15th October 2022 Alderney Nomads v Belgrave Wanderers
Kindly sponsored by Leeds VP Ashley Foster
Match report – Priaulx league
Alderney Nomads 0 – 3 Belgrave Wanderers
On a blustery day Alderney welcomed Belgrave Wanderers to the Arsenal ground, the home supporters didn’t get to see them play last season due to Bels struggle to field a team and forfeited the match.
Alderney were awarded the 3 points as a walkover game. The Nomads welcomed back Josh McCulloch for his first appearance of the season and Joe Blackham made the short trip over from Guernsey, both started in an attacking role.
Coach Josh was hoping they would provide a little more fire power as clearly the lack of goals is a concern, now only 3 scored in 5 games.
The home side started the brighter and created early chances and could have easily gone one up in the opening minutes Blackham just saw his shot across the box go inches wide.
But it was Bels that got the early break, an assist by the keeper Le Brun found lively McGrath with his back to goal he turned Concanen and shot beat Carre on the inside of his post 0-1. Walker for the home side had the next decent chance his shot from the outside of the box was just over and didn’t really trouble Le Brun.
Another counter saw McKenzie strike on goal which produced a superb save by Carre parring the ball for a corner. Alderney were playing quite well certainly competitive and looked the better side with Parry winning most of the midfield tussles in the first half. Bels McGrath appeared quite a threat when he was on the ball, and he soon made it 0-2.
The goal came from nothing another Alderney costly mistake Carre passing the ball to the Bels forward who made the most of the gift and placed the ball into the unguarded net. It could have been far worse for the Nomads Cosheril committed a foul inside his box and a penalty was awarded just before half time. Up stepped McGrath to complete his 1st half hattrick, but an excellent save by Carre he read the kick well. McCulloch did find himself in a great position but the crucial pass into the box failed to find an Alderney supporting forward.
Half Time Alderney 0 – 2 Bels
The home support remained hopeful that an early 2nd half goal could turn the game around, but another defensive mix up allowed McGrath to complete his hattrick with a neat back flick, easy pickings 0-3. The 2nd half was a difficult period for the home side as Bels looked to score more and were pretty dominant in midfield now. A disallowed goal for Bels from a corner the header adjudged as an infringement, which seemed fair. Away team chances fell to Foss whose chip should have made it 4 and Trebert came close also his shot was just over from close range.
It was a disappointing half for the Nomads, their outings into Bel’s half were few and far between, not a shot on or off target although Parry, Blackham and McCulloch in particular did run their socks off closing down play at every opportunity. This could be a difficult season for Alderney for their small squad of players, similar issues to last season becoming apparent from the first two home games, defensive mistakes and lack of goal scoring chances.
Attendance 72
Team: Dean Carre, Josh Concanen, Andy Adamson, Tom Cosheril, Liam Connor, Jermaine Parry, Florin Lungu, Josh McCulloch, Joe Blackham, Dante Walker, Owen Carre.
Subs: Andrew Lawrence, Matt Aldcroft
Alderney’s Man of the Match Jermaine Parry, player sponsor Chelsea VP Matt Baker