QUICK FIRE QE;s BAG THE POINTS

Midland Amateur Alliance League

Premier Division

OLD ELIZABETHIANS FC 2 ARNOLD SAMBA FC 1

This fixture fell lucky for me, as Shawn goes to a youth club for youths with special needs from 6.30pm on a Tuesday and Thursday Evening, on Fa Full Time, I spotted this fixture just round the corner, so a football fix for a sunny Thursday Evening was in order.

Old Elizabethians FC play at Queen Elizabeth Academy just off Chesterfield Road in Mansfield, about half a mile from the Town Centre, up a long drive, where the ground is on the right hand side. The pitch runs long ways and from the sides gives a lovely backdrop of the Academy, whilst the changing rooms are in a tudor styled pavilion on the far side of the pitch.

The game kicked off and Arnold Saints were first to press forward but didnt seem to have much conviction in front of goal, whilst OE;s were playing on the break and missed a couple of  good early chances, from one of these early chances on 7 minutes, a long ball from defence avoided the midfield and the OE striker ran on to it and chipped the ball over the outcoming Saints keeper to give his side a 1-0 lead.

OE;s then continued to press forward, whilst the Saints sat back and were just happy to clear the ball, but on 21 minutes, OE;s doubled their lead, when a cross from the left wing found the head of a attacker to guide home.

Both sides then played good football and there could well have been goals at either end, with close misses, but not much to trouble each keeper.

The Second Half came and both sides made changes to their sides and formation, this seemed to let Saints play a bit more football and there was a sense that they would get back in to the game at some stage, which did happen when they pulled back a goal after 65 minutes, when a free kick was nicely placed in to the keepers left hand side of the corner of the net to make it 2-1.

This seemed to spur the home side forward and the result should well have been out of sight, if not for the visiting keeper being in such good form and a few missers that maybe would have hit the back of the net on another day.

Old Elizabethians FC play again at home on Monday 30th April 2018 v Sutton Travellers with a 6.30pm kick off, a match I will stroll down to.