailed his bravehearts after they claimed their place in the Manor Pharmacy Shield final with a fantastic 3-0 win over Laburnum Saints.

   The team went into this game without one of their best players Richard Harrison who was in some casino in Las Vegas trying to win some sponsorship money for next season!

   Shirland dominated this game from start to finish having a number of shots saved from Laburnum's in-form keeper Tim Killick.

   Shirland's first goal came from Steven Boot the second from Dean Cupit and the third from Steven Wright.

   Laburnum's only real threat on goal came from a penalty kick which keeper Daz Shaw saved with ease.

   Shirland will now face Hilcote United in the final on Friday, 9 April 2010 at Matlock Town's Causeway Lane football ground.

• MOM Shirland: Steven Boot • MOM Laburnum: Michael Charlton

Laburnum's report...

Laburnum Saints walked out with high hopes from the previous week's performance against an inform Shirland Miners Welfare side.

   Early pressure from Shirland paid off after 15 minutes when their man-of-the -match Steven Boot scored the opening goal with a good header.

   Saints rallied on the half hour and had plenty of possession but Shirland sneaked another with a deflected shot, the ball ricocheting off son Dan Killick and past dad Tim Killick yet again.

   The second half saw a more spirited Saints team creating more chances but still no end product came. This changed with five minutes to go after Chris Slack opened the Shirland defence down the left hand side to be brought down for a Saints penalty. Shirland's keeper made a fantastic save from Michael Charlton, only for the rebound to take a horrible bounce as Botham went for the follow up.

    Credit goes to a well set up Shirland side and their supporters. Saints will look to do better in the league and finish with at least 12 more points than they have now.

League action...
Darley bounce back from three down
Darley Dale Lions 4 Matlock Town Town 3
Home scorers: D Stephenson (2), M Allsop, L Keeton
Away scorers: S Martin (2) , A Beale

As the saying normally goes, football is a game of two halves but the Darley Dale Lions versus Matlock Town Youth match on Saturday was a game of three thirds.

    For two out of the three thirds Matlock Youth were the better side and deservedly leading 3-0 after 60 minutes. The final third belonged to Darley however who scored four in 30 minutes to turn the game on its head and run out 4-3 winners.

   Matlock's first goal came after Darley attempted to step out and play for the offside trap. Unfortunately only three out of the back four were aware of this allowing the Scott Martin to be kept onside dually running through and despite scuffing his shot managed to evade keeper Gary Widdowson and the desperate efforts of Paul Godfrey to clear off the line.

   The second Matlock goal came after Darley failed to deal with a Matlock corner. The ball bobbled around in the box and after a couple of poor clearances the ball looped up into the air. Darley's defence didn't react expecting the keeper to come and claim the ball. This moment was enough to let Andy Beale nip in and get a toe to the ball putting it over the keeper into the far corner.

   There was a stroke of luck about Matlock's third with Ashley Webster's attempted clearance rebounding back to the striker leaving his fellow central defender in a spot of bother. With two strikers against one defender there was only going to be one winner with Scott Martin finishing smartly when he got the chance.

   The Darley players looked deflated but were not defeated. Man-of-the-match Martin French was substituted and this seemed to be a master stroke as his removal sparked the Lions into life.

   Within minutes they got their first goal through Danny Stephenson who slammed the ball home on the volley – a moment of magic from the midfield maestro.

   Darley's second offically goes down as a Matthew Allsop goal who got the slightest of touches to a Stephenson shot. Despite Danny attempting to claim the goal as his own it will go down in history as an Allsop goal depriving Danny of his second hat-trick of the season.

   The scorer of the third goal was definitely not up for debate and once again it was Stephenson. After a bit of a melee in the box it fell to Danny at the back post who was calmness personified as he side footed into the roof of the net. This made it 3-3 and all the momentum was now with the Lions.

    The comeback was completed through Liam Keeton. A free-kick from Mark Ashton was swung in and Darley filled the box with players causing confusion in the Matlock defence. The ball wasn't cleared and eventually was played straight across the goal falling to Keeton's feet who made no mistake in slamming it home to cap a remarkable fightback and keep the Lion's title hopes alive.

Press Round-up
Keeton grabs winner in seven-goal thriller
13 March , 2010

Striker Liam Keeton was the hero for Darley Dale Lions who edged a seven-goal thriller 4-3 against Matlock Town Youth to take them seven points clear at the top of the Matlock & District Football League.

   It was a game of three thirds, Matlock the better side and deservedly leading 3-0 after 60 minutes while Darley scored four in 30 minutes to turn the game on its head.

   Matlock's first goal came when Scott Martin beat the offside trap and despite scuffing his shot the ball managed to evade keeper Gary Widdowson and the desperate efforts of Paul Godfrey to clear off the line. The second came after Darley failed to deal with a corner and after a couple of poor clearances the ball looped up into the air for Andy Beale to nip in. Martin finishing smartly for Matlock's third.

   Darley looked deflated, but were not defeated. When their man-of-the-match Martin French was substituted it seemed to roar the Lions into life. Within minutes Danny Stephenson slammed the ball home on the volley – a moment of magic from the midfield maestro. Darley's second came from Matthew Allsop who got the slightest of touches to a Stephenson shot.

    After a bit of a melee in the box Stephenson was calmness personified as he side footed into the roof of the net at the back post for the equaliser, giving all the momentum to the home side.

   The comeback was completed when a Mark Ashton free-kick was swung in and Darley filled the box with players causing confusion in the Matlock defence. The ball wasn't cleared and eventually was played straight across the goal falling to Liam Keeton's feet who made no mistake in firing it home to cap a remarkable fightback.

   AFC Lea Holloway got back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory against Tibshelf Community in a very poor game at Lea Green that never got going from start to finish.

   The only goal came midway through the first half, Shaun Bott picking his spot after being put through by Pete Stevenson. Holloway owe the victory to debutant keeper Dave Allen who put in a man-of-the-match performance.

   Other league action saw Hilcote United defeat Kings Arms by a single goal, while Harveys Bar and Ashbourne shared the points in a 1-1 draw.

   In the second Manor Pharmacy Shield semi-final Shirland Miners Welfare were hailed as bravehearts by manager Dave Thurnham after a fantastic 3-0 win over Laburnum Saints to take them into the final.

   Shirland dominated this game from start to finish having a number of shots saved from Laburnum's in-form keeper Tim Killick.

   The home side's first goal came from Steven Boot, the second from Dean Cupit and the third from Steven Wright.

   Laburnum's only real threat on goal came from a penalty kick which keeper Daz Shaw saved with ease.

• League action on Saturday (20 March, 2010) sees Kings Arms v Harveys Bar, Tibshelf Community v Hilcote United, Ashbourne v Darley Dale Lions, Shirland Miners Welfare v Matlock Town Youth, Riddings Rovers v AFC Lea Holloway, Black Hippo v Laburnum Saints.