Right, well, what to say about this game?

Well, there were good signs. As Nev pointed out the first 15 minutes we were on top, and had St. Neots visibly and audibly irritated that they were not dominating as they probably expected against the bottom side in the Division. If only we could have scored during that period…

Instead it was the Saints who took the lead, when a forward was allowed to spin and let off a snap shot, which was accurate and came through a crowd to sneak home. Frustratingly this was just about the first serious attack the home side had managed in the game, but having scored it their earlier frustrations seemed to evaporate.

Despite that we leveled fairly promptly, a flowing move down the left involving (I think) Alec and Tom ended with Ahmad sweeping first home first time. A really nicely constructed goal by the team and Ahmad’s first for the club. We also pressed and pressed after the break for a winner, keeping the Saints pinned in their half for long spells.

However there were also signs of alarm at the back, Player-of-the-Match Jack having to make one highly impressive scramble to stop a one-on-one, somehow gaining 10 yards on the forward to jab the ball away as he swung for his shot. And something like this proved costly as a horrid defensive turnover, followed by a well placed pass had the forward in one-on-one again. This time Jo raced from his line to close down. That induced the Saints player to miss his touch… which only served to wrong foot our goalie, who was braced for the shot, the ball dribbling slowly into the middle of the net. Gah!

Attacks in the last ten minutes got a bit desperate as we sought at least a point from a game where we could, on another day, have had three. But those defensive lapses were too much to overcome. And it was another defeat. But just like against Peterborough before half-term, the level was around what we need to get results in this Division. If we can just be more considered in the final attacking third… and cut out the silly errors at the other end… then positive results will start to come.