MORE POINTS DROPPED

Saturday started so well with a delicious pre match lunch (thanks to Claire and Graham and team) and then we had some fine weather to give us a break from all the recent wet weather and to cap it all we took an early lead with a goal from Harry Shepherd.

But then it all went pear shaped around the half hour mark when Josh Ameganvi got sent off (we won’t go into details but there seems to have been some confusion about what exactly happened and who was involved). Our guests then scored from the free kick to make it a double whammy for us.

Things evened up a bit in the second half when Biggleswade had a player sent off but we had gone over 40 minutes with just 10 players and although we went mighty close to grabbing an equaliser in the end we fell just short although you couldn’t criticise the lads for lack of effort or commitment.

After all the recent wet weather it was great to get a game back on again although the conditions were far from ideal (a point mentioned once or twice by the opposition!!) but it was the same for both teams and it certainly didn’t do us any favours as we like to play football on the deck.

Ryan Sturges and his Team had to make some changes to our forward line with leading scorer Dylan Whitelock and Harry Jones, who scored a brace of goals in the last game and of course scored a cracker in the same fixture last season, both out injured so Max Hercules and Harry Shepherd were pushed forward.

We started well with Max winning a free kick after 10 minutes and from 25 yards out saw his effort go just wide of the post. A minute later we took the lead when Blake Argent picked up a loose clearance and found Max Hercules who was buzzing around in midfield. Max then slipped a nice pass to Pablo Kalamaras who laid it off nicely to Harry Shepherd who from outside the area fired a precise shot into the corner of the net for his 8th goal of the season. Score 1-0.

Then the whole complexion of the game changed around 20 minutes later with the sending off of Josh Ameganvi which came about after we failed to deal with an aimless pass forward. As a result Ryan and his team had to make some big changes with James Kimber going in goal and Liam Mann coming on as a sub to drop into defence with Pablo Kalamaras going off which was a shame for the youngster as he had a hand in our goal and had only just returned from injury. The resulting free kick was fairly tame but James was unable to keep hold of it and Kane O’Neill was able to apply the finishing touch. Score 1-1.

Despite being a player down we played quite well denying our opponents any real scoring chances until just before half time when Biggleswade’s tricky winger Scott Metcalf beat our offside trap but his shot went well over the bar.

So we had manged to keep ourselves very much in the game and go in at half time on level terms. HT Score 1-1.

We nearly had a disastrous start to the second half when former Athletic player Liam Smyth found his colleague Kit Brown with a fine pass but James Kimber did really well to block the forward’s shot. Ten minutes later Scott Mercalf was picked out by a cross to beyond the far post but he couldn’t connect properly and his shot flew well wide.

Despite being a man down we went close to taking the lead following a fine move instigated by Dylan Fitzpatrick who broke out of defence and inevitably found Max Hercules who then picked out Blake Argent. The teenager’s super cross to the far post found Harry Shepherd whose fierce shot from a tight angle was superbly saved by the keeper’s legs.

After just failing to take the lead we fell to a sucker punch when our guests broke quickly with Scott Metcalf tearing down the right wing and from an acute angle he found the far corner of the net. Score 1-2.

Around the 70th minute mark we were given a life line when Scott Bridges was given a straight red card for a challenge on Jack Harvey to even up the numbers. The roles were now reversed as it was Biggleswade’s turn to defend as we saw an opportunity to get an equaliser.

We made a number of substitutions and changes to our formation and went for broke as we applied pressure on our opponents. We took every opportunity to get the ball into Biggleswade’s area and in the 52nd minute we would have equalised but for Keeper Josh Mollison who made a magnificent save from Liam Mann from close quarters with his left hand and then somehow managed to scoop the ball out of the net with the other. Whilst it was disappointing for us you have to say that it was a save worthy of winning any game.

The dangerous Scott Metcalf hit the post 10 minutes from time but despite our all our attacking efforts we were unable to get the equaliser and we again suffered a narrow defeat, FT Score 1-2.

Congratulations to Biggleswade who unlike a lot of clubs stayed on after the game to enjoy a drink and game of darts and pool. For us it was a frustrating and disappointing result and yet again we lost by a single goal, the 6th time this has happened to us in the League this season.

Full marks to the players who pushed our opponents all the way with a player short for almost half the game. In the end we just fell short but we were facing a team on a brilliant run of form who are 2nd in the table and will be in the running for promotion so the players can take a lot of credit for that.

We still remain in 8th place in the table and still have 10 League games to go but unless there is a significant change in our results and those of our competitors it seems unlikely we will make the Play Offs. However, we still want to finish as high as we can in the League and we still have the Herts Charity Shield Final against Baldock Town and we also have a Galdwish Challenge Trophy Quarter Final tie away at Winslow United so there is still a lot to play for.

Man of the Match award went to Skipper Jack Harvey for his tireless performance in midfield and thanks must be extended to the 226 supporters who turned up for the game.

Next Saturday we travel to Harlow Town for a League fixture.

TEAM

TA: Josh Ameganvi, Mason Clarke, James Kimber, Dave O’Connor, Dylan Fitzpatrick (Omar Helmy 80), Jack Harvey (Capt), Luke Peerless (Greg Deer 71), Blake Argent (Bailey Osborne 71), Pablo Kalamaras (Liam Mann 31), Harry Shepherd (Harry Beaumont 71), Max Hercules.

Scorers

TA: Harry Shepherd (11)

BU: Kane O’Neill (32), Scott Metcalf (61)

Crowd: 226