Cavaliers Football Club

The first game of the season saw Cavaliers give debuts to 4 new signings, three of them in defence. After a tight start the lads gradually took control of the game and went into the lead from a Bret Wilkins header. More first half pressure followed and at half time Cavs led 3-0. The second half saw Cavs continue to dominate, however Melbourne won a corner and a penatly was awarded to the home side for handball from which they reduced Cavs advantage to 2 goals. A rocky period followed but the lads continued to battle hard and this resulted in a further 3 goal blitz leaving the lads 6-1 winners in a truely gutsy performance. Final score Melbourne 1 Cavs 6. Scorers- Sam 2, Bret, Will, Joe and an OG.

A very tough game against a well organised and hard working Mickleover side. Cavs were not up to the standards of lasty week neither individualy or as a team and fell a goal down half way through the first half. The lads came out for the second half and started to play a bit of football creating several chances but yet again went down to a soft goal presented to Mickleover on a plate. The lads continued to battle and hit the post on two occasions and had a goal ruled out for offside. Chasing the game they conceded two more goals. Three of the Mickleover goals were down to sloppy individual mistakes. Final score Cavs 0 Mickleover Sports 4.

Back to the kind of form the lads showed against Melbourne in the first game of the season. Missing both the captain and a forward, one through illness and the other through injury, the lads showed the strength in the squad as they powered to a good win. They dominated every part of the pitch especially in midfield and took there chances well. Ashley leading the way with a well deserved hat-trick. Dan capped a great midfield performance with two goals and Will got his reward for his constant effort by adding the sixth. Final score Cavs 6 Hilton Harriers 2.

Another great performance from the lads. They dominated the game from the first whistle to the last playing some great passing football. Allestree were restricted to ONE long range free kick as their only shot on goal in the 80 minutes. Excellent play saw Cavs create chance after chance and the score could have been into double figures. The game was won with two hat-tricks one from Sam and one for Dan, one from Lee and a great strike from Ash. Final score Cavs 8 Allestree Raiders 0.

A very disappointing performance after the last two games. The lads did not get the ball down and play a passing game, it was all kick and rush. No composure led to a scrappy but entertaining (for the neutrals) game. If promotion is a realistic ambition this season, then the lads need to play passing football, when they do, they can't beat anyone in this division. Spondon took the lead mid way through the second half and then had chances to add more goals. The lads never lacked effort, but they need to learn quickly that effort is not always enough. Sam equalised 10 minutes from time and from the only occasion he managed to stay onside in the whole game. We could have won it in the dying moments when we Brett hit the bar and had the follow-up cleared off the line. Final score Cavs 1 Spondon Dynamos 1.

The lads started off in similar vain to the Spondon game, playing kick and rush football and in a scrappy first half led 1-0 through a superb left foot shot from Lee. The second half saw the lads play much better football and Brett changed the game with a hat-trick inside 10 minutes. Sam then got in on the scoring with a hat-trick of his own. A good win and three more points away from home. Final score Cavs 7 Ashbourne Aztecs 0.

A tough cup draw at home to Division One leaders Belper Town brought the best out of Cavs this was a determined, tough, gutsy performance and the lads deserved at least a replay. Going one-nil up after a great lob from Sam late in the first half which saw Cavs take the game to the opponents. Belper equalised early in the second half after some scrappy defending. Un-phased the lads battled on and again took the lead with an identical Sam lob after a great midfield through ball. Belper equalised again as the game went from one end to the other. Injury then disrupted the solid performance as first Jake came off injured and then Brett had to come off for treatment, losing one centre half is unlucky, losing both was cruel and whilst Brett got treatment Belper snatched what proved to be the winner. A great display from Cavs. Final score Cavs 2 Belper Town 3.

Another solid performance from the lads. It was a scrappy game but Cavs never looked in any danger taking the lead through a two yard thunderbolt from Will, Sam then added a trade mark lob to send the lads in 2-0 up at half time. A slightly better footballing display in the second half saw Sam hit a free kick into the top corner and then Brett seal the points with a header late on. Final score Cavs 4 St Georges 0.

An excellent battling display. The lads lost heavily 3 times against Ladywood last season conceding 16 goals in all, today was a different story. The lads never looked like conceding a goal keeping their third clean sheet in a row. Dan and Brett ran the game from the centre of midfield with Dan scoring midway through the first half to see Cavs go in 1-0 up at half time. Further excellent football and quality tackling led to Dan adding the second and Will notching his third in three games. A tough niggly end to the game even saw Cavs captain Jake miss a penalty. A totally well deserved victory. Final score Cavs 3 Ladywood Juniors 0.

