League

Cottingham Stadium
Spectators: 6734 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1734, VIP seats: 0) Telford AFC's Larbi Messaoudi started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. If Aziz Bahari had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 3rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. When Aziz Bahari came up free with the goalie in the 16th minute, the Cottingham City fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Aziz Bahari couldn't finish the play. Telford AFC's Larbi Messaoudi got a good chance for a goal in the 19th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Chérif Sahnouni fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 21st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Abdel Bridji having to interfere. After 23 minutes, Beddis Belmellat mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Cottingham City and the Telford AFC players grew even worse after the yellow card. A collision led to Cottingham City getting a freekick after 23 minutes play. Beddis Belmellat hit a great ball. The supporters of Telford AFC booed when Cottingham City was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 24 match minutes in a wonderful position. Taha Harkat didn't get a good kick on the ball. A hard shot 27 in the game by Taha Harkat from a close distance when the talented Djallel Djenoui managed to make a qualified save. Telford AFC's players were relieved. In the 30th minute the ball was on its way in behind Cottingham City's goalkeeper Abdel Bridji, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. 32 minutes into the match, Telford AFC's Chérif Sahnouni sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Abdel Bridji narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Chérif Sahnouni sent away a hard shot on goal in the 34th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Abdel Bridji didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Chérif Sahnouni went, in the 39th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-2 was the resulting score. Thanks to some nice moves Taha Harkat could shoot a difficult shot in the 43rd minute, which Djallel Djenoui however easily saved by the left post. Aziz Bahari sent away a hard shot on goal in the 44th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Disappointed in the 0-2 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Aziz Bahari stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. In the 53rd minute of the match Cottingham City got a corner. Telford AFC's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Abdelmalek Djoudi ran over to the corner to take the kick. After taking down the ball on Cottingham City's corner Abdelmalek Djoudi fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Djallel Djenoui quite easily take care of the ball. If Taha Harkat had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 55th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 57thth minute of the game Taha Harkat who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Telford AFC's Djallel Djenoui was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. When the match had gone on for 65 minutes, Aziz Bahari put it in 1-2 from a short distance just to the right of Djallel Djenoui. 72 minutes into the game, one of Telford AFC:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. The referee gave Cottingham City a penalty, 74 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Abdelmalek Djoudi, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Telford AFC's Djallel Djenoui. 2-2. Aziz Bahari fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 77th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Djallel Djenoui having to interfere. Larbi Messaoudi received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 81st minute. Abdel Bridji tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 83 minutes into the match, Cottingham City's goalkeeper Abdel Bridji had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Chérif Sahnouni. After 88 minutes of play, Cottingham City's Beddis Belmellat made it 3-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Djallel Djenoui was left in no man's land by his defense there! Djallel Djenoui showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Taha Harkat, who was totally free with the ball in the 92nd minute. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Djillali Bendjedid during the 93rd minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. After 93 played minutes Telford AFC got a freekick which was hit by Djillali Bendjedid. 94 minutes into the match, Cottingham City's Taha Harkat sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Djallel Djenoui narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Chérif Sahnouni fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 96th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Abdel Bridji having to interfere. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The Cottingham City fans cheered their team off the field, for while Telford AFC had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.