No video highlights of this one, but fortunately our match reporter Reg was at the game and has given us the following account of how it all unfolded;
Histon were denied a late winner at Eynesbury Rovers by a cruel slice of luck and the finest of fine margins. With just three of the ninety left on the clock, and the scores all square, players and away supporters looked on in horror and disbelief as Jordan Foster got his foot to an excellent low cross into the goalmouth only to see his goal-bound effort strike the inside of the far post and travelled along the goalline before rebounding back into play off the opposite post. A goal at that stage would have put us in a strong position to win the game and hold onto fifth place in the league table. Instead, we must now hope that Aylestone Park slip up in their remaining games and that we take something from each of our final two games of the season.
Danny Baulk had given the Stutes a deserved lead just before the break but Rovers got themselves level in the 67th minute and looking the stronger side for much of the second half.
But as Histon rallied late on for one last push it looked like their considerable efforts were going to be rewarded when substitute Deacon Pattison went on a surging run down the left and sent over the low cross that came so close to providing the winning goal.
Two games in the space of three days was a big ask of the players on both sides. Histon started the game without defenders Jake Kerins and Max York after the latter was injured during the game against Godmanchester Rovers. Makeshift centre-back Luke Crisp was also forced off after 30 minutes with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and Connor Barnes was playing despite suffering from a groin strain. Consequently, there were some unfamiliar combinations in the Histon defence and midfield with the most noticeable being Harry Hurst playing at left back. However, the former Rovers player coped well with all that his former teammates sent his way.
Adden Tokley was a driving force in the midfield for Histon, but it was Joe O’Neill who came closest to opening the scoring with a thunderous shot that was only inches over the bar. Danny Baulk was seeing a lot of the ball on the left and his pace was causing Rovers plenty of problems. The warning signs were not read by the home defenders and Baulk made them pay, running clear of the last defender and striking the ball confidently past the advancing keeper to give Histon a 42nd minute lead.
The introduction of Pattison, Kenny, Foster and Netherclift gave the Stutes extra energy late on as both sides understandably started to wilt in the sunshine. But with Karl Saffery and Charlie Black in the heart of the Histon defence the hosts looked nothing like a side that scored eight goals in their previous game.
A mix-up in the Rovers defence almost let Baulk in for a second goal before the ball was scrambled away from the foot of the post for a corner. But it was the late drama that had the considerable Histon contingent in the crowd of 260 prematurely celebrating a late goal. Victory appeared to be ours until the realisation set in that the ball had not nestle into the bottom corner of the net as expected but had agonisingly refused to cross the goalline. Even as it bounced off the second upright it was only the late intervention of an Eynesbury defender that prevented Ben Netherclift from finishing the job and restoring the advantage for Histon.
It was a missed opportunity that may prove costly in the fullness of time, but it is by such thin margins that promotion battles are won and lost and a goal for the Stutes at such a late stage in the game would have gone a long way towards preserving our place in the season-ending play-off matches. Twice in as many games over the Easter weekend we were denied a late winner by an unfortunate rebound off a post. Our luck can only get better from this point on.
