Pinchbeck United 1
Rugby Town 1
Much-improved Pinchbeck United ended their four-game losing streak with a battling Uhlsport UCL Premier Division draw with Rugby Town on Saturday.
The Knights made a great start at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field and went ahead when stand-in skipper Tyrone Burton expertly slotted home a side-foot finish on seven minutes.
A string of stellar saves from keeper Ricky Lovelace and some solid defensive play looked like frustrating much-fancied Rugby from then on, but Pinchbeck were finally breached ten minutes from time when substitute Sam Lockley poked home from close range.
Despite being disappointed by the late leveller, Knights chief Ian Dunn was impressed with the improvement shown by his side and feels they can build on the unexpected draw.
“I’m gutted we didn’t win,” admitted the player/boss. “Performance-wise, I thought we followed the instructions to a man.
“We set up to try and frustrate them – and it worked. We wanted to be disciplined and almost get 11 men behind the ball when we could so we could play on the counter and try to hurt them.
“We’ve been our own worst enemy at times this season when we’ve got forward in numbers and given the ball away in daft areas. It feels like we’ve always conceded goals when we’ve tried to attack.
“I don’t think we looked under threat from the counter; in recent weeks we’ve been absolutely wide open. In terms of that, the performance was much better from us.
“We were almost down to the bare bones with Ollie Maltby having to pull out the night before the game and Nick Bishop only able to make the second half.
“With that in mind, that lads did really, really well. It was good to see that we looked a lot more solid from a defensive point of view and hopefully this will give us a platform to build upon.
“It’s a great result for us, nobody would have expected us to pick up anything today.
“We scored a good goal and looked more solid, we now need to build on this and work on being a bit more threatening going forward – but we’ll need to right kind of player to allow us to do that.”
With star striker Maltby sidelined by a back injury, new signing Niall Hylton was handed a start on the left and Reif Bissett-Clarke was given the chance to start in attack.
The opening few minutes were quiet, but the game burst into life when James Gordon got in on the right and pulled the ball back for Burton, who took a touch and curled low into the corner from inside the box.
Gordon had the chance to double Pinchbeck’s lead soon after following a great switch for Eugine Francis, but scuffed his strike on the right side of the box.
Burton also curled a long-range free-kick just back the post as the Knights looked to build on their great start.
But Rugby soon found their feet and sliced the home defence wide open, only for the excellent Lovelace to turn Ryan Seal’s strike just past the far post. The keeper also got down well to collect the ball from the resulting corner.
The remainder of the first half saw Pinchbeck under the cosh, but a sin bin to striker Jazz Luckie just before the interval slowed the visitors’ progress.
Things became a little niggly in the second half, with Rugby’s Charlie Evans somewhat fortunate to escape with just a ticking off after raising his hands to Tony Edwards.
Moments later it was that man Evans who took advantage of some hesitant home defending before seeing his shot saved at point-blank range by Lovelace.
The Knights continued to ride their luck when an in-swinging ball from the left caught Edwards sleeping and Fazel Koriya somehow headed wide from close range at the back post.
There was no reprieve ten minutes from time, however, with Lockley benefitting from the confusion caused by Loyiso Recci’s long throw into the box to prod into the net from close range.
Pinchbeck did go close to grabbing a late winner when Jordan Nuttell headed just over from a corner, but a draw was perhaps the right result on the day.
Knights: Lovelace, Worthington, Edwards, Burton, Ross, Nuttell, Gordon, Eyett, Francis (Gaukroger 81), Bissett-Clarke (Kacirek 56), Hylton (Bishop 66). Not used: Shores, Dunn.
