Northamptonshire Combination League

Division 1

Saturday 18th May 2024

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.32

Wootton St. George 2 A.F.C. Towcester 2, attendance 174

8’ 0-1

12’ 0-2

64’ 1-2

90’ 2-2

@ Wootton Community & Sports Centre

Curtlee Hill

Wootton

NN4 6ED

No Admission or Programme.

There was certainly no doubt about whether or not this game had something on it. 2nd versus 1st in the league table, with Wootton two points behind and this being the final game for both. A Wootton win would see them take the title, but any other result would see it go to Towcester. This game had actually been played once already, but was abandoned after seventy minutes following an injury to Towcester player Michael Watson, so was rescheduled for today.

A win for Wootton was certainly not out of the question. They’d won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in September and had also won the League Cup match by the same score, when the two teams met in the final at Cogenhoe United at the start of the month. However, a nightmare start today, where they were 0-2 down after 12 minutes, left them too much to do. A through ball that was finished with a curling shot into the corner opened the scoring, before a cross from the left was put in unmarked at the far post to double the lead four minutes later.

The second half came to life just after the hour mark, when a powerful run down the right saw a cross played into the box, which was laid off for a shot that was hammered in from 12 yards, despite the ‘keeper getting a hand to it. It was now a case of getting a second. It did come, but not until the final minute. Again it came from a cross from the right, which wasn’t cleared and it was smashed in at the far post to make it 2-2. Within seconds they had a great chance to win it, but failed to convert another cross in from the right and Towcester broke away to score what they thought was a third goal, but it was disallowed for offside. A minute later it was all over.

The ground here at Wootton Community & Sports Centre is pretty basic. The pitch runs widthways in front of the building and was roped along the near side. There was a cafe in the Community Centre doing a brisk business and a decent crowd for this level, although not as many as had been at the original fixture a few weeks back, according to a couple of ‘hoppers at the game who’d also been here that day.