HISTON 1 SUTTON COLDFIELD TOWN 1
Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands Division
Saturday 28th August 2021
Histon snatched a late equaliser through 18-year-old Finley Wilkinson to earn a creditable draw against a Sutton Coldfield side who remain unbeaten this season. Finley’s strike was his second in consecutive games as the youth team product again showed that he has what it takes to make the step-up into the First team.
The Stutes went into the game with two new signings on the team sheet; Lewis Williams covering for Andreu Ballester during his short return home to Spain and Urijah Gordon-Douglas who was added to provide additional fire-power up front. An additional change was then forced upon manager Lance Key when Evan Key was injured in the warm up, resulting in Ediz Greengrass being promoted from the bench to make his first start for the club.
This was a spirited performance from the Stutes following their midweek victory over Wisbech Town. They could easily have been in front as early as the second minute when a precision cross from Josh Dawkin found Gordon-Douglas unmarked in front of goal but his header was well saved by the visiting ‘keeper. Seconds later it was Sam Roach who had to tip over a rasping shot as both sides looked to cease the initiative.
The visitors looked dangerous going forward and only an excellent block by Sam Collison prevented them from going ahead but the best chance of the half fell to Bernat Burguera who shot narrowly wide before an ankle injury forced him off just before the break.
The visitors came out for the second half looking hungry for a goal and it came in the 51st minute. Again it was a high cross into the box which was Histon’s undoing as a header thumped against the post and Sufyan Zia fired in the rebound giving Roach no chance.
Histon responded well to falling behind and Gordon-Douglas gave glimpses of how dangerous he could be when fully match fit. Luke Lindsay was also causing problems for the visitors but the home side were finding it difficult to get goal-bound efforts on target. Town were also looking more than capable of extending their lead on the break as the game became more open.
But just as the match appeared to be slipping away from the Stutes, Finley Wilkinson popped up in the visitor’s penalty area to place the ball beyond the ‘keepers despairing dive and give his side the point their efforts deserved.
Histon: Sam Roach, Ediz Greengrass, Lewis Williams, Josh Dawkin, Sam Collison, Victor Garcia, Ed Rolph, Bubba Camara (Bahador Chizari 82), Urijah Gordon-Douglas (Kai Nicholls 73), Finley Wilkinson, Bernat Burguera (Luke Lindsay 43).
Histon subs not used: Marcus Cole, Tobi Lawal.
Histon yellow cards: Ediz Greengrass.
Histon goal scorer: Finley Wilkinson 87.
Attendance: 156.
