Town survive Kirby comeback to stay five clear in seven goal thriller - Match Report & Reaction: NTFC 5 Kirby Muxloe 2

Match report by Matt Jones

Nuneaton Town 5-2 Kirby Muxloe
(Carsley 13, Recci (p) 36, Johnson 45, 90+10, Spruce 90+12 : Jo.Gunn 54, Adams 63)
Attendance: 418
Matchday sponsor: T A P Plumbing and Heating
Match ball sponsor: Darryl Gridley

Nuneaton Town returned to action on Saturday afternoon after a weather enforced two week break. And it was an important match as they took on title rivals Kirby Muxloe at The Oval.

After Sahel Yessen returned to the United States following his successful spell with Town, James Harrison returned to the starting XI and new signing Matt Gardner made the bench.

Nuneaton started strongly and had two early efforts from Aaron Williams and Harrison that went wide and were blocked respectively. Jack Gunn had an effort from distance on 8 minutes which Brandon Bache had little trouble with.

On 12 minutes Aaron Williams won a free kick on the edge of the Kirby box with much complaint from the away side. Callum Carsley stepped up after the delay to curl it into the net via a deflection that left the keeper stranded (1-0).

In the aftermath of the goal Kirby continued their complaints and Josh Gunn was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for dissent.

Nuneaton couldn't take advantage of the temporary extra man as Carsley had an effort in the box that he scooped over.

Gunn returned to the field on 23 minutes, and Stuart Hendrie had an effort deflected wide on 29.

On 36 minutes Aaron Williams was put through on the right and the defender naively brought him down for a penalty. Loyiso Recci stepped up to find the net despite the keeper getting a hand to it (2-0).

On 40 minutes Jack Gunn joined his brother in the book as he made a poor challenge on Somel, perhaps a little lucky not to see red.

With just seconds to go to half time, Danico Johnson was found on the left hand side totally unmarked, and he made no mistake in approaching the goal and slotting into the far corner (3-0).

Half time: Nuneaton Town 3-0 Kirby Muxloe

If Nuneaton were comfortable in the first half, Kirby came out second half looking to improve the scoreline, and they did so within 9 minutes as Josh Gunn pounced at the back post at a corner to head home and reduce the deficit (3-1).

Johnson was booked on the hour mark a little harshly for kicking the ball away, one of the Kirby coaching staff was also booked for their complaints.

On 63 minutes Kirby won a free kick on the edge of the Nuneaton box, and Zakari Adams stepped up to curl it excellently into the top corner and get another one back for his 24th of the season (3-2).

Nuneaton defended the momentum this gave Kirby and rallied themselves. Dominic Perkins sliced wide from Carsley's corner on 65 in Nuneaton's main chance in the following minutes. Kirby continued to look dangerous over the top but the Town centre backs stayed solid.

Louis Baker, Cody Mullan and James Spruce replaced Hendrie, Harrison and Williams on 72, and while Kirby got away with a possible red card in the first half, Mullan possibly got away with just a yellow himself on 80 after leading with his arm in challenging for a header.

With 3 minutes to go of normal time Recci could have eased Town fans nerves but missed a glorious chance after Louis Baker's effort was saved brilliantly by the keeper. And they were nearly punished as Josh Gunn fired inches over on 90 minutes, and then Adams had another free kick in the same place in stoppage time but it was deflected for a corner.

Somehow the referee found over 10 minutes of stoppage time, and Nuneaton used it to their advantage, as in the 10th minute of it Baker managed to flick the ball round the corner to Johnson through on goal and although his effort was saved, it looped upwards and dropped into the net to seal the match (4-2).

With just seconds left Baker picked up the ball on half way, and saw the keeper off his line, he was extremely unlucky to hit the crossbar as the keeper backtracked, but it bounced straight to Spruce who slotted the ball home to add some gloss to the scoreline in what was a very competitive game (5-2).

Full time: Nuneaton Town 5-2 Kirby Muxloe

Team:

Bache, Edwards, Recci, Perkins, Carsley, Currithers, Somel, Williams (Mullan 72), Hendrie (Baker 67), Harrison (Spruce 72), Johnson

Subs:

Spruce, Mullan, Gardner, Baker, Thorpe

REACTION

Joint manager Darren Acton reflected on the match:

'First half I thought we dominated the game, we played very well. They are a very direct team and I thought we dealt with it. As for us going forward I thought we did very well.'

On the strong first half:

'3-0 is one of those leads where they should be out of the game. They got back into the game, got that first goal, and I thought that gave them a bit of momentum going forward. They put us on the back foot for the next 10 minutes or so, and then I thought after that we got control of it again.'

On the way Kirby like to get in behind:

'Yeah they're a direct team, they are good at what they do, but today I thought our two centre halves were unbelievable I thought they dealt with it really well. Our full backs Trev and Carso too. When they got their 2 goals back it gave them a bit of momentum and they were back in the game, but after that I thought it was more us.'

On the two late goals to seal the match:

'We just kept saying to the ref how long(?). He just kept saying 5 minutes, 5 minutes, that 5 minutes seemed like 15, obviously that ended up giving us the two goals! We kept the momentum, even though we wanted them to go to the corner for game management.'

On the cup semi final on Tuesday:

'Yeah semi final, who doesn't want to be in a final, I think it would be great for the fans to go to, wherever it ends up, obviously it's a potential final which would be a great night/day out for the fans. It'd be good for the club, and we're really looking forward to it.'