Malborough & Hope Cove 2-2 Newton Abbot 3rds

Boro had reason to feel hard done by come the final whistle in this vital South Devon Division 6 match. However, after going two goals down soon after halftime, this result would have been welcomed.

With many key players again absent from the Boro line up, a change of formation was forced upon manager Mike Stone. Choosing to start with a lone striker, James Whitley, left Boro’s attack lacking in the first half. For all his efforts, the four Abbot defenders were able to keep him at bay.

Neither side went too close in the opening half an hour, Nick Bowles seeing a well hit effort sail over the bar and Whitley pulling a shot wide from distance.

Then, five minutes before half time, Boro went behind from a superb 25-yard free kick that gave keeper Steve Avent no chance.

In the second half, Boro had the wind behind them and sensed after working hard defending in the first half, it was their turn to attack.

However, just five minutes in, Abbot had doubled their lead. After Boro had failed to clear convincingly, the ball was lofted back into the area to the feet of an offside Abbot striker.

The linesman’s flag went up, and everyone stopped apart from the striker who put the ball in the back of the net, it seemed just for a token goal. When the referee failed to acknowledge the linesman’s flag and give the goal, Boro players were adamant that the player was offside. After talking to linesman, the referee stood by his decision and gave the goal.

Feeling hard done by, Boro knew they were going to have to forget this and pick up their game again. Their break through came when a swift attack found Whitley wide on the right. His drilled cross was fumbled by the keeper to the feet of Wayne Kovacic who forced the ball over the line with just about every part of his body allowed.

More Boro pressure followed, with long kicks from Avent causing problems in the Abbot defence. The equaliser came from a break down the left; Harry Dawson holding the ball up and playing it to Kovacic, who’s cross-come-shot was pushed over the line by the Abbot keeper.

Almost immediately after, a good ball from Bowles found Dawson running through in the clear and finish well over the keeper, only for his goal to be wrongly ruled out for offside, a decision the referee didn't consider twice.

The game ended in a stalemate, and though Boro may feel hard done by, the result could have been so much worse. For a shot at third place, Boro need to keep up their unbeaten run for the rest of the season, any points dropped from now on in could prove costly.