Bishops checkmate United (17.01.04)

THERE was little to choose between these two midtable sides at York Road on Saturday afternoon, other than the four goals the visitors rattled in to seal an emphatic 4-0 win.
The early exchanges hinted at a lifeless and probably goalless stalemate, as play was almost entirely restricted to the central third of the pitch.
Unfortunately, for United, that all ended on 21 minutes, when Grant Cooper connected with Tony Allman’s free-kick and swept the sweetest of half-volleys into the top right-hand corner.
Keeper Phil Wilson was a mere spectator, but found himself right at the heart of the action 10 minutes later, when he challenged Roy Essandoh on the edge of the box.
The wily striker went to ground under the faintest of contacts and the referee produced a heart-breaking red card. Despite the luxury of having another first-choice keeper on the bench, the extra man in the outfield soon told, when the influential Richard Howell lost his marker and drilled the ball past Nick Hart to double Stortford’s lead.
That should have ended the contest, but United found new hope just before the break, when the visitors had on-loan winger Scott Forbes red-carded for stamping on Mark Boyce.
Back on level terms – at least in terms of numbers – United created chance after chance in the minutes preceding and succeeding half-time, with Lawrence Yaku and Steve Hale squandering four or five decent chances in almost as many minutes, while Steve Sanders miscued with the goal at his mercy.
With the chances mounting it seemed only a matter of time before someone found the back of the net. Unfortunately, that turned out to be lively Stortford striker James Bunn, who latched onto a route-one ball over the top and turned goalwards. Lone defender Brendan Gallen was on his shoulder but slipped at the vital moment, gifting Bunn a free run on goal and an easy finish past Hart from the edge of the six yard box.
Three minutes later it was all over, when Glen Southam bundled his way through a static defence and fired the ball straight at Hart.
The keeper pulled off a brilliant reaction save but could not prevent Southam from slipping the rebound under his despairing dive to complete the whitewash.
Ryan Ashe led a valiant rear-guard action but to no avail, as United ended the day goalless, pointless and dispirited.

LUCKLESS: Magpies’ striker Steve Hale tried by failed to hit the target against Bishop's Stortford on Saturday. Ref: 84204/9.