St Neots Town F.C.
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St Neots U18 side produced their best performance for more than a month but it was not enough to prevent their fourth successive league defeat. In fact their last league win had come in the home match with Deeping at the end of October but the Lincolnshire side gained their revenge and moved back to the top of the league table with this victory. It also took Deeping's points tally to 24 - just one less than in the whole of last season. It was a close match and St Neots could have snatched a share of the points but the home defence looked solid in the final stages and held on until the final whistle. On a breezy evening it took the sides some time to master the conditions but having settled down neither side managed to dominate for long periods.

St Neots created the first two shooting opportunities with Josh Sadler on the right of the attack firing either side of goal in the first six minutes. He then combined with Jake Hiom to set up Richard Willard but his shot was also wide of its target and both goalkeepers enjoyed a fairly quiet first twenty minutes. After 22 minutes St Neots keeper Adam Michelin was called into action to push over the bar a fierce narrowly angled shot from Oliver Gale and then in a spell of four minutes around the half hour the home side struck twice. Gale took on two defenders and sent in an out swinging cross and although it was won in the air by a defender the clearance fell to Adam Goodliffe and his low finish beat the keeper. Before St Neots had recovered they conceded again as Goodliffe retrieved a long cross on the left and curled in a shot that was followed into the net by the unmarked Matthew Oliver. St Neots tried to retaliate winning two free kicks in shooting positions and from the second Josh Sadler produced a stunning shot from 30 yards to send the ball over the keeper and under the bar to claim his fifth goal of the season. Three minutes before the break Goodliffe had a chance to complete a first half hat trick played clear by Ben Sallis but Michelin raced from his line to divert the shot for a corner.

St Neots tried to vary their attack after the break sending on George Finney to replace Willard and withdrawing Jack Warwick to an attacking midfield role behind the striker. It seemed to work with both Finney and Rob Gooch having shots blocked but the home defence looked solid and goal attempts at either end became rare. Karl Samal had one shot saved and another deflected for a corner and even the introduction of two further substitutes failed to inspire St Neots. The closest to a late goal came when Oliver Gale dribbled his way through the St Neots defence but shot wide of goal as St Neots' most promising attacks seemed to break down on the edge of the Deeping penalty area. Now stranded in mid table St Neots must look to rekindle their early season form if they are to recover to improve on last season's fourth placed finish.

• Team: Michelin, Hiom, Neves, Samal, Dawson, Spoors, Sadler, McLean, Willard, Warwick, Gooch
• Subs: Finney (for Willard 46 mins), Spavins (for Spoors 67 mins), Kidman (for Samal 80 mins) – not used Harper & Mitchell
• Man of Match: Jake Hiom

Match date: Wed 25th November 2009