Kelly holds nerve with late penalty

PAUL Kelly smashed home a spot-kick with one minute of normal time remaining to steer the Magpies to a deserved 3-2 win at Hitchin Town on Saturday.
In a stilted first half, neither side did much to promote football, with United dominating possession but unable to trouble James Robinson in the Canaries’ goal, while the hosts simply thumped the ball forward in hope of a defensive slip-up.
In the event, the latter tactic proved quite successful, with Hitchin striker Carl Drew breaking the deadlock on 19 minutes, when a huge hoof forward bounced kindly for the lurking striker, who pivoted on the spot and volleyed past the diving Trevor Roffey.
United continued to press but failed to produce a single shot on target, partly due to the appalling surface, which produced bobbles galore.
However, as the half neared its rather unsatisfactory conclusion, Lawrence Yaku finally found some space between two of Hitchin’s huge defenders and tentatively scuffed the ball goalwards.
Any pace on the shot would have seen it safely into the back of the net, but the miscue allowed Robinson to throw himself to full-stretch and turn it round the post.
During the interval, the conversation on the terraces turned to last season’s 1-0 defeat on the Top Field, when United dominated possession, territory and chances, but still came home pointless, courtesy of a late strike by Drew.
However, that painful memory was blotted out within minutes of the restart.
Taking a leaf out of Hitchin’s books, Adam Durrant by-passed the entire midfield with an early ball out of defence, which dropped neatly into the path of Yaku.
Leaving his marker for dead, the striker raced in on goal, side-stepped Robinson and tucked home the equaliser.
Unfortunately, the parity was short-lived, with the hosts re-establishing their one-goal lead just four minutes later, when Dean Brennan’s corner was nodded back across goal by Jon Bone, for Drew to head home.
Lesser sides might have surrendered to fate, but United picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and launched themselves back into attack.
A Ryan Ashe free-kick saw Obinna Ulasi go close with a header just a minute later, before the Durrant/Lawrence combination brought United level on 66 minutes.
Once again, the newly returned defender spotted Yaku’s run and drifted a perfectly weighted long-ball into his path.
Outpacing the defence, Yaku advanced to the edge of the box, looked up and fired a dipping shot over the keeper’s head and under the bar.
Amazingly, the same pairing almost produced the winner on 70 minutes, when another early ball cleared the Hitchin defence but skidded to safety off the greasy surface, with Yaku bearing down on goal.
However, with the minutes ticking away, the home side gradually got on top and United had both Roffey and the post to thank for keeping Drew’s 83rd and 84th minute strikes out of the net.
Fortunately, for the Magpies, the game still had one last twist, when Yaku was dragged down on the edge of the six-yard box in the final minute of normal time.
The referee missed the incident but his sharp-eyed assistant flagged furiously for a foul and the man in black pointed to the penalty spot.
Despite his chance for a hat-trick, Yaku ceded to Kelly, who held his nerve to rifle home the winner.

Hitchin Town: Robinson, Bone, Childs, Burke, Ayres, Scott, Bass, Brennan, Drew, Williams, Rydeheard. Subs: Mills, Evans, Bridge, McElroy, Frater.
Maidenhead United: Roffey, Ulasi, Connor, Cook, Durrant, Elsegood, Ashe, Yaku, Channell, Kelly, Morley. Subs: Rose, Coppard, Keywood, Adeoye (for Channell, 81), Harrison.