Venue: The Town Ground, Mayfield Road, Heanor, Derbyshire
Competition: NCEL Premier Division
Referee: Michael Scriven (Leics)
Scorers:
Lions - Jay Cooper (17), Sean Gregory (21)
Welfare - Simon Houlden (68)
Line-ups
Heanor almost threw away the points late in the game, as they failed to capitalise on their first half domination. They had a plethora of chances to make the game safe, but had to settle for just a two goal lead at the break, and if not for a couple of great saves from Ian Deakin, the visitors would have gone back to South Yorkshire with an unlikely victory.
All the early play was in the Welfare half, and the only surprise was that it took until the 17th minute for the Lions to open their account, JAY COOPER heading into the corner of the goal from a neat Greg Marriott cross.
Four minutes later Heanor grabbed a second, this time SEAN GREGORY drilling a low shot from the edge of the area past Dan Montgomery. Selston 2-0 Armthorpe!!! Chance after chance followed as Heanor looked to take the game away from the Welfare - unfortunately for the home faithful none were taken, and they almost lived to regret their profligacy. H-T 2-0
Invited into the new Town hospitality porta-cabin at the break - thank you Mr. Squires - the chip cob was very nice and very welcome on yet another very chilly evening.
Cooper had a chance to increase Heanor's lead within two minutes of the restart, but smashed the ball against the foot of the post when a more delicate touch may have proved a little more successful. As it transpired, Heanor stopped playing and allowed Armthorpe to apply pressure. This pressure culminated in a superb strike at the far stick from SIMON HOULDEN, the substitute hooking the ball into the net after it appeared to be sailing out for a goal-kick.
Now the home team really began to struggle to clear their lines and if not for two wonder saves from Deakin, the home team would have left the Town Ground empty handed. At the final whistle you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from the home fans - three more points to add to their season's tally, although they barely deserved them. F-T 2-1
Admission: £5:00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 140
Charity: £2.25
