Stratford Town maintain unbeaten start with draw
STRATFORD Town maintained their unbeaten start to their Evo-Stik League South Premier campaign with a 1-1 draw against St Neots Town at the MoodChimp Stadium on Saturday.
In a drab contest that did little to excite supporters, Town took an eighth-minute lead through skipper James Fry, but Dion Sembie-Ferris’s superb solo goal 13 minutes later earned the visitors a point.
A point was the least they deserved, too, as Saints dominated large periods of the game and Stratford were lucky not to be a couple of goals down at half-time.
Stratford started the game brightly and their efforts were rewarded when Fry fired home from 16 yards after Saints failed to clear a corner.
The goal seemed to kick-start the visitors into action and they were agonisingly close to finding an equaliser six minutes later.
Scott Sinclair’s deep cross into the box found his skipper Michael Hyem, whose header hit the crossbar before the danger was cleared.
That served only as a warning sign though, as Saints were back level in the 21 minute.
A Saints breakaway ended with Sembie-Ferris, who has Football League experience with Colchester United, using his lightning pace to race past Liam Francis before coolly slotting home past Connor in the Town goal.
St Neots continued to have the better of the territory, but Stratford went close to restoring their lead in the 28 minute.
While Saints goalkeeper Mike Emery was off his line, Edwin Ahenkorah attempted a long-range effort from inside the centre circle. The striker’s effort was on target, but the loop of the ball gave Emery just enough time to race back to his line and punch it over the bar.
That was as good as it got for Stratford and St Neots can feel unlucky not to have scored twice just before the interval.
First, Dylan Williams’ corner went straight to the head of Liam McDevitt, whose effort was tipped over by Connor.
The resulting second corner caused further havoc. Williams pinged it in again, this time towards Taylor Parr, whose towering header hit the underside of the bar before the ball was hoofed clear.
The second half proved to be a dull affair which saw both sets of defence on top, in particular the solid Saints centre-back pairing of McDevitt and Parr, who won pretty much everything in the air all afternoon.
Although the visitors dictated much of the play, their chances were at a premium, with their best coming just after the hour when McDevitt headed inches over following another excellent Williams corner.
Town’s best chances of the half came through the tireless Ahenkorah. His work down the right-hand side provided Stratford’s main hope of finding an unlikely winner, but Emery was on hand to deny the striker several times in the closing stages to ensure it finished 1-1.
Town went into the game hopeful of bagging a second league win in three games, but in the end they will be grateful of claiming a point against a St Neots side who have clearly made some big improvements to their squad over the summer.
Carl Adams' men will now prepare for a tough bank holiday weekend, with next Saturday's trip to Weymouth followed by a Bank Holiday Monday derby clash with Redditch United at the MoodChimp.
Stratford Town: Louis Connor, Dan Summerfield, Lee Thomas, Andy Gallinagh, Guy Clark, Liam Francis, Ben Stephens, James Fry (c), Edwin Ahenkorah, Will Grocott (Charlie Evans 83), Jazz Luckie (Mike Taylor 67). Subs not used: James Hancocks, Justin Marsden.
St Neots Town: Mike Emery, Scott Sinclair, Jack Bradshaw, Lee Clarke (Ryan Horne 62), Liam McDevitt, Taylor Parr, Dion Sembie-Ferris, Kyran Wiltshire, Danny Watson, Michael Hyem (c), Dylan Williams (Matt Foy 75). Subs not used: George Bugg, Tom Wood.
