Redmires
Football Club
Written from a totally neutral and objective perspective......Honest
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Redmires v Hemsworth Villa (League, 20th April 2006) Official view: Level on points with West End is Hemsworth Villa after they won 3-1 at Redmires. Villa took the lead when Scott Moat slid in to convert Joe Shaw's cross, but Redmires levelled before the break when Simon Bradbury found the net. Villa took it in their stride though and when Steve Jones won the ball he gave Mark Hopkinson the perfect through ball to restore their lead. Hopkinson was also on hand to make it safe when Moat knocked Craig Scholey's pass into his path. Our view: We were again without several key players in an important match against a Hemsworth side who were riding high in the league and whom were also through to the league Cup Final. If we lost this game by four goals or more we would finish the season in a relegation position, third from bottom. Keeper Karl Taylor had cried off just before the game and it meant striker Luke Siggs had to go in goal again, which left us short of an important outfield player. We were also without captain Des Pike and a few other players. The game was an open affair with both sides playing attacking football, although thankfully Hemsworth had left ex Redmires striker Lee Rodgers on the bench. The pre match plan to keep Hemsworth stretched with use of the long ball paid off and they got a bit frustrated with it. However they did go in front after 25 minutes when a player beat the offside trap to score. We came back however and Simon Bradbury scored a cleverly taken goal to equalise. HALF TIME 1-1. The second half went very much the same with both keepers called upon to make good saves but Hemsworth were making the better chances and it was no surprise that they again took the lead after seventy minutes. The back four marshalled well again by Jamie Milnes were proving very hard to break down and he and John Dale looked a strong partnership in the centre of the defence. We had a few chances to equalise particularly from corners but couldn’t manage a breakthrough and it was Hemsworth who scored another near the end to rap things up. This meant that we were not in a relegation situation and the team on the day worked very hard to maintain our premier position. TEAM PERFORMANCE 80/110 Redmires 1 Dronfield Town 2 (League, 9th April 2006) Official view: Dronfield Town also put their midweek defeat behind them to win 2-1 at Redmires. Adam Fordham put Town ahead midway through the first half, but Simon Bradbury levelled for Redmires before the and they almost snatched the lead when Ian Gambling hit a post. Redmires looked as if they would get a vital point, but with ten minutes remaining Fordham struck again to give all three points to Dronfield. Our view: We were again without several players but were glad to welcome back Keeper Karl Taylor who had recovered from illness. We knew Dronfield were a dangerous team having lost 4-0 to them earlier in the season, but we decided not to play defensively and the strategy worked for most of the game. Craig Gambling, recovering from a virus was struggling up front and had to be replaced after twenty minutes by Dale White. Dronfield found it quite hard to cope with our forward runs and this put them under pressure. In defence it was nice to see Jamie Milnes back at centre back and to say that he had not played at all this season he had an exceptional game against their fast and dangerous players. Ian Gambling had a great header hit the post but Dronfield took the lead ten minutes before half time. However, we fought back and Simon Bradbury scored with a snap shot to equalise right before the close of the half. HALF TIME 1-1. We came out full of fight in the second half and Ian Gambling playing behind the front two for the first time probed their defence with some good passes. They were struggling against the pace of Bradbury and White but we couldn’t quite get that all important goal. As often happens in games like this, against the run of play Dronfield got the winner ten minutes from time from a long through ball. Apart from the result, this was a good performance by the team. TEAM PERFORMANCE 73/110 Redmires 1 Woodhouse George 3 (League, 2nd April 2006) Official view: CBC premier leaders Woodhouse George had been wobbling of late, but even though a weakened Redmires side again gave them a few scares, this time George made no mistake. Shaun Waller tapped home their first and their lead was doubled on the stroke of half time when Dan Peckett deflected Wes Pierce's shot past Redmires stand in keeper Luke Siggs. John Cotterill missed a great chance to put Redmires back in the game and Simon Slater hit a post before Waller's second of the game made the points safe for George. Redmires did eventually gain some reward when Siggs fired home a late penalty. Our view: After last weeks debacle against Stannington the players had things to prove against the League leaders and things didn’t get off to a good start when keeper Karl Taylor cried off with a ‘bug’ prior to the match. There were also four other players unavailable and new boy Simon Slater was called up to make his debut for the team. We gave as good as we got in the first half and George were finding it hard to get past our defence well marshalled by stand in keeper Luke Siggs. In attack we were causing them plenty of trouble and went close on a few occasions. Against the run of play George scored the opening goal of the game and added a second just before half time when Dan Peckett half blocked a shot that looped into the top corner of the goal. HALF TIME 0-2. After the break, play continued much the same and George added to their lead midway through the half .We continued to fight hard and wasted one or two opportunites to score. Jon Cotterill