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Evesham 0-1 Didcot Att:136
Phil's John's brilliant strike 8 minutes from time settled this even encounter at Worcester City's St George's Lane ground.
It wasn't Didcot's finest performance of the season but it's certainly up there with the most notable result so far.
For long spells neither side were able to break down two dogged defences. By half-time there hadn't been a clear-cut chance at either end ib a game played almost exclusively within 20 yards either side of the halfway line.
The importance of 3 points to both sides must have been emphasised in both dressing room at the break because there was much more attacking intent after halftime. And in fairness it was Evesham who were starting to pose most of the questions.
A key moment arrived after about 55 minutes when Martin Brown was adjudged to have brought down Danny Lennon for a hotly disputed penalty. The foul was half-a-yard outside the box, a fact acknowledged by the ref's assistant, who then refused to bring this small fact to the referee's attention. Justice was done though as a diving Matt Trott pushed away the initial spoit-kick and then an Evesham player somehow sliced the follow-up wide of the goal with nobody to beat!
Lennon then hit the bar from close-range as it was backs to the wall for the visitors.
But gradually the momentum was shifting and first Mark Draycott almost forced the ball over the line following a Phil John free-kick and then John struck narrowly over from distance.
With time running out Ian Sampson forged forward down the right, playing-in a neat pass to John who turned and struck a brilliant left-foot shot from 25 yards past the despairing dive of Nathan Vaughan.
Cue a few nervy moments as the ref played a good 5 or 6 minutes of stoppage time...eventually the final whistle greeted with jubilation from the 60 or so travelling Diddy supporters.
It was Diddy's first away clean-sheet of the campaign and a few exception performances particularly from Trotty and the backline. The win moves us up two places and now just 2 points behind Evesham in 16th place.
Next-up is the tasty looking rematch with Tiverton at the Loop next Saturday, a side who are much improved and looking to pull clear of trouble themselves. Full preview later in the week.
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