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| QUICKFIRE STRIKE: Nick McCootie |
WHEN you ship a goal 17 seconds after your own side has
kicked off, you just know your luck’s not in.
Wimborne Town’s barren home run has halted their push for
the Southern South & West play-offs in recent weeks and Steve Cuss’ men
missed the chance to turn the corner against their fellow contenders.
Four defeats in five at Cuthbury leave the Magpies seven
points adrift of the top five, but of greater concern will be a lack of spark
in the final third. With Town collecting just one league clean sheet all season, back in October at Paulton, their profligacy becomes a real headache.
Visiting stopper Kyle Phillips was largely a spectator in a
dour clash in Dorset as Paulton, buoyed by Nick McCootie’s opportunistic
strike, looked the likelier to add to the scoring throughout.
For their spells of nice possession outside the two penalty
areas, Wimborne took a step back towards last season in the two danger zones as
hesitant defending and a lack of end product undermined some decent play.
Rovers’ defensive partnership of Stuart Pearson and Scott
Brice stood firm to any pressure, while in the second half, McCootie’s ability
to offer his defence some respite put wind in Paulton’s sails.
A long ball forward found James Billing who slid McCootie in
to tuck the ball past Jason Harvell early on with Adam Costello and Nathan Peprah-Annan
statuesque, their minds seemingly still in the dressing room.
Rovers' Marcus Mapstone wasted a good opportunity to double the
visitors lead before Dan Cleverley’s shot was snuffed out. Craig Loxton drew a
fine save from Harvell while Ben Lacey’s rebound pelted the post as Wimborne
were over-run during the first 20 minutes.
The hosts eventually settled but offered little in attack and McCootie
almost made it two for Paulton before the break, darting past two defenders
with ease and beating Harvell at his near post only for Peprah-Annan to clear off the line.
Tom Jeffes could only force a routine save from Phillips
with a close range header, and while Wimborne offered more after the restart,
there was no killer instinct.
Cuss made three changes in three minutes and the
introduction of AFC Bournemouth loanee Alex Moth, along with strikers Matt
Kemble and Steve Smith, added impetus in the closing stages.
Kemble and Smith combined for the former to give Phillips
his biggest test of the afternoon before Pearson’s last ditch tackle stopped
Smith racing away one-on-one.
The overwhelming feeling, though, was that this was again not
to be Wimborne’s day and Jon Blake’s harsh late dismissal for a second booking
confirmed it.
It would be wrong to talk too much about fortune though –
Paulton thoroughly deserved their victory and looked by far the better bet for
this season’s play-offs. Meanwhile, if Wimborne want to make an impact on the
top five, they need to address last season’s problems in the two penalty areas,
even if they aren’t as prevalent as they were a year ago.
*STEVE Cuss' post match thoughts given to the Bournemouth Echo can be found here.
WIMBORNE TOWN: Harvell, Arnold, Case, Costello (Smith 70), Peprah-Annan, Blake, Sainsbury, Hubbard, Jeffes (Kemble 67), Davidson (Moth 67), Webb. Unused subs: Maybury, Ackerman (g/k).
PAULTON ROVERS: Phillips, Tovey, Allward, Pearson, Brice, Mapstone, Loxton (Egan 80), Lacey, Billing, Cleverley, McCootie (Norris 90). Unused subs: Jeffries, Vyner.
STAR MAN: Nick McCootie (Paulton Rovers)
After catching Costello and Peprah-Annan cold early on, Paulton's burly bruiser gave all of the Magpies defence a torrid afternoon. Powered through at will during the first half and was unlucky not to add to his tally, then offered an outball when the pressure came after the break. Classic centre forward play making Rovers' classic away performance possible.
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