FC Cavaliers v Boots Athletic – Precision Notts Senior League (11/01/14)

Alverstone Road – Leading up to the Carrington Sports Ground gates

I returned closer to the spiritual home on Saturday, as I was given the assignment of casting my eye over Notts Senior League side FC Cavaliers.

Google Maps would have you believe that Carrington Sports Ground is a long walk from the centre of Nottingham, but really it isn’t all that far. Walk for 20 minutes or spend £1.70 on the bus? Simple decision, spend the £1.70 on something to drink and make the walk up Mansfield Road. I won’t bore you with the details of the train journey, I make the same trip every single time I go to Nottingham, so there’s no point. I arrived at the “ground” at around 13:20 (kick off was 2pm). Immediately, I set about entering the pavilion and searching for club officials. My main worry about the day was the that the club is so low down in the English football pyramid, they may not actually have teamsheets to give out to people. I needn’t have worried. The second I walked in, club officials from both Cavaliers and Boots Athletic made me very welcome and were all too happy to help me out. I introduced myself, shook hands, had a chat with a Boots official about a brief history of their club and noted the teams down. At this point, I’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone I came across on the day, it’s unlikely they’ll see this but all club officials were a great laugh and very helpful. Good luck to you all!

Comical genius.

Cavaliers have a very simple setup. Don’t be fooled by the picture above, as there are no stands surrounding the pitch; you stand on the grass behind a thin piece of rope that serves no purpose whatsoever. I feel I may have enjoyed the game slightly more had I been able to view it from a more comfortable vantage point, but instead I found myself in direct line with the sun (I was too stubborn to move out of the way of its rays) with a notebook in hand, frantically scribbling new entries that would assist me in writing my report the same night. The game kicked into life early on and it didn’t take long for my eye to be caught by Cavs’ number 6 Kuwesi Ofushine. After having a word with coaches at half time, I learnt that he’s actually just 19. He notched on 6 minutes with a cool, composed finish after being sent clean through via the inside-left channel. Impressive, but then came the celebration. An outburst of expletives and pent up enthusiasm showed his true age, I guess. Nevertheless, he had my attention. The lad was easily the most impressive on the park in that first half. Had an excellent first touch, fought for every ball, wasn’t afraid to get stuck in, had strong awareness and he knew exactly what he was going to do before the ball came to him.

Boots hit back 14 minutes later through Tian Walton and then hit twice more to lead 3-1 at the break. The third of which was due to questionable defending by Cavaliers’ Rabbi Swaby. The ball bounced over his head from a long ball downfield, he attempted to head back to his ‘keeper David Martt but the  attempt was underhit, allowing Wayne Jones to nip in and slot past Martt from close range.

Both sides notably had a shocking attitude towards officials, which predictably achieved nothing. The amount of obscene abuse the referee in particular took for decisions was appalling, especially when, from when I was standing he got the vast majority of decisions correct. I suppose this is the level of football at which you expect these things though.

As the second half progressed, both teams lost a great deal of composure and it made for a scrappy affair throughout, notably even more so when Cavs took off Ofushine (much to my surprise). They did however, introduce Sylla Aboubacar who in the 68th minute bombed forward from left back, somehow ended up in a central position in the attacking third and rifled his effort across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner after a spot of head tennis around the edge of the Boots penalty area. 3-2 and now a real shout of getting back into the game.

In the 86th minute, the hosts did get back onto level terms. A thumping header from Ricky Cross at the near post from a Wes Burke corner had seemingly earned a point for the lads in green. The right winger had proven to be a willing runner all game and didn’t possess much height, but his header was emphatic and it was no less than Cavaliers deserved. However, there was still to be a further twist in the tale…

In the 91st minute Boots clinched it with a 4th goal. A corner was swung into the melee around the penalty spot and was met by Wayne Jones, 10 yards out and he crashed it beyond David Martt to send the visitors home with the three points. Defeat means that Cavaliers have now lost three on the bounce, conceding 16 goals in the process.

In truth, defeat was harsh on Cavs as they did more than enough to get something from the game, which the linesman I had befriended also agreed with me on. One the whole though, the day was an experience if nothing else and it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in Nottingham. I wish both sides the best of luck for the rest of the season and I also wish the club officials well for the future.

Thought I’d leave you with a lovely image of Nottingham station.