Bishops held in stalemate (07.12.04)

SUPER sub Simon Patterson rescued a point for United on Tuesday night, his late appearance inspiring a stunning comeback to recoup a two-goal deficit and lift the Magpies out of the bottom three.
In a fast paced game the action swung quickly from one end to the other in the opening exchanges, and it was clear that with speedy forwards on both sides, goals would not be in short supply.
Stortford opened the scoring on 18 minutes following a controversial penalty.
Duane Jackman broke through the Magpies defence in the 16th minute, but goalkeeper Mel Capleton calmly rushed out and tackled the striker, winning the ball which then ran away to safety.
Then, to the equal bemusement of both sets of players, the referee blew for a penalty.
Following a two minute break in which the referee distributed yellow cards to the justifiably angry Maidenhead players like a postman at Christmas, Dave Rainford stepped up and converted the penalty kick.
The lead was doubled on 26 minutes when Stortford counter attacked like lightning from a United free-kick just outside their own penalty area.
Paul Hakim sprinted clear from half way and with Capleton rooted on his line, presumably in fear of being sent off if he challenged the attacker, Hakim finished comfortably.
The second half continued with Stortford on top, Capleton having to be at his best to make a diving save from a point blank header by Jackman in the 50th minute.
With United making no headway, Richie Goddard threw caution to the wind and replaced midfielder Jamie Cook with an additional striker in Simon Patterson with 20 minutes to go.
The gangly forward had an instant effect, creating the Stripes’ best opening to that point with a superb pass on 72 minutes which put Lawrence Yaku clear only for his tame shot to be comfortably saved.
Two minutes later a high tackle on the right hand side of the penalty area brought Yaku crashing to the floor, Craig O’Connor firing the penalty into the onion bag to bring his side back into the match.
On 78 minutes the scores were almost levelled when a cross from Patterson found Yaku with the goal at his mercy, only for his shot to be cleared off the line by a defender.
With a rampant United committing forward at every opportunity, there was a concomitant threat from Stortford as gaps opened up in the United defence and with 10 minutes to go Tim Langer had a great opportunity to win the game, as he ran clear of the defence and saw his shot beat Capleton only for the post to come to Maidenhead’s rescue.
The equaliser arrived with just three minutes left.
This time it was Yaku’s turn to provide Patterson with a chance, threading the ball through the defence to allow Patterson to tap the ball home from close range, the goal standing despite all and sundry expecting an offside flag.

UNITED make the long trip to midtable Dorchester Town tomorrow (Saturday), a team who are said to play at the best stadium in the league, its design having been approved by the Prince of Wales, on whose land it stands.
The club coach leaves York Road at 10.30am.
Craig O'Connor is suspended for the game, but Bryan Smith and Kelvin McIntosh are both expected to be fit.

PRIDE: Barrie Matthews captures the mood at York Road on Tuesday night.