Needham Market returned to the starting line up from the Kirkley victory for their first visit to the new home of Wisbech Town at the Village Hall of Outwell.
Needham kicked off on a typical village hall pitch and it was Wisbech who had the first chance of the match when Jimson headed wide from a Smith cross after seven minutes. There were few good chances being created by either side and Jones dealt easily with a Jimson 30 yard effort on 20 minutes and Phillips headed over from a Thrower cross when left in space six minutes later.Needham looked as though they were going to open the scoring on the half hour when Phillips collected a long Horlock ball but with just the keeper to beat he dragged his effort in to the side netting.Wisbech went straight down the other end and from a Smith cross Thompson headed against the post and Horlock had to head a Jimson header off his own goal line with two minutes to go to the break.
H/T WISBECH TOWN 0 NEEDHAM MARKET 0
Wisbech could have taken the lead two minutes after the break after a move involving Cubberley and Jimson left a late arriving midfielder King in the clear but his contact from close range was poor and Jones slithered the ball out for a corner. The second half followed in the same way as the first and although the match wasn’t a dull one there was little quality on show to warm you up on a chilly November afternoon. A defensive mistake let in Phillips in but his effort was straight at Street and Parker put the rebound over after 57 minutes before Harrop had to be replaced by Buckle a minute later.Smy replaced Bethell after 73 minutes and Parkers effort lacked enough power to beat Street after a pull back by Phillips with eight minutes to play. Parker played in Phillips but Street again blocked his effort after 84 minutes before Jimson was replaced by Pease with two minutes to play and Street could have won it for Wisbech deep into injury time but he headed over when well placed.
F/T WISBECH TOWN 0 NEEDHAM MARKET 0
Never an easy place to go and get three points but this has to go down as two points dropped as although Wisbech had their chances the four very good chances fell to Needham and were not tucked away. Once again not a poor performance on a surface which didn’t suit their style but the report would read “Needs to do better” if we are going to keep the pressure on at the top.
Sides won’t find points easy to come by at Outwell and the general consensus was that whoever passed the facilities suitable for the Ridgeon’s Premier League must have had a vivid imagination.
Off to the seaside on Tuesday for the normal tough encounter on our trek to Portman Road. By Phil Barber |
|