Magpies ruffle Robins’ feathers (11.11.03)

TEN-MAN Maidenhead United earned themselves a well deserved point with a 0-0 draw against title challengers Carshalton Athletic at York Road on Tuesday night.
In an evenly balance first half, the defences were always on top.
At one end, the visitors relentlessly chipped the ball over the top for their huge front-runners to chase, while the home defence simply stood its ground and relentlessly cleared the danger.
And at the other end, United’s diminutive strikers ran their hearts out as they tried to pick a hole in Carshalton’s massive back line on the counter-attack, but without much success. As a result, virtually all of the play was compressed into the chaotic midfield.
However, with half-time approaching – and with the tempo of the game steadily rising – the balance of play gradually began to shift, as Kelvin McIntosh and Ryan Ashe got a tentative grip on the midfield.
United’s first and best chance of the half came on 36 minutes, when Carshalton keeper Stuart Searle spilled Craig Farley’s curling free-kick. With Boyce and Steve Hale waiting to pounce, Searle did well to make a brave save in the ensuing goalmouth melee.
On 43 minutes, left-back Brendon Gallen’s silky skills opened up the Robins’ defence for a second time, resulting in a corner.
Once again, Farley curled the ball into the danger area and the defence could only clear as far as Luke Costello, whose fierce strike was on its way to goal when it crashed into the referee.
The half ended with a scare for United, however, as Phil Wilson was penalised for accidentally handling the ball outside his area.
Fortunately, John Hamsher smashed the resulting free-kick straight into the wall, leaving the game deadlocked at the break.
After the break, the game rapidly opened up, with United in the ascendancy.
Progress was particularly conspicuous down the right, with Boyce and Farley opening up holes in Carshalton’s previously water-tight defence.
The game was briefly interrupted by an unsightly flare-up, when United’s keeper was injured by Nic McDonnell’s rash challenge.
Thankfully, United have the luxury of two first-choice keepers, as substitute Nick Hart demonstrated with another brilliant display between the sticks.
The visitors were lucky to survive a penalty appeal on 75 minutes, when another incisive move down the right ended with McIntosh being up-ended on the edge of the box.
The ensuing free-kick failed to produce a goal, but United’s increasing dominance encouraged John Dreyer to risk a change of formation, with Lawrence Yaku being thrown into the action in place of right-back Steve Sanders.
Unfortunately, United’s best player on the night, Mark Boyce, then talked himself out of an inevitable man of the match award by bad-mouthing the assistant referee and earning himself a senseless red card.
This left his team-mates to hang on for the remaining 15 minutes with just 10 men, against the side with the best away record in the league.
Amazingly, United continued to play with three at the back and still looked the better side, as Yaku began to unsettle the visitors’ tiring defence with his blistering pace.
In fact, with a little more composure, Yaku might have nicked a late winner, as he escaped his markers twice in the closing minutes but without troubling Searle.
The last chance of the match fell to the visitors, however, when a rare mistake at the back allowed McDonald a free run on goal.
With the game in injury time, a late goal would have proved decisive, but Hart pulled off a magnificent save to deny the Robins, as United held out for a point.