Following a superb win on Wednesday, we travelled to Newcastle Independent looking to secure back-to-back victories for the first time in well over a month and also full of trepidation for which version of our opposition we were going to face. On a tricky pitch where the grass could have done with being cut before the game kick off, both sides struggled for rhythm and with our momentum also not helped by the trigger happy linesman that was running the opposition’s defensive line in the first half and who became an increasing source of frustration as the half went on. Chances also came and went at both ends, and we were indebted to both Reece Dunbar Phillips and Zamo Khalil for an outstanding last-ditch table and huge save, respectively. The second half followed a similar pattern until the introduction of 17-year old Harlan Croft in the 60^th minute and it was he, less than 5 minutes later, who was on hand to turn home a cross by Ryan Milburn in an attack that he had started. By then, the tackles were flying, but the lads were managing the game really well until the officials intervened with five minutes to go, with a penalty awarded in circumstances where virtually nobody appealed and Zamo had made a save. In the aftermath, and still reeling from being pegged back by the penalty that was struck home with aplomb, we found ourselves down to ten minute as well, but this farcical episode only served to galvanise the lads as we went looking for 3 points. And as Dan Morton whipped another cross back into the box, George Riley rose about the opposition keeper to nod towards the back post and in his desperate attempt to clear the ball, the opposition’s defender made sure that the ball crossed the line. However, there was only George Riley looking to claim it. A late scare saw the opposition hit the bar a couple of minutes later, but we hung on and took another big step towards hopefully achieving a top 5 finish.

Russell Ward