It ends in a draw

The Greens gave an incredibly strong performance at Debdale Park in the face of a string of absentees and will be deeply frustrated to have not seen the game out having been 2-0 up with just half an hour left to play. The Greens enjoyed a bright start and found reward for that when Jake Wright handled on the line allowing Joe Braithwaite to smash home the opener from the spot. The Greens were then in dreamland early in the second half when Ryan Rushen’s knock-on was tapped home at the near post by Ryan Lennon to register his second goal in two games and put the Greens firmly in control. That lead was then halved when Carter Widdowson’s drive was deflected into the net beyond the outstretched hand of Flitton, before things got tougher for the visitors when Tom Siddons saw red for a tangle with Ewan Robson on the halfway-line. The Greens looked to have held out with a stunning defence display before Liam Flitton saw Louis Pennington’s effort from distance squirm through his grasp and into the net to level the contest in the 94th minute.

The Greens travelled to Debdale Park with a string of absentees leaving the squad looking a little threadbare. Player/Manager Tom Ward then made three changes to reflect that as Shaun Harrad and Reece Giles dropped to the bench from Saturday’s penalty shootout victory over Rainworth Miners Welfare in the FA Vase and Marcus Pancho missed out altogether. They were replaced in the starting line-up by the returning Ryan Rushen, Dom Kew and Stamford AFC loanee Tom Siddons. Opponents Sherwood meanwhile made a pair of changes from the side that also made FA Vase progress on Friday evening courtesy of a 3-2 win over Melton Town. Those changes saw Ethan Wiesztort and Ricky Starbuck make returns to the starting eleven with Jamie York and Jobe Shaw the pairing to drop out of the squad.

The Greens made a strong start in Nottinghamshire and more than rattled their opponents on more than one occasion. That bravery and endeavour could have been rewarded as early as the 4th minute had Tom Ward not planted a header from Tristan Drummond’s cross inches wide of the post, but the Greens did soon find the breakthrough – Joe Braithwaite hammering home from the spot following a handball on the line by Sherwood captain Jake Wright. That lead was as much as the Greens deserved for an electric opening period and they kept up the frantic pace, Tom Siddons first drove forward well and unleashed from distance but Dale Sheppard was well behind the effort in the Sherwood goal – then it was Ryan Rushen’s turn to go close and he was only prevented by an excellent last ditch block from Jake Wright after he’d been set up well by the lively Siddons.

At this stage, the Wood began to find a foothold in the contest and created their first real opportunity of note when Tom Ward was required to produce a fine clearing header to turn away Craig Westcarr’s cross with keeper Liam Flitton stranded in no-mans-land. That was followed up quickly by Marley Grant’s powerful volley which was dangerous, but always rising before Liam Flitton was in action for the first time, pulling off a fine low save to deny Westcarr before the striker was then deemed offside. Back at the other end and the Greens were mightily unlucky not to double their advantage just before the break when another sumptuous Tristan Drummond corner caused chaos in the box and neither Tom Ward nor Tom Siddons could touch the ball home. A significant chunk of stoppage time allowed the hosts to nearly find a way back level before the break too and Dominic Kew was lively to put in a brave block to turn away Keiran Knight’s powerful drive, before Liam Flitton was in action – comfortably saving from Marley Grant’s effort from distance.

The Greens were straight back out on the winning quest in the second period and produced a dream start to the half when Drummond’s cross was nodded on by Ryan Rushen into the path of Ryan Lennon who tapped home from close range to double the Greens advantage. With the game plan going swimmingly, the Greens set about killing the tie and that was working a treat until the 62nd minute when a fluke deflection on Carter Widdowson’s effort from distance took the ball flying past Flitton to half the arrears. The Greens task then became more daunting when Tom Siddons was given his marching orders five minutes later for an alleged tangle with Ewan Robson – who only received a yellow for his part in the scuffle. That left the Greens facing over 20 minutes with 10-men and Sherwood sensed their opportunity. Craig Westcarr was the beneficiary of fine build-up play from the ever-lively Marley Grant, but he could only scoop over the bar with the goal at his mercy. James Matthews was the next to try his luck, finding space and letting fly only to see an alert Flitton down to his effort, before a stray cross from Grant dipped inches over the crossbar.

As the clocked ticked towards the 90th minute, the Greens were coming under severe pressure and the hosts created their clearest opportunity yet in the 87th minute when Liam Flitton incredibly clawed out Westcarr’s header from the bottom corner before the following was crashed into the side netting. But, just as the Greens looked set to cling onto their precious lead, the ball fell to Louis Pennington on the edge of the box in the 94th minute and his drive came through bodies and squirmed between the hands of Liam Flitton and into the net to leave the Greens crestfallen.
Despite the heartbreaking nature of the late leveller, Player/Manager Tom Ward was still delighted with how his side performed on the night and maintained that there is a lot the Greens can take from their showing;

“I said at the start of the season that if you finish above Sherwood you could get very excited – and I think we’ve been hard done by to not come away with all three points tonight, despite being down to 10-men for half an hour. I thought we were superb. I thought we grafted and we had some really good patterns of play even when we were down a player. Overall I’m really delighted with what we’ve delivered today, we’ve done exactly what was asked of us which is a big part of our success – if we perform to the plan and perform week in, week out, we very rarely go wrong.”

Ward was also keen to get a word in about his young keeper Liam Flitton who was naturally gutted by the concession of the second goal;

“It was one error. How many games have we played this season? How many games did he save us last season? He’s a super goalkeeper and he’ll come again and be stronger for it – it’s an important lesson. He’s got a very bright future ahead of him and lessons like that will do him good.”

The Greens now face another tough away day on Saturday afternoon when they visit Coronation Park for the second time in a fortnight, this time to face landlords Eastwood Community. Kick-off in Nottinghamshire is set for 3PM.

Words: Oliver Atkin