Defence have a Mare in frustrating Weston defeat (01.04.06)

TWO goals from Neville Roach and a much-improved second-half performance failed to prevent a disastrous 4-2 defeat at home to Weston-super-Mare at York Road on Saturday.
Magpies manager Carl Taylor brought in fullbacks Brendan Gallen and Ryan Johnson for the clash, and gave the rather nervous-looking Francisco Ramos his debut in goal.
The beleaguered boss also put the returning Paul Kelly into the midfield in an attempt to stem the flood of goals, but it was all to no avail.
Indeed, despite looking pretty ordinary, the visitors had the bulk of the possession and created by far the better chances throughout the match.
Having gone close as early as the eighth minute through Lewis Hogg, Marvin Brown gave Weston the lead on 13 minutes.
But it was John Williams who created the goal, beating Nathan Bunce twice before firing a low cross into the six yard box for the simplest of finishes.
Roach levelled things up on 28 minutes, with a superb chip-shot into the top right-hand corner from a near-impossible angle.
However, the celebrations lasted just three minutes, as Brown scored his second goal of the afternoon on 31 minutes, Chris Wild slipping as he went to head the ball clear and instead nodding it helpfully into Brown’s stride.
United were much brighter after the break, with Roach and Abdul Saeed-Osman both going close in the opening exchanges.
Bunce then forced a decent save out of Ryan Northmore, swivelling and firing the ball goalwards from a Mark Graham free-kick, only for the Seagulls stopper to fly across his goal to collect the shot.
But this promising start quickly turned to despair, when Weston substitute Justin Pritchard tapped the ball into an empty net, following excellent approach play by Hogg.
United should have made it 3-2 within a minute, but Craig Lewington and Romeo both failed to get a decisive touch when presented with an open goal.
Almost inevitably, Weston broke to the other end and settled the result on 69 minutes, when Williams used his pace to go round Wild before rifling the ball into the roof of the net.
United did earn some consolation on 73 minutes, when Roach side-footed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner from the edge of the box.
Substitute Eric Kwakye missed a golden opportunity to make it 4-3 five minutes later, but tried to break the net with a fierce drive and instead found the stand.
However, it was Weston who came closest to adding to the scoreline, Pritchard only being denied by a brave block from Ramos in the dying minutes.
The home fans greeted the final whistle with almost total silence, although one wag did pipe up: “We just need seven wins from our last six games, and we’ll be safe.”

HANDS UP: United striker Neville Roach gave as good as he got against Weston-super-Mare at York Road on Saturday. Ref:92354/11

Maidenhead United: Ramos, Johnson, Gallen, Bunce, Wild, Lewington, Graham (for Kwakye, 69), Romeo, Roach, Osman (for Ashe 73), Kelly. Unused subs: Dell, Parsons, Tarr.
Weston-super-Mare: Northmore, Robertson (for Rand, 85), Walker (for Hawkins, 90), Jarman, Bailey, Rose, French, Hogg, Williams, Brown (for Pritchard, 58), McKeever. Unused subs: Mawford, Thomas.