A mixed display from the lads. They never looked up for the game from the start and poor marking and bad defending saw them go 2-0 down inside the first 20 minutes. The tremendous attitude shown against Ladywood the week before was missing and football gave way to a kick it anywhere mentality. Joe pulled a goal back from the first passing move the boys put together leaving the lads 2-1 down at half time. A much better performance in the second half saw Cavs create plenty of chances but it was left to a well taken Brett penalty 5 minutes from time to earn a point. Two points dropped rather than a point earned. Final score Cavs 2 Littleover Dazzlers 2.

A tremendous game between two of the top three sides in the division. Second placed Melbourne could have increased their lead to 7 points over third placed Cavs with a victory. The game began with both sides trying to gain the upper hand and Cavs took the lead after15 minutes through a good finish from Sam. Melbourne equalised direct from a corner in the windy conditions. Melbourne then took the lead as Cavs watched the ball instead of defending a long throw which we allowed to bounce in our box and a Melbourne player ran on to the loose ball to score. The fact the lads were losing seemed to give the lads more passion and they equalised through Lee after a good passing move, half time Cavs 2 Melbourne 2. Cavs started to dominate early in the second half playing some good football and deservedly took the lead through a Will strike from 6 yards. Melbourne never gave up and equalised again from a superb free kick from 25 yards. A draw looked on the cards as both teams were evenly matched but with 10 minutes left a tremendous turn and strike 20 yards out from Sam won the game for Cavs. Final score Cavs 4 Melbourne Utd 3.

The lads got off to a flying start and the game was effectively over after 7 minutes as Cavs stormed into a 3-0 lead. Goals flew in at the end of some great passing football first from Lee, then a Will header and a strike from Sam. Riverside were allowed a glimmer of hope after the lads tremendous start, however Cavs seemed to think the game was won and switched off for ten minutes and allowed Riverside to score after some sloppy marking from a throw in. Further Cavs goals followed with both Will and Lee adding their second of the game and both even missed chances to complete a first half hat-trick in the most one sided first half of the season finshed with Cavs 5-1 up. It was a tighter second half but the lads never gave Riverside a sniff of a chance and played out the game in comfort. Sam added a sixth with a couple of minutes to go. A really good display from the lads. Final score Cavs 6 Riverside Juniors 1.

Cavs created more chances in this game than any other this season. They went 1-0 up through Brett after 13 minutes and from that point it was one way traffic. Cavs went in at half-time 5-0 to the good following further goals from Sam, Joe, Lee and another from Brett. A sloppy start to the second half saw Hilton pull a goal back from a corner. The lads soon got back in their stride to create chance after chance. More goals were added by Dan and Will before Brett completed his hat-trick (he should have had 6 !!). Final score Cavs 8 Hilton Harriers 1.

After a lay off of over a month it was back to league action for the lads against Littleover who were one the teams that could put pressure on Cavs promotion push. Cavs took command of the game from the first whistle playing some great football with new signing Shay linking up well with Sam up front to create the opening goal with Sam slotting in from wide on the right. The good passing continued and Cavs created chance after chance with Sam adding his second this time cutting in from the left to leave the half time score 2-0. The lads then proceeded to half their usual "dodgy" 10 minute spell straight after half time allowing Dazzlers to pull a goal back after some poor defending. A couple of tactical changes were made and the lads started passing again creating more chances one of which gave Shay a debut goal and seal a tough victory to put the lads top of the table !! Final score Cavs 3 Littleover Dazzlers 1.

A game in which Cavs were looking to not only get the three points but to do there goal difference a bit of good. They started off quite shaky and were second best for the first 10 minutes but a poachers goal from Lee soon settle the lads down and they began to create chance after chance going in at half time 5-0 up after further goals from Dan 2 Ash and Lee adding his second. The second half saw the lads totally over power East Leake adding more goals from Sam with 5 Adam with 2, Joe and Brett. Final Score Cavs 14 East Leake 0.

Cavs needed to win this game to keep the pressure on the chasing pack in division 2. They got off to a great start playing some very good football and were rewarded by taking the lead through a good strike from Sam. The lads continued to play well and took a two goal lead from the strike of the season from Sam from 35 yards into the top corner. Half time 2-1. The second half saw Ladywood battle back into the game and pull a goal back from some sloppy defending. The game then got very physical but the lads continued to battle and keep their cool adding two further goals from Brett and Shay after Ladywood had a player sent-off. Final Score Cavs 4 Ladywood Juniors 1.

