Archived News from October 2008
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FTYBR FC: BIRD ON SONG AS FOREST ARE FELLED
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BIRD ON SONG AS FOREST ARE FELLED
04 October 2008 Nottingham Forest 2 FTYBR FC (Mansfield Town) 3 Goals Forest, Wardle, Chambers. Mansfield, J Bird x 2, R Allsop. FTYBR FC recorded their 3rd straight IFA win with an impressive 3-2 win away at near neighbours, Nottingham Forest. The Stags Supporters side had never previously beaten Forest, who are one of the strongest teams in the IFA, making the result even more pleasing. The game was played in Long Eaton with a 10-45 kick off in cold and windy conditions, but to both sides credit plenty of quality football was on show. Manager Steve Hartshorn was forced into several changes due to the unavailability of several players. Centre back, Jonathan Rowe being picked to play up front alongside, James Bird, with James Brunt moving to centre half and Wayne Sharpe in at left back. Ady Coupe slotted into his usual right back birth while Drew Stokes and Rob Allsop were in wide midfield position with the experienced duo of Dave Baxter and Daz Plume in the centre. Ricky Okon between the sticks. Right from the start the Mansfield side never let Forest settle. The Nottingham side are known for their good passing game, but were never allowed to dominate. Indeed the pace in the Mansfield side was to cause problems to the Forest back four the whole game. Dave Baxter and Daz Plume were winning the midfield battle, but the Forest defence were holding firm, until that is a fine through ball saw James Bird race through. When the ball was played, Jono Rowe was clearly in an offside position, but as the Referee clearly pointed out, not interfering with play. 'Birdie' ran onto to confidently go round the goalkeeper and slot the ball home, despite desperate attempts to clear the ball from the line by a frustrated Forest defence who complained at length to the Referee, who amazed everyone by shaking his head, and lighting a fag! 1-0 to Mansfield. Tensions were a little high by this time. Forest are not a side used to going behind and to be fair, scored a very well worked equaliser not long after. The move saw the ball move smoothly out onto the Forest left, were more neat passing resulted in a fine ball across the face of the Mansfield defence. James Brown caught his studs in the grass, providing enough space for Chris Wardle to nip in and slot the ball into the net, giving Ricky Okon in goal, no chance whatsoever. There were a few scares at both ends before the Referee finally decided to blow the whistle for half time. The 2nd half saw both sides create a number of chances, however, the side that put most of those chances away were the team from Mansfield. The first saw James Bird nip in between two Forest defenders and scoop a shot towards goal. The ball took a definite deflection from one of the Forest defenders, but would have gone in anyway. 2-1 to the Stags. Daz Plume was rolling back the years and skilfully dominating the centre of midfield. He even had several opportunities to let go from distance, giving the Forest keeper a bit of a twitchy rectum. The 3rd and game killing goal came about when Rob Allsop was played in by yet another fine ball. Rob had the time and ability to confidently slot the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net. It was no more than the Mansfield side deserved. 3-1 to the Country boys against the big City fellows. Manager, Steve Hartshorn was clearly in dreamland. “I've never hidden my feelings about Forest. It's a big thing from my childhood. Most kids on my Council estate supported Stags… Only the posh kids supported Forest. They were bragging off about visiting Austria to watch Forest take on Sturm Graz, we were talking about venturing into Kent to watch Stags take on Gillingham. I guess it's a class thing. I was once given a Forest hat and scarf for a Christmas prezzie. Well I waited until my old man had fallen asleep after Christmas dinner and sneaked out to the bottom of the garden and buried them. They turned up a few years later wrapped around some carrots. So you can se why I was so pleased to be leading 3-1?” The Stags side had opportunities of extending their lead; Forest had chances to crawl back the deficit. The Referee in the meantime had changed. The new official obviously thinking that a half of football lasts 54 minutes because that is how long he played before Paul Chambers hammered a second for Forest. The last kick of the game. It was the first time that FTYBR FC had beaten Forest, and clearly each and every player was delighted. Shame that the afternoon ended in misery for both sets of fans, Stags losing to Woking, Forest finding their level by hitting the bottom of the championship with a 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace. Shame. Team line up. Ricky Okon, Ady Coupe, Wayne Sharp, Daz Plume, James Brown, James Brunt, Rob Allsop, James bird, Jonathan Rowe, Dave Baxter, Drew Stokes, Gary Bird, Michael Scothron, Callum Pinnick, Keith Gilbert, Martin Clark, Lee Truman. FTYBR FC Man of the match – Daz Plume. Rolled back the years with a masterful midfield display. Rob Allsop 
James Bird 
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