A football match to remember, here’s how it went….
By Hadley Trueman
It was a grey Saturday afternoon down at New Manor Ground, home of Ilkeston FC and as the starting XI’s lined up in the tunnel the rain started to pour. Local well-known referee Ray Ferguson led out the teams and last out onto the pitch walked Jason Lee, former Nottingham Forest player walking alongside his mascot from West Hallam juniors. Red team captain Matt Gough guided his side to shake hands in a mark of respect for the memorial game. The whistle blew and with a matter of minutes played, the blue team took an early lead, a second was scored by the same player of Football 4 Charities’ side with not even 15 minutes on the clock, a quick counter-attack finish left the reds with nothing but time needed to take a breather and reassess their formation.
The ball was reintroduced at the centre circle and the sky broke with the sun shining on the red team, the blue team’s lead was short-lived as the opposition answered back with a quality strike from number 11. Then in the closing stages of the first half former Forest striker Jason Lee was fouled in the penalty area, meaning one thing. It was a chance for the reds to get back in the game just before half-time. Jason was a man of class when he played back in the nineties, and it was positive to see that had not changed. He handed the ball to Ellie Molloson who was representing Garibaldi Girls on the red team. Her family filled the ground with chants to encourage a crucial goal here. She stepped up to the ball and sent a panenka flying top bins! The entire red team surrounded her to celebrate and the home supporters’ stand threw limbs in the air!
As the teams headed back out for the second half, a minute silence was held for Kevin Campbell who had sadly passed away earlier that day. He was close with Jason amongst other players of the first Nottingham Forest Premier League era. Red team manager Hadley subbed on Veronika for Ellie, they needed a fresh set of legs if they wanted to keep the lead. Number 11 for the reds got straight to work and scored the opener of the second half, morale was high on the red team, the blues, not so much. Jason Lee was then caught up in a head collision where advantage was played and the red team went on to score but the WTF VAR system soon ruled the goal as disallowed and the play was taken back to a free kick in favour of the red team. The set piece was fired but the blue keeper made a good save to push the ball into the kop stand. Red’s defender Sam Varney countered a strong run taking on multiple blue midfielders and sent a through ball into plenty of space where number 9, Jack Langton, stepped onto the ball, knocked it around the keeper and missed an absolute sitter… A blue team defender cleared the gently rolled shot off the line and the blues instantly pressed on the counter attack, their attempt was unsuccessful as the goalpost stood in the way.
The reds number 9 Langton redeemed his missed opportunity and the extended lead the reds had earlier by fulfilling the 4-2 lead within minutes left of the full 90. The blue team appealed the goal for being offside but Ray was having none of it and the WTF VAR system stepped in once again and confirmed the goal would stand. The whistle was blown and the players came together to shake hands.
The red team welcomed Jo and Kev onto the pitch for a wholesome moment remembering the reason why we were all taking part. The trophy was lifted and the awards were given out. The red team reigned supreme and will aim to retain the trophy next year!
