Linby were able to climb to sixth place today following a fiery finish at Church Lane, writes Kieran Booker.
The home side were three goals to the good at half time thanks to an early effort from Lewis Weaver and two late first half goals from Weaver again and Tremere Lindo. The away team got a goal back with twenty minutes to go but Linby wrapped up the points only seconds later with a fourth from Glenn Tolley. The action then took a heated turn late on when Blidworth substitute Tim Gregory was given a straight red for serious foul play.
The home side were able to take control of the match early on as they were ahead with just two minutes on the clock. Linby captain Aidy Harris was able to pick himself up from a challenge to play Tremere Lindo in down the right wing, the winger then fired a ball across to Lewis Weaver who met the ball at the back post for a simple tap-in.
As the first half progressed it became a more equal contest. Blidworth were able to have spells of good possession in which they patiently passed it around the Linby half but without causing any serious threat at the end of it.
Just before the half hour mark Max Curzon was able to play a great ball across from the left which was met by Harry Bircumshaw, the Mansfield loanee was unfortunate to see his effort cleared off the line by the Linby defence.
Aidy Harris nearly grabbed himself a fantastic goal after 36 minutes. The energetic captain chased a ball down before cleverly flicking it over Blidworth keeper Dale Sheppard, his follow up shot was then cleared off the line by defender Jacob Lowe.
His side did double their lead three minutes later though. This time it was Lewis Weaver who was able to race down the left side, he burst towards the box and slid the ball past Sheppard and towards goal where it was put away by Tremere Lindo.
The third goal came just before the break and was similar to the first. Aidy Harris bombed down the right wing before accurately finding Lewis Weaver who had raced towards the back post where he calmly slotted home.
Gareth Curtis had the first chance of the second half as his team went in search of a response. His side were able to make a mazy run into the Linby box before the ball fell to the feet of Curtis who could only see his effort fly wide.
Lewis Weaver had two great chances to grab his first Linby hat-trick. On the hour mark he was able to pick the ball up in his own half before outpacing his man, he drove deep into the Blidworth half before firing a shot across goal and out. He had another similar effort two minutes later when he received the ball near the box but again he could only shoot across goal and out.
Blidworth gave themselves a small glimpse of hope in the 69th minute when they got a consolation goal. They caught Linby napping when they played a short corner, the ball was eventually put into the box where it was buried by Gareth Curtis.
Those hopes were tarnished less than two minutes later. Aidy Harris stormed forward down the right side and was unlucky to see his effort cannon off the Blidworth post, the ball fell to Glenn Tolley who had the simple job of blasting the ball home from close range.
Things took a sour turn with five minutes to go when Blidworth substitute Tim Gregory scythed down Aidy Harris with a bad tackle. The referee had no choice but to give him an immediate red card for serious foul play. It was the first in a chain of incidents that the Blidworth bench didn’t agree with and they made their objections clear to the referee for the remainder of the game as well as talking to him after the match.
The home side nearly grabbed themselves a fifth in injury time when defender Steve Johnson-Fikula roamed forward and beat his man on the by-line before playing it across to substitute Joshua Brentnall who saw his shot fly inches wide from a close distance.
After the match Linby manager Lewis Saxby said “That was possibly one of our better performances of the season so far. We got the job done on a difficult pitch.” He went on to say “I could;t really single out a man of the match today as all of the lads were different class, if we play like that every week then we give ourselves a real chance against any team in this league.”
