Saturday 26th April 2008 Pt II

Nice floor !!

Rainworth MW v Hall Road Rangers NCEL Div One

Final chance of the season to visit Kirklington Road ...for the first time for ages NO BIG COAT was required...!!!

Rainworth was a surprise to us when we made our first visit earlier in the season and since that visit the place has changed no end -- all for the better I hasten to add! They have even built a nice shelter for the bloke who fetches the ball behind the far goal... nice touch!

All new netting above the perimeter fencing, and around the reserve pitch - a new working turnstile -- very pleasant place to visit. Rainworth have finished fourth in the table -- very creditable after promotion from the CML last season.
They failed to win their final home game of the season - going down 1-2 to the Division runners up Hall Road Rangers. Football still has the power to amaze me after all my years watching the game - Rainworth had chance after chance to score, but close range shots were cleared off the line, pushed away by a decent keeper or just fluffed...

After Wrens skipper Lee Wilkinson had a penalty well saved by Adam Nicklin, we were saying how typical it would be to end the NCEL season with a 0-0 draw. But as the game entered the last 10 minutes, Wrens keeper Mark Hales decided to dive and tip the ball out for a corner when it was missing his near post by yards. Of course Rangers netted from the corner!! A neat near post header to break the deadlock. It was 1-1 a minute later, Andy Jones powering a far post header from a Wrens corner. A minute later it was 1-2 -- a Rangers striker beating the offside trap to run at Hales and slot past him. F-T 1-2

Rangers received their runners up trophy at the end of the game.

With Dagenham coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Darlington and Mansfield losing to Rotherham, it may well be that we will have to add Blue Square Premier to our list of Leagues next season.....

Eastwood won 3-1 at Leek, relegating the Staffordshire club, but setting up an away trip to Gateshead for the Badgers in the play off semis. We saw Eastwood play Gateshead earlier in the season, and this game will be very tricky indeed.

Results

Leek 1-3 Eastwood Tn

Carlton Tn 4-1 Belper Tn

Shepshed 1-3 Retford Utd

Gedling Tn 1-1 AFC Emley

Long Eaton Utd 0-3 Nostell MW

Greenwood Meadows 3-3 Nettleham

Forest Tn 0-1 Dunkirk

Gedling MW 1-2 Hatfield Main

Hartlepool Utd 0-1 Florists

Notts County 1-0 Wycombe

Mansfield Tn 0-1 Rotherham