Big Country
Newport Pagnell Football Club
Dying Play-Off Hopes Matt Delane y
before squaring it to his fellow midfielder who found the back of the net and delivered the knockout blow to the home team 's resilience . In the second half, Robinson tried to salvage the game by making a triple substitution , but nothing came of it as it was miss-placed pass after miss-placed pass for the Dons, who just could not get into a passing rhythm . Jordan Spence did offer a spur of inspiration 15 minutes from time as he turned on the after burners to break out of defence, charge through the Crawley midfield and into the penalty area to fire a wide shot. It was the closest the Dons had come to a goal all game .
MK Dons have now completed seven and a half hours of football without getting on the score sheet at Stadium:MK. In a post-match inteNiew , Karl Robinson stressed that the Dons performance was "bitterly poor". However, the 33-year-old manager also said that the play-offs are still possible and that his team will "never throw in the towel".
t the time of writing , in mid- AApril, Newport Pagnell Town are still 17th in the United
Counties League Premier Division with 3 matches remaining. A 1-1 draw with 18th placed Harborough Town at Willen Road left them 3 points ahead of Harborough and with a better goal
difference.
The team , which once again included manager Darren Lynch in the starting line- up, had the better of the early play, but after a promising opening 25 minutes, the first half degenerated into a scrappy affair. An improved performance saw Newport dominate the second half, but it was the visitors who took a surprise lead after 68 minutes with a breakaway goal on one of their rare attacks.
Despite constant pressure on the Harborough side, Newport only equalised with a goal from Leuan Riley a few minutes from the end. They wanted a winning goal, thanks to some desperate "get bodies in the way and kick it anywhere" defending by the visitors in the final few minutes. Supporters were pleased to see Lukasz Filipiak back in action at Willen Road when he made a 20 minute appearance as a substitute in the match. After he broke
his leg in the match away at Deeping at the end of November last year, there were fears he might not play again this season . It was good to see him back in the team.
By the time you read this , the remaining league matches will have been completed. Newport will hope to have gathered a few more points from the away matches with bottom team S&L Corby and local rivals Kempston, as well as a home match against Wisbech Town.
The young reserves team has had a good second half of the season in the North Division of the Suburban League, with wins against two of the top three teams recently. As a result, they will finish in a mid-table position.
Other news at the Newport club is that the youth section is now under new management. Julie Ford and Mark Russell have stepped forward to run the department, and they are already making some exciting changes at the club. More details about plans for the youth team will be published next month.
Have a look at the Newport Pagnell Town Football Club website, www.pitchero.com/ clubs/newportpagnelltown, for news of the final three matches and the team's league position.
Phonebox Magazine 35