Report: Another Point as Farnborough Ends Square

Maidenhead United could only muster a point at home to Farnborough on a Saturday afternoon devoid of action. 

 

Ryan Peters made one change to the starting XI who beat Hemel Hempstead midweek, with Owen Cochrane replacing Jayden Mitchell-Lawson in a like-for-like swap. 

 

Farnborough were the better of the two sides for the first half-hour, with their gameplan to prioritise territory limiting United to their own half for much of the first period, but their chances were mainly in the form of set pieces which were well dealt with by Jordi van Stappershoef and the Magpies’ defence. Former Magpie Sam Barratt tested the United ‘keeper with a knuckle ball free kick, forcing a good save from van Stappershoef. 

 

Somewhat against the run of play, Maidenhead opened the scoring in the 29th minute through Jordon Ragguette. Owen Cochrane played a clever ball down the right hand side which was picked up by Dan Nkrumah, who squared it to Ragguette in the penalty area. The left-back slammed home his first goal for the club to open the scoring. 

 

Maidenhead’s lead didn’t last long, as Barratt scored against his former club. An interesting free kick routine saw Tyler Frost deceive the Magpies defence, getting himself into position to cross. An unmarked Barratt, no stranger to scoring down the Canal End, tapped home the equaliser with ease. 

 

 

The second half saw both sides search for a winner which ultimately never came. Joshua Johnson started the attack with an acrobatic effort which flew just over the bar, while Josh Coley couldn’t get enough power on his strike to beat Lucs Thomas. Done the other end, Kasim Aidoo kept the Magpies’ defence alert with a shot which forced van Stappershoef into a good save, while Matty Achuba cleared the danger. 

 

A stop-start encounter, with both sides defensively stronger than their opposition’s attacks, meant that chances were minimal throughout most of the second half. Farnborough’s finishing left much to be desired, while the Magpies struggled to create much as the inevitability of a point became clearer. 

 

Arguably, United should have won it at the death through Coley, who played a clever one-two with Nkrumah to present a wonderous opportunity. On his weaker foot, Coley couldn’t keep his effort on target, and the referee blew full-time. 

 

 

Magpies: van Stappershoef, Cochrane, Ragguette (Welch, 59’), Abbott (Onariase, 63’), Coley ©, Johnson (N’Guessan, 72’), Nkrumah, Umerah (Pendlebury, 70’), Achuba, Clerima, Odeniran 

 

Farnborough: Thomas, Okoye, Robinson ©, Ehmer, Barratt, Keeya, Scott (Golding, 46’), Frost, Smith (Aidoo 46’), Bloomfield, Warner (Jackson, 77’) 

 

Attendance: 1,063