Mousehold win tense derby

Mousehold 3, Jarrolds 0

Every game against Jarrolds is a tough one, as the history between the two club means there is always a local-derby atmosphere.

It was also Johnny Flower's last game for the club before he heads out for Afghanistan.

The game started in a scrappy fashion, but Mousehold held a clear upper hand.

A knee injury to a Jarrolds defender in the first 15 minutes stopped play for some time, and the same player had to come off for a while shortly afterwards when he landed hard on his knee again.

With no subs Jarrolds just had to carry on, changing formation when he came back on to put him up front.

After 30 minutes the pressure started to show when Jarrolds number 9 was booked for a very late tackle on Bretty.

Two minutes later Mousehold had a goal-claim when there was a scrum in the Jarrolds goalmouth, and the ball appeared to go over the line - observers swore they saw the net move as the ball hit it, but the referee didn't give it, and despite several attempts to put it in the net beyond all reasonable doubt after a couple of ricochets it finally pinged out and was cleared.

It was however only another three minutes later, on 35 minutes, that Mousehold went ahead: Stevie Wildey who had been repeatedly frustrated by the offside calls was finally rewarded with a lovely goal from the right, up and over the keeper and into the far corner of the net.

On 38 minutes the Jarrolds keeper was down, having collided with the post while trying to get across in time to save a shot from Matt Taylor.

Five minutes into the second half Mark Brandish pulled off an astounding save; he had come out of his area, and the ball was curving over him on target to dip under the crossbar - somehow Mark shot into the air and got just two fingertips to it to knock it out for a corner.

In Mark's own words “I don't even know how I got there!”

This close call put the heart back into Jarrolds and for the next five minutes they brought the play back into the Mousehold half and had the defence under some pressure.

Sixty minutes into the game Johnny Flower came off for Joe Carr, and just one minute later Joe Wilkes put Mousehold 2-0 up with an easy goal.

On 63 minutes Dwayne Batley was perfectly positioned to get a goal, one-on-one with the keeper but somehow put it wide. And while Mousehold were still getting over that, on 64 minutes Joe Carr put the ball over and Dwayne crossed it from right to left for Matt Taylor to put it away for 3-0.

Jarrolds were by now in despair and several players were spoken to by the referee and booked.

The players by this time seemed in two minds as to whether to finish the game, with arguments all over and several players asking how long was left to play and saying there was no point continuing. They did still manage to get a couple of attacks together, mainly from corners, which Mark dispatched without taxing himself (further remarks of “That keeper's everywhere!” were to be heard).

It's hard to say which team were the more relieved when the whistle finally blew to end the game, but Mousehold walked away with a convincing 3-0 win, and Mark Brandish walked away with a well-deserved MoM award.

Mousehold Reserves 0, Sprowston Beehive 7

Mousehold Reserves had a positive start, putting together a couple of attacks which didn't come off, but showed their positive spirit.

On 20 minutes Sprowston scored when a cross from the right-hand side was volleyed in from the far post.

Five minutes later the referee ordered a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, which Sprowston took quickly before the Mousehold players had got into position. The clearance took a deflection and fell to a Sprowston player who finished it off.

Kicking off from this goal, somehow Mousehold passed to a Beehive player who took it forward and scored almost immediately. Recovering from this blow, Mousehold got back into the game for a while, but the game was still 3-0 going into half-time.

Again Mousehold had a go in the first 10 minutes, creating opportunities but nothing that troubled the Sprowston keeper. Beehive's fourth goal was from a cross and a header from the far post, their fifth from a penalty after Nigel tried to make a last ditch tackle and missed the ball but got the player.

Their sixth came shortly afterwards when the ball was passed into the open and pulled back for a tap-in for their number 7.

The seventh and final goal came from a free kick from the edge of the penalty area, it was whipped in and over the keeper's head who made no move to stop it as he thought it was safe. Final score 7-0 and another disappointing game for the Reserves.