Dunstable Town create plenty but leave it late to defeat Eynesbury

Goalkeepers Dan Gould and Shay Griffiths both had routine saves to make in the opening stages.

But the first real moment of note came when Joe Hankins took a wonderful ball into the box, neatly rounded Griffiths and slotted into an empty net, only to be denied by an offside call.

Jamal McKenzie-Lowe had the first clear sight of goal for the visitors, sending a glancing near-post header wide of the mark.

But shortly afterwards, Dunstable were ahead.

Danny Blackman’s corner made it all the way to the back post where Eric Ameyaw got a firm head to the ball, sending it into the bottom corner to open his Blues account.

Eynesbury appeared to have levelled minutes later, bundling home after a scrappy corner routine, but the referee blew his whistle for a foul.

A driving run by Khy Smith-Reid was then crudely ended by a Eynesbury defender, the ball falling to Harry Shepherd who arrowed a 20-yard shot which rebounded off the crossbar before being cleared away.

Rovers must have wondered how they went in at half-time a goal down; the reason was Dan Gould.

In the 10 minutes up to half-time, Gould denied Rovers several times, firstly stopping top-scorer Jordan Brown’s low, rifled shot before Craig Daniels sent in a fizzing shot from distance which Gould tipped over with his left hand.

Tim Nkala was then frustrated to see his shot hit the foot of the post before dribbling across the line and cleared away for a corner.

Early in the second half, Marlon Burton, a product of the development team, replaced Smith-Reid for his first team debut.

With 20 minutes left, and Rovers still searching for an equaliser, Daniels shimmied before side-footing a shot which forced Gould into another decent save.

Dunstable looked to pay heavily for their near-misses when Rovers levelled with 15 minutes left.

Ash Fuller found himself in space outside the box and sent a left-footed long-range effort into the corner of the goal.

But the Blues responded well, with substitute Jake Kissiedu looking lively, before a Hankins shot from a tight angle won a corner.

When Eynesbury failed to deal with the set-piece, Jack Harvey-Bailey smashed the ball across the six-yard box and Hankins turned the ball into the net.

A good win for Dunstable which lifted them up to 13th in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier ahead of the trip to North Greenford United on Saturday (k-o 3pm).