Ferrari FC

FERRARI 2-4 WHITWICK UNITED

Saturday 17th December 2011

North Leicestershire League Cobbin Trophy 3rd Round

Towles Playing Field, Burton on the Wolds

The original plan was to head down to Cheltenham to catch up with a mate of mine Colin Buchanan and watch a game within an hour’s drive of his house, but Cheltenham Town were handed a plum FA Cup 3^rd Round tie @ Tottenham Hotspur on January 7^th and we have arranged to meet up then. Now it was a case of seeing if any fixtures caught my attention in either the Leicester & District League or North Leicestershire League. To be fair there were numerous ones that did and it was a case of deciding which one to go for.

My mum's other half Dave Todd agreed to come and watch this pre-Christmas cup tie a few miles east of Loughborough and, having picked him up from Thurmaston made the short drive to Burton. When arriving in the village we drove past the playing fields to make sure there were no problems, and with the players putting the nets up we made then headed to the Greyhound Inn in the centre of the village for pre-match liquid refreshment. This was a pub that neither of of us had ever been to before and we were impressed with it. It is part of the Everards chain and had several real ales on tap as well as the usual non-descript lagers. A pint of Sleigh Bell went down very well.

Ferrari FC were formed in 2007 and joined the North Leicestershire League (NLL) the same year. They are a Shepshed based club and originally played at Hind Leys School, but due to an increase in match fees moved out to Burton two seasons ago.  The club's record since joining the NLL is as follows:

SEASON	COMPETITION	PL	W	D	L	F	A	PTS	POS
2007/08	N LEIC-4	22	12	1	9	56	57	37	5TH
2008/09	N LEIC-4	22	13	4	5	68	53	43	3RD
2009/10	N LEIC-3	22	10	2	10	59	69	32	6TH
2010/11	N LEIC-3	20	7	1	12	49	59	22	8TH

The reason this fixture was chosen was due to two reasons. Firstly the 1.30pm kick-off, and secondly yours truly had seen games at Greenhill and Belton Villa in the previous two rounds of this competition and enjoyed them both. This fixture pitted division 3 Ferrari (who went into this game with a 100% league records) against division 1 Whitwick United who sit in a mid-table position. Despite it being the 3rd round the two teams had only played one match between them in the competition so far. Round 1 saw Ferrari have a walkover against Coalville Colliers and Whitwick had a bye. In round 2 Ferrari produced the upset of the round winning 3-2 @ premier division side Sileby Victoria while Whitwick had a walkover against Asfordby Village.

The game was one that saw the visitors have the better of the proceedings for the majority of the game and created more chances in 90 minutes of football than you will see in several other games combined. If they had had their shooting boots on or had a bit more composure they could have hit double figures. To be fair to the home side they stuck at it and took the lead on 25 minutes. A free kick was missed by the home defence and John Bowles  finished into the corner of the goal from twelve yards out. Two goals in the final couple of minutes of the half saw the game turn in the visitors favour. A break down the left saw a perfectly waited low cross to the far post which allowed Graham Hutchinson to beat the Ferrari keeper at his near post. In stoppage time at the end of the half Hutchinson crossed from the right and Jamie Holmes headed in at the far post. The second half was a similar affair to the first with the visitors looking the better side. Again though it was the home side that scored first and levelled up the proceedings. Matt Griffin with the finish following a well worked move and cross from the left. Whitwick only had to wait three minutes to restore their lead as Hutchinson got his second of the afternoon with a twenty five lob over the keeper. Chances kept coming and with seven minutes remaining of the ninety Hutchinson completed his hat-trick. The referee played about ten minutes of stoppage time due to a nasty injury. One of the Ferrari players was on the ground when an stray boot from Hutchinson caught him between his nose and left eye. From my point of view it appeared innocuous with the home players not making an issue of it. Even in stoppage time more chances were wasted by Whitwick.

To sum up - another enjoyable game in this competition that was played on a heavy pitch in dull and at times during the first half wet conditions.

Admission / programme: none

Attendance: 6

Entertainment rating: 8 out of 10

A slideshow of some photos taken during the game can be viewed below: