Away day blues

Rovers, in their third choice colours, started the new year with a defeat at basement boys North Leigh. With a number of players unavailable, manager Tony Joyce named himself on the bench for the fixture.

The game, played in rather picturesque surroundings, began slowly and it was Rovers that had the first real chance of note. A crunching challenge by Shane Bush in the final third to win the ball back, fell kindly to Scott Joseph, but the veteran forward’s attempted lob was wide of the mark. For the hosts, Henry Landers saw a free kick deflected wide for a corner with Wyant stranded. Landers had an even better chance around the half hour, a wild shot from Seacole fell straight to the number ten, who looked suspiciously offside , but his instinctive side foot finish was superbly blocked by Wyant. The young Rovers stopper was again called upon to deny Landers a third time after a swift counter attack. The hosts deservedly took the lead after the half hour, a long ball from the keeper was brilliantly kept in play by Landers, who fed the lively Alabi who in turn laid the ball to Grant. The midfielder had broken from deep and had lost his man, giving him the freedom to take aim and fire low past Wyant. Right on half time, Kempston were appealing for a penalty. Scott Joseph had brilliantly broken the offside trap and was clear of the back line. As he bore down on goal, his lobbed effort was palmed away by Cavanagh. However, Rovers, to a man called to the referee to say that Joseph had been impeded as he took the shot. Quite rightly, the match official was unmoved. One nil to North Leigh at the interval.

The second period started with a bang. An early Kempston corner wasn’t properly cleared by North Leigh, falling perfectly for Josh Crawley on the edge of the box to smash home a sweet left foot volley from at least twenty yards into the top corner. The goal roused Rovers into life, with several chances following swiftly, a tame Shane Bush header was saved well by Cavanagh, then Ben Shepherd curled an effort wide from another corner that wasn’t cleared properly. Nathan Tshikuna then put in a very deep cross, Crawley missed making contact in the middle, but arriving at the back post was Scott Joseph who met it on the full, only to see the ball cannon back off the upright. As North Leigh regained their momentum, Landers forced Wyant into another save to deny a one on one situation. Wyant then had to deny Seacole as he surged into the box. Rovers then had two glorious chances to win the game, firstly Bush was found by a Mercer cross, but his expert control and shot was blocked by a brave body in the North Leigh back line, before Josh Crawley found Nathan Tshikuna unmarked at the far post, but the winger slipped at the vital moment and ended up stabbing wide from a prone position. Amid lots of late home pressure, the inevitable winning goal came. Roger James firing home at the near post with a neat finish past Wyant in the last minute of normal time. Deep into added time, North Leigh added a third. A cross from Landers was met at the far post by Seacole steaming in to finish, adding a gloss to the scoreline that perhaps didn’t reflect the overall game.

Defeat slips Kempston back one place in the table and lifts North Leigh off the foot of the table for the first time in months. Rovers are back in action on Saturday, as they host Yaxley.