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The Braves made
three changes to the side that secured their first point
in 6 at Witham at the weekend for their penultimate
away league fixture of the season.
Joe Egan came
into the side in place of Michael Wakefield in goal,
Carl Bailey returned in place of Neil Barratt at the
back and Courtney Linton's tight hamstrings were rested
with new signing Luwal Alhadi making his debut up front.
The first half
was a scrappy affair with neither team able to settle
into a pattern of play. The wind was with the home side
and they created the best opportunity after a sweeping
move down the Manor left but the forward placed his
shot wide of the far post.
At the other
end the closest the visitors came was courtesy of Alan
Browne, who was impressive throughout, and his centre
was headed just wide by Alhadi.
After the break
it was the visitors who settled more quickly and started
to take control of the game. APSA playing with a lone
front man carried a threat on the counter attack, but
were unable to fashion a genuine chance.
With almost an
hour gone the Manor introduced Courtney Linton for Scott
Lovett and it took him less than 5 minutes to make the
difference. Expertly found by Dean Frett's incisive
pass, Linton made no mistake as he slid the ball past
the advancing goalkeeper for his 11th goal in just 22
appearances this season, equalling his total for the
previous campaign.
The home side
were visibly shaken by this set back and when Tony Hadley
delivered a deep free kick to the back post Chris Barratt's
firm downward header drew a save from the home keeper,
although in truth had the header been either side of
him it would surely have brought a second Manor goal.
It was chance
that the Braves would rue missing, as within minutes
the home side were level. A pass down the right channel
seemed to find an APSA player in an offside position.
The linesman initially flagged, but the referee played
on, the linesman's flag went down and as the ball was
played into the middle it was swept home for the equaliser.
10 minutes from
time the card happy referee deemed a nothing tackle
by an APSA player worthy of a second booking. It looked
harsh. But the visitors were unable to take advantage
as tired legs, the result of so many games recently,
caught up with them.
Manor boss Kevin
Durrant said: "I'm disappointed we've not got that
long awaited win, but we'll keep working hard. I've
been pleased with the last two performances which have
been more what we are looking for."
Man
of the Match
Alan
Browne - The Manor's most dangerous weapon
down the right hand side.
Manor
Team:
1 Joe Egan
2 Tony Hadley
3 Michael Marin
4 Carl Bailey (replaced by number 16)
5 Chris Barratt
6 George Durrant
7 Alan Browne
8 Dean Frett (c)
9 Billee Shaw (replaced by number 15)
10 Scott Lovett (replaced by number 14)
11 Luwal Alhadi
12 Joe Nightingill
13 Michael Wakefield
14 Courtney Linton - 1
15 Sam Carter
16 Andrew Gibbons
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