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Marc Newsham put The Club ahead early in the first half, although the visitors volleyed home an equaliser late in the first half.

A complacent Long Eaton United defence allowed Nathan Modest to claim a two-minute brace on the stroke of halftime, and although Long Eaton claimed a second through Keiran Walker in the dying moments of the match, it was not meant to be for the Blues away from home.

The Blues came flying out of the blocks and piled on the pressure in the opening couple of minutes. Tom Marshall whipped a corner into the our box and it was punched clear by Jordan Greaves, but only as far as Micah Jebbison who shot, although his effort was deflected out of play.

Then, in the 13th minute, after play was resumed from a gathered Long Eaton corner, the referee awarded The Club a penalty when Adam Watson was tripped inside the box by Luke Cox as they returned to position.

Luckily for the Blues, Sam Wilson guessed correctly and denied Newsham from the spot by diving down to his left.

We did, however, take the lead in the 15th minute, as a long punt forward sent Newsham through on goal, and with composure the forward was able to knock the ball past Sam Wilson and into the bottom right.

Midway through the first half, Tom Cursons had a huge chance, as Jebbison capitalised on a poor Sheffield clearance and opted to shoot from the edge, however it was blocked and deflected only as far as Cursons who redirected the shot onto the post.

With three minutes left in the first half, Long Eaton scored – a Jamie Walker cross was flicked on by Ben Hutchinson and met by Marshall at the back post who volleyed past Greaves.

A lapse in concentration from the Blues' defence allowed Nathan Modest through in first half added time, then the forward simply placed the ball down to the left of Sam Wilson and into the back of the net.

The first half ended even better for The World's First, as seconds before the half-time whistle, Modest once again held the ball up dangerously inside the Blues box and looked to shoot, thus his eventual shot took a heavy deflection off a Blues defender and wrong-footed the keeper to claim our third.

In the 66th minute, Basile Zottos displayed some incredible footwork to move the ball through the away sides half and past their midfield in order to work a speculative shot on goal which pinged off the crossbar and flew out of play.

Late in the second half, Long Eaton were baffled as to how the ball had not rustled the back of the net. Keiran Walker’s long throw was sent towards goal by Jamie Walker and saved, then the rebound by Cursons, saved onto the post, and then a deflection off The Club's defender’s leg was cleared off the line.

With 88 minutes on the clock, Sam Parker swung in a free kick from the left and it met the towering head of Keiran Walker who thumped the ball in off the post to claim the Derbyshire side's second.

The Club battled until the final whistle and gave a late Christmas Present to the 380 Clubbies!

WORDS: ROB MCNEIL