St Neots Town F.C.
Supporting the saints online

It was a winning start for Steve Lomas and his side at the expense of Premier Division newcomers Daventry United and keeping a clean sheet was an important bonus. Without Josh Sozzo and Tony Scully two players who have been very influential pre-season St Neots suffered a further blow when recent signing Andy Lodge was helped off in the first half with a serious looking ankle injury that seems certain to keep him out for at least a couple of weeks. However three points to start is very acceptable and St Neots will hope to be as effective away from home on Saturday when they embark on their FA Cup campaign. Daventry United beaten only twice at home last season are going to find the step up to Premier Division a real test and they seldom tested the excellent Like McShane in the St Neots goal.

St Neots were quickly out of their blocks at the start and in the first ten minutes they totally dominated play. Shane Fox shot wide and Michael Hyem burst through to fire over the bar. Then after six minutes a cross by Parys Okai on the left found the head of Liam Harrold and the ball eluded the keepers grasp and appeared to go over the line via a post but as St Neots celebrations' began a very late offside flag ended their early hopes. For a short spell St Neots played some attractive football with Okai wide in midfield tormenting the Daventry defence but the final ball always seemed to finish out of reach of the strikers. The home side were very competitive in midfield and midway through the first half the game became scrappy with neither creating chances. One notable St Neots effort saw Harrold chase a loose ball on the right to cross for Matt Kenneford but his effort was high over the bar. The first time the St Neots goal looked in danger was when Bobby Lea crossed from the right to find the St Neots back line square allowing Ally Keay to fire in from a narrow angle to bring an excellent save at his near post by McShane. Five minutes before the break Lea prematurely ended Lodge's debut for St Neots with a reckless tackle that earned a booking and required several minutes' treatment and Luigi Rocco sent on as a substitute to make his first league appearance since September 2008. The half ended in a stalemate with both sides looking short of ideas.

The second half saw the reshuffle with Okai switched to full back where he looked good but his wide contributions were missed. He did move forward to send a teasing cross that landed on top of the goal net but the home side replied with a free kick by Joel Young that flew over the bar. St Neots then had a let off when Nicky Hurst slipped on the lust turf as he tried to clear and Danny Finlay was clear but he lost control and wasted the chance. St Neots freshened up their attack by sending on Lee Bassett for Shane Fox and then after 20 minutes in an off the ball incident Finlay clearly punched Michael Hyem and was red carded after the Referee had consulted his linesman. From that point on St Neots dominated with Daventry creating just the one chance when Lea slipped in at the back post but McShane saved bravely at his feet. St Neots had reverted to a long ball game giving Harrold and Bassett plenty to chase and with fourteen minutes left it paid off with the first goal. Hyem found Bassett wide on the right and although his cross was just too long for Harrold the striker chased it to the bye line to pull back but his cross was blocked by the hand of Craig Hyde and a penalty kick awarded. Man of the match Parys Okai confidently tucked the ball past the keeper to ease the nerves and three minutes later Okai also provided the second goal with an accurate free kick that found the head of Liam Harrold and his perfectly placed effort was out of reach of the keeper for the second goal. It was a well deserved if not totally convincing win.

• Team: McShane, Dogbe, Lodge, Hyem, Fuff, Hurst, Kenneford, Knight, Harrold, Fox, Okai
• Subs: Rocco (for Lodge 40 mins), Bassett (for Fox 56 mins) – not used Ashby, Simpson & Dwyer
• Man of Match: Parys Okai

Match date: Sat 8th August 2009