Evo-Stick Southern 1 Central
Saturday 14th January 2017
The team showed immense character and determination to come from two down at half time and secure all three points in a dramatic game at Honeycroft yesterday afternoon.
Ben Yeomans, on as a half time sub, grabbed two to get us back on level terms before Dan Gleeson powered a header home from Matty Allan’s corner three minutes from time to win the game.
Lance Key had initially named Jake Chambers-Shaw in the starting XI but the attacking midfielder picked up an injury in the warm up and was replaced by Simon Unwin. Defender Daniel Happe had joined on loan from Leyton Orient on Friday afternoon and was on the bench alongside Yeomans, Danny Gould and Aysa Ourtilbour.
The opening few minutes were quiet enough but with 10 played Abobaker Eisa opened the scoring with a right footed shot from the edge of the area that Sam Roach couldn’t keep out at his near post.
Within a minute we could have been level when Matty Allan burst clear but with home keeper Paul McCarthy advancing quickly Allan dragged his shot wide.
Roach was called into action to save well low to his left as the Reds posed a real threat. With 23 minutes played Eisa got his second to double the home side’s advantage. Uxbridge moved the ball well from their right to find Eisa with plenty of space in the centre to take a touch before placing his shot past Roach.
Despite the scoreline we looked like we could get back into the game. Tommy Wright fired high when the ball came to him from a corner and Allan again went through one on one with the keeper after Carman’s header sent him clear but this time McCarthy narrowed his angles to save well.
0-2 at the break then and time for the manager to get his team in and make an adjustment or two. Ben Yeomans replaced James Carman and as the game wore on the striker became more and more of an influence on proceedings, leading the line well and adding an edge to our attacking moves.
With almost an hour on the clock Ross Munro angled a lovely ball into Yeomans’ path which the striker took into his stride with a deft first touch before cutting inside his defender and rifling home past McCarthy.
Uxbridge still fancied their chances of adding to their score though and looked dangerous on the break but you could almost sense the momentum change in the game as we went looking for the equaliser.
That equaliser came with fifteen minutes to play when Max York launched a throw into the area that caused the home defence all sorts of problems before the ball found it’s way to the back post where Yeomans was waiting to gleefully smash it home from a couple of yards out.
That might have been enough for some teams but this Histon side now has some self-belief and steel to go with their ability and they were going for the win. Uxbridge still had Histon nerves jangling when they countered, the impressive Eisa always a threat on the left but with a couple of minutes left we had our winner. Allan had had a series of corners from the left to the near post that had been, not altogether convincingly dealt with by the home defence but this time his delivery was perfect for the incoming Dan Gleeson to meet with a bullet header from 6 yards out that gave McCarthy no chance.
Histon nerves might have been jangling amongst the 20-30 Stutes supporters on the sidelines but the team on the pitch kept calm and stayed strong to see out the game without any further scares. Three in a row now for Lance Key’s fast improving side, can they make it four on Saturday when Chalfont St Peter visit the Glassworld to keep the dramatic Great Escape going?
Histon: Sam Roach, Tommy Wright (Danny Gould 70), Cameron Watson, Ross Munro, Max York, Dan Gleeson, Marcus Hall (Danny Happe 90), Simon Unwin, James Carman (Ben Yeomans 46), Matty Allan, Elkanah Sibanda.
Histon unused subs: Aysa Ourtilbour.
Histon yellow card: Ben Yeomans.
Histon goal scorers: Ben Yeomans (59, 76), Dan Gleeson (87).
Uxbridge: Paul McCarthy, Ben Peden, Andrew Dean, Daniel Bailey, Tayo Davies-Coker (Mitchell Wiseman 46), Kevin Warner (Anthony Thomas 80), Danny Julienne, Abobaker Eisa, Jon-Jo Bates, Wayne Carter, Connor Channon (Jake Groves 66).
Uxbridge subs not used: Sam Ntin-Addae.
Uxbridge yellow card: Tayo Davies-Coker.
Uxbridge goal scorer: Abobaker Eisa (11, 23)
Attendance: 81
