Rushden & Higham 2-1 Buckingham Town

A Tuesday night trip to Hayden Road ended similarly to our recent Harrowby excursion, having been behind we looked as if we'd done enough to secure a point only to be cruelly denied.  This time it was a freak goal five minutes from time, a mishit left wing cross which sailed over Carl Knox, hit the post and bar and then dropped agonisingly in to the net.

What went before that, I'm sure those who came to support us (thanks) would agree was an entertaining battle with both teams attacking in a very open game on a slick surface which lead to a fairly fast and frenetic game.  We are still unsure at the back and were once again indebted to our keeper for another fine display but having kept them out for so long then equalised almost immediately after they scored I think we could have got more from this game.

The positives from the game were a solid debut for Matt France at right back, an excellent display from18 year old Massimo Colucci at centre back and the strike partnership of Drew Mitten & Kyle Stimpson which is starting to look impressive, the latter scoring again to make it 4 goals in his last 3 games.

Now the bit which probably won't inspire any fans to travel to Raunds Town on Saturday, we will be without Carl Knox, Matt France, Pat Diamond, Darryl Phillips for definite (almost our entire back line) and Nick Bines is a major doubt having picked up an injury on Tuesday.  I'm sure we will dig in and give all we can, any away support will be gladly received as ever.

Buckingham Town 2-5 Eynesbury

We started yesterdays game with only one change from the side which were unlucky not to get a point at Harrowby last week, it was a big change though- Pat Diamond missed out through injury and young Massimo Colucci had to deputise.

I guess most people would think it unwise to openly speak on here about our weaknesses but lets face it, we are going to concede corners anyway and it won't take long for the opposition to notice................ WE CAN'T DEFEND SET PIECES.  In truth Eynesbury had a lot of chances in open play too but they either wasted them or the very busy Carl Knox pulled off great saves in goal, with an average age of about 19 I think our back line can be forgiven for a bit of inexperience but if we don't learn to deal with corners and free kicks coming into our box soon it will be a very long season.

We were hamstrung by the concession of an early goal from an Eynesbury corner, with fragile confidence and a young side, conceding early will always lead to a dip in performance and we duly dipped as Eynesbury added a second from another corner and then a third as we were dispossessed in a dangerous area and allowed their midfielder to run through unopposed and beat Carl Knox, were it not for Carl the scoreline could have been much worse. 0-3 at halftime.

We spoke about not giving up and showing more fight and pride at halftime and things looked on the up as Kyle Stimpson headed in from a Nick Bines cross early in the 2nd half 1-3.  Sadly, our inability to defend set pieces cost us dearly again just as we were looking dangerous.  A left wing freekick floated in to our box found three unmarked players at the far post, one of whom headed down for another unmarked player to score, 1-4 and game over.

At 1-4 we started to play our best football of the match (too late!) with Nick Bines spraying passes around and the full backs overlapping the wingers and getting crosses into the box, Kyle Stimpson grabbed his second goal after taking the ball off of their keeper and slotting into an empty net.  We committed men forward in search of a third with an improbable comeback on the cards at 2-4 but Eynesbury caught us with a sucker punch goal as they counter attacked down the left, 2-5 and thats how it ended.

Lessons to be learned and quickly, away at Rushden & Higham this Tuesday night.

Harrowby Utd 3-2 Buckingham Town

We travelled the 80 or so miles to Grantham yesterday with thirteen players including last minute signings Demarlo Smith and Sol Kazongo.

Perhaps it is just my childish sense of humour that made me chuckle when our hosts blared out Cher's "If I could turn back time" over their tannoy system as we entered their 80's style venue (not that we have much to crow about on that front).  

On to the important bit, having been comprehensively beaten by Harrowby seven days prior it was going to be massively important not to concede early on but pretty much from the first whistle we found ourselves under pressure.  They are a lively side with two quick wingers, a livewire centre forward who runs the channels all day and stretches defences and experienced goalscorer Martin Wormall.

We were fairly organised in defence and kept it tight in the first half without offering much going forward, despite being tougher to break down this week Harrowby still had lots of chances and our goal lead a charmed life.  Carl Knox made some good saves and Pat Diamond cleared one off the line so we made it through to half time 0-0.

Having discussed the importance of another solid ten minutes without conceding in the second half during the interval our resistance was broken within 90 seconds of the restart, Martin Wormall heading home from a long diagonal in to the box.  Almost immediately the hosts broke down the left and Sam Webb smashed home a volley, 2-0 Harrowby and fears of a repeat of last week starting to appear.  The difference this time was that we got back in the game quickly as Drew Mitten scored from a sharply taken short corner which caught Harrowby cold, 2-1.  Harrowby started to look a bit nervy and their once confident swagger was reduced to carelessly giving the ball away and gaps appearing in their defence.  With about 15 minutes to go Kyle Stimpson arrived in the box late to power a bullet header in to the net following good work from Mitten down the right, 2-2.  We were in the ascendancy for the next 10 minutes or so as the hosts fell in to disarray but we just couldn't carve out that winning goal, then in injury time Martin Wormall headed home a left wing corner which was a real choker.  To see how Harrowby's Management team celebrated by running on the pitch like they had just won the Champions League should give all concerned with the Robins great heart, they knew they were in a game and were lucky to walk away with the points, in fact two of their club officials  came in the dressing room after and said we deserved something out of the game which was a nice touch.

All in all the boys who pulled the shirts on yesterday and battled their socks off deserve a lot of credit and it will get better.

Dan Kingston