Boldmere St Michaels 5 Carlton Town 0
Northern Premier League Midland Division Tuesday 11 August 2026
After the satisfaction of winning at Gresley Rovers on Saturday despite a disappointing performance the Mikes put on a display to be proud of by dismantling our Nottinghamshire visitors. There were three changes to the starting line up Danny O’Callaghan (Holiday) and Taylor Townsend (minor operation) were replaced by Nathan Allison and Kyle Byrne whilst Maxwell Ngebeken-Itota was preferred to Jack Burgess.
After scoring three in the final seven minutes at The Moat Ground, Boldmere were two goals to the good in the first four minutes. Firstly Ngebeken-Itota dispossessed Dean Freeman down the left and curled a lovely shot into the net leaving Dan Jezeph no chance of saving. It got better moments later, a flurry of activity in the Carlton penalty area was half cleared. Connor Armstrong was fouled just outside the box and after debate with Kyle Byrne he fired the second through a disjointed wall into the back of the net.
The visitors’ attacks were sporadic and the Mikes back four plus keeper Jack Gibbs stood firm and blotted out any potential danger. John Atherton could have or maybe should put the Mikes three ahead. On a solo break, he side stepped Jezeph before being unceremoniously barged to the ground. It looked a stonewall penalty but referee Conde thought otherwise. Not that it bothered Atherton, minutes later he popped up on the left before crossing to Kyle Byrne who nodded home from eight yards.
The Mikes were in cruise control before their hairiest moment of the half minutes before the half time whistle, a right-wing corner led to an almighty goalmouth melee before Gibbs gathered amidst a mass of bodies. A foul was awarded to the custodian and the danger cleared.
Carlton made two substitutions at the break Oliver Clark replacing Liam Bateman and Alfie Coe-Flynn replacing his double-barrelled colleague Shea Thompson-Harris. One assumes after a half time dressing down Carlton came out hoping to redress the balance of the game. Indeed, for the first twenty-five minutes of the second period a glut of corners, free kicks and multiple long throws from Lewis Durow saw the Mikes put up a sterling defensive display. Keeper Gibbs was barely troubled although he would have been pleased to see a long-range effort from Khye Sargent whistle inches over the bar.
The impetus of the game turned when all five of the Boldmere substitutes were used in the last quarter. Collectively they had a greater impact than Town’s late flurry of replacements. To put icing on the cake Niall Davie scored a bizarre own goal from distance. Tolani Omotola went to challenge Jezeph both missed the ball and it ran into the unguarded goal before Omotola completed the rout firing home after collecting Pedro Lima’s headed clearance.
On paper an emphatic result against last season’s would be champions. One swallow doesn’t make a summer but no doubt manager Ben Roberts slept easily on Tuesday night.
Boldmere St Micaels: Jack Gibbs, Nathan Allison (Frankie Ealing 75), Jack Lynch, Aris Christophorou, Pedro Lima, Connor Armstrong, Maxwell Ngebeken-Itota (Brad Mansell 70), Fraser Doyle (Jack Burgess 75), James O’Neill (Tolani Omotola 81), Kyle Byrne, John Atherton (Jaiy Leydon 79)
Carlton Town: Dan Jezeph, Shea Thompson-Harris, (Alfie Coe-Flynn 72), Lewis Durow, Liam Bateman (Oliver Clark 46), Dean Freeman, Nathan Watson, Niall Hylon (Niall Davie 68), Jack Thomas (Jason Law 72), Ashley Chambers, Khyle Sargent, Sam Tomlinson (Abdul Rasheed-Bakare)