Weekend Football: St Neots Town and Eynesbury Rovers Suffer Narrow Defeats

It was a frustrating weekend for both St Neots Town and Eynesbury Rovers, with promising performances undone by second-half setbacks.

St Neots Town 1 – 3 Belper Town

Back in Step Four football, St Neots Town gave a strong account of themselves against a Belper side who came close to promotion last season. The visitors struck first on 15 minutes when a long throw was flicked on for Kevin Bastos to score at the far post.

The Saints responded well, and when Charlie Bowen was brought down following a corner, Christian Tavernier confidently slotted home the penalty to make it 1-1. St Neots pressed for a second, with chances falling to Michael Amaeshike and Kieran Barnes, but couldn’t find a breakthrough before the interval.

After the restart, Belper’s experience began to tell. Benjamin Rhodes restored their lead with a near-post header on 65 minutes, before Bastos sealed the result from the spot late on after being brought down by goalkeeper James Goff.

Eynesbury Rovers 0 – 1 Atherstone Town

Eynesbury began brightly in their first-ever meeting with Atherstone, with Victor Osobu twice breaking through in the opening stages only to be denied by last-ditch defending. A looping overhead kick from a corner went close, and Luke Young saw a dangerous cross cleared by the keeper.

The visitors had shown little threat before the break but took the lead just four minutes into the second half when Jack Wells cut inside and guided his shot into the far corner. Atherstone had a chance to double their lead soon after but Jack Edwards shot wide from close range.

Rovers piled forward late on, with Oliver Brookes seeing his effort deflected behind and Jamal Batchilly hooking a shot narrowly past the post. In stoppage time, Osobu’s 28-yard free-kick skimmed just over, but the equaliser never came.