Linby Colliery 4-1 Nottingham United Match Report

A below average performance from Nottingham United saw them to a 4-1 defeat against Linby Colliery.

The game started well for both teams with both Linby and Nottingham United getting an early shot on goal.

Linby then bossed the possession and were passing the ball around neatly and carving out opportunities.

Matt Murphy looked deadly for Linby and forced a good save out of United keeper Nathan Grundy who pushed it out for a corner.

Straight down the other end Dennis Hickey saw his effort cleared off the line.

Linby then had a shot of their own cleared off the line as Martin Burke saw his tame shot being booted away.

Linby soon started to dominate the game as United were giving away possession easily and were getting pushed around.

The domination soon paid off as they earned what can be called a cheap penalty after Lewis had barged into his man.

Up stepped Murphy to put Linby one nil up from 12 yards out.

Linby turned up the heat as Martin Burke nearly grabbed a second but his weak volley was gratefully held by the United keeper.

The closing stages of the first half didn’t help United as they saw two of their players come off with injuries and Murphy grabbed his second goal of the game with a little chip over the keeper.

At half time the score was 2-0 and Nottingham United knew they had to step up their performance to try and salvage some pride and gain something from the match.

All seemed well at the start of the second half as Linby were making mistakes and United were dominating the possession and creating a lot of chances.

The best of the chances came to Jamie Clarke who should have put United back into the game but his shot was straight at Linby goalkeeper Philip McNeill.

Another great chance fell to United to get them back into the game, after a great ball by Lewis, Luke Reynolds controlled well but his volley went wide of the far post.

Unfortunately for United, Linby grabbed the vital third goal. From the left hand side Tom Coupe passed the ball to Murphy. He swivelled his defender and placed his shot into the far corner, grabbing his hat-trick.

United did have a glimmer of hope as debutant Chris Tivey scored with a supreme volley that went in off the post, leaving Linby goalkeeper McNeill stranded.

However, going into the dying embers of the game Barry Payne slid the ball through to Simon Marlow who stabbed the ball home from 10 yards to give Linby a 4-1 lead and the three points.

A disappointing start to February for Nottingham United but they will be focusing on their next game which is at home to Southwell City next week. They will also be hoping that the injuries sustained during the game will heal up in time ready for the next fixture.