Northern Premier League Midland Division Tuesday 12 August 2025
A promising omen greeted one on arrival at Cropston Road: the turnstile was manned by three pretty blondes! Did this mean that the Mikes were in for a fortunate evening? So it proved. It being early in the season, and with us experiencing a drought, the usually heavy Anstey pitch was blamelessly smooth. Did this mean we would be treated to an exhibition of classic football? Well, not exactly…
The game started off as it would continue, with Anstey forward Courey Grantham kicked in the head. Did this presage a physically challenging encounter? Well, exactly…Our hosts threatened early, their number eleven Tendai Chitiza passing defenders at will, three shots coming in at the visiting goal within nine minutes…all off target. Was this a sign of things to come? Well, yes…
Despite the temperature (each half had a drinks break) the sky was overcast, and conditions tolerable for the high tempo, scrabbling contest that followed. George Cleet gained a yellow for bringing a threatening home attack to an end by upending an opponent…but no card was handed out when Mikes’ Frankie Ealing was comprehensively cleaned out by Freddie Robinson…after the whistle had gone. Had our referee acted more decisively on this occasion, maybe later contests (we had two mini melees) wouldn’t have resembled twenty or so people wanting to start a fight on an empty pitch. Anyway, with twenty-six minutes gone, a Boldmere breakaway ended with Harry Wakefield threading his way through the middle, neatly rounding Conrad Logan, and scoring what turned out to be the decisive goal. The Nomads had two more scoring chances before the break, but could do no more than hit the bar. Half time: 0-1.
As the second half wore on, the match became dominated by the homesters to a surreal degree. Chances for the Leicestershire men became more and more frequent, frustration on the park and in the home dugout rising as the minutes ticked away. Jacob Fenton, now operating on the right wing, received plenty of good service, and sent across a series of accurate centres; but defence in depth kept either hoofing them away up field, or deflecting them out for yet another corner.
Our officials experienced the kind of calumny (some of it undeserved) that comes their way when things aren’t going well. On the hour, the home attack was spoken to about interfering with keeper Ashton Rinaldo at corners; and indeed, the whistle soon went for just such an offence. Displeased, our Ashton dealt out justice to his assailant. Melee number two! What would result? Our referee took lengthy counsel with his linesman. Eventually, a dropped ball was awarded to our custodian – which was zealously tracked by his opponent. You got the impression they weren’t getting on well! A free kick resulted, and the Mikes emerged punitively unscathed from this incident, but you were reminded of the old Canadian saying, “I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out.”
Anstey brought on substitutes, trying to break the deadlock, as the siege intensified. At times, the Mikes didn’t even bother to keep one man up front, two of their number going down injured following a particularly intense examination. The team for whom things are going well always bring on fewer replacements, and fresh defensive legs, to replace attacking options, were all Boldmere were now looking for.
It wasn’t a pretty Mikes performance; but everyone, from front to back, ran gamely in temperatures above 20 degrees, and sheer determination eventually held out (after eight minutes’ added time) to gain the points.
Anstey Nomads: Conrad Logan; Zachariah McKenzie (Oscar Tonge 76); Daniel Gordon (Brad Wilson 76); Jordan Annable; Lewis Gibbons; Benjamin Humphries; Kyle Tomlin; Freddie Robinson; Courey Grantham (Liam Murphy 79); Jacob Fenton; Tendai Chitiza. Subs. not used: Josh Burniston; Tristan Thomas.
Boldmere St Michaels: Ashton Rinaldo; Frankie Ealing; Jordan Gough; George Cleet; Kyle Burke; Lewis Allison; Kory Burke; Charlie Manners (Freddie Cockerell 90+2); Harry Wakefield; Alex Lock (Kye Bilton 88); Nathan Oyemade. Subs. not used: Zachary Binns; Kaireice Cunningham.