Somersall 2, Abbey Lane 2

[Nathan Hemmingham]

Scorer: Somersall 2, Abbey Lane 2

Scorers: Jack Woodhouse, own goal

Man of the match: Josh Oxley-Adams; runner-up: Thomas Elliott

Sloppy goals prove costly

Abbey Lane returned from bottom-of-the-league Somersall with a point after throwing away a two-goal lead.
In recent weeks it has been the profligacy of the forwards that has proved costly but this time poor defending allowed the home side back into the game. Leading 2-0 at the break, Abbey handed Somersall a timely boost with a goal inside the opening two minutes of the second half. A long ball into the area was not dealt with and the left winger fired home an unstoppable half volley from close range. The hosts were then level when Abbey committed defensive suicide at a corner but, to their credit, Abbey continued to attack and only a superb save from the goalkeeper prevented Josh Oxley-Adams from scoring a deserved goal.
Earlier, Abbey had dominated the first half. Captain Jack Woodhouse was on hand to give the visitors the lead when he reacted the quickest to Oxley-Adams' header following Sam Ledger's delightful corner. Another well delivered free-kick into the area caused problems and the defender could only help the ball over the line for 2-0. More chances came and went Abbey's way with Gokturk Demir and Matt Megson unlucky but two goals to the good at half-time should have been the platform for victory but it was a case of another chance missed.
Ryan Pugh continued his good recent performances, Nathan Storey showed glimpses that he is slowly returning to form but Oxley-Adams got the vote for man of the match after another superb display up front, again leading the line with distinction. Thomas Elliott enjoyed one of his best games and took the runner-up award.