Dunstable Town 2-3 AVDFC

Team: Dan McAteer; Jake Baldwin, Linus Kusi, Luke Nugent; Emmanuel Gberjuade, Lewis Workman, Dave Brown, Alfi Touceda, Charlie Jackson, Ollie Lemon; Dan Lambeth

Subs: Kevin Owusu, Junior Gyamfi, Jack Elsey, Luke Beckwith

Phil Granville was forced into making three changes to the starting line up as Terry Griffiths and Sam Austin were unavailable and Kevin Owusu would not make the early kick off. The new back three was Luke Nugent, Linus Kusi and Jake Baldwin as the team tried a different formation.

Within the first 30 seconds Dunstable nearly took the lead as they broke through the defence only for Linus Kusi to make a last ditched tackle. Dunstable started slightly stronger and the first 5 minutes saw them sting the hands of Dan McAteer in goal. The Dynamos first good attempt was on 7 minutes when a long clearance from Dan McAteer was expertly controlled by Dan Lambeth and he laid the ball out to Charlie Jackson and his shot went just wide of the left hand post. 12 minutes and Emmanuel Gberjuade provided good width, beating his man, and passing inside to Alfi Touceda who beat a challenge and hit his shot goal bound, but a defender got a vital block for a corner. The resulting corner was met by Gberjuade but the keeper saved well.

The Dynamos started to stretch their legs and Dan Lambeth was the architect for the next chance as he swung in a cross and Lewis Workman headed over the bar. Dave Brown also got in on the action as he combined with Ollie Lemon and his shot was also blocked for a corner as Dunstable held on…just. Dan Lambeth then had two similar chances both set up by Alfi Touceda. The first chance he side footed his shot which the keeper easily saved, the second chance saw Alfi Touceda making an important interception, a minute later, saw him beat his marker, round the keeper and pass it into the unguarded net. 1-0 Dynamos.

33 minutes and it should have been 2-0. Some great work from Jake Baldwin saw his pass fall to Ollie Lemon who was through on goal, but his shot was well saved. 41 minutes and Ollie Lemon fed the ball to Charlie Jackson who went on a great run to the by-line, beat his player and was fouled just outside the box. His free kick was met with a thumping header by Dan Lambeth, who beat the helpless keeper. 2-0 Dynamos.

Half time – Dunstable Town 0-2 AVDFC

The first few minutes saw no chances although Charlie Jackson had a tweek and was subbed for Kevin Owusu on 50 minutes.
A couple of minutes later and a ball forward from Dunstable eluded the defence and Dan McAteer couldn’t get to the ball first and was lobbed. 2-1 Dynamos. 55 minutes and Phil shuffled the pack again, bringing on Junior Gyamfi for Ollie Lemon. Just before the hour mark, Dunstable should have been level as they broke the offside trap and hit a shot inches wide of the mark.

Junior Gyamfi was straight at the Dunstable defence and his skill and speed immediately caused problems with his first cross just missing Lewis Workman at the back post. 61 minutes and Dan Lambeth collected a ball from Luke Nugent and slotted it home but had strayed offside.
The Dunstable pressure finally told as a corner wasn’t picked up and Dunstable headed home to make it 2-2. Dunstable were now clearly on top and searching for a winner. Another good move saw Luke Nugent the last line of defence but he was equal to it, clearing his lines.

With just over 10 minutes left, Emmanuel Gberjuade raced down the right and his cross found Dan Lambeth but his header was just wide.
86 minutes and Dunstable had a huge chance, the attacker raced through but just as he was to hit his shot Linus Kusi made a fantastic tackle to thwart the attack with Jake Baldwin clearing the ball. Gberjuade then had a chance as he raced forward and was taken down but no decision given.

As the match entered injury time (4 minutes) it was the Dynamos on the attack. Dave Brown won the ball in the middle and found Emmanuel Gberjuade, he moved the ball to Kevin Owusu on the left flank. Some great skill saw him run along the edge of the box and unleashed a stunning strike, over the keeper and into the top right of the goal. 3-2 Dynamos.

Jack Elsey came on for the final minutes for Emmanuel Gberjuade, to see out the match and won an important header in the dying seconds with Jake Baldwin again making the final clearance.

Final score – Dunstable Town 2-3 AVDFC