Defeat for the Blues.

Dunstable Town 3-4 Newport Pagnell Town 12th October 2019 Report by Patrick MacKay, Pics by Liam Smith. A frantic, seesawing game saw Dunstable Town lose a two goal advantage to second placed Newport Pagnell Town. Dunstable got off to a great start, when a corner led to pinball in the Newport Pagnall penalty area, and Jack Harvey was in the right place at the right time to smash the Blues into an early lead. Newport Pagnell settled well though, and looked to get back into the game with a fifth minute Sam Parrish shot which saw Mackenzie Taylor scrambling across his goal, but ultimately sailed over the crossbar. The visitors again worked Taylor in the fifteenth minute when Jim Burnside shot low from fifteen yards, but the goalkeeper was equal to it, saving well with his feet. The Blues were still in charge though, and looked threatening going forward, Luke Little forcing a save after a Chris Stapleton through ball, but the outcome was moot in any case, with the linesman flagging Little offside. Mackenzie Taylor was again in action to keep Dunstable's one-goal advantage before Kelvin Osei-Addo unleashed a vicious shot from over twenty yards which visiting goalkeeper Nick Bennion did well to tip onto the underside of the crossbar. With many looking to the linesman to see if the ball had crossed the line, Stapleton was on hand to remove any doubt by putting the rebound into the back of the net. Seconds before the whistle for half time, Newport Pagnell were awarded a penalty, which Ben Shephard confidently converted, giving his side a route back into the game at an ideal moment. Within five minutes of the break, that route back into the game had been fully exploited as Newport Pagnell came out of the blocks with two goals, a second for Shephard and one for Burnside. The momentum in the second half was with the visitors, but Dunstable were not bowing, and an hour into the game, Eric Ameyaw found space in the box from a corner, but saw his header flash past the post. With a little under twenty minutes left to play, Newport Pagnell extended their lead with another close range goal, a second for Jim Burnside this time. Eight minutes later, a fast, flowing move culminated with Luke Little putting a wonderful cross right onto the head of Jack Harvey in the centre, who nodded in for his second of the game, a goal which ensured an exciting final ten minutes. The Blues pushed hard for an equaliser in the late stages, with Stapleton and Little both driving hard at the Newport Pagnell defence and asking questions, but ultimately the away side held out for the win.