Perky Magpies hold Bishops (26.11.05)

AN ENTERTAINING tussle ended honours even at York Road on Saturday, as the Magpies produced a positively perky performance at home to Bishop’s Stortford.
The visitors totally dominated the opening 20 minutes of this FA Trophy clash, though, and took a deserved lead when Roy Essandoh netted with a glancing header from a Scott Forbes free-kick.
This followed a string of earlier openings, in which two Stortford strikers missed a tap-in from a Jason Mason cross on four minutes, and Essandoh blazed wide from an excellent position on 19 minutes.
Consequently, it was no surprise when the Bishops took the lead, as the Magpies had – until that point – failed to string two passes together.
That all changed with the goal, however, and within six minutes it was all square, when strong play by Abdul Saeed Osman set Ryan Ashe free down the right, whose superb low cross was stabbed home by Lee Newman at the far post.
Sparked into life, the Magpies went on to dominate the rest of the half.
On 30 minutes two defenders had to gang up on the lively Stephen Hughes to force the ball out for a corner, and from the resulting set-piece keeper Danny Gay just managed to tip the ball off Osman’s head as he closed in for the kill.
Newman was also in ebullient mood and repeatedly taunted the Stortford defence with his slick footwork, while skipper Matt Glynn led the visitors a merry dance in midfield.
With rangy striker Nana Badu also getting in on the act it was only a matter of time before United took the lead.
That time arrived five minutes before the break, when Glynn launched a free-kick forward to Hughes, who demonstrated superb control to pick out Badu on the edge of the six-yard box.
With no one in close support, Badu simply rolled round his marker and rifled a shot across Gay into the back of the net.
If the hosts were expecting a respite after the break they were in for a shock, as the Magpies continued to carry the fight to their guests.
Indeed, United’s dominance seemed to be building, with their slick passing and strong running stretching the Stortford defence to breaking point.
Indeed, with just four minutes played Gay was forced to make a superb diving save to keep out Glynn’s curling free-kick.
But, to their credit, the visitors battled on and gradually worked their way back into the game, culminating with a controversial equaliser on 57 minutes.
The goal came on the counter-attack, after Essandoh split the Maidenhead defence with a threaded through-ball.
With the United backline appealing for offside, Steve Morison ran clear and drew the keeper before passing to Forbes for a simple finish.
Now it was the visitors’ turn to go for the jugular, and minutes later Tarr had to be at his very best to tip Morison’s header round the post, before Essandoh blasted wide from right in front of goal once more.
The miss cost the former Wycombe man his place on the pitch, as he was quickly substituted.
However, the changes seemed to unsettle the visitors and, with the tables turning, Carl Taylor gambled by throwing John Bacon into the fray, alongside fellow strikers Hughes, Newman and Badu.
The ploy produced a flurry of late chances for United, beginning with a searing drive from Hughes, which required a faint deflection to take it over the bar.
Hughes then turned provider, setting up Newman to deliver a fine cross into the box, but just ahead of Badu, who was arriving at pace.
Finally, with the end nigh, Bacon was presented with a gilt-edged chance, when his initial shot was headed back to his feet by Gareth Gwillim.
Twelve yards out – and with the goal at his mercy – Bacon just had to pick his spot to seal the win, but the youngster went for a grandstand finish, which is where it ended up.
The whistle sounded seconds later, precipitating a midweek replay in East Herts.

CHALLENGING: The Magpies’ Chris Elsegood goes for the ball on Saturday at York Road. Ref:90988/5