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In writing the report for
this match my note pad for the first 45 minutes barely
had a word written in it and until the last twenty minutes
of the game this was also true of the second half as
well. However, this was by no means a dull and dreary
0-0 draw and the last 20 minutes of the game swung from
end to end with both sides having extremely good chances
to take all three points.
The Stones approached the gamewith a high tempo game
plan and this clearly unsettled their visitors as both
Lloyd Blackman and Meshach Nugent got in and amongst
their opponents as both the nose of John Purdy and the
back of goalkeeper Darren Behcet's head will testify.
However, only two clear goal attempts were made in the
opening half of the game and both of these were created
by the visitors. After 12 minutes Mark Janney fired
in a low cross from the left flank directly across the
six yard area but despite the efforts of The Urchin's
forward line there was nobody able to get a decisive
touch onto the ball and it went out for a goal kick.
The other chance of the half came in stoppage time when
Simon Parker and Janney exchanged passes before Janney
drove into the area and pulled a low, hard ball across
the goal only to see Peter Hawkins divert the ball narrowly
beyond the near post at the expense of a corner.
Meshach Nugent appeared to be bursting with confidence
throughout the game and his appetite for physical challenges
appeared to know no bounds as he consistently held off
both aerial challenges and lunging tackles. Nugent showed
his strength and pace in the 66th minute when he ran
over 40 yards with the ball at his feet only to be stopped
in his tracks by a foul from Billy Coyne which earned
the defender a caution from the excellent referee Martin
Yerby. The Urchins found some rhythm of their own shortly
afterwards and it was Coyne who fired in a low and powerful
cross into the home side's six yard area. Simon Parker
made contact with the ball as he lunged forward but
he failed to keep his effort down and the ball narrowly
whistled over Andy Walker's crossbar.
The Stones countered immediately with Nugent winning
the ball and playing in Tom Parkinson. His drive was
blocked as was the follow up by Jay Saunders and eventually
the ball fell to Lloyd Blackman but he hurried his effort
when well placed and lofted his effort over Behcet's
crossbar. Within two minutes Nugent was sent through
on goal by a Blackman pass and despite looking a yard
or so offside Nugent raced through. Behcet reacted quickly
by coming out of his area and he managed to make a good
old-fashioned block tackle on The Stones striker to
avert the danger.
By this point in the game both sides were attacking
fluently and another cross by Coyne went to the far
post where substitute Mervyn Abrahams lunged to reach
the ball. The pacy and skilful striker made contact
but put the ball narrowly the wrong side of the post.
The Urchins were by now having their best period of
the game and in the 81st minute Andy Tomlinson smashed
a swerving 20 yard effort towards Andy Walker's goal
causing The Maidstone stopper to throw himself full
length to turn the ball away to safety. Within two minutes
Tomlinson had fired in another blistering shot and this
time Walker's fingertip save tipped the ball against
the crossbar to deny the visitors the lead.
Seemingly stung into action, The Stones cleared the
ball and Blackman sent Nugent away on one of his mesmerising
runs from the halfway line. The striker cut inside Purdy
and unleashed a fearsome strike which beat Behcet for
pace but cleared the crossbar by a matter of inches.
Two minutes later Nugent again ran at the Hornchurch
back line this time from the left flank. He cut onto
his right foot and struck a firm, low shot towards goal
missing the far post by a narrow margin.
Steve Elliott replaced the tiring Parkinson in the
last three minutes and immediately got into the action
when he broke down the right flank and drilled in a
low cross to the near post. Nugent reacted fastest but
his near post effort was heroically blocked by a last
ditch effort. Elliott again provided Nugent with a shooting
opportunity in the last minute of normal time with the
striker turning on the edge of the box and firing narrowly
over the bar.
With the additional minimum time of two minutes expired,
Elliott won a free-kick near to the right side corner
flag and delivered the subsequent free-kick low into
the near post. Saunders timed his run well to flick
the ball across the goal and central defender Peter
Hawkins found himself unmarked three yards out but his
reaction shot lifted up against the crossbar and went
agonisingly over the goal with Behcet completely beaten.
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