Saturday 12th January 2018

FUTURE LIONS UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE-PREMIER DIVISION
COGENHOE UNITED (0) v OADBY TOWN (0) 1
Cooks; Dove 84
Poachers; Hopewell 87

Attendance; 45

Jake Stone made a couple of changes to the line-up as Matt Long and Josh Melling returned to the starting eleven with Luke Stone and Ryan Ansell taking their places on the bench as we hosted an Oadby Town side just a few places below us in the table. It was a damp but very mild January afternoon with the fairly gentle breeze blowing down the pitch from the carpark end and Cogenhoe had it at the backs in the first half.
The Cooks started brightly although Alex Lowery had to make a good tackle on Sam Hollis as he latched onto a Jack Samples through ball. Liam Tuck played a good ball down the line for Montel Dore but Sam Preston read the situation well and came across to put the ball out for a throw. Tuck was looking lively on the left flank and he sent over a low cross that a defender blocked. It fell to Charlie Hynam outside the box and he tried a first-time effort but his lifted shot looped wide. Hynam won a header from a poor clearance from Poachers keeper Taylor McMillan, but unfortunately the chasing Montel Dore wasn’t expecting it and was in an offside position.
Long steered the ball to his right where Melling headed a good ball on for Dore to chase but McMillan was quickly off his line to get there first inside the corner of his area. A great pass from Hynam found Melling on the right and he played it inside for Long whose hooked volley wasn’t too far over the bar, then Jack O’Connor won a great header that Dove controlled and turned to shoot, but his effort from well outside the box was always going wide as he failed to middle it. Great vision though from the skipper.
Tuck played a great angled ball across the box that was only just ahead of Long’s run then Long sent over a cross that Dove met with one of those acrobatical overhead kicks he has in his locker and although he certainly got the power behind it, he couldn’t keep this one on target. Hynam played in a free-kick from the left that Tuck flicked on and Dove showed an instinctive reaction to stab it at goal, but it went the wrong side of the far post. Melling sent over a good cross but the presence of two defenders meant Dove couldn’t get a clean header on it. Melling returned it into the box and this time Dove nodded it down but it was cleared away by Kane Peaden with Long lurking.
Melling dinked the ball into the box with his left foot and Dove helped it on towards tuck at the far post, but it came to him at an awkward height and he volleyed it into the ground and it bounced away off the back of Daryl Russell. Another great winning header by O’Connor in the centre circle saw Long give chase, but it was too powerful for him to catch and it had gone out for a goal-kick before he could swing over a cross over. Hynam only found the keeper with his free-kick from wide left as Cogenhoe continued to frustrate in the final third despite dominating proceedings.
A dangerous looping cross from Samples was headed back across the box by Hollis but Cogenhoe cleared their lines and we were soon back down the other end with Long winning a corner. Hynam played it towards the back post but O’Connor was just beaten in the air by Russell as he attacked the ball. Good work from Dore saw him get the better of Preston and fire in a powerful shot from outside the box, but it was too close to McMillan. O’Connor broke out of defence only to be brought down from behind by Hollis with referee Paul McVey deciding a stern lecture to be sufficient on this occasion. Dove worked hard as he held the ball up and found Melling in the corner of the box, but his lobbed cross-shot was a foot over the angle of bar and post.
Stuart Lutter had been a spectator for much of the half and apart from coming wide once to dive on a through ball, hadn’t been tested at all as we approached the break, but he had to dive to his right to push away a powerfully struck free-kick from James Ireland to ensure the teams went into the break tied at 0-0.

