Quartet give White a timely boost

Published 26 Feb 2010 16:00 0 Comments

NEIL White paid tribute to the fringe members of his squad as his injury-hit Finchampstead team were held to a 1-1 draw at Kintbury Rangers.

Finch travelled to West Berkshire without four first team regulars - Bobby Hogg, Ben Knight, Junior Arquimbau and Bob Yorke-Goldney - which stretched their thin squad close to the limit.

Those absences forced White to dip into his reserves for the clash, with Richard Kell and Adam Bowyer making their first starts, while Adam Merrit and Freddie Baron were introduced from the bench.

The quartet performed well, with Bowyer netting the opening goal five minutes into the second half.

And White said: "The four lads who came in from the reserves battled hard and relished playing for the first team.

"I thought Adam Bowyer did particularly well. He was big and strong and refused to be bullied off the ball.

"He got a goal as well and while it wasn't the hardest he will ever score he was delighted to get it.

"As the games pile up at the end of the season, I don't see why they wouldn't be involved when we have to use our squad."

Saturday's stalemate was the fourth time in their last seven games that Finch have been forced to share the points - and they have managed just one win in that time.

And White admits it is a run that has left him frustrated ahead of this weekend's home clash with South Kilburn.

He explained: "Immediately afterwards you feel like you should get more than a point, with Kintbury struggling down at the bottom.

"But then I had a look at the table and two or three wins will really send us shooting up the league.

"We have got plenty of games in hand on the three teams above us, and ahead of them are Kilburn who we are playing on Saturday.

"I know we are not a million miles away, but until we start putting three points on the board on a regular basis we are never going to make that move."

Finch enjoyed the best of a scrappy encounter on a terrible Kintbury surface last weekend.

Despite that, Rangers went closest to opening the scoring in the first half as Curtis Angell was denied by the post, while Dean Thomas was twice just off target for the visitors.

But just five minutes after half-time Finch did move ahead, Bowyer getting to Pat Selby's long ball first to poke the ball home.

White's men seemed to be well in control of the contest, but sloppy defending 12 minutes from time saw Dan Oatway's free-kick from near the corner flag find its way straight into the net.

Finch piled forward looking for the winner, but despite Selby forcing a good save from Roberts, they were forced to settle for a point.

And White admitted: "It was an awful game to be honest with you - if you stopped by to watch, 10 minutes would have been enough for you.

"The pitches are real battlegrounds at the moment and there really wasn't much football played.

"But we should still have got the win - we should have defended better from the set piece because they are becoming so important in games like that."

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This article appeared in Villager 25 Feb 10

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