HEANOR VICTORIOUS AGAINST STAGS ON A NIGHT TO REMEMBER KEITH COSTELLO

HEANOR TOWN 3 V MANSFIELD TOWN Xl 2
PRE SEASON FRIENDLY AT THE TOWN GROUND
4 AUGUST 2015  7.30PM

THE KEITH COSTELLO STAND AT THE TOWN GROUND A FOCUS OF TONIGHTS MEMORIAL

Heanor came out on top by the odd goal in five against their Football League neighbours who fielded a youthful side with a selection of trialist's.  Level at half time it was Jason Coopers second half winner that separated the sides on 90 minutes.
However the evening was about remembering Keith Costello the former Heanor Town secretary whose association and work for the club spanned a time scale of 40 years and had passed away recently.  The blog had come into contact with Keith and also in my time with Clay Cross Town when we welcomed The Lions to Mill Lane for a pre season game and had always found him friendly and offering a welcome to his club Heanor Town.  Most people had a nice tale to tell about Keith and thankfully the club had named a stand after him at the start of last season. 

FORMER HEANOR TOWN MANAGER BILL FOSSEY WITH HIS FLORAL TRIBUTE TO KEITH COSTELLO

Tonight there was a small collection of flowers and a Heanor Town scarf adorning the front of the stand before a floral tribute was also placed at Keith's beloved ground by former Lions manager Bill Fossey.  Bill recounted many good times with Keith and their early efforts to sign players when Bill took over the managerial reigns at the club.  Before the game the players and crowd observed an impeccable minutes silence before a player from each side walked to the front of The Keith Costello stand to place a floral tribute on behalf of each club.
So to the evening and as regular readers will know from last season Heanor is always one of the blogs favourite visits, especially for the chip cobs, and tonight was a great chance to catch up with some friends at the club too.

STAGS MANAGER ADAM MURRAY

It was good to see the Mansfield Town manager Adam Murray in attendance at the game and he was there from an early time right through to the end of the match a nice touch as many seem to leave early.

HOME DEBUT FOR RYAN BOOKER

Two of Heanor's new signings in Chris Bettney and Ryan Booker were on show tonight with the latter playing the whole 90 minutes and looking comfortable in his defensive position.

LENNY THE LION MAKES HIS DEBUT FOR.........THE LIONS

The clubs other major new signing was also proving very popular with young and old alike.......Lenny the Lion was prominent throughout and a great addition as Heanor look to develop many avenues.
The blog will not go over an overview again as this has been done on a few occasions last season needless to say that the developments continue with  a new fixture board outside the Town Ground  and within a new board to list the teams and 50/50 winner has been installed.  Outside of the club is a nice selection of flags that were fluttering in tonight's breeze.

NEW EXTERNAL FIXTURE BOARD

As ever with pre season friendlies it was difficult to get the teams especially here Mansfield Town but hopefully this mini report will allocate the correct player to the scoring parts of the game.
Jason Cooper got through early for Heanor but the Stags keeper was out well to force the ball away.  Before a defensive error from The Lions allowed Luke Rodgers to race on and fire past Scott Whittingham in the home goal after 11 minutes.  Just 2 minutes later Heanor were level Chris Shaw's corner off the right was headed in by Cooper at the near post.  Kieran Debrouwer secured himself a place on the score sheet on 17 minutes when he raced through to slot home just inside the left hand up right.
The goal of the game just short of the half hour mark came when referee Danny Middleton award Mansfield a free kick just outside of the box and Luke Rodgers hit a beautiful strike that flew in off the right hand post to level the scores at half time.

MATCH ACTION WITH HEANOR'S RYAN BOOKER ON THE BALL

The second half saw the home side take the lead ten minutes in when Cooper forced the ball home from close range for this second.  Heanor probably should have added more with Nathan Benger hitting a post and firing over from a good position but were well worth their victory and they go into Saturdays first league game at Boldemere St Michael with a nice degree of confidence now.
The end of the game saw no need for a mad rush for the returning public transport because we were back to the good old days with 7.30 kick off, remember those days?