Written by Andrew Madaras
The Blues bounced back from defeat in the Emirates FA Cup 72 hours earlier to record their best win of the season against fellow SSML Premier division side Baldock Town, who themselves had scored eight in their previous game against Hoddesdon Town.
The heavens opened shortly before kick off and made redundant the Creasey Park sprinkler system. Despite the deluge, a decent crowd of 122 came to watch a good game of football.
Season ticket holders were admitted for free as a thank you from the Club for their loyalty.
Joe Deeney’s men never looked in any real trouble from the moment Kyle Faulkner was in the right place at the right time to finish off a lovely move involving Joe Sellers-West & the fit again, Dylan Baker. The goal on six minutes was just what the home fans wanted to see after the disappointment of the FA Cup defeat. Sellers-West started the move with an inch perfect pass to Baker, on the overlap, whose first touch enabled Faulkner to knock the ball home.
Minutes later Charlie Jones kicked low and hard to Baker who again found Faulkner, this time the Baldock keeper made a good save. Baker was deservedly voted man of the match for a performance full of running, energy and creativity.
Baker had a good pre-season but injury meant he has not featured in any of the Blues first six matches. He’s waited patiently for the opportunity to make a claim for his shirt and grabbed it with both hands.
Blue shirts swept forward, Faulkner broke dangerously, rounded the keeper, but from a tight angle, could only find the side netting.
The same player, seeing the keeper off his line, shot from fully 35 yards but the ball went wide.
Joe Sellers-West was the recipient of a perfect pass, found himself in space, beat two men and as the goalkeeper approached fired over.
But it wasn’t all one way traffic. Baldock looked dangerous on the break and had an appeal for a penalty turned down by referee Josh Burns on 20 minutes and later hit the bar from a free kick.
At the start of the second half, Baldock hit the bar again but when your luck’s out there’s not much you can do about it.
Within a minute Harry Beaumont extended the Blues lead with a well-timed lob over the keeper. Charlie Jones kicked long and true downfield, Joe Sellers-West knocked it into the path of Beaumont who chested it down and hit it first time.
Dunstable nearly scored again when Terrence Muchineripi won a loose ball he quite frankly had no right to do. The amount of ground he covered was ridiculous. But win it, he did and as the ball bounced loose from the crunching tackle it fell kindly to Faulkner who hit the ball on the turn, narrowly past the far post.
The third Dunstable goal was just shy of the hour mark, this time saw Faulkner provide Muchineripi with the opportunity to get off the mark. Seasoned watchers know that when Terrence connects with the ball it’s going to be a thunderbolt of Peter Lorimeresque proportions. And this was one of them. On the angle and nestled into the top left hand corner with the goalkeeper at full stretch but unable to get a hand to it.
Baldock should have done better from a corner on the right hand side. It found the head of a red shirt but unable to guide the ball the chance was gone.
The icing on the cake for Dunstable came in the second minute of stoppage time when Harry Beaumont crossed from out on the left for Remell Stirling, on as a second half substitute, to head home from close range.
All in all, it had been a good game of football. Dunstable had played the way we know they can and had entertained the fans. Baldock played their part in an entertaining match but it’s Dunstable who progress into the hat for the next round of the Gladwish Challenge Trophy.