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Issue 128 – 17 May 2010

BallsMania Admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 10:13:53 +0000

Clifton Toast Memorable League Title
Carlton Town Academy booked a place in the Reserve Cup Final with a 2-1 victory over Cotgrave Welfare Res. Ross Marriott and James Price netted for Academy to cancel out Nick Gammon’s effort for Cotgrave and secure them a final berth where they will play Newark Flowserve Academy.

Kimberley’s impressive finish to the season has seen them move into fourth spot. Jake Fisher scored the only goal in their 1-0 win over Gedling Southbank to increase his tally to 37 goals for the campaign. Champions Clifton didn’t finish to season as they’d have hoped as they went down 3-1 to Attenborough; Sutton, Flinders and Spencer the scorers for Boro.

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Issue 127 – 10 May 2010

BallsMania — Wed, 26 May 2010 10:01:20 +0000

Forest stumble on the beach at Blackpool
It was a case of third time unlucky for the Reds as Blackpool had the beating of them over ninety minutes for the third time this season – setting up a tense return leg at the City Ground on Tuesday. The Reds must beat Blackpool over ninety minutes, and by two or more goals if they want to avoid extra time.

A thousand or so Reds fans once again struggled to make any noise in the open stand, but were given early cheer with a sublime Chris Cohen goal to put Forest in to the lead, but unfortunately for the travelling Red Army they had to bear witness to – for the first time – Forest falling behind in a fixture having taken the lead. Since this fixture is two-legged, I’m sticking with it being half time so the stat still stands!

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Issue 120 – 22 March 2010

BallsMania Admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:45:17 +0000

County keep creeping up the tableFollowing the late upset on Monday against Bournemouth, Notts County made amends with a determined victory over Crewe Alexandra. The only goal of the game came from a second half Mike Edwards header. This followed Ben Davies’ missed spot-kick before the break.
Notts dominated the second period for the majority and fully deserved the points. The only dampener on the win was Luke Rodgers’ red card, following an altercation with Ashley Westwood.
Steve Cotterill was forced to shuffle his pack, with a number of injury worries and Lee Hughes starting a two match ban. Although Neal Bishop and Stephen Hunt managed to survive late fitness tests, Rodgers was left on the bench after missing a number of training sessions with flu.

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Issue 119 – 15 March 2010

BallsMania Admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:33:06 +0000

Well, how on Earth do you sum up that? Three-nil down at half time after a pathetic, abject and shapeless showing enabled Preston to capitalise with two excellently taken goals and a penalty. Three nil a half time – and indeed, a performance that warrants it – makes even the most ardent fan have a think about perhaps resuming activities in the pre-match pub rather than sit through another 45 minutes of it.
Of course, the majority stayed – and it was a half worth seeing – the Reds battled back and took the game to Preston in 45 minutes of the near total dominance that the home side had enjoyed against Forest in the first half. Sadly for us there was insufficient opportunity to get the equaliser (thanks at least in part to the referee), but at least we saw our lads show a bit of fight after such an appalling first half.

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Issue 118 – 08 March 2010

BallsMania Admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:28:22 +0000

Crash bany wallop as Panthers mangle the SteelersThe GMB Nottingham Panthers took two points from a roller-coaster ride against their biggest rivals, the Sheffield Steelers on Saturday eventually winning after a penalty shoot-out by a 4-3 score line.
A blistering first period saw Marty Gascon rip the first goal after just 75 seconds and when Jade Galbraith came out of the box to latch on to a clearing pass he took it in and deeked the keeper superbly to double the lead at 10.10.
There was lots of emotion on show and after one gathering three players from each side went to the penalty-box at the same time for two minutes roughing. When the sides clashed again four minutes later referee Moray Hanson upgraded to four five minute fighting penalties, two to each team.

