Nuneaton
0 Southport 1
SOUTHPORT
kept up their good away form with a battling victory over
previously unbeaten Nuneaton Borough – a victory
that moves them into fourth place in the Nationwide North.
Manager Liam
Watson set about the task by playing football rather than
travelling to the Manor Ground looking for a point and
relying on a blanket defence and physical intimidation
to get it.
Steve Dickinson
didn’t have a shot to save worthy of the name whilst
Nuneaton’s goalkeeper, Darren Acton, was rightly
chosen as their man of the match for keeping the score
down to 1-0.
Terry Fearns
could have had a first half hat-trick. As early as the
eighth minute, he made a run from the half way line only
to see his shot beaten out by Acton who then pushed away
a Kevin Leadbetter effort for a corner.
When Nuneaton
did attack, they favoured a long ball approach that was
constantly repelled by a resolute Southport defence. Neil
Fitzhenry broke up one move when he headed behind a dangerous
cross in the 16th minute but he blotted his copybook shortly
afterwards when he was rightly booked for a wild two-footed
challenge which, luckily, failed to connect.
In the 19th
minute, Fearns shot narrowly wide from just inside the
area and Neil Robinson headed over from a Carl Baker corner.
Then, on the half hour, Fearns missed the best chance
when he neatly trapped a clever lob into the box by Chris
Price only to scuff his shot wide.
Acton made
another good save from Baker but The Sandgrounders had
a bit of good fortune at the other end when Avun Jephcott
headed wide after Dickinson failed to collect a high ball
from Chris Tullin.
The breakthrough
came at the start of the second half. Robinson chased
the ball down the touchline, doing well to keep it in
play, and sped down the wing before putting across a perfect
pass to Kevin Lynch who cleverly back-heeled it into the
path of Fearns for The Yellows‚ leading scorer to
draw the keeper before sliding it into the net for his
4th goal of the season.
In the 57th
minute, Acton denied him yet again by blocking his shot
in a one to one confrontation.
With Jephcott
looking their most dangerous player, Borough tried to
get back into the game, but Southport were playing with
great confidence and looked invincible.
However, in
the last minute, they almost threw it away. Nuneaton won
a free kick at the edge of the area and, as the players
jostled for place in the box, Steve Farmer fell to the
ground, allegedly pole-axed by a retaliating Southport
player.
The home crowd,
players and management screamed for a penalty, which could
well have cost The Port their hard-earned win, but, by
then, the free kick had been taken.
When he finally
saw the injured player, the referee, after much discussion,
merely ordered the free kick to be retaken, a baffling
and incorrect decision.
All the Southport
players deserve praise for a fine team performance in
a sporting game, with the tireless Kevin Lynch shading
it as my man of the match.
More than 150
fans made the long trip to the Midlands and their vocal
backing at this hospitable ground was magnificent throughout.
With that sort
of support at Haig Avenue, the forthcoming home games
(Altrincham on Saturday and Runcorn next Tuesday) should
see the team back on track for a place in the top three. |
