I wasn’t present at this game so don’t have the match details. I was suprised it was such a resounding victory against ReUnion who usually give us a tight battle. Highlight was a hatrick for Neil ‘Nelly’ Watts!

Nailsea were quick out the blocks with a goal in the first two minutes. Frosty played Tony through for a one on one with Mondays keeper and he calmly side footed his shot low into the right corner. The first half was reasonably evenly contended although Mondays felt they should have had a penalty to give a chance to draw level before half time. Monday’s equalised 10 minutes into the second half with a well worked move ending with a low cross into the box from the right and a glancing header beating Lee McGreevy into the far left of the net. Mondays played some neat passing football and had the better of possession in the last 25 minutes but didn’t pose too many threats to the Nailsea goal. Nailsea nearly snatched a late winner with a shot off the crossbar but a draw was probably a fair result. We look forward to the rematch in a few weeks time.

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.

Nailsea got off to a flier with Christian netting in the first few minutes with a shot that took a lucky deflection to wrong foot the Chew keeper. Within 5 minutes Nailsea added a second. Nelly crossed from the left to find Frosty who found space on the edge of the 6 yard box and calmly slotted home. Nelly was involved again on 15 minutes when he intercepted a pass from Chew keeper and fired low into the right hand corner. Nailsea added one more before half time with a brilliant shot from the left corner of the box into the right side of the net.

Not much to report for the first 25 minutes of the second half until guess who … Nelly grabbed his well deserved hatrick picking up an incisive pass from Christian.

Chew were finally rewarded for their efforts with a cracking volley but Nailsea replied shortly after with the goal of the game. The ball found Alex running into the right hand channel and he squared into the box to find Jerry about 12 yards out. With all the time in the world and just the keeper to beat, and shouts of time, take a touch he deftly chipped with his first touch to float the ball over the advancing keeper.

Chew added one more to their tally with a glancing header that Darren P pushed onto the post only for the ball to rebound back onto his chest into the net.

Although Nailsea put in a great performance Chew battled throughout with a depleted squad. Played in true Corinthian spirit throughout.

A late change of venue saw us playing at The Grove in Nailsea. Thanks to Lee Cogan for sorting that out at short notice. Nailsea made good use of the large pitch in the first half and bossed much of the play, but for all their possession couldn’t convert a goal. Red Star didn’t threaten much but one break against the run of play forced Lee McGreevy into a good save to keep the score at 0-0.

The second half continued in a similar fashion with Nailsea looking comfortable on the ball but 60 minutes into the game Red Star converted a rare chance to take the lead. Red Star grew in confidence and were soon 2-0 up. A break down the left with a neat pull back found their striker (everybodys striker!) Tahir 6 yards out to side foot in. A mix up at the back by Nailsea conceded a 3^rd. Nailsea scored a late consolation goal. A neat one two in the box put Kit through who slotted home but it was too little too late. Nailsea were left wondering how they didn’t create more for all the possession but Red Star will be pleased with their clinical finishing.

All played in an excellent spirit with good banter over a pint after the game.

Nailsea were keen to bounce back against Chew after the narrow cup defeat two weeks ago. On this occasion, Nailsea bossed much of the play and after 12 minutes Lee Cogan was in a position to open the scoring. Christian floated an accurate cross to Cookie on the left side of the penalty box who in turn found Lee who poked in from 8 yards out.  Despite creating several chances (including a bullet-free kick from Christian brilliantly saved by the Chew keeper) Nailsea couldn’t convert further, and the score remained 1-0 at half-time.

The second half continued in a similar fashion and Nailsea threatened a second but were always wary of Chew on the break. Gazza in goal for Nailsea made a great stop low to his right to deny Chew. Shortly after at 60 minutes, Lee took advantage of a mix-up in the Chew defense and fired low to the keeper’s right to notch his second

Several other chances went begging for Nailsea but a 2-0 final score provided some consolation for the cup defeat.

Thanks to Chew for allowing an under-age keeper for Nailsea. He made one great stop but was reasonably untroubled for much of the game.

Game on …… after a brief pitch inspection to ensure the frost hadn’t created an ice rink on the artificial surface at Nailsea School. The conditions meant that the ball zipped around and challenged both teams to ensure their passing was accurate.

Nailsea started brightly and dominated possession for much of the first half but didn’t put a single effort on target.

Russell were superb in defense, well organised, and giving little away. Half time looked to be heading for 0-0 until a Russell attack against the run of play found an unmarked player on the edge of the 18 yard box for him to fire into the roof of the net. Half time 0-1 to Russell.

The second half was similar in terms of possession. Nailsea were chasing hard for an equalizer but again lacked the necessary finish. With 10 minutes remaining Nailsea began to press higher up the pitch and a long clearance from Russell bounced awkwardly for the lone Nailsea center-half who couldn’t quite put enough on a header back to the keeper leaving the Russell striker a simple finish to make it 2-0.

Finally, Nailsea converted! Nelly delivered a telling cross from the right and Alex glanced in from close range. 3 minutes remained and with Nailsea looking for a highly unlikely last minute equalizer they were caught on the break again as Russell struck a 3^rd in the final seconds.

Nailsea removed one player from the pitch for a 10-minute cool-off following an exchange of verbals but otherwise, the game was played in a very good spirit. Congratulations to Russell for a well-deserved victory after a battling performance.

Decliners large squad gradually disintegrated in the 12 hours before KO so we arrived at Nailsea in some trepidation.  In the first half though, Nailsea were unusually careless with the ball and Decliners were on top, scoring a well worked goal from Toby. Nailsea’s best chances came when Bruce in goal juggled a couple. It was a game of two halves for him as after HT he was our MoM, producing a series of great saves. Nailsea were much better in the 2nd half and dominated in the main. They equalized through a super strike from outside the box. It looked as though Toby, one on one with the keeper would restore our lead, but his shot his the post. With Jim and then Zsolt succumbing to injury, Decliners dug in with the bare 11, but it was heartbreak with 5 minutes left when the Nailsea striker produced another smart finish to win the game. A really competitive match played in excellent spirit and very well refereed.

Decliners had the best of the first half with a splitting pass to score first. A disjointed Nailsea were searching for an equalizer. The last 10 of the first half Nailsea gained momentum and looked like scoring through Lee Cogan and Stew. 0-1 half time. The second half started well and both teams had attempts although nothing clinical until Matt Gigg hit a decisive strike from range into the top left corner off the post. 1-1. Both teams had a few injured players and with legs tiring more so with Decliners, Nailsea kept peppering the goal although the Decliners keeper was equal to the shots on target. Until Lee Cogan made is trademark turn and in the box hit the ball hard into the corner of the goal. With only 5mins remaining Nailsea saw out the game with a  2-1 win.