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As 2002 begins, teams in the MAA and other in other competitions
begin to look at their league position and evaluate how
well their season is going.
For Nottinghamshire FC, there is plenty still to play for.
The Ones have battled their way through four hours of tough
cup football and find themselves in the Senior Cup Semi
Final once again. They will be up against the talented Trent
University side in the semis, but having disposed of two
good sides already there is no doubt that Notts have the
ability and determination to win cup ties against teams
like this.
Any side that is 3-1 down with 15 minutes left and can
come back to win in extra time deserves great credit and
no little respect. Trent University will underestimate Notts
at their peril.
Joining them in the semi finals will be Notts Threes who
showed great battling qualities themselves in taking Old
Elizabethans to extra time and penalties at their home ground
which is always a really tough place to go and win.
This result is particularly impressive as the threes had
lost 0-1 and 0-6 to the same side already this season, the
one goal defeat happening just a week before!
The demands of cup football, the need for extra time on
occasions and the heavy pitches that occur at this time
of year can be strength sapping to the fittest of players.
Therefore the need for players to maintain their fitness
is very high. The players who attend training regularly
are the ones who will give their team every chance of walking
away with some silverware this season.
Both the Ones and Threes got through extra time in their
cup matches and maintained their fitness. Certainly the
first team grew in strength the longer their cup tie went
on and could (and perhaps should) have won more comfortably
in the extra period.
Remember training isn't just about fitness. It is also
an opportunity to work on your skills and develop understanding
between players.
The only disappoint in the quarter finals was the narrow
defeat by Notts Reserves. Christmas came at a bad time for
the Twos. Their seven match winning streak came to an end
because they had not played for almost a month and they
were rusty and disjointed.
They remain in the top three in Division One and have
benefitted greatly from the withdrawal from the league of
Ilkeston Rangers as the teams that beat Ilkeston have had
those wins wiped from their record. As the Twos had yet
to play Ilkeston they gained ground on just about every
team!
If the Twos want to maintain their league position they
will have to recover their pre Christmas form quickly as
they have some tough fixtures ahead including two games
against the current unbeaten leaders Bracken Park.
So there is still much to play for this season. The next
two months will go a long way in deciding how successful
a club we are going to be this season.
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