Potton make it six on bounce at Bourne

After Bourne had beaten near rivals Oakham United 5-0 in mid-week Potton were expecting a hard match. However a tremendous first half where they played some attractive football saw them go in winning 3-0 at half time.

The second half was still dominated by Potton but they failed to take some very good chances.

Potton started very brightly with George Kiely making some good runs and in the first minute he shot over the bar.

In the fifth minute Kiely laid the ball on for Gary Ansell-Carter to score the opening goal. Ansell-Carter forced a save from keeper Alex Brown and from the resulting play Kiely headed wide.

A centre from Steve Muggeridge just went wide of the goal and at the other end Craig Lewis saved from Joe Papworth. Dan Wilson had a shot from 35 yards that Lewis watched go over the bar.

In the 20th minute Potton increased their lead when Ansell-Carter worked his way to the edge of the penalty area and Brown was only able to push the ball into his net.

A good move down Potton’s right saw Muggeridge delay his shot and the chance was gone. From a corner Chris Reeves headed inches wide and John Bailey saw two efforts go over the bar. Bourne were awarded a free kick but Papworth’s effort hit the Potton defensive wall.

In the 41st minute from a Potton corner the ball was headed back by Luke Harradine and Kiely scored from close range. In the last minute of the half a long ball from Bourne went over Potton’s defence and Lewis thwarted the attempt by Jake Mason.

In the opening minute of the second half Papworth headed over the bar when well placed. From a Calum Forster free kick Reeves headed over from close range. Bailey made a good run but his effort was well wide of the goal. A great move down the right saw Forster centre for Ansell-Carter head inches wide of the post. In reply Henry Dunn had an effort go wide of the goal and then headed wide from a corner.

A header from Dunn was heading for the top corner but Lewis made a first class save in pushing the ball over the bar.

Ansell-Carter then made a good run but saw his shot saved by Brown. Forster worked his way forward and saw his effort go over the bar. Ansell-Carter was put through and took the ball round the keeper and just as he was about to shoot into an empty net Dan Mason made a tremendous tackle to prevent a goal. From the resulting corner Harradine headed over.

It was pleasing to get back to winning ways and this was the sixth consecutive league win but even more pleasing was this was the first clean sheet this season. In truth Potton dominated the entire match and could have won by a larger margin with more clinical finishing.

Potton host Irchester United in the league on Saturday.

Potton United: Craig Lewis, Calum Forster, Ashley Yeomans, Shaun Faulkner, Luke Harradine, Chris Reeves (Stuart Gillies), Steve Muggeridge, Joe Aris, Gary Ansell-Carter, George Kiely (Alex Taylor), John Bailey (Lee Swain)