New Year starts with a whimper

Nostell suffered post-Christmas blues when they slumped to defeat by Maltby Main in their first game of 2009.

Despite the fact that they came out of the blocks brightly, they soon faltered to allow the visitors an early goal.

And as it turned out, Sean Lee’s 22nd minute strike proved to be the winner despite Nostell rallying after the break.

A frantic opening saw balls punted high and long with both teams eager to register points.

But despite their best endeavours, it soon became clear that Miners urgently needed cohesion in their ranks to gain offensive advantage over their opponents.

Main were quick on the break and more identifiable as a unit.

Nostell on the other hand, found themselves sitting far too deep to make any real impression in front of goal.

Players were being stretched out of position and there wasn’t a sense of collective culpability that has been Nostell’s back-bone in previous outings.

Craig Stephens worked hard chasing loose balls and came close on 20 minutes when he intercepted just outside the penalty area.

But his shot sailed the wrong side of the upright.

Sam Dobbs then kept Miners in the game when he pulled off a magnificent shot-stopper from the South Yorkshire side’s Scott Somerville.

In the second half, Tom Thornton continued to cover ground in midfield in his efforts to hold the game together.

And Toby Rutter was a steadying influence in defence generating intelligent clearances to try and force Nostell further up field.

But in general, there were too many individuals who looked jaded and lacking enthusiasm to make any real difference as time marched on.

Stephens again made his presence felt with two purposeful free-kicks that were both saved by Maltby keeper Jamie Bailey.

The first was tipped over the bar and the second, from the edge of the box, was comfortably collected much to the disappointed of the Nostell faithful.

The one bright note on a rather dismal afternoon was the return of long-term casualty Neil Beardsmore.

The wide man has been out for the best part of three months following a hernia operation but made his long-awaited comeback as substitute coming on for Gareth North late in the second half.

That apart, there was not much else to shout about and Miners can only hope that their next outing against Bridlington on Tuesday night brings a little more cheer.