Half-time; Cogenhoe United 0 Oadby Town 0

Cogenhoe had lost their way a little in the latter stages of the first half but were back on the front foot as the second got underway. Dove was fouled but the ref played advantage as the ball broke for Dore and there were shouts for a penalty as he was challenged when he tried to cross and for a moment there was some excitement as the referee gave a blast on his whistle and appeared to point to the spot, but he was actually awarding a goal-kick.
Barnell switched play and found Dore who slipped it through for Tuck to make some yards and he played it low towards Dove at the far post, but Ellis Preston did enough to make sure he couldn’t get in a shot. Tuck sent over a deep cross that was just too high for the incoming Dove, then a great ball across the box from Dore managed to elude the blue shirts and was cleared beyond the far post. Long won a corner on the right, then Tuck did the same on the left after a good run, but we couldn’t make these set-pieces pay this week. Barnell pulled up holding his hamstring and was forced to come off just before the hour, but at least we had Dan Stevenson to slot straight in without disrupting our formation. Hopefully it won’t be a serious one as George is an extremely important part of our defence.
An angled shot from the left by Hollis was easily dealt with by Lutter before Long came off to be replaced by Ryan Ansell on 67 minutes. Russell caught Dore in the centre with a miss-timed tackle and went into the book, while both sides made a change with Luke Stone coming on for Melling and Hollis making way for Ash Varnham for the visitors. A great save from Lutter kept out a well-struck Ireland free-kick and he got himself up quickly to save the follow up too with an excellent double save to keep the Oadby goal tally at zero. Dove was brought down on the edge of the box by Ellis Preston and he got up to take it himself. His low drive was blocked and Stone tried to pounce on the loose ball but was beaten to it by Samples who put it behind, although the referee awarded the home side the goal-kick.
Samples dinked the ball over the top for Varnham to chase, but Stevenson got ahead of him and the Oadby sub tripped his Cogenhoe counterpart. Nice work from Dove gave Tuck space and he sent over a decent cross that Peaden headed behind for a corner. Hynam took it and McMillan got above Stevenson to punch away. Ansell found Dore in the box and he played over another dangerous ball that we couldn’t convert, but with six minutes left we finally made the breakthrough. A superb cross from Dore was met by a great header by Ryan Dove at the near post and he turned to celebrate his 26th goal of the season and what looked like being the match-winner.
Russell put a cross-shot wide of the far post, but the referee spotted a slight deflection and the visitors were awarded a corner. I have to admit that I didn’t get a very good view as the Oadby bench all stood-up, but the corner got past Lutter at his near post and was put in from close range by Joe Hopewell (I have one of the Oadby subs to thank for telling me that). 1-1 with 87 minutes on the clock and very disappointing that we couldn’t see the game out after taking a late lead.
Spencer Brown played Tom Mangan clear but thankfully he was offside and the whistle had gone before he lifted the ball over Lutter and into the net. Down the other end an Ansell cross was headed behind for a corner that Hynam played in. Dove met it with a powerful downward header that hit the helpless keeper’s legs and bounced away with the ref blowing time on a disappointing afternoon that saw two points dropped for the Cooks.

Certainly not a classic encounter and although we bossed large parts of the game, we couldn’t create those clear-cut chances today. My Man-of-the-Match Liam Tuck delivered some great balls into the box that on another day we might have had the game wrapped up by half time. Ryan Dove was a real threat but the onus was on him too often as the only target inside the box and this has to be addressed. I thought Josh Melling played well in a role he seems to revel in, while Séan McBride quietly went about his business today and has to be praised on his performance. Stuart Lutter wasn’t involved to much today which makes those three vital saves all the better and although he will be very disappointed with the way their goal came about, it must be remembered that he also saved us on a few occasions today. Defensively we were in control for most of the game, it was really the cutting edge in the opponent’s box to blame for not winning this one but we only have to wait a few days to get the chance to put this right as we travel to Newport Pagnell Town on Tuesday night.

Cooks; 1. Stuart Lutter 2. George Barnell (sub 17. Dan Stevenson 59) 3. Liam Tuck 4. Séan McBride 5. Jack O’Connor 6. Alex Lowery 7. Josh Melling (sub 12. Luke Stone 74) 8. Charlie Hynam 9. Matt Long (sub 14. Ryan Ansell 67) 10. Ryan Dove © 11. Montel Dore. Sub not used; 14. Tom Iaciofano.

Oadby; 1. Taylor McMillan 2. Ellis Preston 3. Kane Peaden 4. Daryl Russell © 5. Sam Preston 6. Joe Hopewell 7, James Ireland 8. Spencer Brown 9. Tom Mangan 10. Sam Hollis (sub 15. Ash Varnham 75) 11. Jack Samples. Subs not used; 12. Jordan Reynolds 14. Callum Swain 16. Nick Brett 17. Mason Hirst.
Referee; Paul McVey.

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