This was one of the poorest performances of the season. The lads only played in a 20 minute spell in the first half and then only after they had gone a goal down. Ashbourne had much better of the first 15 minutes and scored a goal when their striker waltzed passed two poor Cavs challenges. This shook the lads into life and they then played some decent football and scored three good goals through Dan, Sam and Lee. The second half display was poor too many players moving out of position and trying to do it all themselves. Dan added a second midway through the half to ensure Cavs got the three points. Final Score Cavs 4 Ashbourne Aztecs 1.

Getting a bit nervous !! With six games to go the lads have put themselves in a great position to take the league title. In today's game nerves seemed to take over and although the lads battled hard at no point did they impose themselves on a much improved St Georges side. In the only bit of class football in a close first half Shay played a great one two with Sam and finished crisply to put the lads one nil up. The second half was much of the same but St Georges up there game and equalised midway through the half. But the lads continued to battle and got the winner through a close range effort from Dan with 10 minutes left. Final Score Cavs 2 St Georges 1.

A game played in gale force winds that spoilt the football from two good teams. The lads played with the wind in the first half and created lots of chances but only managed to convert one which resulted from a strong powerful run from Dan that he finished with class. The second half saw the lads play better football than with the wind at their backs creating several good chances but failing to capitalize on them. A good move was rounded off deep into the second half when a Sam cross was finished from two yards out by Ash. Ilkeston got a penalty in injury time but failed to convert. The highlight of the second half was a tremendous flying save from Warwick. Final Score Cavs 2 Ilkeston Town 0.

Promotion at last !!! With three games to spare the lads clinched promotion to Division 1. A tough game was also in store away at Ilkeston and the referee set the tone early on by banishing Cavs manager to the half way line. This was a game that could of got out of control very easily. Much of the early play was quite even but Cavs soon began to take control and helped by a goalkeeping error took the lead through Shay chasing through to open the scoring. In the next 10 minutes the lads added two further goals from Sam and Lee to go in at half time 3-0 up. All that was needed in the second half was for the lads to keep their cool and finish the job. Ilkeston scored 2 minutes into the second half but Cavs stood their ground and closed the game out to achieve promotion. Final Score Cavs 3 Ilkeston Town 1.

With the lads only needing 2 points to clinch the title the lads chose today to put in one their worst performances of the season. A combination of playing up a considerable slope against a fierce wind a tough Spondon side and their own nerves saw the lads struggle to get out of their own half in the first period going in at half time one-nil down. A slightly better showing in the second half but still way below the standards they have set themselves this season. Two more Spondon goals and some of the boys began to lose their self control, we didn't play like a team today. Several key players were not at their best. Final Score Cavs 0 Spondon Dynamos 3. News later in the day that Ashbourne had held Mickleover to a draw brightened up the day and the lads will now be crowned CHAMPIONS !!

A party mood !! A midweek fixture saw the manager arrive late with only 5 minutes to go to kick-off (Don't worry, he's been fined two weeks wages). The lads had a 20 second warm-up and the game kicked-off, both sides looked even for the first 15 minutes and then Cavs took the lead from a Sam free kick. Poor defending from a corner allowed Riverside an equaliser 10 minutes later. Cavs looked like a side who new there was nothing to play for, half time 1-1. The second half began with the manager ringing the changes making 4 substitutions including taking off our goal keeper, only for him to return 10 minutes later as a central midfield maestro. With the manager missing from the sidelines, Jake (allegedly) added a second although some doubt remains as to who actually scored! Luis hammered home a third from 3 yards after some great work from Ashley who had jetted in from Spain earlier in the day. Riverside pulled a goal back after substitute keeper Lee dived three and a half hours too late. Shay came back on and had his best spell of the game and added a forth after some great individual work. On the final whistle the champagne corks popped and the celebrations began. Final Score Cavs 4 Riverside 2.

A champion performance from the Champions!! Mickleover were for so long this season the serious rivals for the title and today Cavs proved why they have run away with the division 2 title. From the first whistle the lads played some great football, taking the lead half way through the first half with a brilliant turn and finish from Sam theat left the Mickleover defence chasing shadows. The usual dodgy 10 minutes saw Mickleover equalise and that's how it stayed until half time. In the second half Cavs found top gear and played some great football with Shay bagging a hat-trick and Sam knocking in his 32nd goal of the season. Final Score Cavs 5 Mickleover Sports 1.