Uhlsport United Counties League

Premier Division

Desborough Town vs Peterborough Northern Star

Saturday 19th December 2020

R-Inn Stadium

Report and photos from Finbarr Carroll.

PNS were the visitors to the R-Inn stadium to play hosts Desborough Town on what was a dry sunny afternoon with a good playing surface given the amount of rain that has fallen on on the pitch in recent weeks.

It was the Star that kicked off this game, but Ar Tarn were the first team with a half decent chance when a fine run by Adam Randall down the left flank saw Randall pass to his team-mate Jake Bettles, but Jake Bettles was unable to get a toe on the ball before Star keeper Sarunus Snitkas threw himself at Bettles feet to save.

The opening minutes were pretty even between the two sides with the odd shot here and there just going wide of the goal or over the bar. The deadlock was broken in the 9th minute when Durrell Wedderburn received the ball on the very edge and centre of the PNS penalty area and fired the ball at goal and managed to squeeze the ball between the upright and the left hand of keeper Snitkas. 1-0.

The next real chance again fell to Ar Tarn in the 12th when hard-working midfielder Liam Boath must have run 10 yards  in a second to tackle the ball away from a Star defender who had held onto the ball a split second too long, fortunately for Boath the ball fell nice to him from the tackle and after a short run down the left flank, Boath crossed into the box where it evaded the outstretched boot of Star defender Gilbert Kane and fell to Ar Tarn attacker Phil Dashit who managed to bundle the ball over the line despite the despairing effort of keeper Snitkas trying to keep the ball out. 2-0

In the 20th minute an Ar Tarn corner-kick was swung over by James Hamill only just reaching the Star near post and despite the efforts of Star defender Gilbert Kane and keeper Snitkas between them to keep the ball from crossing the line, forward Jake Bettles made doubly sure it went over firing home from inches with his left boot. We don’t have VAR in the UCL and I don’t want to deprive Jake of his goal, but from looking at my photographs, I think the ball might have crossed the goal-line from Hamill’s corner kick before it was scrambled out of the goal where it fell to Jake Bettles. The game was filmed, so maybe the UCL Highlights Channel might have a clearer view than me and my camera. 3-0.

PNS were forced into making an early substitution when Leonard Chatonzwa had to leave the field with an injury and replaced by Corey Gray.

A fine run down his sides left wing from Star player Connor Pilbeam saw him put a grass cutter of a ball into the Desborough box, but none of his colleagues were able to reach the ball before it was cleared. Desborough’s Adam Randall was playing well on the left flank and had a chance to put his side four up with a shot that saw a super save from Star keeper Snitkas.

Again PNS had to make an unplanned substitution when Joseph Kelly got injured and had to be replaced by Toby Marumohoko.

Ar Tarn forward Durrell Wedderburn then forced another good save from Snitkas who when diving to his left just managed to get a tip of a finger to the ball to keep Wedderburn’s effort form entering the goal, the save gave Desborough a corner-kick. The corner-kick was taken by James Hamill, this time high in the air where it was met by Ar Tarn captain Aaron Davies who jumped higher than everyone around him to nod the ball down and into the net. 4-0.

Since coming on as a PNS sub, Corey Gray was putting himself about and at one time displayed some nice skill on the ball with his back to goal when he hit the ball on the turn from 25 yards out, but by the time it got to Ar Tarn keeper Chris Jones, the power had gone out of the effort and Jones was able to catch the ball after one bounce of the ball. Just before half time, an Effort from Star forward Bradlee Page came close, but Desborough were able to preserve their clean sheet. Half time, 4-0.

PNS started the second half very well with a few chances falling to their centre forward Connor Pilbeam, with one effort from Pilbeam heading for a certain goal for his side until Ar Tarn captain Aaron Davies nipped in to take the ball away and clear.

The second half was very even between the two sides, with PNS trying to pull a goal back and Desborough pressing forward themselves. Ar Tarn forward Durrell Wedderburn had a shot on target which was almost over the line when Star defender Ticha Dallington managed to get a boot to the ball to keep it out.

The next chance of the game fell to PNS when a lovely through ball found Connor Pilbeam who had managed to beat the offside trap and forced Ar Tarn keeper Chris Jones into making a fine save. Jones was certainly a lot busier and more involved in the second half.

A brilliant run on the Desborough right wing by Phil Dashit saw him eventually get the ball across into team-mate Wedderburn, but the effort from Wedderburn was blocked and PNS were able to clear.

We saw PNS make their last substitution of the match when Bradlee Page was replaced by James Allsebrook. Not long after, Ar Tarn made their first substitution replacing Jake Bettles with Brian Farrell.

It didn’t take Brian Farrell long to get into the swing of things when he went on a long run down the Ar Tarn left flank putting in a superb cross to his colleague Wedderburn, but Wedderburn couldn’t stretch his leg any further than he did and was unable to get a boot on the ball. It was Farrell again with the next Desborough chance forcing a save out of PNS keeper Snitkas.

A super bit of play down the Desborough right wing from Phil Dashit saw Dashit get a cross over where it was met by Adam Randall who from a very tight angle near the by-line, managed to fire the ball home between the keeper and the post. It was a well deserved goal for Randall who had run his socks off for most of the game. 5-0.

A substitution for Ar Tarn saw them introduce Tom Gudyer for Wedderburn. At the same time as the substitution was being made, referee James Wetherall called over Desborough’s Joe Massaro with Massaro went in the book, why he was shown yellow I can’t report because I did not see what happened. A PNS player was the next to see yellow when a foul from Gilbert Kane on Brian Farrell ended up with Kane going in the referees book. Not long after another booking in what had been a fair game when a yellow was shown to Star player Matthew Cox.

With not very much time left on the clock, Desborough took off Joe Massaro and bought on Owen Turner.

The last real chance of the game fell to PNS when a nice bit of passing first saw Joshua Watson lay off Corey Gray then Gray chip a defender to find team-mate Pilbeam, but Pilbeam could not quite get control of the ball and Desborough manaaged to clear the danger. Final score 5-0

I would think the management team of Desborough will not only be happy with 5 goals to their side in a game, picking up three points, but also keeping a clean sheet to boot. The league table will not be happy reading over the Christmas period for the PNS side and their supporters and worse still is that PNS will be restricted to when they can play and even train again with Peterborough being one of the places in the country being put into tier four.

Teams

Desborough Town

Chris Jones

Dalton Bettles

Adam Randall

Liam Boath

Aaron Davies

Leo Adams

James Hamill

Joe Massaro

Jake Bettles

Phil Dashit

Durrell Wedderburn

Substitututes

Owen Turner

Tom Gudyer

Ryan Bell

Brain Farrell

Jason Amos

Peterborough Northern Star

Sarunus Snitkas

Dalinton Ticha

Gilbert Kane

Liam Merrick

Matthew Cox

Callum Madigan

Joseph Kelly

Leonard Chatonzwa

Connor Pilbeam

Bradlee Page

Joshua Watson

Substitututes

Corey Gray

Toby Marumohoko

Ben Arnold

Referee; James Wetherall

Assistants; Iain Knight, William Hardie.