Boots Athletic 4-0 Underwood Villa (NSL Division 1)

From Nottingham Victoria for a 14.30 or 15.00 kick off get the Rainbow One Trent bus heading for Alfreton at 13.10pm. Get off after Larkfield road on Nottingham Road, Kimberley at 13.35.  Cross to the other side of the road and get the Amberline bus to Hucknall leaving 13.43 and it stops outside Rolls Royce Gate 1 at 13.54. There is a return Amberline bus leaving at 17.09 heading for Derby, get off again on Nottingham Road, Kimberley at 17.19. There is a Rainbow One heading for Nottingham from the other side of the road at 17.24 arriving 17.50.


Boots Athletic had a very successful 2010-11 season, doing the Notts Senior league and cup double. Unfortunately their success came at a heavy price when they lost most of their first team at the end of the season to higher level clubs. The club took the step of requesting a drop to the First Division. Boots Ath are currently 7th in the First Division table one point and two places above Underwood Villa. Boots Athletic have been at the Rolls Royce Ground since the 2009/10 season after they were told to leave the Lady Bay Ground,their home of over fifty years when owners Nottinghamshire CC joined up with Nottingham RFU.


Admission - free. No programme

A walk across the cricket pitch from the excellent Social Club brings you to the football pitch. It has four floodlights and a small stand sited near the corner flag at the far end.There is only hard standing behind that far goal. Metal posts surround the pitch on three sides and temporary rope on the cricket pitch side.

Underwood in Black and white shirts started the brightest and had two corners in the first few minutes. The Underwood team were mostly made up of teenagers and the wingers were looking pacy. But Boots were awarded a penalty around twenty minutes into the game when Underwoods left back was adjudged to have handled in the area. Up stepped Michael Brown to send the keeper the wrong way and score for Boots. The visitors were having problems winning the ball in midfield and Boots were winning all the headers. The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Underwood and they did well to keep the score at 1-0 by half time.

Boots moved up a couple of gears in the second half and Underwood found it hard work defending the never ending attacks. A Michael Brown shot hit the visitors bar on 55 minutes and one minute later Neil Hamed shot from 18 yards and saw it deflect off a defender and fly into the net. The Underwood keeper pulled off a brilliant save from another Michael Brown effort on 63 minutes but Brown scored his second of the game three minutes later when he sidestepped his marker in the area and shot past the keeper. Two minutes from full time Underwood nearly scored when a shot from just inside the area hit the post, the ball came back to an Underwood forward but the Boots keeper was down well to save his shot at goal.Boots came forward once again and a low cross from the right into the area found Neil Hamed who smashed the ball into the roof of the net to give Boots a well deserved 4-0 victory.

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