who had come on as sub for Simon Bradbury who had worked his socks off, missed an open goal following a defensive mix up, right before Simon Slater also went close, when he got between two George players to hit the post with a good header. We kept pressing and following a handball in the box, Luke Siggs stepped up to hit the resultant penalty into the corner. It was nice to get some of our pride back in this game and the team is at least ready to face the challenge of Dronfield Town in the next match. TEAM PERFORMANCE 78/110 Stannington Village 8 Redmires 1 (League, 26th March 2006) Official view: Also struggling just above the drop zone is Redmires after they suffered the club's heaviest ever defeat, 8-1 at a Stannington Village just moving into top form ahead of tomorrow's League Cup semi final. Wayne Bird headed Stannington in front and after Jon Wigfield quickly added a second. The home side were in full flow now and Simon Howe took advantage of some suspect Redmires defending to plunder five goals. David Hague added Village's eighth, while Simon Bradbury's goal for Redmires will have been of little consolation to them. Our view: HALF TIME 4-0. TEAM PERFORMANCE 55/110 Crookes WMC 2 Redmires 2 (League, 12th March 2006) Official view: The
only other CBC Premier game saw Crookes Club snatch a rare point when a
Kev Haigh double earned them a 2-2 draw with Redmires. Haigh was first to
find the net and although Crookes had the better of the first half, they
went into the break level after John Cotterill netted from the penalty
spot.Redmires began to have more of the game and Cotterill was again on
target when he lashed home a corner to put Redmires ahead, but Crookes
saved the best till last when Haigh produced the most sublime of chips to
beat keeper Luke Siggs and earn his side a share of the points. Our view: We had to make several late team changes when keeper Karl Taylor cried off on the morning of the game. Striker Luke Siggs went into goal and Tom Lawrence replaced Craig Gambling at centre back. Andy Birks and Ian Gambling were also not available. It was doubtful that the game would go ahead as there was a light covering of snow on the pitch but both teams were willing to play and the excellent referee Mick Firth was happy to let it go on. After fifteen minutes Crookes took the lead when slack marking allowed the Crookes danger man to score the first goal. We pressed hard for an equaliser and were rewarded just before half time when Simon Bradbury was tripped in the box and Jon Cotterill stepped up to slot home to the right of the keeper. HALF TIME 1-1. We had most of the early pressure in the second half and following several good chances including a another great Beckenbauer type run by Jamie Minchin, took the lead when Jon Cotterill pounced on a poor clearance to lash the ball home from 10 yards. Crookes continued to be dangerous, particularly through Hague who went close when Siggs tipped a chip onto the bar when he looked beaten. Bradbury had a great chance to seal things for the Reds but hurried his shot and fired wide from close in. After further chances for both sides it was left to the classy Hague to produce a very good goal when he was given half a yard on the edge of the box, he swivelled and hit a great chip over Siggs for the equaliser. The referee was very complimentary to both teams for the manner in which they played on a difficult pitch and probably a draw was a fair result. TEAM PERFORMANCE 75/110 Stannington Village 4 Redmires 2 (League Cup, 13th February 2006) Official view: After finding themselves two goals behind, Stannington Village produced a remarkable second half fightback against fellow CBC Premier side Redmires to take their place in the League Cup semi finals and they were joined by holders Hemsworth Villa, but only after they were given a magnificent fight by Division Two Woodseats Abbey. Luke Siggs chipped the Stannington keeper on the stroke of half time to give Redmires the lead and the second half was only a couple of minutes old when Siggs hit a shot into the corner to double his side's advantage. Stunned by that Stannington changed their formation and it quickly paid dividends when Ben Palmer fired home. Simon Howe then grabbed an equaliser and with Stannington now on top Wayne Bird drilled home to give them the lead, before Howe netted again to make the game safe. Our view: We had to make a late change to the starting line up for this game when John Dale had to cry off with the after effects of flu and this did slightly change our game plan although they were also without a key player on the right. We started off well and were more than holding our own and took the lead just before half time when the lively Luke Siggs lobbed the keeper from the edge of the box. Siggs and his striking partner Simon Bradbury were causing their back four plenty of problems and Stanningtons attackers were not making much headway against the resolute Reds defence. HALF TIME 1-0. On the first attack after the break we scored one of the goals of the seasons, when a fast move involving 4 players and a great cross by Dale White was volleyed home first time by Siggs. We were still playing well but Stannington began to get a footing in the game and Karl Taylor had to make several excellent saves to maintain our lead. Stannington then changed their system and all at once our midfield were struggling to cope. It seemed inevitable that they would score and they surely did. This spurred them on further and they equalised soon after. Our attacks became less regular but the pace of Bradbury and the movement and ball skill of Siggs continued to pose problems. Siggs went close again with another lob and created a possible chance for substitute Ian Gambling in a good position, but he delayed his shot. Stannington continued to apply the pressure and despite Taylor’s efforts scored two goals to finish in front. A shame to lose the game in a disappointing fashion, but far better than the previous weeks performance. TEAM PERFORMANCE 76/110 Stocksbridge Park Steels 1 Redmires 0 (League, 6th February 2006) Official view: ...That defeat saw Crookes slip a place as Stocksbridge Park Steels 'A'
