Boxing day in the 7th tier of English football saw Basford United travel to Sandy Lane, the home of high-flying Worksop Town.
Sandy Lane is a great non-league ground and has obviously had a lot of investment put into it. It’s new clubhouse, which has an impressive bar for fans, is adorned with a large digital scoreboard. The largest seated stand, and perhaps the oldest structure at the ground is the large main stand that goes along the side of the pitch opposite the dugouts.
The first half saw little attacking action, with neither side really having a clear-cut chance until, late on in the half, Worksop’s Luke Hall was tripped in the area and was awarded a penalty. Hall struck the penalty hard and low at the bottom left corner but Basford’s ‘keeper Kieran Preston was able to pull off a fantastic save to keep the scores level going into half time.
The standout player for Worksop in the first half was defender and captain Hamza Bencherif who was dominant in the air and precise with his tackles, he did well to stop Basford picking up any momentum as they tried to string together attacks.
The second half saw more action, however. Basford, who sit in the relegation zone sat back a little further than they did before the break allowing Worksop some more time on the ball. The Tigers were not able to break the deadlock for a long stretch of the match though, suffering from a series of miscalculated crosses and wayward passes.
The match featured a Football League legend in the second half with the substitute appearance of Nathan Tyson. The 41-year-old former Nottingham Forest, Derby County and Chesterfield forward signed for Basford this month and showed that he isn’t finished just yet. He injected some real class and energy into a wavering Basford side.
As the match edged closer to full time it suddenly all came to life and in the 90th minute the deadlock was finally broken. In the Basford box the ball was at the feet of substitute Liam Hughes who controlled it brilliantly and showed off some great footwork. Hughes weaved the ball past a couple of Basford defenders, and fired a shot across the face of goal that was poked home at the back post by Jay Rollins.
This, however, was not taken well by Basford’s management team, a spat that became a tussle devolved into a 22-man squabble as Basford’s manager decided it was the best time to share some choice words with the home side’s dugout. Players from both teams came to defend their side but it was Basford who were worse off for it with a red card and a yellow shown to their management team.
The match had one last twist before the final whistle, not content with a late winner and a sending off. Shortly after the match restarted Basford captain Kieran Fenton unleashed a fantastic shot from long range. Fenton’s effort rose the whole way and was going in the top corner until Worksop’s Polish ‘keeper Sebastian Malkowski pulled off the best save of the night with an outstretched arm. This great save didn’t extinguish the danger however, and as the ball fell above the sprawled Malkowski the ‘keeper had to swat at it and grab at it to stop it going over the line. If it did cross the line I wouldn’t know, despite protestation from the Basford players the referee said ‘no goal’ and blew his whistle shortly after.
This is exactly the sort of result that separates teams at the top and teams at the bottom. A team isn’t going to win every match 5-0 no matter how good they are. What makes success is games like that, the games where you don’t play well, the games where perhaps you just need one moment of magic, the games where you’re able to show the resolve and determination that makes the difference between winners and losers.
If Worksop are able to pull off more results like those, they may find themselves in the Vanarama North next season, but even if that doesn’t happen just yet I think the future is bright at Sandy Lane. A great ground and a side with grit and resolve, Worksop could be onto something.
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