UNDERWOOD AND ASTON SERVE UP FESTIVE FEAST

UNDERWOOD VILLA 2 V ASTON UTD 2
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE SENIOR LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION @ BRACKEN PARK
27 DECEMBER 2016 --- 2PM

ASTON ON THE ATTACK AT BRACKEN PARK

This festive cracker in the Nottinghamshire Senior League had it all 2 red cards, a penalty 4 goals of which two were in the additional 14 minutes of stoppage time and at the end of it all everything was equal and a point apiece secured.  The second half saw Underwood reduced to ten men when Josh Hunt was shown a red card before an equalising goal Alex Mann replied to Astons opener from Jordan Sanders.  The added time saw Shay Wiggins put Aston ahead before they to were reduced to 10 men with the dismissal of Bradley Scard which gave Underwood the impetus to once again level when Kai Wilson screamed one in from 20 yards.

MANY PEOPLES VIEW OF UNDERWOOD

Short hop today over the Derbyshire border but with a Sunday bus service never an easy one with a change of buses in Alfreton the mid day service to Nottingham dropped us off by Underwood Welfare with a good half an hour to have a look round the village which was very quiet and sleepy after its Christmas celebrations, back towards the Bracken Park Ground and the large pub The Dog & Quayle looked very quiet.

BRACKEN PARK

Diagonally over the road is Bracken Park home of Underwood Villa who after promotion to the NSL Premier League last season are now well at home in their new surroundings and indeed their surroundings are developing nicely a large car park nestles by the, new in 2013, clubhouse and changing rooms opened by the then Nottingham Forest player Dexter Blackstock.  Within the smart set up is the function room which is light and bright with a clean and smart snack bar with Gloria getting into full swing with quite a few hoppers in attendance today the pies were soon sold out and with no admission fee hopefully the club generated some income through this facility.  A functional programme was produced and we participated in the raffle.  The club houses commands a high position overlooking first the main pitch and then the junior pitch to the far end of the complex.
Todays ground descriptor is not too difficult with the only furniture being the two smart dug outs to the left and the metal railed off pitch which runs around the perimeter of the pitch.  The spectating area is all grass standing and today most of the area was very wet although the pitch didn't seem to suffer as badly.

CLUBHOUSE AT UNDERWOOD VILLA

Its great to just describe a basic set up for once but one that is developing and has plenty of room for further movement should the club and community so desire.  By this time a selection of hoppers were arriving who made up probably 25% of the crowd and there was time to get the teams off NSL League representative Mr Rob Hornby who was in attendance.

MR HORNBY TAKES CHARGE OF THE MATCH BALL

Having done a tour and taken a few early pictures there was half an hour spare to go back inside and relax with a warm cuppa before proceedings started at 2pm,
Underwood had not been at home since mid November and with a faltering league position todays opponents Aston Utd would prove a stern challenge from their mid table viewing point.  The visitors are fresh into the league from The Midlands Regional Alliance and also still glowing from their visit to The Proact for their Derbyshire Senior Cup Tie against Chesterfield.  Having spoken to Dave Smith from the club they were delighted by the welcome and hospitality from The Spireites and so I guess many friendships were made on the evening.

JORDAN SANDERS [10] GIVES ASTON AN EARLY LEAD

The opening exchanges were going the way of the visitors and they took the lead after just 5 minutes when Sanders hit an edge of the box shot that seemed to deflect past home keeper Michael Shipley.  On 10 minutes Underwood launched their first attack and with Ash Foster driving into the box as he rounded Chris Camm in the Aston goal he clipped him and the resulting penalty should have levelled the scores but the visiting number 1 went to his left to save the spot kick from Jamie Hudson and the follow up from Sam Tring.

ASH FOSTER GOES DOWN FOR A PENALTY TO UNDERWOOD

For most of the first half it looked a matter of time before the visitors extended their lead it was very much one way traffic with Shay Wiggins having chance on a better day to have got a first half hat trick home keeper Shipley denied the number 9 on at least 3 occasions.  Underwood did create a few chances though and Mann forced Camm into a good save before Hunt struck a post but overall Aston should have been well away by half time.
With Villa looking for a fresh start in the second half they were struck a blow when Hunt was dismissed for his comments to referee Ian Smith when he was pulled up for offside and you feared for the home side at this point.  But somewhere they regrouped and the 10 men were looking the stronger side non more so than when they made all 3 substitutions on 68 minutes.
Just as it looked as though their efforts would not come to fruition Underwood got the equaliser they desired when Mann lobbed the keeper and the ball dropped agonisingly slowly under the bar to make it game on after 82 minutes.

This seemed to wake Aston from their slumber and the player advantage came to light in their favour and as the pressure increased we entered the first minute of stoppage time when a cross off the left was met by an unmarked Wiggins who headed home at the back post to convince Aston they had secured victory.  This was not accounting for a total of 14 minutes of stoppage time at one point I was considering nipping over to the Dog and Quayle to see if they did overnight accommodation.  But here it has to be said there was a lengthy stoppage in the second half and a red card that created a debate it looked like about 8 minutes in total to be added.  But the blog has to praise referee Smith because here we at last got an official giving us an undoubted 90 minutes of ball in play, well done.
As we entered the 10th minute added on Underwood were awarded a free kick on the half way line and Aston defender Scard, already cautioned, volleyed the ball far away second yellow and second red of the game.
More or less straight away, in the 11th minute of stoppage time, the ball fell 20 yards out to Wilson who lashed home a glorious shot into the Aston net to start off scenes of real delight from the home side who had earned a very creditable draw in an highly entertaining game.
Our return journey meant a 20 minute walk through the village to the edge of Brinsley for the return to Alfreton and after a tea break in 'T's' we departed on time back to base town.
An enjoyable first visit and a pleasure to stop local for a change and discover to clubs plying their trade in the NSL just over the border.

ALL CALM ON THE VILLA BENCH