DIXONS DOUBLE SEALS WIN

Samba Nottinghamshire Senior League

Division One

AFC BRIDGFORD 4 SELSTON RESERVES 0

Not having seen AFC Bridgford at home this season and also not having seen Selston Reserves for a couple of years, this seemed to be the ideal fixture for me today, a late change in referee saw Derek Spray in the middle, so as he lives not too far away from me and said to call him if I ever needed a lift to a match he as at, this is what I did on Thursday evening. He then mentioned that he was on the line in a morning kick off at Nottingham Forest Academy and having never seen a match there, it was a chance for me to tick this ground off for me.

Derek arranged and duly picked me up from home at 9.15am and we were soon on the way to the Academy ground gates where we were met by security who let us in. I got a cuppa and found that the match I was to watch was a 40 minute each way match between Nottingham Forest Under 16;s v Sheffield United Under 16's with a 11am kick off.

The United side looked quick and pressed forward and went ahead on 37 minutes through a penalty, but the young Forest side fought back and scored through two free kicks in the 60th and in injury time to secure a 2-1 victory.

It was only a short drive over the island on Wilford Lane to enter the grounds of Gresham, where there was 4 matches taking place, with the one I was attending being played on the main 4g pitch.

Before kick off,  AFC Bridgford;s Barry Matthews kindly handed over a collection from the club a great donation of £40 towards Forget Me Not, a small charity that supports people with dementia, so a MASSIVE THANKYOU to all at AFC Bridgford.

The game kicked off in bright sunshine shining from the Wilford end towards the City end, so the AFC keeper had the sun in his eyes for the First Half, Selston;s plan was to shoot on the sight of goal and in the first 5 minutes, they were on top with some slick passing and movement and home keeper had to be on his toes after 7 minutes to make the first save of the afternoon.

AFC front man then had to come off injured with a hamstring injury and was replaced by a young sub who was at the City;s Uni. AFC changed their shape and began to take over the game and in the 16th minute a free kick was driven in low from the left hand side and home defender KANE WILSON scrambled the ball home to give his side the lead. Within 2 minutes, it was 2-0, when a neat move ended with JOSHUA DIXON sweetly placing the ball in to the net.

It was now the turn of the visiting keeper to show what fine form he was in, with three very good saves to keep his side in the game, whilst his fellow attackers had a couple of counter breaks.

In to the Second Half and AFC pushed forward and poor finishing and good defending left the game at 2-0 until 69 minutes, when a corner from the left side saw attacker JAMES MUSK force the ball home from close range with his knee.

Just like the first half, the homesters added a quick second goal in the half, when on 72 minutes, JOSHUA DIXON made it 4-0. To Selstons credit, they battled and the comments from AFC Bridgford camp was they arent the worse side we have played this season.

I must thank Referee Derek Spray for driving me around all day.

122 Photos can be seen on this LINK