DORCHESTER TOWN 3

Davis 51, Ayunga 57, Martin 75

CAMBRIDGE CITY 0

SECOND-HALF goals from Charlie Davis, Jonah Ayunga and Neil Martin wrapped up a second 3-0 victory for Dorchester over the Lilywhites this season.

Ayunga replaced Luke Holmes in the only change to the Magpies’ starting XI after the defeat of Frome the previous Wednesday.

And he was in the thick of the action early on, running right through the heart of the Cambridge defence before teeing up Nathan Walker.

His shot was saved by Zac Barrett but the linesman’s flag had gone up for offside a split second earlier.

A lull in proceedings followed before Dorchester keeper Alan Walker-Harris to tip Kaan Fehmi’s effort out for a corner.

At the other end, Matt Oldring spurned a great chance to give the hosts the lead.

Davis floated a free-kick to the far post, Franklyn Clarke pulled the ball back to Oldring inside the six-yard box, but he could only stab his shot over from close range.

But minutes later, Fehmi served up one of the misses of the season.

Ieuan Lewis got in behind the home defence and looked up to find team-mate Fehmi free in front of goal.

But, with Walker-Harris having come off his line to narrow the angle on Lewis, Fehmi somehow managed to lift the ball over the crossbar.

Although the Avenue pitch had only been played on once since December 19 – that was for a reserve-team game – the wet weather of recent weeks still meant the surface had a big say on the quality of football on show.

There was another half-chance in the first period for Walker, who fired an Oakley Hanger cross straight at Barrett.

The second half was just six minutes old when the Magpies got the all-important first goal.

Ayunga seized on a loose ball inside the City box before being brought down by Lee Chaffey.

Southampton referee Christopher Wade pointed straight to the spot and, despite Barrett saving his initial effort, Davis followed up to smash home the rebound.

Things were about to get even better for Dorchester, however, they were given a scare when City skipper Buster Harradine found Walker-Harris’ near post direct from a corner.

Soon after, though, the hosts were two goals to the good, giving them just the cushion they needed.

Walker was involved in the build-up and when the ball arrived at the feet of Ayunga, the youngster only had one thing on his mind.

The centre forward crashed a left-foot shot past Barrett from the edge of the box to register his eighth league strike of the season.

After Cambridge’s Duran Reynolds had been booked and then replaced by Joel Norris, Ayunga went so close to scoring again.

A barnstorming run ended with him nudging the ball past Barrett but agonisingly wide of the upright.

Moments later, a Martin corner was glanced goalwards by Oldring and looked to have crossed the line only for Charlie Day to keep it out with a last-ditch clearance.

But whether the ball was over the line or not was made largely irrelevant on 75 minutes when Oldring’s deflected cross gave Martin the simplest of finishes at the back post.

With the job done, Dorchester saw out the closing stages with the minimum of fuss, and they made their final change of the afternoon with Ayunga making way for young brother Sol.

His first involvement in the contest was to pick up a booking for a slightly mistimed challenge.

Nevertheless, the hosts had already done more than enough to bag their second 3-0 win on the trot in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division.

Magpies: Walker-Harris, Hanger (Sayers 72), Smeeton, Clarke, Oldring, Dillon, Davis, Martin, Walker, Watson (Holmes 59), J Ayunga (S Ayunga 83). Subs not used: Jermyn, Brookes.

Cambridge: Barrett, Cooper, Day, Murray, Chaffey, Reynolds (Norris 64), Kaye, Harradine, Kelly (Wolfe 77), Fehmi, Lewis (Maslen-Jones 73).

Bookings: Magpies – S Ayunga (foul, 85)

Cambridge – Reynolds (foul, 63)

Referee: Christopher Wade (Southampton)

Attendance: 427