Heils Bakery Crusaders 0 Norton Athletic Vets 3

Norton rise at the Bakery

Due to matches being called off, Norton’s last game was also against Heils Bakery. So given that Norton won the previous encounter and were strengthened with the return of Paul R and Jon G at centre back, Norton were the clear favourites.

Norton started positively and were winning a lot of the early battles, keeping the ball well and using the full width of the pitch. Aaron H having a lot of success out on the right and Nigel DS making some good runs up top. Glen W was also attracting some special attention, earning some free kicks high up the pitch, one of which was won just outside the box. Danny H’s quick thinking played in Aaron H while the wall was still lining up, and he was able to take a touch and fire his shot across goal and into the back of the net. 1-0 Norton.

Norton continued to dominate for the first half an hour, restricting Heil’s to only a few half chances and looking dangerous going forward. Heil’s dug in for the last 15mins of the half for their best spell of the game, camped in Norton’s half they were unable to get the goal they needed, with Barry C being well positioned to meet all their shots. Norton did have the best chance of the half though when Craig A beat the defence with his pace, only to be caught out with a bobble, and not get a decent strike away.

Norton came off at half time with confidence, while one of the Heils Bakery players walked away from the game with an unforgivable display of language in front of young children by the pitch, which is thankfully rarely seen in Veterans football.

Second half started more evenly, although Norton were winning more of the 50/50s and keeping the ball better, Heils were attacking in groups and getting closer to Norton’s goal. However Norton scored a second well worked goal, Danny H involved again linking up well with Craig A down the left for Craig to cross, and Nigel DS with an excellent header to put Norton 2-0 up. Then in the later stages Scott Y’s corner was met by Craig A to head across the line at the near post and any doubts of whether it crossed the line were academic when Rich H blasted it into the roof of the net. Norton win 3-0, in an enjoyable game.

Barry C - 8 - Was equal to everything that Heils threw at him.
Scott Y - 8 - Another good performance, mainly defensively, but did set up the 3rd goal.
Paul R - 9 - Excellent at the back, keeping their danger man at bay with only a few half chances from range.
Jon G - 9 - Paired up well at Centre back, looked very solid
Stuart T - 8 - Continues with his consistent performances, kept his head well in tight situations
Aaron H - 8 - Scored Norton’s first goal, got into some good positions out wide and won the ball back high up the pitch on several occasions.
Danny H - 9 - Involved in a lot of Norton’s best moves including Norton’s first two goals. Great ball possession. Man of the Match.
Chris B - 8 - Linked up well down the left, covered a lot of ground.
Steve W - 8 - A more defensive display this week, but still made some late surging runs to cause the opposition to panic.
Rich M - 8 - A good busy performance, covered a lot of ground, always offering himself up as an easy option.
Rich H - 8 - More familiar display from him, with plenty of effort and still getting into the box right up to the last minute.
Craig A - 8 - Good effort as always, should have scored in the first half, set up the second and scored Norton’s third.
Nigel DS - 8 - Some nice quality play from Nigel, dropping deep and making runs into the corners, keeping the ball well high up the pitch, and a very well taken goal.
Glen W - 8 - Was a real handful for their defence, didn’t get on the score sheet, but one some good headers.