By Kieran Booker 

Linby kept up their unbeaten start at home when they managed to come from behind to beat Sherwood Colliery 2-1 yesterday. Second half goals from Will Horton and Matt Murphy cancelled out Jamie York’s first half opener. It was a rainy affair at Church Lane as a muggy first half turned into a complete downpour for much of the second.

The game’s first real chance fell to the home side with captain Aidy Harris volleying just over after only three minutes. The early stages was an equal affair with neither side creating many clear cut chances. A Matt Murphy free kick lead to Sherwood’s keeper having to make a save before Linby saw their rebound blazed over whereas up the other end a Sherwood break away only resulted in a pulled back shot being fired wide.

As the first half drew on Sherwood started to get themselves on top and even hit the post. Soon after they took the lead. The opener came from a well worked move from Sherwood, they managed some clever link up play before Jamie York’s strong finish past Glenn Guyatt in the Linby net.

The away side nearly got themselves a second with ten minutes of the first half remaining when more smart passing lead to them getting a shot away but luckily Linby held on. The home side had to face more pressure before the end of the half as Sherwood held the ball for long periods but Lewis Saxby would have been happy his side had kept the deficit down going into the break.

Sherwood came out for the second half much like the first with Glenn Guyatt being forced to make a number of saves. Firstly, he got down well to react to a shot through a crowd of bodies before minutes later having to tip another shot.

These misses cost Sherwood though as only seconds after that save Linby were level. Will Horton showed great composure to calmly put the ball away after being played through by his captain Aidy Harris. Sherwood had a great chance to immediately retake the lead but they wasted the chance.

The winner came for Linby with 12 minutes remaining. Matt Murphy was able to replicate his great volleying ability from the Pinxton game when he smashed the ball home from 14 yards into the bottom corner after Jonathan Jenkinson had headed a deep free kick aimed at the back post into his path.

The main issue the club have had this season has been holding onto leads so supporters would have been nervous as the Linby defence had to face an onslaught of Sherwood attacks following that goal. Luckily for Lewis Saxby his team were able to see the game out and pick up an important three points ahead of Monday’s local derby against Hucknall.

After the game Linby’s manager Saxby said “The boys have shown real character today to not only fight their way back into the game but to hold on too. We’ve thrown points away before today but today we have done well against a top, top team. I’m also impressed with how the boys have reacted to having long periods without possession, its always difficult to not have control for long periods especially at home but they showed real patience and structure.”