19th December-Arley Hurricanes (H) 1-0 (W)

A fabulously crisp winters afternoon without a cloud in the sky. Skipper Josh Payne was again missing from the line up as he was still suffering the after affects of a bad dose of influenza.
Unfortunately the Sporting squad arrived in high spirits for this game against bottom of the league strugglers Arley Hurricanes. The thought firmly planted in their heads that the result was a foregone conclusion..

Well we nearly got our comeuppance. 0-0 with 8 minutes to go and a hatful of chances squandered in front of goal. Thankfully skipper for the day Ben Wright put in a mammoth performance, which saw him cover every blade of grass culminating with the winning goal, after he pounced on the Arley centre half, to clinch all 3 points. Other notable performances came from Tommy Lewis and managers son Luke Chamberlain who tackled every thing that moved, ending with a shoulder to shoulder challenge that saw the Arley winger involuntarily leave the field of play and almost the county. Arley put up a spirited performance and be in no doubt this team can tackle and will cause problems for the unwary or over confident.
This result sees Sporting climb to 4th with 13 points and sees their unbeaten run stretch to 4 games.The signing of quality keeper Ben Aucott has also seen the team manage two clean sheets in their last 4 outings . Well done Ben.

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12th December-Bedworth Eagles (H) 3-1 (W)

Another chance to play Bedworth Eagles, and this time in the league. Last time out in the Police Cup, Sporting had made hard work of their victory. Additionally on this occasion Josh Payne, who scored twice in their previous encounter, was out due to illness. Joe Hagen took on the skipper’s duties and Nathan Barnett was making his first start for the club following his move from Weddington. Danny Eales took over the striker’s duties a change from his more familiar roll of left midfield.
The game could not have begun better for the home team. Sporting kicked off and played a long ball forward towards Danny Eales.The Bedworth centre half got to the ball first and headed it back towards his keeper who was unable to hold the ball. Danny Eales gratefully slotted the ball away to give Sporting a one goal advantage in under fifteen seconds.
More delight for the home team as from a Nathan Barnett corner Mikey Emson slotted his first goal of the season.
It was almost three following another corner when the ball fell to tough tackling defender Tom Jackson. He controlled the ball and fired in a stunning shot that glanced of the bottom left post and out for a goal kick,
The Bedworth linesman now incandescent with rage, began to raise his flag incessantly as if signalling a passing aircraft and at one stage gave a man out walking his dog off side.
Just to show our infallibility we conceded a goal early in the second half and then had to endure fifteen minutes of Bedworth pressure, which almost resulted in an equaliser. Happily for the home team calm once again returned as the Bedworth team tired and Sporting were able to capitalise on a poor clearance. The ball was whipped in from the left by the hard working Sean Mahon and MOM Nathan Barnett was able to conclude his day with the game clinching goal.

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5th December-Haunchwood (A) 0-0 (D)

Another chance to play Haunchwood and following the exit from the Tamworth Cup in their last encounter the team were keen to turn things around. A dull afternoon saw an exciting goalless game played out. By the end Sporting had created the majority of the goal scoring opportunities but failed to capitalise on any of them. So far this season Sporting have played Hanchwood three times and have failed to defeat them each time, losing to them once in the league and once in the Tamworth Cup. Although this result gave them a point in every other game this season Sporting have been the better side and have consistently created more chances. However hitting the back of the net is what leads to victories and Sporting have to be more clinical in front of goal.

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28th November-Bedworth Eagles (H)3-2 (W)

Police Cup Qtr Final

Another exciting cup game for the neutral (we seem to have a lot of these) Today’s visitors were Bedworth Eagles. However with Sporting failing to register a single home win so far this season at home the omens were not looking good.

The game started and frankly Sporting were not at the races. Their nerves were on display for all too see, and the team seemed incapable of putting more than two passes together. Josh Payne was on the bench and itching to get on the field. However the team began to settle and more importantly seemed to have weathered Bedworth’s early pressure. Sporting eventually started to venture towards their opponents goal. Sadly due to a hair trigger linesman we were being flagged off side at the mere suggestion of playing a forward ball. Twenty minutes in and a slight tweak to the formation following an injury to Mikey Emson saw JP come on in the centre of midfield. There was an immediate change in the home teams fortunes and within a minute of JP entering play he had put the home side ahead with a penetrating run form deep inside his own half. Bearing in mind the lineman’s permanent near vertical arm he took the ball a full forty yards before unleashing a shot into the bottom right corner for 1-0 half time lead.
This should have been the prompt for Sporting to take a more dominant roll in the game. However following the interval the old nerves seemed to reappear and the team became more and more defensive.
Eventually Bedworth equalised and took the game into extra time.
Things then went from bad to worse as immediately from the start of extra time Bedworth took the lead. A defensive clearance from Sporting saw the ball bounce back into the danger area from the back of another Sporting player the result a simple tap in for the Bedworth forward.

