Premier Division
Didcot Town 2 Carterton Town 2
Tuesday, 01 April 2003
Didcot drew their first League game for five months after an incident packed encounter with high-flying Carterton Town at the Loop Meadow Stadium on Tuesday night.
Didcot started well and both Andy Cooper and Jamie Heapy had goal-bound shots blocked in the first ten minutes. The visitor?s first opportunity fell to veteran Andy Henry who blasted over from the edge of the box. Ian Concannon almost put Didcot ahead in the 11th minute but again the Carterton defence cleared the danger. Carterton?s Mark Threlfall showed an excellent touch in the 18th minute and only a fine finger tip save from Keith McLoughlin denied him the opener. However, from the resulting corner, Didcot failed to clear the ball and Henry drove home from 20 yards to give the visitors the lead. The home side struggled to create clear openings for the remainder of the first half although Concannon shot inches over from 6 yards out following Cooper?s long throw into the Carterton box.
Half Time: 0-1
The 2nd half saw Didcot playing with a strong wind behind them and they again applied early pressure. The home side deservedly equalised in the 47th minute. The Carterton defence didn?t deal with Darren McNamrara?s free kick and Nigel Emsden hit a low shot past keeper Nick Heritage. Paul Bedwell almost scored his first for Didcot 10 minutes later as another Cooper long-throw caused problems but the ball bounced over the crossbar. Heritage then saved well after Concannon had worked himself space inside the penalty box. Slightly against the run of play Carterton re-took the lead. Henry won a disputed free-kick 25 yards out and Threlfall smashed a brilliant shot past McLoughlin.
Chris Dore came close to bringing Didcot level a minute later with a spectacular volley that flew just over. Karl Dodds was also narrowly off-target for the visitors as Karl Dodds shot bounced wide from close range. With time running out the home side finally restored parity. McNamara was again involved as he supplied the cross for Scott Davis to head goalwards. Heritage saved well but Concannon was fouled as he attempted to convert the rebound and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Despite the Carterton protests Cooper slammed home the spot-kick to give Didcot a share of the points.
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