St Neots Town Fall to Late Heartbreak Against Mickleover

A dramatic free kick deep into stoppage time condemned St Neots Town to a 2–1 defeat against Mickleover FC at the Premier Plus Stadium on Saturday — their fourth home loss of the season.

After battling back to level the score in the second half, the Saints were left frustrated when the visitors snatched victory in the seventh minute of added time with a stunning strike that bent over and around the defensive wall. The goal came from a controversial free kick, which saw both the St Neots skipper and manager booked for their protests.

It was the second consecutive Saturday that St Neots had fallen behind in the first half, and the result leaves them sitting 15th in the league table.

St Neots made one change to their starting lineup, with James Stainsby handed his first start in place of the unavailable Rhys Thorpe — and the debutant made an immediate impression by scoring the Saints’ equaliser.

The first half saw little in the way of clear chances. After an early save from James Goff, who pushed away a curling effort from Andy Dales, the game settled into a tight affair. St Neots struggled to create meaningful openings despite enjoying plenty of possession, and their passing often failed to trouble the Mickleover defence.

The breakthrough came after 30 minutes when Josiah Dyer broke the offside trap on the right, cutting inside to fire a low shot beyond Goff into the far corner. The visitors almost doubled their lead before half-time, while Harvey Williams was brought down by Jake Bennett in one of St Neots’ few promising attacks — earning Bennett a yellow card.

After the restart, the Saints looked much brighter. From a Murphy Culkin corner, Kieran Barnes saw his shot cleared off the line before Harvey Williams’ curling effort was blocked — only for Stainsby to pounce and fire home the rebound to make it 1–1 after 53 minutes.

Moments later, Connor Furlong forced another chance and Charlie Bowen headed narrowly over from a corner as St Neots pushed for the lead. But as Mickleover made changes, the visitors regained control and began to press late on.

In a tense finale that saw eight minutes of added time, St Neots conceded two dangerous free kicks just outside the box. The first was wasted, but the second — a perfectly placed strike from Archie White — found the top corner to seal all three points for Mickleover.

The defeat means St Neots will be hoping to bounce back quickly as they look to turn improved performances into results.