| Match Report |
A tough game on a hot afternoon. St Neots had 12 players that was soon reduced to 11 with an early injury to striker Ian Cunningham. On the other side Shefford & Sandy had a squad of 15 players showing both youth and experience. The game started fast with S&S moving around at great speed. St Neots remained calm and defended well pushing them back. It was St Neots who scored first after a well worked short corner resulted in Paul Stubbs sending a hard shot past the goalie. The rest of the half was fiercely fought with Pat Keogh pushing up stopping numerous attacks in midfield. S&S had the chance to equalise late in the first half with a short corner, which was swatted away on the line by Steve Hill as it neared the top corner. In the second half it was much of the same with the S&S players getting frustrated in the heat, resulting in a number of them having words with the umpires. The turning point was a disallowed goal for S&S. A hard ball in got a touch that was deemed to have come off a foot rather than a stick. This decision spurred S&S on more and they continued to push a tiring St Neots team. Their strongest player started to take control and with more pressure resulting in more short corners. Finally the defence broke and a corner was slotted home. S&S continued with the pressure and it was another short corner that resulted in S&S taking a 2 goal lead. But St Neots weren't finished and continued to battle and with only 4 minutes on the clock got an equaliser when a ball into the circle was pushed home by Tim Bates somehow up from right back. With time ticking away S&S came out for winner and with time nearly up were awarded a short corner. The final whistle went meaning all their players came forward. St Neots battled hard but couldn't clear. The corner was retaken 3 times but finally the dam broke and the ball was slotted home by S&S. Although a loss, overall a good display by St Neots on a hot day without any substitutions for the majority of the game. Man of the match went to Pat Keogh for a strong display at the centre of defence.
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