New Dabbers manager Paul Carden said that his side deserved at least a point after they lost 1-0 at home to second place Hyde United.
Carden, who joined the club on Monday, has had two training sessions to prepare for this game and he has been pleased with what he said seen from his side during his tenure so far. “I couldn’t have asked for anymore of them, both in training and today how they have applied themselves was first class”
Nantwich Town were looking to pick up their first win since the 4th February and they had the first effort of the game as Ivan Urvantev took aim from distance, but his effort was blocked by the Hyde United defence.
After this early chance, the game then turned very scrappy with the referee brandishing three yellow cards in the first 20 minutes of the game. The next effort came on the half hour mark as Tom Scully volleyed over the bar following good hold up play from Dan Cockerline.
With five minutes until the break, the game finally sparked into life. After showing good feet in the box, Ivan Urvantev was tripped and the referee showed no hesitation but to point to the penalty spot. Dabbers top scorer Dan Cockerline stepped up, but his penalty was saved by Dan Atherton who guessed right and touched it behind for a corner.
From the following corner, The Dabbers had the ball in the back of the net. However, it was immediately disallowed following an alleged foul on The Hyde goalkeeper Dan Atherton.
After a chaotic two minutes where the The Dabbers had missed a penalty and had a goal disallowed, the referee bought the half to a close. Despite the scores being level, Paul Carden would have been delighted with what he saw from his side in the first 45 minutes.
After the break, the game once again took a while to get going. Ivan Urvantev fired over on the hour mark after being tee’d up by Cockerline.
The crucial moment of the game came in the 69th when Tom Scully conceded a free kick right on the edge of the box. Edy Maieco stepped up for the Tigers and excellently curled a freekick around the wall and into the top corner, leaving Tom Booth with no chance. It was a moment of brilliance from The Hyde winger who was a threat all game down the right side.
The Dabbers, who had created many half chances over the course of the game now had 20 minutes to get themselves back into it and earn themselves some valuable points. Carden made a few changes to try and add more attacking impetus to his sides’ game.
Crewe Alex loanee Connor Evans came on and made an instant impact and almost levelled the scores after he cut inside from the right but dragged his effort agonisingly wide of the near post. Five minutes later, he had another great opportunity when he linked up well with Cockerline before finding himself in behind but this time his effort went just wide of the far post. Fine margins, as they say.
The Dabbers were throwing everything at their high-flying visitors and came close again in the 89th minute but Troy Bourne couldn’t get any power behind his header and it was comfortable for Dan Atherton who continued to frustrate Nantwich Town.
In the end, The Dabbers huffed and puffed but couldn’t find a goal to earn them a valuable point in their road to survival. However, Carden was very pleased with his side’s efforts over the course of the game. “we didn’t have a bad player today, if you’ve got 7/8 players performing on the day, you usually get something out the game and today it was the freekick that made the difference. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with them and we weren’t out-ran, we weren’t outplayed, we weren’t outfought. So that’s the standard from now for the last eight games”
Next up for Nantwich Town is another crucial home fixture against Lancaster City on Saturday 11th March
TEAMS:
Nantwich Town:
- Tom Booth
- Troy Bourne
- Perry Bircumshaw
- Nathan Okome
- Jon Moran
- Dylan Thompson
- Ivan Urvantev (Connor Evans 76’)
- Tom Scully
- Dan Cockerline
- Steven Hewitt
- Byron Harrison
Subs not used: Dickinson, Sherratt, Malumo, Dawson
Hyde United:
- Dan Atherton
- Harry Ditchfield
- Dane McCullough
- Alex Perry (Manasse Mampala 64’)
- Jordan Fagbola
- Aaron Fleming
- Edy Maieco
- Liam Tongue
- Matthew Fearnley
- Jack Redshaw (Ryan White 90’)
- Tom Pratt
Subs not used: McEvoy
Attendance: 503