Goals Galore!

Nirvana welcomed Sleaford for their first visit to Dakyn Road hoping to bounce back after their defeat last time out against Kempston town.

Thurnby made three changes from the previous Saturday. Lynas king was unavailable and replaced by Shaquille O’Neil at the back and Eddy Samba came in for Will Gonga in midfield who was also unavailable. Ash Day was granted his first start in 4 weeks replacing Potrocinio with Morris moving upfront and Day taking his place on the wing.

Thurnby started the game at a ferocious pace coupled with exceptional quality and were ahead inside four minutes. Good play found Mwanyongo on the right who beat his man and slid the ball across goal with A.Day on hand to smash the ball home. This sparked a period of relentless pressure from Thurnby with their incisive football proving too much for Sleaford. On 15 Minutes they had their second. Briggs was able to win the ball back high up the pitch with an excellent tackle presenting the ball to Canavan who scooped the ball over the Sleaford defence to A.Day the winger miscued his attempted volley however the ball found its way to Melbourne who accepted the gift and dispatched the ball into the back of the net.

Just three minutes later Thurnby had their third. Good play from Thurnby found A.Day in the box who set the ball for Canavan to calmly lob the ball over the keeper into the net. This was no more than Thurnby’s play had deserved up until this point.

At this point it looked as if Thurnby would cruise to victory. However through a mixture of sloppy play and bad decision making gave Sleaford a lifeline. Thurnby gave the ball away in the middle of the park under no pressure as the ball was played through by Sleaford Phillips attempted to play offside only succeeding in allowing Clarke a free run at goal impudently chipping the ball over Flinders to grab his side a lifeline.

Sleaford struck again just 5 minutes later. An attempted pass was easily cut out by a Sleaford midfielder who rolled the ball through to Clarke who again showed great composure to chip the ball over the onrushing flinders.

Half time – Thurnby Nirvana 3 – 2 Sleaford Town.

Thurnby started the second half as they had ended the first and Sleaford were level within a minute of the restart. Millard was allowed to run from midfield unchecked he hit a shot from distance that was going well wide however the ball hit Phillips on the heel wrong footing Flinders and deflecting into the net. This moment of misfortune summed up Phillips’ afternoon as one to forget.

Sleaford were well and truly back in the contest now however they were on level terms for only 3 minutes. Sleaford struggled to clear after some good Thurnby play and Melbourne was on hand to finish for his second of the game.

Thurnby struck again just before the hour mark this goal was all about quality. After keeping possession deep inside their own half a great pass from Flinders found Mwanyongo on the right who played the ball into Morris, interchanging passes with Canavan then laying the ball into the path of Mwanyongo who had continued his run to calmly finish. This was a goal that Mwanyongo’s performance had more than merited.
Thurnby made a double substitution at this point Phillips making way for Jaudach Taylor and Morris replaced by Joel Potter the strikers first outing since his injury lay off.

Having survived Sleaford’s comeback with the score now at 5-3 Thurnby Nirvana should have seen out the game without too many more problems. However they presented Sleaford with a golden opportunity to get themselves back in the game after failing to clear their lines Briggs was adjudged to have fouled the Sleaford attacker in the box with the referee awarding a harsh penalty. The penalty was hit hard towards the top right corner however Flinders was able to produce an outstanding save pushing the ball onto the crossbar.
After this point Thurnby finally put the game to bed. Minutes after the penalty miss good play found Canavan in the Sleaford box, his attempted chip finish rebounding back off the far post with Melbourne again on hand to finish off. This was the strikers 6th goal in 4 games, he can be very pleased with his contribution of late. Melbourne was replaced by Celson Potrocinio.

5 minutes from time Canavan made it 7-3 the midfielders second of the game continuing his remarkable goal scoring form this season.

It’s hard to sum up this game for Nirvana it truly did range from the sublime to the ridiculous. For 60 minutes of the game they were exceptional with quality play running right through the team, unfortunately for the other 30 they bordered on shambolic. At 3-0 they were cruising however a mixture of naivety, complacency and bad decision making allowed their opponents a way back into the game when their seemed none this result should have been more comfortable than even the score line suggests.

Man of the Match: Liam Canavan and Matt Melbourne deserve a mention for their goals and all round play but the award goes to Person Mwanyongo. The winger was a constant threat all game with some pieces of exceptional skill that the Sleaford defence simply could not deal with acuminating with his goal. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his display was the discipline he showed. When others around him decided to over complicate play and wander out of position Mwanyongo kept things simple (ish), kept his width for the team and stuck to his defence duties. An outstanding all round display.

Report by Sean Doy.