HUCKNALL
EDGE POLICE TO WIN CUP
The blue shirts of Hucknall
Rolls Leisure came out on top after a marathon rain soaked FA
Intermediate cup final at Hucknall town tonight. With the un
beaten NSL division one champions coming up against Dave
Raynor’s strong Police Senior league side it promised to be
unpredictable.
Rolls came out looking the brighter and took the lead with
only 3 minutes on the clock through John Greeley. With Police
forward Gary Mercer leaving the field with a nasty gash to the
head, rolls piled on the pressure. Rolls’ number 8 Jonathan
Wass came close to making it two. With a patched up Mercer
back on as the number 12 the police came close with two free
kicks, but Rolls who mastered the half countered with a second
on 25 minutes from number 10 Ash Marshall. Half time 2-0 with
the police looking dejected.
Raynor’s half time team talk did the trick for the black and
whites as they came out hungry for a goal. Within a couple of
minutes their pressure paid off with a well taken strike from
number 9 Lee Collopy. Game on the police meant business.
Then came the rain and boy did it come. The police came close
yet again, and then rolls countered only to see the ball skim
the crossbar. The bleeding and rain soaked Mercer had to leave
the field. He was subbed by number 16 Jamie Walker, and what
an inspired substitution? Within 3 minutes Walker hammered the
ball past keeper Waters. 2-2 and the rain came down in
buckets. The game swung from end to end with the Hucknall
crowd cheering on the blues. Players aquaplaned across inches
of rain soaked pitch like bowling balls. Full time brought a
stalemate.
Extra time went by mostly uneventful, with the rain forcing
both sides to tip toe around just to stay upright. Then came
the dreaded penalties. With the police missing two early on,
Jez Corthorn’s Rolls side came away 5-2 victors. With the
NSL division 1 title impressively already in the trophy
cabinet, Rolls have had a season to remember and now know they
can hold their own in the Senior League next season.
Man of the match was: Ashley Marshall HRLFC
Rolls: Waters, Sheriff, Lancaster, P Hulme, S Hulme, Harrison,
Lee, Greeley, Wass, Potter, Shaw, Ashurst, Marlow, Marshall,
Hodgson, Lockwood
Police: Parlatt, Bainbridge, S Ward, Broadhead, G Mercer, C
Mercer, T Ward, McDonagh, Beech, Collopy, Holloway, Taylor,
Fenton, Walker, Young, Griffin, Dosanjh
Officials: Stuart Richardson, Colin White, Andrew Rolph &
Thomas Knight
