Nottinghamshire Women's cup final 2017

The most exciting times lie ahead when it comes to the end of the football season, we know what it means dont we? The cup finals. The match where two teams will go head to head for 90, maybe 120 minutes to battle it out for the winners trophy.

This season Radcliffe Olympic Ladies, were lucky enough to be involved for the third year running in the Nottinghamshire women's cup final, against Nottingham Forest Ladies. This game has so much history behind it, which of course only increases the emotion even more, ultimately making it more than just who wears the winner's medals at the end of the game.

The match was played Thursday 27th May, held at Basford UTD's ground. The weather was definitely on our side, maybe a little too much, this obviously then encouraged many local football fans to come down and support both teams and be entertained by a real local derby. Around 300 people attended, so you can imagine the atmosphere of the crowd in ratio with a small ground was pretty amazing, and a pleasure to be involved in.

The game itself, I must admit it was a tough one to play in due to the weather. For the first couple of minutes Forest dominated and tried to show us who was the dominant of this game, however, we, as we always do, took over control after around 20 minutes. Radcliffe were confident on the ball and always looked like we could score when in possession of the ball. However, in the first half we did lack quality on the finishing side, we could definitely of been 3/4 nill up by the time the half time whistle went. But luck wasn't on ourside and it remained 0-0 as we went in for a well deserved break and refreshments.

This is it now, 45 minutes to showcase all that we had worked for within the 2016/17 season, which like most teams, had been full of ups and downs. We came out, straight away taking possession and dominating the game, Forest quite evidently weren't able to play there usual game of football and began to get quite impatient, which of course played in our favour as this meant they were consistently hoofing the ball forward and not really creating any chances for themselves. We were creating chances after chances and both teams new there were only a few minutes left, and there were evidently going to be no goals in the 90 minutes, therefore both teams were preparing for a tiring extra half an hour worth of football!

And then, the cruelty of a game of football struck. We dominanted the game from start to finish, creating numerous amounts of chances, the team in control, always. 90+3 minutes


, Nottingham Forest get a corner. Drilled in to the penalty area, and of course, you know what's coming, a forest player gets her head on the end of it, hits the bottom left side of the back of the net. Heartbreaking. Our heads went down for a split second as any teams would, then we rushed the ball back to the centre spot and tried so hard to get that last second equalisers. The dreaded final whistle was blown, and that was it, it wasn't meant to be. Football can be a very cruel game.

Even though the game didnt end up in our favour, after a few days of being able understand we did all we could and it just wasn't our day. The day was a pleasure to be involved in and it was a fantastic opportunity for Radcliffe Olympic to showcase what our team is about, even though we were the underdogs, every single person who attended that game, and I would say even the Nottingham Forest players would say we deserved to win that day.

That's the way football goes sometimes, we have to dust ourselves off and prepare for the coming season and hopefully be back again next year to claim the title back.

Watch the highlights of the game here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=rDxYfKlfjQI

Up and Down sort of week

Well last week did have it's ups and downs!!!

Teachers v 6th Form match was played last week. It's always fun, challenging and physically demanding. Both sides have really good players, and although we are teachers and students, we have such good friendships, this game allows us to show what good mates we are.

The 'Ground Hopper' was great and so well attended. In fact one of the ground hopper spectators had traveled from Edinburgh to watch the match that I ran the line for this afternoon. He had traveled as he had heard that one of the teams from today was possibly having to join with another team for next season, so this would be their last match - That's passion for the 'Grassroots game.

Tuesday at Kick it Out Womens 'Raise your Game' was amazing, with truly inspirational women giving up their time to help, mentor and assist other women to pursue the jobs they want, in the industry they love.

Wednesday was the County Final. Radcliffe v Nottingham Forest. Nottingham Forest were by far the better team. We just weren't passing as well as we should have been. I was up front with three defenders constantly breathing down my neck. It was unfortunate in the first half as when Forest won the toss they chose very tactically - Our Goalie couldn't see the ball because of the sun shining so brightly and being so low - it was almost like she was trying to catch a cloud. That being said Nottingham Forest, did deserve to win, without a doubt - I was a tad upset!!!!

Thursday sent everything into prospective. My Mum sat down with me to tell me that a close friend had died of cancer. He died on Monday, but because I had a lot on this week it was kept from me until after the county cup.He was a lovely, kind hearted, genuine gentleman. I'm so grateful that I could call him a friend. He fought a hard battle, and smiled to the end - RIP Taff.

Today I refereed the under 16's at Nottingham Forest Academy, versus Stoke. Although Stoke won, I felt that Nottingham were the better team. It was a fast paced match, with clever moves and powerful players on the pitch. One of the Forest players in particular is someone to look out for in the future.

This afternoon I ran the line at Trent University, the home of Unity FC, as they played Bingham. Unity were by far the better team. They should have had three in the first half, but the Bingham Goalie worked really hard. It was a good game, very passionate, very end to end. Unity won 2-1

Today I was also fortunate to be able to watch some of the games of the 'Wheelchair Football' championship.Truly amazing players, truly amazing families and carer's who support the teams. The games were great. I haven't watched them before, but was blown away by the speed and skill of the players. The camaraderie of everyone was wonderful, such a pleasant place to be. I spoke with one of the parents who told me a little more about how involved they are;

• The wheelchairs cost between £6000 and £8000 each
• Due to the number of teams the games require a lot of travelling around the country
• There is often a requirement to stay in hotels each weekend

No one would deny paying out any of the above because it is so important in their lives.The Dad I spoke to did tell me that Manchester City do support their local Wheelchair team and have provided a lot of equipment for them. Maybe all the professional teams should look at supporting fantastic teams like the wheelchair clubs. That would impress me!

Have a look at the link below for an insight into the wheelchair teams

www.thewfa.org.uk/