Men’s 1s draw a thrilling encounter at Moulton College
Playing the same 3 x 25 minute format as the week before, Saints took the field with another young looking squad as they handed out further debut games. Cheered on by several Saints fans who came along to , the home side started well after an even opening ten minutes took the lead. Scott Mahoney pounced onto a rebound from a short corner to cleverly reverse stick the ball home for a 1-0 lead. Soon after, Saints doubled their lead after Grant Carlin smashed the ball towards goal with a deflection beating to Milton Keynes goalkeeper. Jamie Webb saw yellow after an altercation with an MK forward and with a man up MK soon fought back and restored parity with a quick fire double and the first third ended 2-2.
The next 25 minutes was one to forget for Saints as Milton Keynes dominated possession and the chances. Webb was yellow carded for the second time as Saints suffered once again with only 10 men. Saints did well defending the short corners but after several defensive lapses found themselves 5-2 down and staring defeat in the face. Tired legs started to show but Saints tinkered with their line up and Dave Saunders smartly pulled a goal back just before the end of the middle third.
Starting at 3-5 down, Saints produced a very positive display in the final third. Battling for every ball, their superior fitness shone through as self belief began to come back and they controlled the game for the rest of the match. Liam Cassidy cleverly deflected the ball home after a firm strike into the D to make the score 4-5 before Ben Scott beat a defender to a Cassidy cross to equalise. Any MK break was thwarted by an impressive Sam Biddle in goal, a double reflex save being a particular highlight. Tireless work by Gareth Parker in the middle of the pitch meant Saints did have chances to sneak the win but were unable to grab a sixth goal.
With a middle third to forget sandwiched between two solid halves it was another promising performance by a very young Saints side.
Squad: Sam Biddle, Jamie Webb, Tom Wightman, Martyn Cory, Gareth Parker, Grant Carlin, Alex Press, Sean Henry, Dave Saunders, James Knibbs, Scott Mahoney, Liam Cassidy, Alex Blunt, Ben Northedge, Ben Scott (c), Tom Lewington