Boldmere St. Michaels 3 - 2 Coalville
The Mikes grabbed what looked like an impossible three points in a breathless finish that will live long in the memory.
The two sides, both firmly in the shake up for third place, were expected to serve up a treat following the reverse fixture in Leicestershire, which finished goalless despite both teams fully contributing to a gripping encounter. Today's fixture certainly didn't fail to live up to expectations.
The game started in explosive fashion with two goals in the first 11 minutes. Visitors Coalville struck first when a short corner was delivered into the box, where James Dodd twisted to flash a superb diving header into the top corner.
The Mikes reponded in positive fashion and were soon level. Kirk Smith flighted a teasing free kick into the box. Skipper Tom Stevenson timed his run perfectly to arrive ahead of keeper Danny Hanley and glance a header home for his second strike in 5 days.
The Mikes joy was short-lived however. 10 minutes later Carl Adams restored Town's lead in controversial circumstances. Looking several yards offside, Adams was unfazed and coolly advanced to wrong-foot keeper Adam Jenkins before deftly dinking the ball into the far corner
The remainder of the half was scrappy by comparison to the blistering start, play being broken up by a succession of fouls and some somewhat fussy officialdom.
The closest the Mikes came to a leveller was a miscued strike from McNaught after keeper Hanley inexplicably droped a routine cross.
Coalville were first to threaten after the restart, when Adams header was superbly diverted onto the bar by the fingertips of Adam Jenkins. This proved somewhat of a turning point, with Coalville seemingly happy to sit on their one-goal lead and slow the game down at every opportunity.
These tactics, added to some bold substitutions from Mikes' manager Rob Mallaband, would come back to haunt the vistors. From looking a threat whenever they went forward, Town now looked very unlikely to create the third goal that would surely have killed the contest.
The Mikes made their first substitution on the hour, sacrificing the unfortunate Adam Swain to throw an extra forward on in the shape of the returning Lee Osborne. His impact was almost immediate, as he cleverly rolled his marker 25 yards out, but his effort was straight at Hanley.
Ricky Baker was unable to beat Hanley with a far post header. Shortly afterwards, McNaught also found Hanley's gloves from a similar position. The game was beginning to get somewhat fractious as the Mikes frustration at the visitors delaying tactics became more apparent.
Mark Mason came on for Holmes to inject some fresh legs into the attack. He proved to be a handful for the vistors, winning some crucial flick ons, but these were not falling to a white shirt.
In a last throw of the dice, defender Aaron Hamilton was thrown up front in an attacking role with five minutes to go. Keeper Jenkins ventured forward for a corner as the Mikes desperately chased an equaliser, but Baker's delivery was poor, and Coalville cleared easily.
As the clock ticked over to 90 minutes, another set piece was cleared by the visitors' m*ed ranks. The loose ball was worked to Anthony Juxon who hoisted the ball forwards. As Mason closed in on the bouncing ball, keeper Hanley advanced to gather well and it looked like the home side's chance had gone.
The Mikes had thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at Town, but still dug deep to find the reserves to pour forward. Skipper Tom Stevenson found himself in an unfamiliar left wing position, and checked inside to drive a cross into the box. Town goalscorer James Dodd headed the swerving ball, but could only divert it looping upwards and the ball dropped agonisingly towards the bottom corner. Hanley desperately scrambled across goal, but was unable to keep the ball out, sparking wild scenes of delight amongst the Mikes contingent.
The home side sensed blood and continued to press, as the visiting contingent pleaded for the final whistle. Matt Jackson showed excellent footwork to evade two Town players before he was upended by a third some 35 yards from goal.
Kirk Smith repeated his earlier delivery, again finding the unmarked Stevenson. His flicked header was parried by Hanley and time seemed to stand still as Stuart McNaught adjusted his feet to divert the looping ball home from close range to spark scenes of unbridled joy.
The shell-shocked vistors kicked off, but were a spent force by now, allowing the Mikes to comfortably play out the final minute of stoppage time.
Rob Mallaband was left drained by the afternoon's events, but was understandably delighted by the character and fighting spirit shown by his team to claw back what looked like a lost cause and emerge victorious.
The Mikes visit Racing Club Warwick on Tuesday eveing (7.45pm), before rounding off their Aspire MFA season away at Studley next Saturday. Two wins will gaurantee the Mikes at least fourth place, with a chance of third if Coalville fail to take maximum points from their remaining fixtures.
The season is far from over, with the Walsall Senior Cup semi final following on Monday 27th April (7.45) away to Tipton Town, as the Mikes look to secure another visit to Bescot Stadium, to add to their League Cup Final clash with Market Drayton Town on Tuesday 5th May (7.30pm)
Boldmere: Adam Jenkins, Adam Swain, Matt Jackson, Tom Stevenson, Adam Wood, Stuart McNaught, Anthony Juxon, Kirk Smith, Jason Holmes, Simeon Tulloch, Ricky Baker
Subs: Lee Osborne (Swain), Aaron Hamilton (Tulloch), Mark Mason (Holmes)
