Boldmere St. Michaels Reserves 3-1 Quorn
Current Challenge Trophy holders Mikes Reserves moved into the Semi-finals of the competition with a 3-1 home win over Quorn in their third meeting with the visitors so far this season. Mikes started the game with three changes to the line up from the previous weeks win at Coventry - Neil Hanlon and Lyndon Weller coming in for much needed match practice, after not starting a game for several weeks, and Andre Calder coming back after a month out with a groin strain. On the bench was club skipper Tom Stephenson looking to have his first taste of football since August due to a persistent ankle problem.
The game started off with Mikes controlling possession but not able to create much in the final third with Quorn getting lots of bodies behind the ball, the longer the half went on the more confident Quorn became and were looking more and more potent on the break, only a high quality fingertip save from Sean Butler in the Mikes goal, saved the home side from going behind, but on forty minutes Quorn took the lead with another break. This setback finally brought the underperforming Mikes to life, and they set siege on the Quorn goal, Mikes leading goal scorer John Williams equalising with a deft header at the far post just a minute before the half time whistle.
HT Mikes 1v1 Quorn
Mikes brought on Tom Clews at half time to add a little more pace and energy, with Mikes wide men of Weller and Jamal Fuller becoming much more influential and providing more end product to their exceptional work-rate. It took Mikes just three minutes to take the lead with a stunning twenty-five yard strike in off the crossbar from their creative star Kevin Buxton after good set up play by the strikers; the goal lifted the Mikes and several moves of a high calibre should have brought greater profit with Fuller, Williams and man of the match by a mile Andy Lewis the instigators of some classy play. Mikes third goal came from Weller making a tidy tackle on the edge of the Mikes penalty to release a quick break with the ever willing Weller sprinting eighty yards to get on the ball in the Quorn box and finish well. The final fifteen minutes saw Quorn throw away caution and load players into the Mikes half but without creating too many problems for the home side to march into the Semi’s.
FT Mikes 3v1 Quorn
Mikes Man of the Match – ANDY LEWIS
