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A goalless
draw against Weston may have stopped a losing run of five games but it was
definitely a case of two points dropped as Maidenhead passed up a series of
golden chances to defeat a team decimated by suspension and injury.
The
chief culprit was Rocky Baptiste who set the tone
for the match when after just 30 seconds he was presented with a great
chance to score following great work down the right wing by Ashley Smith
and Lee Newman. Baptiste
rose to meet the ball at the far post but his weak header was comfortably
saved by Ryan Northmore.
Weston
were missing seven players but caretaker manager Andy Gurney was determined
to take something from his first game in charge and his young team stuck
manfully to their task of crowding out United’s forward moves and
making quick counter attacks. These
attacks, often spearheaded down the left wing by experienced Mark McKeever, were not without merit, and with the
Maidenhead defence missing the calming influence of Dom Sterling, an away
goal was never out of the question.
But
it was Baptiste who missed the best chance of the
match after half an hour when he blasted over from six yards with the goal
at his mercy following a good run down the left by Dale Binns.
The
second half continued the pattern of Maidenhead dominance with a ubiquitous
Weston threat on the break. Binns again set up Baptiste
from the left six minutes into the second period, only for his header to go
wide. From the restart Weston then
came closest to scoring when a humdinger of a volley from distance by Ben
Wells dipped over Shane Gore’s header and rattled the crossbar.
As
at Bath the week before it was Pat Sappleton who
came closest to breaking United’s duck when his firm header from a
corner was blocked on the goal line.
The
introduction of Manny Williams with half an hour to go pepped up the
Maidenhead attack but a goal would not come and it was left to Gore to make
sure of the point with a good save low to his right from Marvin Brown in
the dying minutes.
Magpies: Gore, Behzadi,
Bernard, Surey, Nisbet,
Sappleton, Smith A, Nicholls, Baptiste
(62 Williams), Newman, Binns.
Unused subs: Hinds, Smith T,
Clarke, Carter.
Crowd: 258.
Seagulls: Northmore, Willshire, Paddock, Wells, Green, Rand (87 Clark), Grubb De (68 Palmer), Holgate, McGregor,
Brown, McKeever.
Unused subs: Armstrong,
Thorne, Grubb Da.
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