Thurlow Nunn ECL Premier Division
Saturday 21st October 2017
We came close to getting something out of this game on a day when we were without numerous First Team players for one reason or another. Danny Gould returned from injury and new keeper Oliver Leslie made his debut but the stopper was injured in the warm up and his movement was severely restricted from the start. Skipper Max York had to take all the goal kicks with the defence unable to make use of back passes for the entire 90 minutes.
We were up against it from the start but at least we’re getting used to playing without a keeper these days!
Within the first ten minutes we were two down and it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon in difficult conditions with a strong and gusting wind behind the home side.
Rovers took the lead on 5 minutes when Joe Heron was in space to receive a low cross from the right before steering his shot past Leslie. With just over 10 minutes gone we struggled to clear a corner with the ball eventually coming quickly to Kieron Ayling who steered it home from close range.
Slowly but surely though we started to settle into the game and make some headway. Matt Hayden got a decent shot in on goal from the edge of the area that Rovers keeper Marley Andrews saved well low to his right as finally we started to threaten going forward.
WIth 29 minutes on the clock Joe Sutton delivered a free kick into the area from the right where Danny Gould rose highest to glance a header past Andrews into the far corner and get us back into it.
Danny Gould gets one back, 1-2
At the back, Max York and James Chivers had gotten to grips with the conditions and were looking solid, keeping the home attacks at bay and getting us moving forward and at the break there was some optimism amongst the good number of Histon supporters in attendance that we could get a result.
The wind had eased a bit by the time we kicked off the second half and we continued to go forward, looking for the equaliser. Hayden headed on York’s throw to Gould in the area who shot fiercely on the turn to force Andrews into a good save low to his left.
Hayden and Gould combined again on 57 minutes and this time we got our reward when the big strikers’ glancing header was perfectly into the run of Gould who accelerated past the home defence to finish nicely past Andrews and level the scores.
Gould makes it 2-2
At that point it looked like we might go on and get another but within a couple of minutes those hopes were dashed when a loose ball in midfield was gratefully seized upon by the home side and Toby Blanche applied the finish to restore Rovers’ lead.
Gould was replaced by Rukky Diejomaoh on 65 minutes and he should have had a penalty soon after when brought down after a jinking run that had taken him past three defenders on his way into the area. The Referee saw things differently though, producing a yellow card for Diejomaoh’s supposed simulation.
As the clock ticked down we came close to an equaliser more than once. George Darling laid the ball off nicely into the run of James Chivers 20 yards out and the defender let fly with a powerful low drive that was well saved by Andrews and with the last atack of the game York headed across goal but our incoming attackers were millimetres away from getting a touch and the chance was gone.
Plenty of character shown by the side on a difficult day and in the end, depsite a bad start, could easily have gotten at least a point from the game but it wasn’t to be. Our goalkeeper curse continues though with Leslie really unlucky to pick up an injury in the warm up. He acquitted himself well though all things considered and Manager Lance Key be hoping he will be fit for the visit of Brantham Athletic to The Glassworld Stadim next Saturday.
Histon: Oliver Leslie, Harry McGregor (George Darling), Sheldon Weinman, Pat Bexfield, Max York, James Chivers, Tommy Wright, Joe Sutton, Matt Hayden, Charlie Brown, Danny Gould (Rukky Diejomaoh 65).
Histon subs not used: Taher Ali.
Histon yellow cards: Tommy Wright, Rukky Diejomaoh, Joe Sutton.
Histon goal scorer: Danny Gould (29 & 57)
Stanway Rovers: Marley Andrews, Kieron Ayling, Jordan Barnett, Wayne Blackman, Toby Blanche, Morisi Gelashvili, Joe Heron, Ben Lampon, Kyelan Marvell, Conor McLaughlin, Andrew Plummer.
Stanway Rovers subs not used:
Stanway Rovers yellow cards: Wayne Blackman.
Stanway Rovers goal scorers: Joe Heron (5), Kieron Ayling (11), Toby Blanche (59).
Attendance: 102.
