| Thieving Magpies Steal Crucial Win (17.04.08) |
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WESTON-SUPER-MARE 1 (1) |
MAIDENHEAD UNITED 2 (0) |
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Two late goals gave Maidenhead a thrilling win
in Somerset on Thursday night to ease their relegation worries
whilst leaving their opponents Weston in an unenviable position. Fielding an unchanged team from Saturday’s humbling of Bishops Stortford, Maidenhead flattered to deceive in the first half looking dangerous when moving forward but unable to create any chances of note. Instead it was Weston who threatened to run away with the game, Wilfried Domoraud and Marc McGregor both hitting the crossbar. The opening goal though came as has been so often this season as a result of defensive mix up. Mark Nisbet appeared to beat Mark McKeever to a long ball forward but a communication breakdown between Nisbet and goalkeeper Chris Tardif saw McKeever gleefully nip in and reclaim the ball, firing it into an empty net to score in the 40th minute. Maidenhead almost had the perfect chance to hit back on the stroke of half time when an Ashley Smith cross was clearly handled in the penalty area, only for the referee to wave play on. A change of tactics by the home team after the interval set the stage for United’s recovery. Weston elected to sit back on their lead, putting ten men behind the ball, leaving just the impressive Domoraud up front. Maidenhead gratefully accepted the opportunity to exert ever increasing pressure on the Weston goal, Grant Cooper serving notice that a comeback was imminent when his 57th minute free kick was pushed wide of the post at full stretch by goalkeeper Ryan Northmore. As the Magpies turned the screw, the Seagulls began to lose their discipline, Charlie Comyn-Platt being lucky to receive only a caution for petulantly kicking Manny Williams. The equaliser soon followed when Richard Pacquette flighted a high ball from the right hand side of the box which Northmore was unable to gather cleanly, Williams arriving on cue to tap the loose ball over the line. Further woe for Weston came with eight minutes remaining when talismanic midfielder McKeever was dismissed for raising his hands to Williams. With the stage set for a grandstand Maidenhead finish it was Williams again who was in the thick of the action. With five minutes to go he fired in a shot which Northmore could only parry, Pacquette was first to the loose ball slotting it in from ten yards. All that was left now was for United to close out the game which they did with relative ease, despite five minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle signalling a rise to the heady heights of 17th place and more importantly creating a four point gap between the relegation places. |
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Magpies: Tardif, Smith, Sterling, Hinds,
Nisbet, Cooper, Newman (75 James), Brown, Williams, Pacquette (88
Wilson-Denis), Bernard. Unused subs: Daly, Fyfield, Hudson. Crowd:
326 Goals: Williams 75, Pacquette 84. Cautions: Pacquette 59, Williams 66. Seagulls: Northmore, Willshire (88 Grubb), Bell (50 Green), Comyn- Platt, Ujah, Wilson (62 Herring), McKeever, Holgate, Domoraud, Powell, McGregor. Unused subs: Hopkins, McConnell. Goal: McKeever 40. Caution: Comyn-Platt 66, Holgate 68. Dismissal: McKeever 82. |