The two teams started brightly with both teams having chances in the game, Heanor looked like they had forgotten about the previous week’s drubbing at Home to Ilkeston FC. Oliver Naylor came close with a near post shot. Jack Patterson at just 16 made his debut in the Heanor goal and pulled of a couple of quality saves to keep Heanor in the game, however the deadlock was broken by Carlton when a lunge in the penalty box by Ryan Seale resulted in a penalty being awarded to the host’s. 1-0 Carlton. A few minutes later it was 2-0, Heanor pressing the self destruct button and carelessly passing the ball at the back which resulted in Carlton nicking a pass and quickly putting the ball in the net. 2-0 Carlton Town (Half Time)

The second half kicked off and within 3 minutes it was 3-0, Heanor did find some fight and after a foul in the Carlton Town Penalty area they was awarded a Penalty. Oliver Naylor stepped up and calmly placed the ball in the net. Oliver who was probably the best player on the pitch again last night continues to receive the plaudits and deserved his goal for the effort, work rate, and determination he showed once again. Shortly after this goal the flood gates opened, 4,5,6,7 all in the space of 10 minutes saw Heanor go from 3-1 down to 7-1 down. As the game went on heads dropped and the final whistle could not come soon enough. In the end the game ended Carlton Town 9 Vs Heanor Town 1.

Heanor Town Development Squad Coach Ashley Pearson said “The Under 21 League is unforgiving, and we may, as a management team, have under estimated the quality and level of the teams involved in this league. From what I have seen so far most of these teams would do very well in a Eastern Counties League or Central Midlands League, the standard for non league youth football is exceptional. From our point of view we have stuck by our objective which is to give youngsters the chance. Again tonight we had 8 players on the pitch that are under 18, which is great, and we are convinced that some of those will go on to bigger and better things, however we also need to balance this out with some better quality older players, because losing by these margins is not good for morale or development. We accept we are not here to win a league or win a cup, that’s not on our agenda, we want to compete and give teams a game, and at the minute we are not doing that. We will go back to the drawing board this weekend and have a think about how we approach our next game in this particular league but, if anyone who has played at this level or has a good background in a decent standard of football that wants to be tested, then get in touch with us (htfc.apearson@hotmail.com).”