Immediately from the restart Sporting equalised with another JP special following good inter passing between Ben Wright Danny Eales and Sean Mahon.
The game then became an end to end nail biter with both teams having chances to take the spoils. Finally in the dying moments Josh Payne got away down the left and delivered a quality low cross across the face of goal. Sean Mahon tanking in from the right buried the ball into the top of the net to the delight of the watching Sporting fans. Credit must go to the referee who eventually chose to ignore the linesman who was inevitably flagging when the winner hit the back of the net. Late on Sporting still had time to miss a penalty but overall were well worthy of the win. Onto the Qtr finals now with a game against Coton Hammers.

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21st November-Haunchwood (A) 3-2 (L)

Tamworth Cup

A bitterly cold day and an unpromising pitch saw what turned out to be a classic end-to-end cup match.
Sporting started very well creating a number of chances in the early moments. This early pressure finally led to a Tommy Lewis goal with a well-taken shot after good work down the right by Sean Mahon. The remainder of the first half saw Sporting squander chance after chance, something that they would later come to regret.

Early in the second half the inevitable equaliser arrived. Haunchwood had barely been in the game before the break but following a half time chat, came out for the second half with a lot more purpose about them, particularly in the tackling department. Sporting let their composure slip for a ten-minute period, which saw them concede two sloppy goals.

With darkness falling Sporting eventually regained their poise and started to dominate again in all areas of the pitch .A dynamic five minute period saw them hit the post, the bar and have two chances cleared off the line. The last of which saw Danny Green fashion a clever flick over the out rushing keeper sadly the ball came to a slow stop in a puddle of mud on the goal line. On another day an easy equaliser.
Sadly from the ensuing clearance Haunchwood sowed up the game with another goal to give them a 3 to 1 advantage. To the lads credit they kept pushing to the end and Danny Green made it 3-2 with a fantastic power header at the near post directly from the corner.This goal made up for Danny’s earlier attempt which saw the conditions beat him. In the dying minutes Tommy Lewis had the chance to take the game into extra time but sadly fired over the bar. Still you have got to be in the right position to miss them !!!

Not a game for the purists but certainly one for the neutral.

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14th November- Weddington (A) 2-1 (L)

Sunday’s game presented Sporting with an opportunity to win back some pride following their 7-0 home defeat to Weddington earlier in the season.
On a bitterly cold afternoon the game started at a vigorous pace, with Weddington winning the majority of the early tackles. Ten minutes in and it was Sporting who created the first real goal scoring chance when Ben Wright released Josh Payne just inside the Weddington half. He took on the defender and released a shot that the keeper saved down to his right. The Sporting back 4 were coping well with the conditions and most of what Weddington had to offer. Danny Hirons was his usual calm assured self and was able to release the pressure with a number of well timed passes down the left flank to Danny Eales.Tom Jackson was keeping the ever dangerous Asley Starkey quiet in midfield making telling tackles every time Ash got near the ball.The consequnce of this close marshaling resulted in Weddington changing their formation to escape the attention of the tough tackling no nonsense Jacko.
The match turned in favour of the home team when a simple long ball down the middle found two Weddington attackers against one Sporting defender. A well time pass resulted in a one on one with the Sporting keeper, the result being a one nil half time advantage to the home side.

The second half started with Weddington immediately on the attack winning a corner within the first minutes. Joe Hagen headed the ball clear and to what seemed out of danger. However the ball was delivered back in at pace from outside of the area coming to rest in the top corner of the sporting net.
Heads could have dropped at this point but this was to prove Weddingtons last clear attempt at goal.

From this point the majority of the possession belonged to Sporting. A free kick 10 minutes from the end was spectacularly converted by Joe Hagen to give the visitors a chance of a share of the spoils. Relentless pressure and the non stop running of centre forward Danny Green almost delivered the equaliser however it was not to be and Weddington were glad to hear the final whistle. All in all a good performance by Sporting, well done everyone.