leapt over them when a great Adam Todd finish turned out to be the games
only goal against Redmires. The visitors had two penalty appeals turned
down, but it was Steels that played the better football and deserved the
three points that gives them real hope of escaping the drop. Our view: Del Siggs made a couple of changes to the team, to allow players coming back from injury to have a game, as we had beaten Stocksbridge twice already this season. It would be easy to point to this as the main reason for the team not performing but the three players who came in could in no way be blamed for this defeat. After a promising start when we made some good raids down their left flank we seemed to lose our way and some frustrating decisions by the stand- in referee went against us. The highlight of the half was probably the well taken goal by the Stocksbridge Centre Forward. HALF TIME 0-1. One or two players in our team took it upon themselves to criticise other players who were not happy taking the criticism and retaliated with some of their own. This caused us to lose shape and discipline and without doubt was the reason we played so poorly and lost our confidence. We did have two certain penalty claims turned down by the referee and this caused several players to lose their cool and resulted in two bookings. Lets hope we can learn from this and get our team spirit back in time for next weeks vital quarter final match against Stannington. The players who were at the heart of the problem need to look at themselves ! TEAM PERFORMANCE 73/110 Redmires 3 Handsworth WMC 2 (League, 29th January 2006) Official view: Although Andy Stevens had given Handsworth WMC the lead at Redmires, the home side were in front at half time thanks to Ian Gambling's free kick and a Nick Milnes strike. After the break, although Ryan Taylor briefly levelled for Handsworth, Redmires went back in front when Nick Milnes cross was turned into his own net by a defender, but had it not been for two goal line clearances by Dale White, Redmires would surely have let some of the points slip. Our view: A hard match against a side who had come to battle for the points. We were again without skipper Des Pike and Chris Cotterill out with knee problems, with Tom Lawrence also unavailable for selection. The team was the same as last week with Jamie Minchen and Nick Milnes in midfield. The match was a lively affair with both teams playing attacking football and it was Handsworth who made the early breakthrough when an attack down the left ended with a cross that was slotted home by the forward. We came back with some good attacks and Ian Gambling who had one free kick just over the bar had another after twenty-five minutes which he got spot on over the wall to equalise. A good spell then followed from us and the dangerous Milnes outpaced their defence to coolly put us into the lead. HALF TIME 2-1. After the break, Handsworth really came out fighting and put the defence under quite a bit of pressure and as they pushed forward we were rather reduced to a counterattacking game. Their pressure finally paid off and a shot from the edge of the box went under Karl Taylor’s body to give them a deserved equaliser. This spurred us on to greater efforts and our attacks always looked likely to bring a further score. At the other end Dale White made two brilliant goal line clearances with his head to foil Handsworth. A good run by Nick Milnes down the left resulted in a cross, which beat the keeper and the defence and ended with a defender putting in his own goal. The players are to be commended for their determination to win this game, in particular Dale White who was outstanding at right back. TEAM PERFORMANCE 81/110 The Park 1 Redmires 1 (League, 22nd January 2006) Official view: Even though a Simon Bradbury effort that appeared to cross the line was
not given, Redmires thought Craig Gambling's tenth minute header had
proved enough to give them all three points at The Park, but in the final
minute the home side levelled after they were awarded a penalty and Matt
Hill confidently netted from the spot. Our view: We started off well against The Park on an uneven pitch at Niagara. With skipper Des Pike unable to play with a knee injury and Ben Marsh away for the day, the versatile Jamie Minchin came in alongside Nick Milnes in the centre of our midfield and they were prominent in early attacks. With Craig Gambling and John Dale solid in the centre back positions and Dale White and Dan Peckett playing well at full back, The Park were unable to test keeper Karl Taylor. Gambling found the time to get forward and was on hand to score the opening goal after twenty minutes. We continued to press for most of the first half, but as in the previous match against this team, we were unable to find that cutting edge. HALF TIME 1-0. The second half continued much the same as the first, with Minchin in particular involved in most of our attacking play. We had several further chances to increase our lead and headers from Luke Siggs and Gambling should have found the net. The Park were still not troubling our defence, but an early injury to Dale (hamstring) meant that Tom Lawrence had to come on. However we continued to press their defence and Simon Bradbury in his new position caused all sorts of problems with his pace down the flank. As in the first half though, we did not capitalise on the amount of possession we had. Gambling also had to come off suffering with cramp with about 15mins to go . Luke Tanker replaced him and though we