SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CENTRAL

St Neots Town        0        Biggleswade FC        0     

Prior to this match St Neots had gone nine matches without a win and their visitors had not been beaten in their last nine outings so nothing changed.  In front of a big crowd neither side deserved to lose but neither keeper was seriously tested and although the visitors get the ball in the net two minutes from time an offside flag kept the scoresheet blank. The worrying thing for Pete Gill the St Neots Manager is that his side have now failed to score in eight of their last ten matches and although he has not been able to name an unchanged side during that run, the supply of goals seems to have dried up. Another worry is that although his side is still seventeen points above the drop zone, five of the six clubs below them in the league table all picked up points last Saturday. Three enforced team changes again had to be overcome with Dequaine Wilson Braithwaite serving the first of a three- match ban following his sending off at Ware, Dylan Switters nursing an injury picked up last week at Ware, and Ben Heal undergoing trials with a Football League club. Into their places came fit-again Callum Anderson, Charlie Johnson after his suspension, and skipper Lee Watkins recovered from a COVID break.

St Neots found themselves playing against the wind in the first half and could have been in trouble after nine minutes when they left Michael Simpson unmarked at the far post to a Jack Dreyer cross but goalkeeper Louis Chadwick made an important close-range stop. At the other end the hard-working Neo Richard-Noel broke clear of the defence but was thwarted by a last-ditch interception by Charley O’Keefe as he bore down on goal. Ironically the closest to a first half goal came after 20 minutes from a long-distance cross-cum-shot from the left by Richard-Noel that visiting keeper Jack Berman seemed to misjudge but the ball bounced harmlessly on the top of the crossbar and away for a goal kick. Adam Hunt then ran at the home defence leaving players in his wake, but his shot was deflected by the last defender. St Neots leading scorer Joe Rider looked out of touch and his sole effort was a header over the bar four minutes before the break, from a Charley Barker corner and the first half ended with a searching run down the flank by Wynford Marfo to set up Ky Marsh-Brown but his shot was deflected wide for a corner.

The second half was marginally better than the first and it began with Louis Chadwick quick off his line to save at the feet of Ryan Inskip. Richard-Noel set up substitute Kwai Marsh-Brown (on for Rider), but his shot was blocked by a defender and then Barker tried a spectacular 40 yards effort that was tipped over the bar by the visiting goalkeeper.  St Neots now began to look more confident but too much of their passing was either speculative or inaccurate and they had little to show for their greater share of possession. A Barker free kick tested the visiting goal but in the latter stages of the game the visitors began to look dangerous on the break with attacking substitutes prominent. Visiting substitute Scott Joseph had a couple of chances to test the home defence and when he did get the ball in the net he was ruled offside. A worrying injury to Callum Anderson saw him replaced late in the match by Marc Abbott, but Biggleswade returned home having yet to record a victory in six meetings at Senior level with St Neots Town.

Click Here For The Photo Gallery

Today’s Saints Supporters’ Man of the Match was awarded to WYNFORD MARFO

St Neots:  Chadwick, Marfo, White, Anderson, Johnson,  Barker, Cowling, Watkins, Richard-Noel, Rider, Ky Marsh-Brown

Subs:  Kwai Marsh-Brown (for Rider 46 mins), Abbott (for Anderson 90 mins), Smith, Dearman, and Gill.

Cards: none

Goals:  none

Biggleswade:  Berman, Hunt, O’Keefe, McCafferty, Oswick, George, Marsh (A), Draper, Simpson, Coles, Inskip

Subs:  Bailey (for Simpson 69 mins), Joseph (for Inskip 78 mins), Marsh (L) (for Coles 85 mins), Butler and Bond

Cards:  none

Goals:  none

 

Referee:  David Jarrett (Northampton)

Attendance:   350

John Walker