MAGPIES 0 BIGGLESWADE 1

A SINGLE goal again proved enough to beat Dorchester Town, as Biggleswade completed a league double over the Magpies at the Avenue.

Lee Reed’s close-range effort from a corner 34 minutes in ended up giving the Waders the three points on another afternoon where the hosts struggled.

Dorchester are now down to 20th place in the Evo-Stik Premier Division following the 10th defeat of a massively disappointing league campaign to date.

Two Dans, Way and Smith, came into the Magpies’ team for the encounter, with Ryan Murray dropping to the bench and Jamie Gleeson missing out due to a groin injury.

While Way was making his first Dorchester appearance of the season after rejoining the club earlier in the week, Smith had shaken off a back problem that saw him start last Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Histon among the substitutes.

Conditions underfoot were never going to make for a great spectacle, and the pre-match rain started to take its toll on the pitch not long after kick-off.

Chances were at a premium as both sets of players struggled to find their passing range – an early header from Magpies’ skipper Nathan Walker and shot by Biggleswade’s Greg Morgan didn’t really stretch either keeper.

However, after a slow start the game sprang into life when Waders’ left-back Mark Coulson cut inside and struck a shot that hit the base of Alan Walker-Harris’ right-hand post.

The Magpies went straight up the other end and Ben Joyce tested visiting keeper Ian Brown, then the Waders’ gloveman tipped over Jack Odam’s header.

Biggleswade hit the woodwork for the second time in the space of a few minutes when Kelvin Bossman’s cross-shot floated over Walker-Harris and brushed the crossbar.

At this point the match really was ebbing and flowing from one end to the other and, had it not been for a crucial block by Walker, Reed may well have given the away side the lead.

Brown was then called into action again, turning an Odam effort out for a corner after the Dorchester striker had been played in by Joyce.

The first goal of the encounter eventually arrived. Having just made a good stop from Craig Daniel, Walker-Harris was beaten by Reed’s cute flick from the corner that followed.

And Bossman was inches away from making it 2-0 just before the break.

Right-back Connor Roberts played a quick free-kick to Reed, Roberts took the return pass and fired in a low cross that just evaded Bossman at the far post.

Having seen his side finish the first half on the back foot, county town boss Graham Kemp would have wanted the hosts to take the game by the scruff of the neck in the second period.

But that couldn’t have been further from the truth in the opening quarter of an hour.

A lot of their passing was simply not good enough, there didn’t seem to be much communication between the players, and the whole performance was flat.

The Waders might have doubled their advantage on 54 minutes, only for Walker-Harris to gather a Josh Beech strike at the second attempt with Bossman waiting to swoop.

Dorchester did get marginally better from the hour mark onwards, Smith firing just over from close range, but it was a hard watch for the home fans.

Reed then skipped past two Magpies’ players and unleashed a shot that appeared to be heading for the bottom corner until Oakley Hanger, booked earlier in the half, made a timely intervention.

Kemp, who had already brought on Lewis Brown and Alex Godfrey for Odam and Sam Lanahan, replaced Tony Rolls with Kieran Parrett in a desperate bid to salvage something from the contest.

But the hosts never really created anything of note in the closing stages, and their failure to hold on to the ball for any great length of time summed up the afternoon for the Avenue outfit.

Magpies: Walker-Harris, Hanger, Way, Robinson, Walker, Rolls (Parrett 81), Crittenden, Lanahan (Godfrey 76), Joyce, Odam (Brown 69) Smith. Subs not used: Murray, Brookes.

Waders: I Brown, Roberts, Coulson, Mawer, Farrell, Allison, Daniel (Davis 89), Beech (McNulty 79), Bossman, Reed, Morgan (Woolf 65). Subs not used: Gentle.

Bookings: Magpies – Hanger (foul, 67)

Biggleswade – None

Referee: Matt Rushden (Pewsey)

Attendance: 265