lost a bit of shape we were not letting The Park anywhere near our goal. As always happens when the scores are so close with 5minutes to go an innocuous challenge by third sub Chris Cotterill inside the box meant they had their one chance to score and they did. A big blow when we had had so much of the game and despite our good performance, it’ll go down as a match in which we should have got all three points. TEAM PERFORMANCE 81/110 Redmires 4 Crookes WMC 1 (League, 15th January 2006) Official view: Further down the CBC Premier table both Redmires and Handsworth WMC gained wins to ease any fears of becoming involved in the relegation scrap. Redmires took an early lead against Crookes Club when Luke Siggs was felled in the area and he picked himself up to score from the spot, but, after a foul in the area by Jamie Minchin, Crookes then levelled from the spot. A third penalty was awarded when Siggs was again felled in the area, but although he missed from the spot it proved to be the turning point of the game as Crookes had their defender dismissed for the foul that led to it and Des Pike, John Dale and Simon Bradbury all took advantage of an overworked Crookes defence to give Redmires a 4-1 victory. Our view: That’s more like it!!! After some slightly disappointing results recently we got right back to our best on Sunday against a team we haven’t beaten in three matches. Changes to the line up were made and some players were moved into new positions. Keeper Karl Taylor returned from illness and with skipper Des Pike also back, with a full bench to call on, it was the right day to experiment. Soon after the start it was obvious that things looked better and although Crookes looked determined to improve their position in the league we looked far more dangerous going forward. With Simon Bradbury looking a threat down the right and Andy Birks and Luke Siggs tying their defence in knots we always looked as if we could score goals. After about thirty minutes, Bradbury ran into the box and was tripped. Siggs stepped up to slot the ball home from the spot. Soon after, following a good passing move, a Siggs dribble in the box, resulted in another penalty being awarded, when he was brought down. However, there was a further sting in the tail for Crookes as the player who had felled Siggs stupidly got himself sent off by pushing him over. This may have cost Crookes the game, but with the long delay before the kick was taken, Siggs put his second penalty of the game wide. We made a number of other chances in the first half including one where Pike sprang the offside trap and ran through to shoot narrowly wide, we deserved to be leading at half time. However, right before the break, Jamie Minchin was adjudged to have brought their player down in the box for the third penalty of the half. Crookes scored from the kick, which brought the game to an unlikely level score at half time. HALF TIME 1-1. Soon after half time another good move found Pike just outside the box and his strong shot zipped past the keeper. Our defence looked very strong, with tough tackling John Dale outstanding at centre back. Veteran Dale seems to have found a new lease of life after returning from a number of niggling injuries. The new look back four of Jamie Minchin, Craig Gambling, Dale and Dan Peckett looked very strong and with the outstanding keeper Taylor behind them, it looked a very good unit. Nick Milnes who had started the game at left midfield was switched back into the centre of midfield for the second half and was a major influence on nullifying Crookes good midfield. About midway through the half an excellent move found centre half Dale with room in front of him and showing a surprising burst of speed he shook off the defenders and ran through their defence to smash a belter of a shot past the helpless keeper. With ten minutes to go we scored our fourth and final goal when Bradbury did what he had been threatening to do the whole game when from inside his own half he chased a ball knocked through and outsprinted their defence to lash the ball past the keeper. TEAM PERFORMANCE 92/110 Dronfield Town 4 Redmires 0 (League, 8th January 2006) Official view: ...Dronfield
Town haven't given up hope yet though and they took advantage of an
illness and injury hit Redmires side to stay second. Despite their
problems, for an hour Redmires were only a single Adam Fordham strike
behind, but after he hit his second there was only going to be one winner
and Danny Gibbons and Nick Horsefield added two more for a 4-0 victory. Our view: We struggled to get into our stride on a bumpy pitch at Gladys Buxton School and the team, ravaged by the illness and unavailability of some players including keeper Karl Taylor, found the going quite hard. With striker Luke Siggs in goal, we eventually got going and had a couple of good chances to open the scoring, but unfortunately Simon Bradbury couldn’t convert two one-on-ones when he got clear of their slow defence. Siggs dealt with most things without too many problems and a strong performance from John Dale in the centre of midfield kept Dronfield at bay. With the half coming to an end, a Nick Milnes slip gave their forward a chance to hit a low shot past Siggs from the edge of the box. HALF TIME 0-1. The turning point of the game came when a header from Andy Birks, which appeared to cross the line, was not given by the referee early in the second half and from then on we began to lose any grip we had on the game. The defence became ragged and with our players not pressing the ball in other areas, it was only a matter of time before Dronfield added to their score. They began to retain possession of the ball and added two more goals to finish the match well on top. TEAM PERFORMANCE 68/110 Woodhouse George 2 Redmires 1 (League, 11th December 2005) Official view: After a goalless first half Redmires must have thought they had a chance of bringing Woodhouse George's one hundred percent record to an end when Luke Siggs rifled a poor clearance by the George keeper straight back into the empty net. That stung George into even greater efforts and an equaliser from Kirk Briddon was almost inevitable. More pressure produced what turned out to be the winner from Spencer Starkes, but not before Redmires pressure had them hanging on at the end. Our view: We