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Issue 117 – 01 March 2010

BallsMania Admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:19:23 +0000

Pelican suffer drubbing at the hands of KeyworthClifton were the only one of the title chasing sides to pick up any points in the Senior Division this weekend. The all whites secured a point in a 1-1 draw at Bulwell, Michael Evans scoring from the spot for Clifton but top scorer Duane Haywood replied for the home side. Keyworth recorded a fantastic win as they inflicted a heavy 6-2 defeat on reigning champions Bilborough Pelican. Dan Collinson hit a brace whilst Bellis, Frame, Wheeldon and Cooke also netted. Boots are now nine points adrift after they too suffered an unexpected defeat, Kimberley putting a dent into the chemists title hopes with a emphatic 4-0 victory; Lench, Bartram, Fisher and Carter all scoring.

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Issue 116 – 22 February 2010

BallsMania Admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:04:29 +0000

County perform smash and grab at Aldershot A moment of brilliance at the death rescued a point for Notts County in a battling performance at the EBB Stadium. Aldershot Town had taken the lead moments before half time, a finely placed finish by Ollie Bozanic. After another frustrating 45 minutes, a loss seemed to be on the cards for the travelling Magpies – until Ben Davies stepped up to find the top-corner with another spectacular free-kick.
A match of high importance presented itself at 3pm, as the Shots rested just one place and three points below Notts in the standings. It looked to be a huge test, though, with several key players – Karl Hawley, Lee Hughes and John Thompson – missing, meaning that three youngsters took up places on the bench.

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Issue 115 – 15 February 2010

BallsMania Admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:52:51 +0000

Donny don’t do the reds any favours A frustrating afternoon for the Reds – but whatever irritations I got from the on-the-pitch antics pale into insignificance compared to the reaction of some of our so-called supporters. Some of them are like petulant and spoilt children, and it’s been like that since Derby away – I wonder if they are the people who bought away membership and have just started attending Forest away games after buying into the hype?
I say that because if they’d been to Middlesbrough, or Cardiff, or Watford or numerous other trips they’d have seen similar levels of performance with perhaps that slice of luck needed to turn a defeat into a draw. If they’d been to Swansea they’d have seen us grab a win. Sure, it’s disappointing to lose, it was a disappointing performance – but to boo the manager’s decision to make a substitution, even if you disagree, is scandalous.

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Issue 114 – 08 February 2010

BallsMania Admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:11:07 +0000

County make it fantastic five… five wins and five clean sheets!
Notts County made it six consecutive away wins and four straight clean sheets in all competition as they battled to a 1-0 victory at struggling Grimsby Town on Saturday. Fresh from a stunning 2-0 win at Premiership side Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup, Notts reverted to the 4-4-2 formation and line-up that saw them run out winners against Barnet by the same scoreline last weekend. This meant Karl Hawley returned to the starting line-up, with Jamie Clapham dropping to the bench for the trip to the side who hadn’t won in nineteen matches and look in serious danger of falling into the Blue Square Premier. The hosts had been able to pick up a few draws recently though courtesy of some new loanees and counted Lee Peacock, Dean Sinclair and Tommy Wright in their line-up.

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Issue 113 – 01 February 2010

BallsMania Admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:27:02 +0000

Forest lose unbeaten run… at Pride Park!
It was written. Football can be as predictable as it is manic, and today’s meltdown has been lurking in the shadows for some time.
A performance that would have satisfied Colin Calderwood only compounded the inevitability. From the first whistle our opponents had the upper hand, and for the first time this season our players were guilty of believing their own publicity.
The net result was arguably the worst performance of the season – and indisputably the worst result.
Nobody can argue that Forest are the superior side, even on today’s evidence, but we have been reminded of our frailty in the face of a side that will not let us play. Whether most Championship opponents will have the resolve to sustain the work rate needed to topple us is another matter. Nonetheless, today’s collapse is a blueprint for future failure.
When our equilaterals are scythed and our wingers are clipped we are as fond as the next team of ‘lumping it’ – and the cap doesn’t fit. Not for a moment did we look capable of winning the game, and not for a moment did an opener for the home side seem anything less than inevitable.

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