Lge (A)
Won 2-0
(H/T 1-0)
Moulton FC visited promotional rivals Histon for the very first meeting of the two clubs and despite the heavy morning rainfall the pitch was in decent condition. The Magpies showed 1 change from Tuesdays draw with March Town with skipper Francis Boateng returning in place of Josh Melling.

The home side had a couple of half chances early on, one that went over and a looping header from a corner that was cleared by Adam Dicks. Moulton grew into the game and when Justin Mensah won the ball in midfield Matty Long tried an audacious chip from 40 yards that went just wide (one will hit the target soon), and not long after Dan White saw a header blocked following a corner.

Neither side were creating any clear-cut chances although Histon did have the ball in the net after 28 minutes, but it was ruled out for offside in the build-up. Terry Falcini had 2 half chances late in the half but a minute into injury time the visitors took the lead, BOATENG pumped a free kick from the centre circle into the heart of the Histon defence, Long challenged with home keeper Jake West who made a real hash of an attempted punch and the ball ended up in the net.

HALF TIME HISTON 0 MOULTON 1

The Magpies took the initiative early in the second half and Falcini was inches away from a Dicks cross, following that a quick break nearly saw Long in the clear but a cynical foul by home defender Joe O’Neill halted his progress, with an inevitable yellow card following. Moulton continued to have the upper hand and when a Lewis Isom corner was only half cleared Falcini saw his shot go just over, Histon replied and a header from a corner went over and Adam North saved comfortably following a shot from the edge of the box.

With 69 minutes on the clock the Magpies were denied a perfectly good goal, Isom put Long clear just inside the Histon half and at least a yard on side, he bore down on goal and slipped the ball to Falcini who rolled it into the empty net, in the meantime the assistant on the far side had dropped his flag and when he eventually retrieved it remarkably signalled offside and the goal was ruled out.

However, with 7 minutes of normal time left the visitors did get a deserved second goal, the Histon central defenders allowed a long clearance from North to bounce 30 yards from goal, sub Nathan Amaning challenged for the ball, and it eventually broke invitingly to FALCINI who fired it inside the near post. The home side had one more effort on goal which went over and right at the death Amaning’s shot was deflected up and out to Louis Kelly but he couldn’t find the target either.

Another terrific display by the Magpies and a third consecutive win on the road sees them well and truly cement their place in the play-off positions.

FINAL SCORE HISTON 0 MOULTON 2

TEAM. North, Dicks, Osoimoejikhian, Mensah, (Kelly 89) Stevens, Boateng, Falcini, Odley, (Hall 83) Long (Amaning 70), White, Isom ( Reza73).