Frozen

Another cup match, another sub standard performance from Maidenhead United to leave the Magpie fans as frozen as the pitch at the final whistle. The scoreline may have only been 1-0 but it could have been a lot more with the Magpies offering little or no hope of even salvaging a replay. Once again David Pratt was absent from a key Cup tie and his replacement in the lone forward role Alex Wall was left to chase hopeless causes all night as the ball was fruitlessly pumped high and long in his direction, a tactic which was meat and drink to a Suttton defence well marshalled by Simon Downer. Thus attacking wingers Lee Barney and Harry Pritchard saw little of the ball leaving most of the play to take place in the Maidenhead half with the Magpies clearing off the line, and Jesse Joronen pushing a shot wide from the impressive Stefan Payne before Sutton took a deserved lead. Harry Ottaway was the scorer, applying a deft touch to a cross from Simon Rents which split the Maidenhead defence.

For their part Maidenhead had one good chance, a Wall drive being parried by goalkeeper Kevin Scrivens, whilst the Magpies were forced to rearrange their defence when Joe Crook departed injured just before the goal, James Regis coming on, which led to captain Mark Nisbet moving forward into the midfield with neither Daniel Brown on Bobby Behzadi on the bench.

One consolation of the half time scoreline was that Maidenhead were still in the game with the powerful weapons of Reece Tison-Lascaris and Pratt on the bench. Yet their introduction midway through the half did little to raise hopes of a goal and Sutton ran out comfortable winners. Both sides came close to scoring on one occasion, Nisbet having a header cleared off the line by Stuart, whilst Joronen made a last ditch save to deny Craig Dundas, however even with four minutes of stoppage time the end result was in little doubt, leaving Maidenhead with only their league future to play for this season. The two games to be played before Sutton United return on 22nd December need to yield points to keep the Magpies' heads above the relegation mire.

One for joy two for sorrow

As has now become a worrying custom Maidenhead lost the battle of the southern Magpies at York Road in a game which they opened in unstoppable form.

A typically grey autumnal afternoon had begun with a stop at Bar Sport Maidenhead to watch the North London Derby, a rare opportunity to watch that strange breed of football fans who access the game solely through TV, cheering and applauding at the screen as if at the stadium itself. This fine hostelry seems to be prospering whilst pubs across the town falter which is unsurprising when you consider the investment to ensure everyone can see a screen and their televised sport of choice. The draught Amstel could not taste better as Arsenal capitalised on Emmanuel Adebayor's dismissal, the pair of Tottenham fans sharing a table with me disappearing at half time. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't the only person heading for York Road at the final whistle, testament perhaps to their commercial support of the club.

The game at York Road sadly had shades of that in North London as Maidenhead tore Dorchester apart in the first part of the game, taking the lead when a Bobby Behzadi cross from the right was headed goalwards by David Pratt. The header took a slight deflection, enough to ensure goalkeeper Jason Matthews was unable to hold onto the ball with Daniel Brown reaching it first to score.

A few minutes later Pratt took the ball round Matthews to shoot from a tight angle, the strike well positioned but without the power to cross the line before Aaron Pugh cleared off the line. Pugh, alongside central defensive partner Charlie Clough proved to be a formidable barrier to any further Maidenhead goals. At the time I felt this reflected Maidenhead's lack of width but the introduction later on of Harry Pritchard didn't really change matters.

Having survived the opening onslaught with just a small deficit, Dorchester worked their way back into the game, serving notice of their intentions to level with a free kick that Billy Lumley pushed round the post. Whilst Maidenhead remained a threat, Mark Nisbet heading narrowly over from a corner, Dorchester equalised with the goal of the game, a Mark Jermyn pass finding Ben Watson who applied a super finish to score.

Dorchester were straight out of the blocks after the interval and would have taken the lead but for an outstanding reaction save at the far post by Lumley from Sam Malsom. Lumley was again at his best to deny a second from Watson tipping the shot onto the post when the striker ran clear on goal. That Matthews could only parry another Pratt effort served as a reminder that Maidenhead were still in the game but a double substitution just ahead of the hour mark seemed to upset United's equilibirium.

This unwelcome turn of events was compounded by Dorchester's winning goal to which the Dorset club contributed little. An innocuous through ball seemed to be destined for Lumley's welcoming embrace before James Regis diverted it into the top corner with his head from the edge of the penalty area.Whatever was or wasn't said by anyone in a black and white shirt remains conjecture as I was up the other end but certainly this goes down as a defensive mix up and a frustrating one to concede with Maidenhead seeming to have weathered the early second half blitz.

There was plenty of time to recover but Maidenhead offered little threat apart from a cross which Chris Flood fired across the edge of the penalty area from the right wing which eluded goalkeeper, defender and Alex Wall.

Not a good start to a run of at least five Saturday home games in the next six weekends. With the league table as tight as it is, goals are precious and cannot be given away lightly, certainly the likes of Danny Burnell and Ben Abbey won't need asking twice when they return to York Road with Slough on Tuesday night.

Derby Day

With Maidenhead United and Staines Town meeting three times in the last four seasons on August Bank Holiday, this fixture is starting to acquire the welcome hallmarks of a local derby, and why not given the proximity of the two towns, not to mention the clubs' similar stature.

Yesterday's game certainly lived up to this billing, a close affair which could have gone either way although the loser would have felt duly aggreived at leaving with nothing.

Defying the wet forecast by playing in sunshine throughout, Staines, followed by a large entourage, started brightly putting the ball in the net in the tenth minute from an offside position. Star of the show David Wheeler then cut in from the right wing and forced Billy Lumley into a good save low down. Wheeler was the only survivor from last season's Staines squad which had spent most of the season in the relegation zone, and it was easy to see why he had been kept on by new manager Marcus Gayle.

Although Maidenhead started to have more of the game as the half hour mark approached, Lumley was beaten by a Teddy N'Goy header only for debutant James Regis to clear the ball off the line. It was another familiar player, ex Magpie Max Worsfold who created the games' opening goal, charging down a clearance, the loose ball finding its way to Wheeler to score.

Exhibiting the resilience which has been a salient feature of their play this season, the Magpies equalised within five minutes David Pratt heading in at the far post from a Michael Pook right wing cross. It was United that went on to finish the half in the ascendancy a Lee Barney cross from the right flying past the goal just out of the reach of Alex Wall at the stroke of half time.

After the break the game remained an even contest although relatively free of incident except for an Elliot Godfrey shot out of the blue which rattled Lumley's crossbar. With fifteen minutes left the substitutions began to take effect presenting both teams with an ideal opportunity to win the game. Firstly Tony Garrod raced into the clear but with only Lumley to beat, Garrod pulled his shot wide. From the goal kick Reece Tison-Lascaris broke free in similar fashion and this time went round the keeper to shoot on target only for a defender to get back and clear.

A draw then was a fair result and reflects a cagey opening month in the league with no team either with a 100% winning record or pointless, and 20 of the 43 games ending level. Monday also showed the robustness of the Magpie squad with Regis and Barney slotting in seamlessly to cover for Saturday's injury victims Harry Pritchard and Devante McKain, with the extra freshness of Staines, who had their game on Saturday abandoned after just eight minutes, not being a factor in the result.