Unlucky Melton HC Thirds suffer last-gasp loss to leaders
Jamie Smith evades his marker during Melton HC Third XI's 3-2 home defeat to Belper To buy this photo, call (01664) 410041 or visit www.meltontimes.co.uk
Third XI League East Midlands Premier
MELTON HC 2 BELPER HC 3
A STRONG performance saw Melton narrowly miss out on a share of the points against the league leaders.
Melton started slowly as Belper dominated midfield, leaving the hosts to feed from scraps. Belper relied on the crash ball, holding the ball in midfield and trying to find their forwards in the circle with strong strikes, but Jon Hoskins and Jon Leeman coped well in defence.
Melton slowly found their feet as Creed and Perry started to trouble Belper’s defence, and both shot narrowly wide. But Belper went ahead when a crash ball found a Belper player unmarked at the far post to beat O’Lander and push the ball past keeper Worsley.
Melton hung on until half-time, repelling the crash ball and slowly building. Leffington-Back and Ali tackled strongly and gave Pearce-Smith and Creed much-needed possession, but neither found the net before half-time.
In the second half it was a different story as Melton upped their game and found space. Leffington-Back and Saffhill’s tackles constantly broke up Belper’s midfield play, giving Creed and Perry better chances.
Melton levelled when Kev Leeman earned a short corner from Craig O’Lander’s pass, and Creed converted, stopping the ball and placing a strong strike into the bottom corner.
And the hosts went ahead when Jon Leeman’s clearance fed O’Lander who dribbled through Belper’s defence, fended off a strong challenge and fired a reverse-stick shot despite being off-balance.
Melton held the lead for a long period, but Belper drew level when a strike beat Worsley at the near post. Melton went for the winner through Creed’s shorts corners and Pearce-Smith’s strong runs.
But it was frustration for Melton as Belper took the points with a scrappy goal, tapped in at the far post a minute from time.
Melton: C. Worsley, C. O’Landar, C. Leffington-Back, J. Leeman, J. Hoskins, M. Ali, K. Leeman, A. Pearce-Smith, A. Perry, S. Saffhill (c), J. Creed.
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Weather for Melton
Monday 20 May 2013
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Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
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