DEV’S BOYS DELIVER AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME
MAIDENHEAD United produced a lively attacking performance to lift themselves four points clear of the relegation zone while condemning Dorking Wanderers to a place in the bottom four.
Alan Devonshire’s side may be in and out of form at the present time, but they haven’t been short on goals of late, and that was illustrated with three beauties in the first half, courtesy of Sam Beckwith, Reece Smith and Jayden Mitchell-Lawson, either side of a Charlie Carter effort for Dorking.
Jason Prior netted a second for Wanderers midway through the second half before Tristan Abrahams settled the nerves with a fourth for the Magpies in the final minute.
“These are nervy games when you look at the table,” Maidenhead’s assistant boss Ryan Peters said. “It means a lot to both teams. We needed to put in a performance after last Saturday and we got that. We were really good value first half. We got a little bit deep in the second half and had to play on the counter a lot more. But we were worthy winners.
The Magpies took the lead on 10 minutes when full-back Beckwith cut in from his left flank and rolled a low, right-footed shot into the bottom corner beyond Harrison Male.
The lead, however, proved short-lived as three minutes later Carter brought the ball down well with his chest before firing past Craig Ross at his near post.
United restored their lead on 28 minutes when Smith marked his call up for the England C squad with a fine low strike that beat Male and bounced in off the post.
Tony Craig missed a golden opportunity to bring it back to 2-2, missing a free header and that miss proved costly as Maidenhead made it 3-1 in the 41st minute with a goal-of-theseason contender from Mitchell-Lawson, collecting the ball inside his own half and breezed past a couple of challenges before bursting into the area and sweeping a left-footed shot beyond Male.
Dorking changed their shape and system at the break, bringing on George Francomb and Alfie Rutherford for Barry Fuller and Hollis, and it had the desired effect when Prior stooped to head home Jimmy Muitt’s cross.
It felt like the outcome of this pulsating game had been thrown back into the melting pot, but the Magpies managed to make the game safe on 89 minutes when Abrahams intercepted a poor cross-field pass and kept his composure to check back inside Dan Pybus and fire confidently into the roof of the net.
Dorking boss Marc White blasted: “It’s a woeful defensive performance. I’ve said to the defenders, if you need to play that deep, you shouldn’t be playing football, and that is the bottom line. Sometimes a manager’s job is hard because there is so much that is wrong, it’s remarkable.”
STAR MAN: Tristan Abrahams (Maidenhead) ATT: 1,304
ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★
REFEREE: Stephen Parkinson