Quality performance fails to save Magpies from dreaded drop (17.04.06)

TEN-MAN Maidenhead United put in a superb performance to come from behind and deservedly win away at Thurrock on Easter Monday.
With manager Carl Taylor only able to field a bare 11 and three substitutes, any hope of delaying relegation seemed unlikely.
Any remaining hopes appeared to be snuffed out after just 10 minutes, when Thurrock took the lead , while United suffered the added expense of a dismissal.
The action started when Chico Ramos reacted quickly to a Kris Lee snapshot from close range, turning the ball round the post.
From the resulting corner a Thurrock head sent the ball goalwards only to be denied by an instinctive save from right-back Steve Dell.
The referee had little alternative but to send Dell off, while Barry Moore sent Ramos the wrong way from the penalty spot to give the Essex men the lead.
With Ramos again being called into action minutes later to palm away an Adam Parker header, a rout seemed possible, only for United to defy the odds and take the lead in an amazing 12-minute spell.
Neville Roach levelled the scores in the 19th minute in a good move down the right, which saw him expertly round the keeper and slot the ball home.
Eight minutes later, Thurrock keeper Glenn Knight had to be at his best to deny Roach, when he tipped his long shot over the bar.
In the 31st minute though, Knight was helpless to stop a powerful Nana Badu header from a Mark Graham corner, giving United the lead.
The lead was preserved fairly comfortably until the interval, Ramos dealing well with the only serious effort on goal on the stroke of half-time. Ramos again came to the rescue in the 52nd minute when he saved a curling long-range free-kick at full stretch from Sam Sloma.
Thurrock then threw on an extra attacker in an attempt to get back into the game, but this move backfired as it was United who used the extra space to create the better chances.
In the 57th minute Badu should have scored his second when a pass from Abdul Osman found him with plenty of room and only the keeper to beat, but he ballooned his shot over the bar.
Four minutes later Roach got another shot on target only for Knight to parry the ball away to safety.
With 10 minutes left, tired legs on both sides made a goal seem inevitable.
An unstoppable run from deep in his own half saw Roach outpace the entire Thurrock defence, only for his shot to be saved by the feet of Knight.
With four minutes remaining Ramos produced his best save of the day to acrobatically deny an overhead kick from Richard Goddard, and quickly set up a counter-attack, from which Roach was again denied by the keeper’s legs.
Despite four minutes of injury time it became clear that it was Maidenhead’s day, with the final whistle provoking jubilant celebrations from players and fans alike, regardless of the fact that results elsewhere had all but confirmed their relegation.

SQUEEZING THROUGH: Maidenhead United’s Nana Badu finds a gap to break through the Thurrock defence on Monday. Picture by Nigel Keene.

Thurrock: Knight, Purdie, Goodfellow, Moore, McFarlane (for Lewis, 55), Sloma, Parker S, Heffer, Lee, Parker A (for Goddard, 61), Cross. Unused subs: Fletcher, Thomas, Smith.
Maidenhead United: Ramos, Dell, Parsons, Johnson, Wild, Lewington, Graham, Bradshaw (for White, 63), Roach, Osman, Badu. Unused subs: Kwakye, Whiteman.