Heanor and New Mills are very much having contrasting seasons. Heanor would be top of the Midland Football League Premier Division if it wasn't for the presence in their league of the phoenix club of Hereford United whereas New Mills are already pretty much consigned to relegation from the Northern Premier League Division One North with their league record of played 18, lost 18.
At the ground I met up with a fellow Ram and we enjoyed a Guinness in the club bar before kick-off; a pleasant facility showing Sky Sports and containing a number of folk playing cards and darts, some of which weren’t bothered with watching the Derbyshire Cup game at all.
As kick-off approached I mentioned to my companion that I had to introduce myself to a New Mills official as he had brought down a club scarf for me. In 2014 I toured Derbyshire watching all the teams that play in the top eight tiers of English football. As part of this little challenge I bought a club scarf as a momento, the only team’s scarf missing at that time being New Mills’ as they had sold out when I had visited them.
The New Mills staff were a friendly group and they told us of how the club had struggled with finances, team managers and losing players to teams who would pay more. It was sad to hear this as New Mills is such a lovely little club, but this explained their current league position.
Heanor, The Lions, seem to be taking this competition seriously. They put out a strong team whereas the Millers gave some new players a chance to impress. The result was as expected. The skill and physicality of The Lions, which had previously impressed me the two times I had seen them, also impressed my companion, a novice non-league football fan.
The Lions roared and were three goals to the good by half-time. The goals came from Cooper, who rounded the keeper and blasted the ball into the top corner, Bettney, whose deflected free kick from 19 yards left the keeper stranded and from Debrouwer, with a close range effort provided by a deep ball from the right and a calm header back across goal from Cooper.
New Mills introduced some more established players in the second-half and made a better fist of it. Midway through the second-half however the newly introduced keeper fumbled his control and attempted clearance and presented an easy chance to Cooper who tapped the ball into the empty net in showboat style.
Myself and my companion willed The Millers to get a consolation but the closest they came was from a mazy run and a good shot which struck the post.
So, with Heanor’s 4:0 win, I am following The Lions into the quarter-finals.
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