Quorn on top in five goal thriller

MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE HEANOR TOWN 2 QUORN 3 QUORN were without skipper Leavi Oshungbure for the short trip to Heanor, Jimmy Brooks was still not over his illness and Rob Mulonga and Suleiman Nassor were also unavailable, leaving Quorn’s small squad down to the bare bones.

Quorn were grateful to Ibrahim Kagbanda for making the trip down from London on the train to stand in for Oshungbure in a straight swop at right back. Thanks also go to James Langridge, who turned out to sit on the bench at short notice.

Still smarting after Saturday’s disappointing defeat to third place Khalsa, Quorn faced a Heanor side looking to cement a top six place after three wins on the spin had given them a lift.

Quorn carried on from the second half performance on Saturday and took an early lead, Nick Goold tried a 1-2 with James Hicks that didn’t come off but was grateful when the ball came back to him via a defender and gleefully fired past home keeper Joe McCormack from just inside the box.

Quorn stunned the home side by adding a second inside six minutes, Kagbanda forcing the error, allowing Nathan Dale to slip the ball to Callum Thompson who created the space before curling the ball beyond McCormack’s reach.

The home side pulled one back after 15 minutes, a sloppy error in midfield saw Quorn give the ball away and Heanor swiftly broke for Jay Cooper to calmly took home past Taylor McMillan.

Heanor were looking to get back on level terms but Quorn silenced the home supporters briefly with a third goal just before the half hour mark, neat play by Dale saw him feed the ball to Thompson, nothing looked on but the midfielder unleashed a tremendous 35-yard strike that flew past the despairing dive of McCormack into the top corner.

The second half was a bit flat with neither side really committing to all-out attack and it turned into a bit of a stalemate until the 75th minute, Kagbanda again involved, the youngster curling a superb left foot cross that Hicks met on the volley and only a brilliant reflex save by McCormack preventing his side going three behind.

With the clock ticking, the home side picked up the pace and Cooper was denied by the woodwork after a superb piece of skill saw the number 11 volley a tremendous effort on the turn, from a ball played up to him at pace.

In the 82nd minute, the home side pulled a goal back, a rare defensive lapse saw Josh Craddock advance unchallenged into the box before firing past McMillan.

The expected grand stand finish in the final 10 minutes didn’t materialise and Quorn held on to take all three points.