4th April 2023
Great Shelford vs Over Sports @ Recreation Ground/Woollards Lane - Great Shelford
Cambridgeshire County League Premier Division (Step 7)
18:15 KO
Free entry
Attendance - approx. 50-60
Half-time score: Great Shelford 4-0 Over Sports
Goals:
Great Shelford: Newman - 6', 12'
Great Shelford: No.3 (OG) - 23'
Great Shelford: Newman - 36'
Over Sports: MacCallum - 65' (P)
Great Shelford: Newman - 68' (P)
Final Score: Great Shelford 5-1 Over Sports
Finding myself having to work late on a Tuesday night, I immediately looked for a nearby game for my football fix. The closest game initially appeared to be up at Godmanchester Rovers, which was really a bit too far, so on the off-chance there were any Cambridgeshire County League games on I had a quick look and lo-and-behold there was one game on in the Premier Division (equivalent to the Anglian Combination Premier) only 10 minutes up the road at Great Shelford, so my decision was made! Great Shelford were in 4th place prior to kick-off, and with a large number of games in hand, they have the potential to challenge for 1st and 2nd, so I was hoping for a decent quality game.
The ground at Great Shelford was classic amateur level, fenced with a rope in the middle of the village park, the grass was slightly too long and there was an undulation in the middle of the pitch, however, there was a modern Sports Pavilion one side of the pitch and the half-time cup of tea was much welcome.
It was a sunny yet chilly evening, Great Shelford came out in their home sky blue and claret, with Over Sports in their home black and white 'humbug' strip.
KEY MOMENTS
GS = Great Shelford
OS = Over Sports
6' - GS - GOAL (1-0) - From a long goal kick, a poor defensive ball falls to Newman, he takes the ball forwards into the box and strikes the ball into the back-of-the-net for a clinical finish, to give Great Shelford an early lead.
12' - GS - GOAL (2-0) - During a Great Shelford attack, Lawal takes the ball across then hits a sharp pass out to the right side of the box at pace, Newman latches onto the ball, takes a great first touch then slams the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal, another excellent finish to stun Over Sports.
23' - GS - GOAL (3-0) - Newman swings a corner ball to the near side of goal, the Over Sports No.3 gets in a difficult position and knocks the ball into his own the net to put Great Shelford 3 up, although Barber may have got a touch on the way in.
29' - OS - A long free-kick from the No.3 is headed back across goal by Eden, it falls to the No.11 whose stinging snapped strike is blocked and out for a corner.
35' - GS - The No.4 steps up to take a free-kick from 25 yards, his curling effort is heading in, but the keeper gets across well to push the ball out.
36' - GS - GOAL (4-0) - A corner ball is swung in towards the near post, a Great Shelford player pulls off a diving header, it beats the keeper and crashes into the corner of the uprights and back out to Newman who taps the ball in, surely game over even at this early stage.
42' - OS - The No.4 steps up to take a free-kick from 20 yards out, it is well struck and dips just over the crossbar, not a bad effort indeed.
45' - GS - The No.7 lofts the ball into the box, Newman connects with the ball forcing a save from the keeper, but goes down hard clutching his head. Thankfully for Great Shelford he appears to be fine after taking a moment to recover.
55' - GS - The captain, Luke Upcott, makes a late challenge, worthy of a yellow card, but he reacts badly to the Over Sports players rushing in and shoves one of them, causing him to get a red card. It seemed poor judgment to me when cruising at 4-0 up and not worth it really, this now gave Over Sports 35 minutes to stage a comeback, game on!
57' - OS - The No.4 hits a free-kick towards the far post, the No.2 heads it back across goal to find substitute Kamole in at the other post, he is stretching for the ball and his header goes wide.
60' - OS - GOAL (4-1) - The No.9 travels into the box and is taken down, the referee in a strong position immediately pointing to the spot. In the moments after this, it appears that a Great Shelford player is sin-binned for dissent, putting them down to 9-men, and about to face a penalty. MacCallum steps up and sends the keeper the wrong way and slots the ball into the bottom right, nice penalty.
63' - GS - GOAL (5-1) - The ball is pumped up the pitch for Newman, under the attention of 2 players he has no right to win the ball, but in the corner, he somehow gets hold of the ball, skins the two defenders to burst into the box, and before he can strike he is brought down by the recovering Kamole to concede a penalty. Newman steps up and to convert after his hard work, hitting an accurate penalty to the left of the goal, and despite the keeper diving the right way, it was so tight to the post that it went in regardless, making this 4-goals for Newman, and he scored 6 in the last game, that is 10 in 2 games, an amazing stat!
As I always say, the top end of the amateur leagues, Steps 7 & 8, are always great fun to watch, and this was no exception. Great Shelford completely dominated the 1st half, with striker Mason Newman scoring a first-half hattrick with some clinical finishing, it was very impressive, before getting a 4th in the 2nd half. The red card was a bit silly in the from the Great Shelford captain, there was no need for it being 4-0 up, and this somewhat took the wind out of their sails. After conceding a penalty, they went down to 9-men for 10 minutes after a sin-binning, but actually scored another goal during this period, courtesy of some outrageous play from that man Mason Newman again, drawing and converting a penalty. Overall, it was a fun Tuesday evening of football, it got a little dark at the end but the game was over by then, and Great Shelford cruised home to victory, holding Over Sports off despite being a man-down. I hope to see more Cambridgeshire County League football in the future, and I want to wish Great Shelford all the best with the rest of their season.
Line-Ups:
GREAT SHELFORD (not in number order): Jonathan Barber, Sam Clare, Jake Crow, Calum Forster, Jordan Lambert, Michael Lambert, Tobiloba Lawal, Mason Newman, Ryan Traynier, Luke Upcott (C), Daryl Wisbey. SUBS: Thomas Barham, Benjamin Hagger, George Lunn, Alex Lyratzopoulos.
OVER SPORTS (not in number order): Ryan Cotton, Scott Davis, Luke Eades, Oliver Eden, Joshua Lowe, Cameron MacCallum, Lloyd Makhanya, Richard Ruddy, Luke Shipp, Daniel Stopher, Ashley Theobald. SUBS: Lewis Darley, Fabrice Kamole, Harry Keegan, Archie Plowman.
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