continued our sequence of difficult matches with an away game against the
100% league leaders Woodhouse George, looking for their ninth consecutive
league win. In bright sunshine on a heavy bumpy pitch both teams struggled
to find cohesion and there were few chances made in the first half by
either side. Our plan to mark their danger players worked well and
although we weren't at full strength due to illness, injury, weddings
and Narnia, the lads who came into the side did well. Including John Dale,
who returned to the side having been absent for the past ten weeks. He
took the role of the holding midfielder in front of the back three and
some of his tackling was superb. HALF TIME 0-0. Redmires 2 Stocksbridge Park Steels 1 (League Cup, 4th December 2005) Official view: Redmires dominated the early exchanges against Stocksbridge PS 'A' and they were well worth the lead as Luke Siggs scored with a rare header from Gambling's pinpoint cross after 35 minutes. The Steelmen equalised just after half-time when Richard Gill fired home. Redmires continued to dominate but Steels always looked dangerous on the break so it was a relief when Simon Bradbury fired home the winner with a cross shot that beat the Steels' keeper and sent Redmires through. Our view: This
game produced one of our strangest performances of the season so far. With
Andy Birks still out with an ankle injury, Del Siggs played Jamie Minchin
in the middle of midfield, Dan Pecket returned to right back and Chris
Cotterill was drafted in at left back when Ben Marsh failed a late fitness
test. We started off in confident fashion having beaten this side 4-0 in
the league earlier in the season, but with the club dinner and the
Sheffield derby still in some players minds the concentration was
lacking at times. We were making hard work of the opening thirty minutes,
although we went close from some excellent crosses from Ian Gambling on
the left. On the other flank Dale White, who had switched with Luke Siggs
after twenty minutes, was also prominent. We broke the deadlock on
thirty-five minutes when Siggs rose to head home from another great cross
from Gambling. The goal seemed to settle us a down a bit and we had the
better of the last fifteen minutes of the first half. HALF TIME 1-0.
With us making a sloppy start to the second half Stocksbridge were
soon on level terms, when direct from a free kick, the ball was crossed
into our goal, with Karl Taylor unsighted. This goal seemed to spur us on
and we played some good football at times. However, in defence we very
hesitant and we were thankful yet again to a great keeper who made one
tremendous save when they broke through. We took the lead again when Simon
Bradbury, who had probably his best game ever for us, turned his
defender and scored with a lovely curling shot into the corner. Bradbury
was also the hero in defence, when following a short free kick our defence
pushed out to try and play offside without realising that the player with
the ball was running clean through on goal. Bradbury seeing the
danger from the half way line had tracked the player and covering 20 yards
in a couple of seconds, got back to make a brilliant saving tackle. After
this scare we played with a lot more control and created several
chances to increase the score, which unfortunately went begging. A strange
performance in that, individuals seemed to have a good game, but the team
didn’t against a weak opposition. Still, we go through to the last eight
in the cup for the third year in a row! TEAM PERFORMANCE 84/110. Redmires 0 Woodhouse West End 1 (League, 27th November 2005) Official view: Despite having much of the play in the first half, Woodhouse West End couldn't find a breakthrough at Redmires and when Karl Taylor saved Alan Hull's penalty early in the second half, Redmires must have thought it might be their day, but soon after Damien Blackmore struck the only goal of the game to secure all three points for West End. Our view: An
excellent game against our old rivals Woodhouse West End and although we
were without key players, the players that came in did well. After their
good win against the league leaders last week, we knew that we must be
ready for their set pieces which proved to be the downfall of Woodhouse
George when at least four goals were scored from this source. The first
half was an even affair with West End having the best of the opening 25
minutes, but finding keeper Karl Taylor in top form. The last ten minutes
of the first half saw our best spell of the game, we played our best
football and Dale White had the best chance of the half when put clean
through on goal but their keeper was also in good form and made a good
save. HALF TIME 0-0. In the second half West End were on top for long
spells and it was difficult for us to make any headway against their
strong back three. The pressure for West End finally paid off as they
gained a penalty when Craig Gambling brought their player down when
jumping for the ball in the box. The slight delay in taking the kick
seemed to distract the penalty taker and Taylor managed to guess correctly
to make a good save. It looked like it might be our day but soon after a
long ball through the middle wasn’t read and their player slotted home.
West End buoyed by their goal began to get control of the game and only
some poor finishing and some excellent goalkeeping kept us in the game.
