by Peter Scherer
Mickleover came away from the Good Friday visiting to Rushden & Diamonds with a had fought point after a third successive draw.
Starting line-up: 1-Jay Alexander 2-Jake Bennett 3-Danny Gordon 4-Will Atkinson 5-Brad Gascoigne 6-George Wilkinson 7-Luke McCormick 8-Cieron Keane 9-Manni Norkett 10-Andy Dales 11-Paddy Webb. Subs: Stuart Beavon, Danny Benson, Jayden Samuels, Will Smith, Jack McDowell.
The elements were against both teams from the kick off with a strong wind and very dry bumpy pitch.
Rushden earned the first corner of the game on the left after four minutes, but the kick went straight through the box and out of play on the opposite side.
It was a fairly even start though, with Mickleover earning an early free kick when Dales was upended, landing heavily on his back on the bone hard pitch. Gordon’s kick was then cleared by the home defence.
The first real shot came from McCormick in the 13th minute. Webb put the ball through but his curling shot was taken wide of the left-hand post as the wind caught it.
Norkett almost broke through two minutes later after cutting in from the right, before Rushden got a break and Ollie Evans forced the first save from Alexander.
22 minutes in and Norkett’s pace caused problems again for the home defence, but JJ O’Toole was lucky to escape a caution after hauling the Mickleover striker back by his shirt and elbowing him in the face.
Rushden had managed another break after 28 minutes but the shot was wide, before they managed to hit the bar four minutes later. As the ball bounced back into play there was contact on the box and appeals for penalty were waved away.
But Sports were quick to respond when Dales charged down the right to send Webb clear, until his path was blocked by David Adegbola.
With just a couple of minutes left on the clock in the first half, the game took a negative turn for Mickleover. Keeper Alexander charged out of his goal but missed the interception, which fell to Rushden’s Cairo Taylor. Alexander then held the player until the defence got back, but the referee decided it was a straight red card.
“I held him while players got back, but he had his back to me and the goal and expected a yellow card,” Alexander admitted. The incident didn’t stop a certain goal as the challenge was outside the box, the player had his back to it and the referee gave the red before any consultation with his assistant.
But however ludicrous, the decision stood, Alexander walked and Mickleover had to sacrifice McCormick for sub McDowell to come on.
When the free kick was eventually taken, it was given about 10 yards nearer the goal too. So it remained 0-0 as the half time whistle finally went.
The were no further changes during the half time break, but the effects of the strong wind continued to cause problems. 49 minutes and Sports won a corner on the right, but Gordon’s kick was carried long and straight out of play.
Dales managed to create enough space for a 51st minute opportunistic shot, but that was wide and two minutes later Findlay cut in from the right for Rushden, but Gascoigne intercepted before he could get a shot in.
It was still fairly end to end though and Norkett got a break against a solo defender, but the ball bobbled and he lost out. But Mickleover had started to push forward more and create half chances.
55 minutes and Atkinson battled through to find Webb on the right. He connected but the ball bounced unevenly again and took the sting out of his following shot.
Just a minute later Dales sent in across from the left, which seemed to hang in the air. Findlay finally headed it clear just before it reached Webb, but Gordon’s follow up corner was then headed clear to.
Home keeper Dan Jezeph was lucky to get away with handling the ball outside the box after 62 minutes, as the assistant hadn’t kept up with play and failed to spot it.
Rushden then went on the attack with Adegbola’s shot blocked after a cross from Findlay, before Findlay tried his luck two minutes later which was easily saved by McDowell.
Webb had another shot blocked after 71 minutes, after a collecting a nice pass from Norkett and then Gordon went solo to battle through, but his shot was wide of the left-hand post.
Then it was Rushden’s turn again with Joel Nketia firing wide, before they went close again with a scramble in the box after Taylor’s 76th minute free kick.
The referee had given a few free kicks where he reacted to crowd pressure, none more obvious than a challenge between Dales and Adegbola, when the Rushden player earned his free kick after a well delayed dive.
Into the final 10 minutes and Webb put a header across the box, just a bit too high for Norkett, as it bounced off the top of his head. “I Knew it was too high, but I had to try for it, or folks would have asked why I didn’t,” said Norkett.
Dales put a cross or shot into the side netting after 83 minutes and Norkett was fouled again on the halfway line, just before he was replaced by Beavon.
Beavon almost got a late break but was flagged borderline offside, and then a short back pass from Bennett was well intercepted by McDowell, before Findlay made the final shot of the game for our hosts, but managed to clear a row houses behind the goal.
Some strong defending from Bennett, Gascoigne, Wilkinson and Gordon made sure it was a clean sheet as it ended 0-0, and overall it was a good strong performance from Mickleover in difficult conditions.