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31st October- Hartshill (A) 1-3 (W)

League Cup

League cup this week which saw Sporting travel away to league newcomers Hartshill who are sitting 2nd in the Sporting Touch league. The home team started the stronger with some big tackles getting the attention of the Sporting strikers. The game appeared to be heading for a goalless interval when Danny Green ran onto a through ball from Sean Mahon and slotted the ball away for a 1-0 advantage at half time. Sporting made a couple of changes at half time and this proved fruitful early in the second half with Josh Payne relieved of his duties in midfield scoring from the left. Tommy Lewis sealed the victory 5 minutes later with a beautifully struck shot from the edge of the penalty area. Performances of note were Danny Lenton with another masterful performance at right back. Andy Tucker who had to leave the field with a blood injury and Luke chamberlain playing his first ever game in midfield.

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17th October - Coton Green (A) 2-5(W)

Tamworth Cup.

Back to winning ways at last with an away game to an unknown quantity from Tamworth.
The quality of passing from Sporting was pretty impressive and Danny Green opened the scoring with a left footed pile driver close in. Josh Payne chipped in with a hat trick the best of which being a long range lob, which beat the excellent Coton Green keeper from distance. Danny Eales scored an excellent volley, which rounded off a good day for the visitors, who today demonstrated their bouncebackability!

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10th October-St Nics Boys (A) 3-2 (L)

Following the disappointing performance the previous week this was an opportunity for Sporting to show their true capabilities. From the start it appeared that the sporting team had read the script taking a deserved 2-0 lead against last years champions. The first was a clever ball played over the top with Josh Payne racing onto the ball and heading over the oncoming goalkeeper. Six minutes later Josh Payne again made the difference following consistent pressure rounded off a sweet move with a well struck shot into the side netting, again giving the keeper no chance. It could and should have been 3-0 just after the break when following a sweeping move down the left the ball fell to Danny Eales unfortunately the ball was struck at the keeper who made a comfortable save. That was as good as it got for Sporting with the boys getting one back from a free kick, a Scotty Warr shot from the left and a scrambled winner coming 30 seconds from the end.
Another great game for the neutral, not much fun for the sporting contingent.

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3rd October - Haunchwood (H) 3-4 (L)

For the neutral fan this must have been a very exciting game. For those of us connected with Sporting, the result was hugely disappointing. Haunchwood couldn’t believe their look with 3 gift-wrapped goals provided by the ever-generous Sporting team 2 within 10 minutes of the start. Bad luck played no part in these goals, just bad decision making.
However when we eventually woke up it’s fair to say that the St Nic’s side played Haunchwood off the park. Goals from M.O.M. Josh Payne and two from the hard working No 9 Danny Eales seemed to have at least guaranteed the home side at least a share of the spoils. However as the game neared its end a harsh handball decision went against us and the result from the free kick was a goal.
It was a doubly disappointing day for the no nonsense defender Tom Jackson who had to leave the pitch midway through the first half due to a foot injury.
Special mention should also go to Tom Lewis, Mikey Emson and Sean mahon who worked tirelessly throughout.

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26th September- Nuneaton Jaguars (A) 1-3 (W)

Back to winning ways again with a good away victory against the Jags. Sporting took the lead in the first minute following an exceptional passing move culminating in a fine through ball by Josh Payne.Danny green ran on to the ball and spotting the keeper of his line lifted the ball over him and into the net.Sporting then created 4 excellent chances hitting the woodwork on one occsaion, and Luke Chamberlain just firing wide from 50mm.

Sadly as against Bedworth, Sporting took their foot off the gas and proceded to hand a gift goal to the Jags. The pressure then mounted and Jags were unlucky not to take the lead follwing a clever free kick.

Following a reading of the riot act at halftime Sporting again discoverd that by passing the ball gaol chances could be created.Cometh the hour cometh Payney!! A blistering swerving left footed drive from Josh Payne gave the advantage back to Sporting and a late gaol from Danny Lenton sealed a well deserved victory.

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19th September-Weddington (H) 0-7(L)

Well what a difference a week makes. Due to the weather, the ref ,the pitch,the ball and their linesman we conceded 7 unlucky goals. The result had absolutely nothing to do with the coaching staff!!!!
Never speak of this result again.

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12th September Bedworth Eagles (A) 2-3 (W)

This is a game that should have been won by half time.Sporting dominated the early play but only came in at half time1-0 up following a clever lob from midfielder Joe Hagen.The score at half time could easily have been 4 or 5 to the good. After the interval Sporting conceded 2 goals in short shrift and found themselves on the back foot. However thanks to 2 goals from Danny Green one a header from a Josh Payne corner ,and the other a superb strike from the edge of the penalty area Sporting came away with all 3 points. A good start to th season.

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