Kempston 2-2 Northwood

Fan favourite Robbie Goodman went from villain to hero as he secured a late draw for Play off chasing Kempston. The center half seized upon a goal mouth scramble following a succession of corners at the end of the game to lash home his second goal of the season and grab a very hard fought point for the home side.

Kempston were ahead in the first half when leading scorer Danny Watson was superbly put through by Ben Shepherd to find the net for his twenty fourth goal of the season. A strike that keeps him on track to be the league's top scorer, all Watson's goals have been from open play this season. The goal seemed to liven up our opponents as they began to create more pressure on the Rovers goal. Carl Knox had to be at his best to tip a long shot wide, then rode his luck again just before the break as Northwood hit the post. In first half stoppage time, however, Rovers were breached. A swift counter attack was turned in by the Northwood forward Stephenson.

The second half began brightly for Rovers, Watson and Munashe Sundire going close for the hosts. Good work that was undone on the hour mark when Stephenson caught out an indicisive Goodman at the back to slot the ball past Knox and put the visitors in front for the first time. Kempston responded by making changes, first a double swap saw Sundire and Phil Draycott replaced by George Boland and Gary Ridgway, before with twenty minutes left Sam Johnson replaced Sam Macrae in the midfield. Rovers turned the screw on the visitors after their re-shuffle and forced a string of corners. The terraces very nearly got their wish of an equaliser when away goalkeeper Borja Loeches-Teixeira made a desperate last gasp block to thwart Watson. As time wore down, Rovers continued to force corners, keeper Carl Knox added his prescence to the penalty box in the desperate search for a point. Yet another corner was sent in to the 'mixer', Northwood failed to clear their lines properly and there was Robbie Goodman to slam the ball into the roof of the net and earn a share of the spoils.

After the game, manager Jimmy Stoyles thanked the supporters for their terrific encouragement to the team and felt that perhaps Rovers needed to be more clinical with the chances they had created. "We could've been better in both boxes today", he commented. "We created so much, but we just couldn't finish." Rovers now look forward to Tuesday night and a clash with AFC Dunstable in the semi final of the county cup, for the winner the prize is a place in the final against Southern League Premier side Dunstable Town, who put out Luton Town in the other semi final, played earlier this month.

Rovers line up;
1 Knox, 2 Sundire, 3 Draycott, 4 Goodman, 5 Simpson, 6 Fryer, 7 Shepherd, 8 Macrae, 9 Ivy, 10 Watson, 11 Fuller
subs - 12 Boland, 14 Johnson, 15 Ridgway
sponsors man of the match was awarded to Ash Fuller
attendance - 90