GLOUCESTER CITY 0

A late goal from Dwane Lee gave the Magpies a vital three points towards their push for the play offs in a hard working performance against a tough Gloucester outfit.

Following two defeats, manager Johnson Hippolyte rang the changes, bringing in Delroy Preddie for Chico Ramos in goal, Lee Newman for Neville Roach up front, and most boldly Dave Clarke for Ryan Parsons in a shift to a three man defence.  This attacking move almost paid off in the first ten minutes as Maidenhead took the game to their opponents from the kick off and quickly won a free kick just outside the penalty area.  Grant Cooper stepped up to take it and swung the ball around the wall only for Tigers keeper Ray Johnston to push the ball round the post.  This  led to a succession of corners, Dominic Sterling hitting the crossbar with a header.  The game then descended into a scrappy affair, the referee electing not to caution Gloucester players for a succession of cynical challenges on Ashley Smith, which drew an inevitably angry response from his Maidenhead team mates.  The game reached boiling point just before half time when Smith was felled once more by Jamie Reid, a move which saw the referee, on the advice of his assistant, call captains Neil Mustoe and Dominic Sterling together to calm things down.

The second half saw Maidenhead turn the screw on Gloucester with the game being played almost exclusively in the Tigers' half.  Clear cut goal scoring opportunities were hard to come by however and Maidenhead fans were fearing a goalless draw would ensue when Lee Newman blasted the ball over the bar following good work from Errol Telemaque.  A clutch of Maidenhead substitutions reinvigorated the team though and goal finally came in the 74th minute when a Bobby Behzadi corner from the right wing was headed in by Lee.  The game then opened up a little with Gloucester forced to go for goal, a Roach snapshot being parried behind with five minute left and Yashwa Romeo going close in injury time.

Magpies: Preddie, Nisbet, Clarke, Cooper, Sterling, Bezhadi, Telemaque (66 Lee), Brown Da, Hughes (71 Romeo), Newman (66 Roach), Smith.  Unused subs: Parsons, Ramos. 

Goal: Lee 74.  Caution: Cooper 24.  Gate: 218.

Tigers: Johnston, Reid, Buttery, Mustoe, Hamblin, Thompson, Sykes (78 Cox), Welsh (69 Griffin), Shaxton (58 Allard), Webb.  Unused subs: Wilkinson, Morse.

Caution: Hamblin 57.