On a sunny but windy afternoon in front of a decent crowd of 291, who took advantage of the free entry over the Easter weekend, we missed a great opportunity to claim the scalp of one of the leading clubs fighting for promotion.

With a two goal lead and an extra player we were in pole position but we failed to control the game in the second half and paid the price by conceding late goals from two set pieces.

We had quite a few players missing for various reasons and we only had two players on the bench. There was a start for local lad Jake Alley who was our 4th keeper of the season and when he required some treatment during the game there was a fear that he was jinxed like our other goalies, but fortunately he was able to carry on.

Despite the absentees we had a cracking first half and took the lead after 21 minutes with a superb goal from Dylan Fitzpatrick who intercepted a pass on the half way line and then slalomed his way straight down the middle towards goal before slotting his shot past the keeper. Score 0-1.

The home side were dangerous down the wings and whipped over some good crosses but we defended well. In the 26th minute Rio Connell fired a shot straight at Jake Alley and four minutes later Risboro produced a fine move which ended with Hassan Jalloh’s shot going over the bar.

We caused the home side some problems with Harry Jones robbing a defender in the 34th minute and shooting agonisingly just wide and then a few minutes later keeper Ben Bridle-Card came out to quickly to deny Bailey Osborne. With five minutes of normal time left Bridle-Card lost control of the ball and grabbed Bailey Osborne to deny a certain goal and was red carded.

The incident was just outside the area so a free kick was awarded and Dylan Fitzpatrick was denied a second goal by a fine save from the stand in keeper who got down quickly to tip the shot round the post.

So a good first half ended with us holding a one goal lead, which could have been more, and having a man advantage. HT Score 0-1.

The situation looked even rosier two minutes after the restart when following a period of possession Harry Beaumont sent Blake Argent away down the right and his super cross was tucked away at the far post by Harry Jones. Score 0-2.

Soon afterwards we had to reshuffle the team when Liam Mann went off injured to be replaced by Pablo Kalamaras who himself got injured 10 minutes later to be replaced by Frankie Hercules making a welcome return after a number of months out.

The next goal was going to be crucial and unfortunately for us we failed to deal with a long ball out to the speedy Rio Connell who was fouled in our area. Andrei Chiriac scored from the spot to get his team back in the game. Score 1-2.

When Harry Shepherd was given a second yellow and then red card the odds swung back towards our hosts who saw an opportunity to get a draw or even a win with 16 plus minutes still to play.

In the 86th minute Risboro equalised following a corner which fell to Jon-Jo Bates whose shot was deflected in off one of our players. Score 2-2.

The final nail in our coffin came in the 90th minute when we failed to clear a free kick and Manny Williams stabbed the ball home from close range to claim all three points for Risboro and to keep them in the hunt for promotion. FT Score 3-2.

It was disappointing to lose after seemingly being in control but we were down to the bare bone with so many players unavailable which restricted the changes we were able to make during the game. However full marks to Risboro who kept going right to the end and we wish them all the best for the play-offs.

On Easter Monday we visit Kempston Rovers for a Premier Division League game with a 3pm kick off.

Team

Jake Alley, Liam Mann (Pablo Kalamaras 58) (Frankie Hercules 68), James Kimber, Greg Deer, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Jack Harvey (Capt), Harry Shepherd, Blake Argent, Harry Beaumont, Harry Jones, Bailey Osborne.

Scorers

RR: Andrei Chiriac (Pen 62) Jon-Jo Bates (86) Jon-Jo Bates (90)

TA: Dylan Fitzpatrick (21), Harry Jones (47)

Crowd: 291