7 December 2008
GFSN League
Home (Southglade Leisure Centre)

A thrilling match saw Nottingham retain their lead of the GFSN League and throw off the curse of Southglade, although at times the home team made life difficult for themselves.

Both sides sparred for early supremacy with the visitors close in the opening minutes when a headed effort was given offside. The Ballbois finally got out of first gear, picked up the intensity level and scored twice within two minutes. Craig S's bullet header from a corner was quickly followed by Chris L's tap in after good work from Craig and blistering pace from James. AJ almost made it three after a neat one-two with the lively Chris.

Everything appeared rosy but GFC kept their composure and fought back well. A crossfield defensive ball was intercepted and, although the initial shot was blocked, a second effort saw a goal-line scramble resulting in an own goal, the first half ending 2-1.

As the match progressed past the hour mark GFC were breaking at pace and when they won a free kick on the edge, a floated ball hit the crossbar and was headed home for 2-2. This led to three minutes of goal action as Craig S put Nottingham ahead again, before GFC ripped a massive gap in the Ballbois defence to equalise again. James had two efforts go wide before a massive let off on 79 minutes when Dave S superbly saved a Bournemouth penalty, given for handball.

This lifted the Ballbois who gave it one last big effort and from another corner Craig completed his hat-trick on 83 minutes. Sweet passing enabled James a run in on goal and he didn't disappoint, cutting inside and placing his shot inside the far post for a cultured finish. Bournemouth were very lively up front and gave a sterling performance but Nottingham wouldn't lay down and die, showing tremendous spirit to pull through.

The win keeps Nottingham at the top of the league by the slenderest of margins, with Leicester equal on points and goal difference, Nottingham's superior number of goals scored being the only statistic dividing the two.

Team: Dave S, Jeff N, Shaun B, Brett L, Jordan K, Adam R, Craig S, Dave O, James H, Damian S, Chris L
Subs: AJ, Paul B, Ian R and Matt H. Sub unused: John S
Goals: Craig S (3), Chris L, James H

Match gallery (opens in new window, hi-res images downloadable)