With minutes to go we began to get back into the game and forced several
corners and although we left ourselves a bit exposed at the back we kept
battling to the end, without any real success. An enjoyable game! TEAM
PERFORMANCE 82/110 Hemsworth Villa 4 Redmires 1 (League, 20th November 2005) Official view: The
CBC Premier's only game saw Hemsworth Villa climb back up to second with a
4-1 victory over Redmires, but the game had been much closer than the
scoreline suggests. It took a rare goal from central defender Ben
Dronfield to give Villa the lead and they extended it with an Ian Holmes
strike, but Redmires kept plugging away and they got back into it when
Dale White volleyed his second in as many weeks. Our view:
A
big improvement on last weeks poor performance on an icy pitch that was
verging on the unplayable. Hemsworth are a decent side with a fast player
up front, but we held our own for most of the game. Hemsworth went in
front from a corner when slack marking left their player free at the back
post who took the goal well. They scored a second when Craig Gambling and
Nick Milnes left a through ball to each other and their player nipped in
and shot passed Karl Taylor. We kept battling and went close a couple of
times before Dale White pulled one back. He almost scored again soon
after, through on goal he lobbed the keeper only to see his effort just go
past post. HALF TIME 2-1. After the break we were still playing well but
never really looked like scoring again, so with just under twenty minutes
to go we decided to change things, to try and get back on level terms,
changing the system to four, three, three. We kept pushing for the goal
but were without any real luck in front of goal. Unlike Hemsworth, when
with five minutes to go, a harmless low cross created a third for them
when the excellent Taylor slipped on the icy pitch leaving their player
with the easy task of scoring from an open goal. As we pushed further
forward we left ourselves open at the back and they scored a fourth with
the last kick of the game. A much better performance in which all players
gave their best, but with no luck coming our way. TEAM PERFORMANCE 79/110. Telecom Sports 0 Redmires 3 (League Cup Round 2, 13th November 2005) Official view: An injury to Redmires' John Cotterill caused a half hour delay during the first half of their tie with Telecom Sports and Redmires struggled to find any fluency to their play until ten minutes into the second half when Luke Siggs rounded the keeper to put them ahead. Division One Telecom gave them a few scares, but any thoughts of a shock were soon dashed when Ian Gambling hit Redmires second and the tie was well and truly over after Dale White added their third. Our view:
It
was a lovely morning at the Phoenix Ground for this League Cup match
against a team bottom of the first Division. We started off positively
enough with a good attack down the right, which saw Dale White swing over
a great cross to John Cotterill who nearly managed to turn the ball in
with his head. Unfortunately Cotterill came down very heavily on his ankle
and knew immediately he had done something serious. With the injury
looking like a broken ankle, an ambulance was called for immediately and
Cotterill was taken to the Rotherham General Hospital for further
examination. After this incident we just couldn’t find any rhythm, with
mistakes being made in every area of the pitch. All players (except Karl
Taylor in goal) were guilty and it was probably the worst first half we
have had for years. HALF TIME 0-0. A stirring team talk at half time
when home truths were stated improved things a lot after the break and
when Luke Siggs ran through to round the keeper and slot home the pressure
went off us and we, at last, began to play better. About ten minutes later
Ian Gambling scored another and finished any hopes Telecoms may have had
of getting back into the game. The game meandered on until Dale White got
the ball on the edge of the box and ran into to area to hit the ball past
the advancing keeper to seal the victory. We did have players missing but
this performance must go down as one of the worst ever and it was a good
job we were not playing Hemsworth Villa this week instead of next week!
TEAM PERFORMANCE 54/110 Redmires 1 The Park 1 (League, 30th October 2005) Official view: The Park looked likely to also go home from Redmires with all three points after James Hird had given them a first half lead, but in the end they had to settle for a share of the spoils when a Luke Siggs cross was deflected into his own net by a Park defender. Our view:
We
were a bit short of players for this match (ten players unavailable in
total) for various reasons and this restricted the team we could put out.
We were a bit worried about their strikers but this proved unfounded and
our makeshift defence coped well with the strikers they actually faced.
However, The Park did score after ten minutes when Karl Taylor dropped the
slippery ball and unfortunately our defence didn’t react before their
centre forward, who took the goal well. The game was fairly even after
that with defences on top and there was no further score in the first
half. HALF TIME 0-1. We equalised early in the second half when following
some good interpassing, an intended low cross from Luke Siggs was turned
into his own goal by their defender. This was our best spell of the match
and it looked as though we could go on to win. However, we didn’t press
home the advantage and we ended up hanging on at times, with Taylor again
pulling off some excellent stops. The rain had kept on for the whole game
and everyone got a good soaking and although we were missing a number of
players we still should have won this game. Two points lost rather than
one gained!
