A game of four halves, six goals and a few midges
Nostell Miners Welfare 3 - 3 Hallam FC
So here we go for another roller coaster of emotions with the start the 2021-22 NCEL Division 1 campaign. Whatever the outcome of this season and following the events of last season it was a joy to be able to travel to our hosts Nostell Miners Welfare FC where we were introduced to a great quality cheeseburger and a midge or twenty.
On the pitch the match soon gained momentum and in the early passage of play it was Hallam FC who provided the early pressure with the first shot unleashed by Chris Wood after only 3 minutes.
The deadlock was soon to be breached at the back of a fine move down the left wing and some “jiggery pokery” allowed a cross to be dispatched into the Nostell penalty area, the ball was greeted by the head of Chris Woods who headed the ball down and passed the diving Nostell keeper. 0-1.
The early goal woke up Nostell who were then penetrating the Hallam left side for fun with ever increasing accuracy on long balls through to their forward line. Its was only the actions of Alfie Daubney-Hayes in the Hallam net who, at that point, kept Hallam’s lead.
Nostell were spurred on by this pressure and inevitably were rewarded by an equaliser in the 20th minute when Joe Wood (no relation to Chris) fired home following a fine run, passing and skipping past the Hallam defence. 1-1
The following 10 minutes settled with no real advantages for either side. It was Nostell who took charge of the game and with two almost identical attacks, took the lead through Nathan Perks in the 34th min 2-1 who then added a further goal two minutes later to make the score 3-1. Hallam were looking a lot on the back foot and did well to hold the score at hand until half time.
The second half started much as the first half finished, the next goal would have defined the rest of the match and it was nearly Nostell who were prevented a fourth by the acrobatic abilities of Daubney-Hayes keening the score as it was.
This injected some rather needed urgency into the Hallam team, and they started to settle into the game.
In the 62nd minute a deep cross into the Nostell box was headed back across goal, this was met by Chris Wood who half volleyed the ball into the roof of the net from quite a tight angle to the delight of the visiting Countrymen behind the goal. 3-2.
Surprised it didn't finish in trees - Chris Wood..
The Countrymen’s delight continued only a minute later when a searching ball (or hoof as we know it) was sent from the Hallam half forward to the Nostell penalty area. It looked like the Nostell goalkeeper would be able to take it but with a Nostell defender and Iren Wilson racing in, the ball bounced up to Iren Wilsons’s shoulder and was knocked passed both the keeper and defender leaving an open net for Wilson to slot home. 3-3
The remaining game was open and free flowing as both sided searched for a winner. Hallam were the closest following a scramble in the Nostell box the ball was passed out to Danny Patterson on the edge of the box who fired the ball back (with interest) this looked destined to be top bins, the ball cannoned against the underside of the bar and down but not across the line.
Final score was 3-3, and that’s a good testament of how good a flowing non-league game can be.
Thank you to Nostell Miners Welfare for the game and the welcoming community, look forward to seeing you at Sandygate on the 11th December (bring some thermals).
John
Hallam FC Media
