Pinchbeck United 2
Long Buckby 1
A dramatic late header from player/boss Ian Dunn earned Pinchbeck United their first-ever ChromaSport UCL Division One victory on Saturday.
Dunn, who had earlier missed two good chances, buried an 88th-minute back-post header from Andrew Tidswell’s free-kick to earn his side all three points at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field.
The Knights dominated for most of the clash and deservedly went ahead when Liam Ogden lashed home the opener on 51 minutes.
However, a host of missed chances and some top saves by keeper Ross McCarthy kept Long Buckby in the game – and they duly levelled from a deflected Charlie Merrey free-kick five minutes from time.
Parity lasted just three minutes, however, with Dunn’s late effort sending promoted Pinchbeck top of the embryonic table.
“When they equalised, I just couldn’t believe they were still in the game,” admitted the player/boss. “I should have scored two goals before I got the winner, without a doubt.
“It was very similar to the Huntingdon game last week. They were a much better side (than Huntingdon) and it was even for about 15 minutes, but from then on it was total domination.
“It’s great to get that first UCL win. I really didn’t know what to expect or how the game would go.
“But I was pleasantly surprised by the way we played, how we moved the ball and the tempo at which we did things. We won a lot of second balls too and the movement off the ball was good.
“It was just the final decision that let us down a bit. However, in the second half we opened them up a lot and they were hanging on with deflections, blocks and saves.
“To be fair, their keeper was superb. I thought 2-1 flattered them quite a bit, really. It should have been more, as much as they moaned and groaned and said the referee was bad.
“We wanted to win the game more than they did and I think that showed in the end.
“As a striker, I thought the movement of the other players when Ollie and I got the ball was superb and they couldn’t cope with it.
“It’s great to get that first three points and nice to see a half-decent crowd – there was a nice bit of noise when that winning goal went in.”
It took about 15 minutes for Pinchbeck to settle in their first-ever UCL home game, but once they did the chances began to flow.
Ollie Maltby nodded a Tidswell free-kick over, while the striker then saw a deflected strike acrobatically tipped past the post by McCarthy.
The impressive McCarthy then pulled off a fine double save to keep out efforts from Callum Lawe and Tidswell, before somehow denying Maltby from point-blank range.
The dangerous Maltby worked McCarthy with an angled drive soon after, then Herbie Panting poked an improvised effort wide from the right-hand side.
However, Buckby reminded Pinchbeck that they’d need to take their chances in the second half when Simon Barby had a goal ruled out for offside and then rifled an effort into the side-netting before the break.
It took just 40 seconds for the Knights to carve their visitors open in the second half, with Dunn blazing over from close range following a great Maltby cross.
A trademark Tidswell free-kick was then palmed wide by McCarthy, before Ogden finally broke the deadlock.
Often the man for the big occasion, Ogden cut in from the right and blasted a fierce low drive into the far corner to grab the Knights’ first goal at step six standard.
It was nearly 2-0 instantly with Tidswell seeing a rasping drive somehow cleared off the line, before the midfield maestro crossed for Dunn to head over at the back post.
Despite Long Buckby seeing their manager Rich Kay sent to the stands by the referee, they improved in the closing stages and, after sub Aaron Worton had lashed cracking long-range effort over, they levelled from a set-piece.
Merrey’s free-kick from 25 yards took a big deflection off the wall and left keeper Ben Martin with no chance.
But that only served to inspire Pinchbeck, who went up the other end and pinched the points through Dunn’s powerful header.
Pinchbeck number two Allan Ross added: “It would have been a sucker punch if we hadn’t won the game.
“However, did you see the passion in our faces after their goal? We went straight down the other end and got the winner.
“We’d worked on that kind of delivery in training, we knew it was something we needed to improve on.
“That’s what I left Ian on. Ollie (Maltby) was tired, so we knew if we got the ball in the box – Ian might have missed two chances – but he got the winner.
“At half-time we didn’t think there was much more we could have done.
“Last season we had a structure and approach to each game, but know we barely know anything about our opposition.
“But the opposition doesn’t know anything about us, either. So it will be a bit cat and mouse and this season and we have to adapt as the games go on.”
Pinchbeck: Martin, Gordon, Lawe, Gardner, Jack Smith, Shipley, Panting (Bishop 78), Tidswell, Ogden (Eyes 67), Maltby (Kingston 73), Dunn. Not used: Josh Smith, Brooks.