TEAM PERFORMANCE 66/110 Handsworth WMC 2 Redmires 1 (League, 23rd October 2005) Official view: In the league, the day's only CBC Premier game saw Handsworth WMC grab their second home win of the season, 2-1 over visitors Redmires. Scott Abramski headed home a corner to give Handsworth an eighth minute lead and it lasted until five minutes after the interval when recent signing John Cotterill headed his first goal for Redmires. With fifteen minutes remaining, Redmires also netted the final goal, but unfortunately for them it was into their own net. Our view:
This was always going
to be a tight match. We had to make changes before the match with both
Andy Birks and Jamie Minchin sustaining hamstring injuries. The game was
an end-to-end affair with both teams making chances, with Handsworth
having slightly the better. Luckily for us Karl Taylor was in very good
form and it wasn't until the thirty-fifth minute that Handsworth took the
lead from a headed corner with the defensive marking at fault. HALF TIME
1-0. Redmires 4 Stocksbridge Park Steels 0 (League, 16th October 2005) Official view: Redmires got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion with a 4-0 victory against Stocksbridge Park Steels A. Andy Birks opened the scoring with a volley before Des Pike doubled the lead with a cracking strike. Sub Dale White scored his first goal for the club before Birks completed the scoring. Our view:
Del Siggs
was forced to make a late change to the starting line up for the
Stocksbridge game when Mark Hardisty had pulled out of the squad with flu
on the morning of the game. Jamie Minchin who had missed the previous
match came into the side in Hardisty's place on the right hand side
of midfield. After last weeks disappointing result we surprisingly started
off lively in the match and there seemed to be a fresh urgency in our
players attitude. We had all the early pressure and after ten minutes Andy
Birks volleyed home to give us the lead and after a few more near misses
we scored again when Des Pike thundered in a great shot from the edge of
the box to put us two up. The defence were looking the best they've looked
all season with back to form Tom Lawrence and Ben Marsh, having his best
game since joining the club. Stocksbridge couldn’t mount any meaningful
strikes on our goal and we went in at half time with a comfortable two-nil
lead. HALF TIME 2-0 Redmires 1 Crookes WMC 5 (Senior Cup Round 2, 9th October 2005) Official view: In an all-CBC Premier Division clash Crookes Club ran out worthy winners as they hammered Redmires 5-1. Redmires' Mark Hardisty and Crookes' Andy Billingsley traded first half strikes but it was a different story in the second half. Crookes dominated after the break against a lacklustre Redmires side and goals from Simon Bellamy, Damien Atherton, Scott Bennett and an own goal sent them through to the next round. Our view: We suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Crookes but the scoreline didn’t reflect the match. Crookes scored after twenty-five minutes from a well-taken header, but the player was standing at least five yards offside before the cross came in. We were competing well and had a number of chances to equalise but were without any luck in front of goal. We continued to play some good football and Mark Hardisty finally got our break through when he hit a great shot from the right, which flew into the net to equalise. This was Hardisty’s first goal for the club. We were well on top now and John Cotterill should have given us the lead before the break, missing out on the chance to score when through one on one with the keeper. This proved even more costly than we’d thought, when two minutes from time, slack marking at a corner led to another goalscoring header for Crookes, who couldn’t believe they had the lead. HALF TIME 1-2. After the break things continued in much the same vein with us playing the football but Crookes always dangerous on the break. After about ten minutes we began to get panicky in the defence and a mistake from Karl Taylor dropping the ball led to their 3rd goal. It was a hard battle with Crookes proving the stronger and they went further ahead when Taylor went chasing their centre forward and brought him down to the left of our penalty area. From the resulting free kick (and booking for Taylor) their centre forward, who had been in Nick Milnes's pocket to that point, fired in a tremendous shot which Des Pike directed into his own goal. The fifth goal was another defensive mix up when Ian Gambling was caught trying to over-play in his own area, unaware of a Crookes player behind him who gratefully accepted the gift. We came off the pitch feeling very low but it was one of those days when nothing went right. We didn't take the many goal scoring opportunities we had and Crookes who had all of the luck, scored from every half chance they had. Football can be a cruel game! Team Performance 67/110 Woodhouse West End 3 Redmires 0 (League, 2nd October 2005) Official view: Woodhouse West End pulled level on points with Redmires after a 3-0 victory. Redmires prolific striker Luke Siggs hit the bar in the first half but that was as good as it got for the visitors as Lee Glaves, Dave Kippax and a wonderful solo effort by Danny Hooper sealed the points for the hosts. Our view: We went into this game full of confidence after a good training session last Thursday and started off brightly enough. Del Siggs gave a start to new signing Dale White who came in on the right hand side of a five man midfield. We were again without Craig Gambling, John Dale and Graham Clarke for the game. As the game wore on the closest either side came to scoring was when Luke Siggs hit the crossbar with a shot from distance. The defences were on top in the main and half time came with no score. HALF TIME 0-0. Woodhouse put the pressure on in the second half and took the lead with thirty minutes remaining. With us making little impact up front the Woodhouse centre back had a comfortable day winning every ball that was lofted in the air, from goal kicks to free kicks to open play, but we seemed unable to come up with much else. Woodhouse did a good job of closing down players quickly and some of our players seemed unable to cope. Del changed the formation back to the usual four, four, two, bringing on Mark Hardisty and Ian Gambling during the second half but West End continued to be on top and scored another two goals as some of our defenders began to crumble. John Cotterill came on and impressed as we chased the game, but we still couldn’t get a consolation goal. Del Siggs commented “On the day the best team won, but we need to learn quickly how to come away from home and steal games, like this, that were in the balance at half time”. Team Performance 66/110 Redmires 8 Royal Oak 2 (League, 25th September 2005) Official view: Luke Siggs gave Redmires an early lead at home against Royal Oak Pitsmoor and when an Oak defender saw red for handball on the line, Siggs doubled that lead from the penalty spot. Dan Peckett made it three before the break, but Oak didn’t give up hope and early in the second half pulled one back through a John Mellor penalty. A Graham Clarke free kick restored Redmires’ three goal advantage and although Scott Empsey netted a second for Oak, the man advantage began to take it’s toll and after Siggs had completed his hat-trick, Des Pike and a Simon Bradbury double saw Redmires run away with it. Our
view:
We
started off well against gutsy Royal Oak, but found it hard to break them
down. It wasn’t until the thirtieth minute, from an Andy Birks header
that was deliberately handled on the line, that the breakthrough
came. The Royal Oak player was rightly sent off and Luke Siggs slid the
penalty home. Five minutes later we went two up, when new signing Graham
Clarke scored his first goal for the club, with a classic free kick from
the edge of the box. Just before half time we went three up when the
persistent Dan Peckett went through to score his first goal of the season.
