League: Over 50s
Easton Monday 95 vs Nailsea Vets 50s
Last game of the season for Nailsea and a point was needed to secure the league title. Mondays pitch at Clifton College is the best grass surface around and deserved the football to be kept on the ground. Both sides played neat passing football but it was Mondays who struck first, taking advantage of a Nailsea error on the left allowing a low cross into the box to be met with an unstoppable diving header. Within a couple of minutes Nelly equalised for Nailsea with a superb strike from 25 yards out into the top right hand corner. On the stroke of half time Jerry met a through ball on the edge of the area and delicately chipped Mondays advancing keeper to make it 1-2 Nailsea.
Mondays packed their midfield in the second half and for 20 minutes dominated but Nailsea defended resolutely. Nailsea switched to 5 across the middle to stem Mondays flow and rely on a break away with one up top. The plan worked and on 70 minutes Darren Pool squared to Dave Luckhurst who’d ran the length of the pitch to arrive in the 6 yard box to tap home for 1-3. Shortly after another spell of Mondays pressure Darren Pool received the ball just into Mondays half. With no options Darren saw the Mondays keeper off his line and lobbed the ball into the net from 35 yards out. Dave L notched another with 10 minutes remaining to make it a resounding 5-1 victory. In fairness, the score flattered us slightly. Mondays are the best team we’ve played this season and if they’d taken some early chances it would have been a closer contest. Nevertheless I’m proud of our team for a great performance today and throughout the season to take the title.
Chew Magna 50s vs Nailsea Vets 50s
This match was due to be played at Chews ground in Pensford but with a water logged pitch Chew suggested we play on Nailsea’s artificial pitch to ensure we got the game played. Well done to them for making the suggestion and fortunately the pitch at Nailsea School was available.
Nailsea enjoyed a large proportion of possession in the first half and a few commented we didn’t want a re-run of our dominant performance last time out without a goal to show for it. Neil Watts came close with a low shot across the face of the goal only for Chew’s impressive keeper to push the ball wide of the post with a finger tip save. 0-0 at half time.
The second half continued in a similar vein and Nailsea squandered some good chances. The Nailsea goal wasn’t under much threat until a bullet header from Chew was superbly tipped over the bar by Lee McGreevy. The dead lock was finally broken when Lee Cogan picked up the ball wide on the left and cutting inside curled a beautiful strike into the far right hand corner of the net out of the reach of Chew’s keeper diving at full stretch.
Chew enjoyed a good deal of possession in the last 15 minutes but couldn’t convert into chances and Nailsea hung on for the win.
Enjoyed a pint after the game with a good bunch of lads.
Nailsea Vets 50s vs Red Star 50s
We’ve never dominated a match so much and come away without a point. Red Star deserves much praise for their outstanding defensive performance. Their keeper was solid throughout but Nailsea squandered chance after chance, hitting the bar 3 times but not able to find the net. Red Star went ahead early on when their striker Simon hit in a low cross only for Cookie to stab the ball into his own net. What made Red Stars performance even more memorable was the fact they only had one sub who was deployed after Simons cross for the own goal as he pulled up with a hamstring injury. They then suffered another injury half way through the second half so played the remaining 25 minutes with 10 men. Whilst they didn’t have a shot on target the entire game I think they were as surprised with the result as were were when the final whistle blew. This is one for Nailsea to forget! As ever against these guys, played in a terrific spirit.