Midland Football League

Premier Division

Saturday 1st April 2017

Tividale FC 1-4 Heanor Town FC

Tividale Nayled by Heanor

There have been times this season when things just don’t go for you. But the facts are when you finish the season bottom of the league it is a reflection of a 9 month season and you end up were you deserve.

Obviously that does not tell the full story as It has been a really tough and sharp learning curve for our youngsters but the quality of this league has no doubt taken us by surprise but we have battled away and hopefully as a club we will be better for it.

Against a very good Heanor side we definitely rode our luck in the first half but in the end a referees decision you never know may have made a difference to the result.

After an uneventful opening Heanor took the lead on 13 minutes with the first real threat on goal from either side, when they were awarded what can only be described as a soft free kick just outside the Tividale box and Kieran Debrouwer floated in the free kick and Joe Naylor headed home.  A Lewis McPike shot on 16 minutes produced a good save from Heanor keeper Joe McCormack and from the resulting corner Craig Stevens saw his header blocked on the line. Heanor’s Keenan Layton then sent in a cross but Naylor’s header could not beat Tividale keeper Luke Kriskinans on 22 minutes. Then McCormack was immediately into action again when he denied Stevens with a fine save that the keeper could only parry but no home player could cash in on.

There was then a period of sustained pressure from the visitors but Tividale’s defence held out with no serious alarms and in a rare attack Tividale equalised. McPike swung in a 41st minute corner from the left and skipper Karl Gardner rose to head home his first goal of the season.
Right on the stroke of half time Tividale had the chance to go ahead but Liam Smith’s shot went well wide.

Half Time:-Tividale FC 1-1 Heanor Town FC

Heanor were back in front within 5 minutes of the restart. After defending the initial Debrouwer corner the ball came back to the striker and this time it was the turn of Heanor skipper Shaun Roulston to head the ball home. Heanor were now in command and Kriskinans had to be alert to get down at the feet of Naylor before he could get a shot off and Layton tested the Tividale keeper with a long range effort on the hour.

On 70 minutes came possibly a defining moment in the game. From a Heanor clearance young Seegau Seebah did well to beat the first man and attacked the Heanor goal. Heanor’s Roulston then dived in with a challenge that was off the ground and although he may have caught some of the ball, he went through Seebah to get to it. Referee Jason Roberts though thought it was a fair challenge and played on. A minute later Heanor attacked and in his attempt to stretch and intercept a pass Tividale defender Freddie Watts inadvertently played in substitute Elliott Reeve one on one with Kriskinans and he calmly slotted the ball home. So from having a chance of levelling it up at 2-2. Tividale were now 3-1 down and literally out. There was then chances at both ends with Layton and Seebah both firing wide of their respective far posts.

Heanor went 4-1 up in the 73rd minute when from another Tividale attack they again countered and Reeves cashed in on a Dominic Wilkinson cross to the far post beating Kriskinans with a first time shot. Tividale had a chance to reduce the arrears in stoppage time when McCormack did well to keep out a Jamie Hunt shot but the rebound fell to Chris Bladen and he shot wide.

Full Time:-Tividale FC 1-1 Heanor Town FC.

Tividale FC:- 1. Luke Kriskinans, 2. Tom Hurdman, 3. Darragh Bustin, 4. Karl Gardner, 5. Freddie Watts (15. Chris Hill 80), 6. Craig Stevens, 7. Lewis McPike (14. Elliott Hartley 76), 8. Liam Smith 9. Chris Bladen, 10. Seegau Seebah (17. Jamie Hunt 76), 11. Nathan Jones.

Unused Subs:-:-12. Matt Preston, 16. Harvey Walker