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A first half Ashley
Nicholls goal led to a hard fought win at Fisher and propelled Maidenhead
to the top of the Blue Square
South for the first time ever.
With the games coming thick
and fast Johnson Hippolyte bravely elected to
rest Jack Bradshaw, Narada Bernard, Mark Nisbet and Ashley Smith from the team that earned a
point on Saturday. With replacements
of the calibre of Tyron Smith, Jamal Fyfield, Grant
Cooper and Bobby Behzadi, the changes were hardly
noticeable as the Magpies took the game by the scruff of the neck from the
first whistle.
With little over a minute
on the watch a Behzadi cross from the right was
met by the head of Richard Pacquette who beat the
keeper only to see the ball hit the woodwork. With Behzadi and
Dale Binns a class apart from their opponents on
the flanks a goal never looked far away, and duly arrived on the twenty
minute mark when Ashley Nicholls dinked the ball over the keeper from just
inside the penalty area, the ball crossing the line before Pacquette followed up to make sure.
As the half wore on Fisher
began to show signs of attacking intent and United keeper Shane Gore had to
be at his best in the 41st minute to palm the ball past the post
at full stretch from a shot that took a wicked deflection of one of his own
defenders.
After the break, the game
evened out, but with Dominic Sterling imperious on his 100th appearance
at the heart of the Maidenhead defence, Fisher were unable to create a
chance to trouble Gore. Instead it
was Maidenhead who came closest to hitting the back of the net, denied a
second thanks to a fantastic save from Chris Lewington
who flung himself across his goal to scramble a Pacquette
header away to safety. Pacquette worked tirelessly to defend from the front,
hardly looking like a player who needed a fitness test prior to the game, typifying
the never say die United attitude which successfully secured the three
points and top slot for 24 hours at least.
Fish: Lewington,
Kamara (68 Saunders), Alaile
(78 Talbot), Beckford, Dayes, Gooding, Batt, Hickie, Awuah, Kiffin, Sambrook. Unused
subs: Howe, Palmer, Overland.
Magpies: Gore, Smith T, Fyfield, Surey (63 Hinds), Sterling, Cooper, Behzadi (58 Bradshaw), Nicholls, Pacquette,
Tyriaki (78 James). Unused subs: Hamsher,
Nisbet.
Goal: Nicholls 20. Cautions: Surey
45+3, Hinds 72.
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