Thrilling climax to a slow burner of a game as Rovers snatch a point at Fleet

Driving through Fleet on the way to the ground, one couldn’t help but catch the scent of Christmas in the air, the bustling high street full of shoppers seeking out gifts for loved ones. The lights along the street, twinkling in the grey afternoon light. A gentle sting of bitter wind biting at the extremities. Yes, all very festive. And far more noteworthy than the first half of the match; wherein the only notes that this reporter took were a booking for the Fleet forward for a trivial foul, a comfy save by Martin Conway from a Bunyan header and a Josh Crawley shot wide.

The second half got going almost straight away, as both sides were clearly done with feeling each other out. Sam Johnson latched onto a Crawley cross field ball, ran by his man and unleashed an effort from the angle of the area, which was impressively saved by Beach in the home goal. In the fifty fifth minute, the hosts broke the deadlock. A high, hanging cross was allowed to bounce in the Rovers six yard area, where neither Conway or Alex Stoyles were able to deal with it. the hesitation allowed Ruzika in to nod home from only a handful of yards. The lead was doubled three minutes later as a cross from the left wasn’t cleared properly and fell to Wilson. The wide player hit an early shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the net for two nil. Rovers rang the changes, bringing Luke Heneghan and Jake Newman into the fray. In the seventy second minute, Rovers had a lifeline. A corner wasn’t dealt with by the home defence and in the ensuing scramble, Robbie Goodman was on hand to slam the ball home at the far post – the fourth time he has done so this season. with just over ten minutes left on the watch, Newman was put through on goal by a ball over the top. The forward still had at least ten yards to reach the penalty area, but was pulled back the defender and dispossessed. An incident that was missed by all the officials, but not by the assessor sat next to me. Shortly afterward, Copeland found himself in the book for Fleet for unnecessary afters with Fuller on the touchline after the ball had gone dead, from the throw in, Jordan Lee crossed into the area where it was inadvertently nodded down by a Fleet defender to the feet of Newman. Rovers top scorer needed no second invite and tucked the ball home from four yards with his right foot, yes, his RIGHT foot. Ben Shepherd tested Beach from distance before in the ninetieth minute, Ash Fuller crossed to find Johnson on the run. The in-form winger hit a fierce shot which was amazingly turned away by Beach to keep his side in the game. Rovers had one further chance, a free kick deep into stoppage time after Wales had lunged in on Shepherd just outside the area. Shepherd left the taking of the kick to Luke Heneghan, who put a deep ball into the box, which was comfortably claimed by Beach. In the end a draw was probably a fair result, Fleet will rue letting the lead slip, while Rovers will be wondering how Beach denied them the win.

Rovers stay in eighth in the table, a point outside the play off places. Next up is a local derby against Barton Rovers on the 9th December at Hillgrounds. Rovers Development Team won today by 2-1 over Renhold United in the Bedfordshire County League.