Last minute Wall breakthrough gives Magpies hard earned win

From a Maidenhead United point of view the game followed a perfect script yesterday. The Magpies slowly taking control of the game, increasing the pressure in the second half to the point where the goal finally arrived in stoppage time at the death. Aside from the the three points the win also ensured there would be no slipping back to the awful form prior to Richard Pacquette's arrival, the striker having left again in midweek to join Lincoln City.

Eastbourne had the better of the opening stages with some deep crosses slicing open the Maidenhead defence. One of these led to a one handed save lowdown by Billy Lumley from the head of Carl Rook in the twentieth minute which turned out to be the closest Borough came to scoring all afternoon. By this time Martel Powell was starting to make his presence felt on the right wing feeding the trademark powerful runs of Alex Wall. The salient feature of the half though was a running battle between either sides creative outlets Ashan Holgate and Gary Hart, both wearing the number ten shirt. Holgate received a caution which may have been deserved but nevertheless it was still disappointing to see Hart encouraging this by waving an imaginary card at the referee. The feud was ended when Holgate was withdrawn at the interval in favour of Paul Semakula.

Kicking down the slope in the second half the Magpies gradually set up camp in the Eastbourne half, with goal attempts instigated by Wall free kicks or right wing crosses from Powell or Reece Tison-Lascaris. These often led to corners which ultimately paid dividends however Eastbourne also provided a counter attacking threat to keep the Magpie defence busy.

At times though it looked like being one of those days when the ball just wouldn't cross the line. Semakula wasted two great chances to score from close range, one flashing past the goal the other being cleared off the line. With fifteen minutes to go the crowd gasped when the ball fell to Leigh Henry on the edge of the box and his rasping shot hit the post. Jermaine Hinds netted the rebound but was clearly offside.

As the clock ticked past the ninety minute mark Wall stepped up again to take a free kick. Having blasted several earlier attempts low, this time he bent the ball around the wall only for goalkeeper Clark Masters to tip the ball over the bar. Wall was waiting on the line for the resulting corner bundling the ball in to score the winner and receive an odd caution for celebrating with the corner flag.

The final whistle soon arrived to signal a tireless Magpie performance fully deserving of the three points with their opponents looking dead on their feet. With the win allowing United to scale the dizzy heights of fourteenth place, a whole seven points above the relegation zone, hopefully 2012 will see a more comfortable league position maintained by the Magpies.