HALF TIME 3-0. Oak’s goalie was forced to go off injured during the
break, which meant a change of formation for Oak in the second half. After
the break the game became stretched and Oak were struggling to contain us.
However, they did manage to get a goal back from the penalty spot when
Nick Milnes was adjudged to have handled in the area. Siggs restored the
lead with his second of the game, before an unusual lapse in concentration
from Karl Taylor allowed the Oak centre forward to knick the ball off him
and score from his dropkicked clearance. We finally managed to kill the
game off in the last thirty minutes with the completion of a Siggs hat
trick and further goals from Des Pike and the tanned Simon Bradbury, who
came off the bench to score two goals in the last fifteen minutes. Dale
White and John Cotterill also came off the bench to make their debuts.
Manager Del Siggs commented, “It was nice to finally have nearly all of
the squad to choose from for the game and a decent result in the end”.
Team Performance 71/110 Packhorse Inn 2 Redmires 3 (Senior Cup Round 1, 18th September 2005) Official view: It looked as if Redmires would also go through without too much trouble when one from Andy Birks and two from Craig Gambling gave them a three goal interval lead at Pack Horse Inn. Their hosts came back strongly in the second half though and pulled two back, but with goalkeeper Karl Taylor in terrific form, Redmires held on. Our
view: An
improved performance against a Meadowhall Division One side, that would
struggle in the Premier Division of our League. Andy Birks opened the
scoring after fifteen minutes with a beautiful chip over the keeper and
Packhorse were struggling to contain our movement off the ball. After a
further ten minutes Craig Gambling seized onto the ball just outside the
box and again chipped the keeper to put us two up. Gambling scored again
five minutes later with a header from one of the many excellent corners
that had been put over. HALF TIME 0-3. We continued the pressure after the
break but after twenty minutes conceeded a sloppy goal from a Packhorse
free kick. The game took on a different shape now as we decided to try and
keep what we had rather than looking to increase the lead. We held the two
goal advantage until ten minutes from time when Nick Milnes inadvertantly
passed the ball to one of their players in front of goal who couldn't
miss. We had to grimly defend “the Alamo” for the remaining part of
the game, but did this with the help of Karl Taylor who produced one of
the saves of the season in the dieing seconds of the game to send us
through to the second round. Team Performance 76/110 Royal Oak 1 Redmires 2 (League, 14th September 2005) Official view: In midweek Redmires could count themselves a little fortunate to leave Royal Oak Pitsmoor with all three points. Scott Empsey deservedly gave Oak the lead early in the second half, but Luke Siggs took advantage of a mistake to hit Redmires level. Des Pyke powerfully headed Redmires in front from a Siggs corner, but they still needed a brilliant one handed save by Karl Taylor to hang onto the points Our view:
Not a good performance against a
team that will struggle in the top division. We couldn’t get into our
stride and several of our players didn’t perform to their best. Royal
Oak who had been thrashed at the weekend by Dronfield Town came out full
of fight to their credit and their fast lad up front made several
dangerous runs in a first half that saw a lack of any real chances. HALF
TIME 0-0. Redmires 2 Stannington Village 5 (League, 4th September 2005) Our
view: We started our campaign in the Premier with a tough opening
match at home against Stannington Village. Village had finished runners up
last year and had added a couple of well known players to their squad. We
gave as good as we got in the first half and the game was fairly even.
Village took the lead about halfway through the half, but an excellent
goal from Andy Birks brought us level. Craig Gambling was having a great
game against his former club at centre back and although there were
chances at both ends, there was no further score before the break. HALF
TIME 1-1.
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