There would not have been too many complaints if the Referee had decided the pitch was too heavy to play this match, maybe the sunshine just swayed his decision, but it was looking a sorry state when the final whistle blew. Both teams had chances in the opening encounters but the Highfield defence looked to be having problems with the pace of Michael Reeve. At the end of one of his runs, he cut in and had his shot blocked, then a ball into the box somehow missed all the Nomads players. However, on 10 minutes his cross found Joe Moran who gave the Nomads the lead. One minute later, Joe Moran had another chance, but after rounding the keeper a defender got back to put his shot behind. From the corner Scott James headed over the bar. Against the run of play, on 20 minutes, Highfields levelled with a similar goal to the Nomads. Taylor collected a cross and found the back of the net. The goal sparked the Nomads and there followed a series of scrambles to safety by the Highfields defence. The goal eventually came and this time Joe Moran turned provider. Joe won the ball, fed Sam McMahon who finished with aplomb into the bottom corner of the net. As half-time approached the Nomads won a corner, Jake Duffy found Scott James who rose like a salmon and made it 3-1. The manager, Stu Dealey still believes that a Rainbow Trout would be a better description. At half-time Ashley Morris replaced Adam Bishop, and from a free kick on 55 minutes he nearly increased the Nomads lead, but his header was blocked. The more the pitch cut up, the more football took a back seat. Both teams had to resort to the long ball game which seemed to favour Highfield Rangers. The Nomads defence however stood firm; Craig Hands and Eddie Appleton having impressive matches. The Nomads required a further goal to be safe but Joe Moran was not having much success. He had a goal disallowed for off-side, a shot from outside the area was well saved by the keeper and a further shot was scrambled away from danger. Thankfully his luck changed on 75 minutes. Jake Duffy won the ball in the middle of the park. Rather than a long ball he passed to Troy Bucalossi who made ground before playing the ball forward to Joe Moran. Joe Moran collected the ball and shot past the keeper. With 10 minutes to go, Declan Sutton and Scott Hall were introduced and Joe Moran was denied his hat-trick by the keeper. Robert Morrell |