CMFL SOUTH AT THE RECREATION GROUND
28 AUGUST 2021 --- 3PM
 |
| PICTURESQUE COUNTRYSIDE FOR ROWSLEY 86 V NOTTINGHAM |
The classic game of two halves saw Nottingham hang on for the three points in a shock to the much fancied Rowsley. The surprise was there for all too see for those gathered to watch with the visitors confidently 4 up at the break, it could have been at least three more. But something roused Rowsley out of their slumber and they stormed back only to fail by one goal to get back on level terms and in the process rue a missed second half penalty.
 |
| MUSTAPHA LEONE A CONSTANT THREAT TO ROWSLEY |
This season the blog has not undertaken more than local travels by alongside a steady walking hobby the challenge after a fifteen mile round trip to Teversal was to see if twenty miles was really possible for a game. With that in mind there were a few options from base and Rowsley came up a few weeks ago but inclement weather ruled out the trip over the moors, today though with the weather set fair would be the day to go for it. Soon leaving behind the houses of north Derbyshire into the parish of Ashover and the first of only two climbs, it was that sort of strange walk, up Alton hill and onwards over the Chesterfield to Matlock main road. Hitting the tops at Beeley moor the long and straight roads found many cars racing past and with the main road closed all using my direct route to Rowsley it proved a less than happy four miles or so. Before the descent into our destination the views come into play of Chatsworth, Mam Tor and to the opposite side Darley Dale and the hills beyond.
 |
| FROM THE TOP THE VIEWS OF DERBYSHIRE |
The approach to the retail outlet of Peak Village is by a 20% drop or 1 in 5 for those of us in old money along one and a half miles and I knew this awaited me at the referees final whistle. Rowsley or 'roseley' the former is the definitive spelling however pronunciation wise I was always brought up with the former but have over the years been guided into the latter by mates from around the area and it wold appear to be the correct one to follow. Peak Village is based on the old sidings for the former London Derby Buxton train service and it was looking busy for retail customers, adjacent The Grouse and Claret was doing a good trade also. On the same side of the road is the upmarket Peacock which guards the approach road to the quaint Post Office and church. But I would need the other side of the busy A6 that splits the village in two and our preferred side contains a visitors centre for Cauldwell's Mill, the school and village hall. The village has the pleasure of two rivers the Wye and Derwent, although pleasure may be a strong descriptor because the low fields in the wet winter months are often flooded by the fast flowing swollen waterways. Having crossed the bridge that takes you over the Wye the recreation ground appears on the left and when you think of recreation grounds this is not your town centre example.
 |
| CROSSBAR SAVES ROWSLEY |
Entry to the ground is by a few points but having visited once before many years ago when the club I believe were in The MRA I opted to go along to the main car park entrance. The downside for the club is public access is of course allowed so a suggested donation is the order of the day, having dropped this in at the snack cabin area that fronts the changing rooms pavilion building I moved for a look at the main pitch. Its worth mentioning here the club currently does an excellent programme and this does meet with many hoppers approval, its presentation is well above the standard of most CMFL sides. The ground I believe used to have cricket played on it as well but football seems to be the order of the day now and its a pretty setting with its hedges growing though the back drops becoming decreasingly less camera attractive. The disappointing part is that one side is all you can access with a full roped off touchline there is no access behind the goals, the far side is tight and fair enough would be hard to access it does contain the permanent wooden dug outs with the Rowsley one having padded cushion its length and name above it. This side also contains a nice selection of local advertising boards from much needed patrons on that point there will clearly be people who turn up here and don't chip in an admission fee I just hope they are not many in number, clubs don't run for nothing as we know. The club appears well organised but although the ground is smart and the pitch looks nice for of course August there is no furniture and I guess never will be which means the club in their current home can not advance should they wish. It does seem strange and may be from the CMFL's desire for clubs a few years ago when you consider some of the grounds in this league non more so than nearby Clay Cross Town, of course their continued development is with the desire to progress.
 |
| FIRST HALF ROWSLEY POSSESSION |
What to expect, well the home side are much feted for success and always a strong challenge and watching their pre match routine were odds on favourites as Nottingham meandered out for a warm up I could only see the result going one way, it just shows what I know and a Rowsley player also who ten minutes in and trying to instil something into his team mates declared 'come on these are rubbish'. Thirty minutes later he was staring down the barrel of 4 goal deficit.
A brief look at the game and in current times I'm not obtaining teams and here on this one to guide my match day notes I would like to thank the CMFL reviewer Richard Lane for his excellent and speedy match day round ups.
 |
| ANOTHER SWEET FINISH FROM LEONE MAKES IT 2-0 TO THE VISITORS |
[Once again apologies for not all names featuring as mentioned above].
The opening exchanges saw Nottingham hit the bar from a right sided corner before Rowsley had a goal disallowed for offside. But it was the visitors who took the lead after fourteen minutes and what a goal a superb weaving run and finish from Mustapha Leone. The visitors almost doubled their lead with a cross goal shot that fell just wide but on twenty five minutes they did and it was that man Leone again finishing sharply at the back post after a lovely run and cross off the left wing. Rowsley were struggling to get a foothold in the game as the visitors played the ball around and controlled the proceedings the home side were thankful to their keeper for a wonderful double save before Leone fed Elie Muendakani Tshilumba whose shot flew back of the base of the post with the keeper beaten, he wasn't though to be denied on 37 minutes after a lovely flowing move he fired home to make it three for Nottingham. Rowsley were deep in trouble and even more so three minutes before the break when Jahnai Raynor finished well from a corner Rowsley had failed to deal with. An amazing half that must have seemed like a dream to the visitors and for Rowsley could their management team get them up for a second half comeback. |
| TSHILUMBA MAKES IT 3-0 TO NOTTINGHAM |
Within seven minutes of the restart we had the answer with two goals clawed back first Tim Baker from the penalty spot following a handball and Jordan Watts shortly afterwards. In between this the home keeper had pulled off a superb save with his legs to deny the Nottingham number 7. You feared the visitors could be in trouble but they found a way back into the game to quieten a rampant looking Rowsley until 72 minutes that was when they were awarded the second penalty of the game The offence looked a yard or so outside the box but referee Vayro was the man in charge and he pointed to the spot. For the second time Baker would step up but he placed the ball to the left again and the visiting keeper made a tremendous save. But Baker was bossing the game now and just five minutes later he reduced the arrears further to make it 3-4 when he curled in a low free kick from the right hand side about twenty yards out the ball was dummied over by and attacker fooling the defence and keeper who could only watch it fly in at the far post. The closing stages would see the Rowsley keeper pull off two more excellent saves as the game refused to give up on creating chances and the home side could still have got level when on 85 minutes the number 12 had his shot well turned away by the Nottingham number one.
We had been treated to a wonderful attacking show by Nottingham in the first half and a superbly determined second half from Rowsley which all round made for an entertaining game however nothing could take away from me the thought of that 1 in 5 climb that was now beckoning.
 |
| BAKER PENALT SAVED BY NOTTINGHAM KEEPER |
No comments:
Post a Comment