Farnborough 2 Histon 1
Evo-Stick Southern 1 Central
Saturday 15th April 2017
Boro keeper Zaki Oualah dived low to his left to divert Jake Chambers-Shaw’s 97th minute penalty past the post and deny us a point after what turned into an eventful game at Cherrywood Road yesterday.
With every game making a big impact on our fight for survival this was always going to be a tough one against a very accomplished Boro side who will finish as runners up to Champions Royston Town this season. Lance was forced to make one change to the side that was victorious against Uxbridge last weekend with Lee Smith back from injury to replace the suspended Lewis Clayton in midfield.
The home side started strongly and were on the front foot from the start with Cureton and Coles a threat up front but once we had seen out the opening ten minutes or so we started to settle into the game. Chambers-Shaw’s volleyed effort from the edge of the area straight at Oualah was the closest we came though before Charlie Allen opened the scoring with five minutes of the half remaining. A deflected shot from outside the area fell nicely for the midfielder ten yards out and he made no mistake in firing past Roach to give the home side the lead.
A couple of minutes later and Cureton nearly doubled that lead but his goal bound effort was superbly tipped onto the post by Roach before being cleared.
Still very much all to play for at the break then and within a couple of minutes of the re-start we were level. Danny Gould headed the ball into space ahead of James Carman on the corner of the penalty are, the striker letting it bounce before unleashing a fine angled drive that flew past Oualah into the far corner.
Any hopes of building on that momentum didn’t last long though as three minutes Boro restored their lead. A ball to the back post was headed back across goal where Cureton was waiting to calmly finish.
The game ebbed and flowed from there, Gould tried his luck with an ambitious overhead that was only just wide whilst Boro were always a menace when they came forward.
With the clock ticking down the game’s flashpoint came when Boro substitute Jordan Graham was shown a straight red card for a strong challenge. A red seemed harsh particularly as it was the first really strong challenge of any note in the game but we’ve had plenty of such decisions go against us this season so you have to try and take advantage when one finally goes for you.
We continued to get players forward at every opportunity and were leaving spaces for the home side to counter into but deep, deep into added time our chance finally came. The ball was bouncing around in a crowded penalty area and amongst the sea of bodies and claims for a penalty the Referee pointed to the spot. Chambers-Shaw struck the spot kick low to the keeper’s left but Oualah guessed right and made the save at full stretch to deny us a point, immediately after which the Ref brought the game to an end.
So, we go into tomorrow’s game against Bedford knowing that defeat will see us relegated regardless of Northwood’s result. However, a win could see us going to Kempston next Saturday with a real chance of beating the drop. It promises to be a big day at The Glassworld tomorrow, you don’t want to miss it!
Histon: Sam Roach, Danny Gould, Evan Key, Lee Smith, Max York, Dan Gleeson, Tommy Wright (Marcus Hall 80), Simon Unwin (Sean Jenkins 80), James Carman (Joe Carden 67), Jake Chambers-Shaw, Elkanah Sibanda.
Histon subs not used: Cameron Watson, Pat Bexfield.
Histon yellow cards: Evan Key, Dan Gleeson, Simon Unwin.
Histon goal scorer: James Carman (47).
Farnborough: Zaki Oualah, John Oyenuga, Keith Emmerson, Josh Huggins, Curtis Osano, Sam Pearce, Scott Donnelly (Jack Barton 71), Charlie Allen (Jordan Graham 60), Perry Coles (Dennis Oli 60), Jamie Cureton, Nic Ciardini.
Farnborough subs not used: CJ Fearn, Aaron Bufton.
Farnborough yellow card: Jamie Cureto.
Farnborough red card: Jordan Graham.
Attendance: 281.
