Blackstones beat St Andrews to move into United Counties League Division One promotion places

Blackstones have moved up into the promotion spots in the United Counties League Division One after a 4-1 victory against St Andrews on Saturday.

Stones recovered from a slow start and came from a goal behind to claim a comfortable win over the side that started the game one place below them in the league.

Two first half goals from Josh Edmondson gave the home side the lead at half-time with substitute Jones Se Sousa scoring both of Blackstones’ second half goals to seal the victory.

Blackstones had gone without a match since December 21 after their Boxing Day fixture with Bourne Town was postponed.

The home side’s lack of matches might have explained their slow start to the game with St Andrews having the better of the early chances.

St Andrews’ Danny Page came close in the third minute after dribbling the ball around Stones’ goalkeeper James Blake but was brought down outside the box before he could get a shot on goal.

The opener would come in the 12th minute from Ben Law, whose 25-yard effort lobbed the Blackstones’ keeper who couldn’t keep the ball out with his fingertips.

Stones might have felt unfortunate to go a goal down after Lewis Morley was dragged down in the build-up, but no foul was given.

Blackstones came into the game after the goal and took control of the tie.

Josh Edmondson thought he had equalised in the 17th minute when the ball dropped to him from an Alex Brown save but he was flagged offside from the initial Joe Moore-Papworth shot.

A tricky run inside the pitch from winger Ben Cowles resulted in the corner which Blackstones equalised from on the half-hour mark.

Edmondson had the ball in the back of the net again for Blackstones from an unmarked header into the roof of St Andrews’ goal and levelled the game.

Both sides looked like they might find another goal before half-time, but it was Blackstones’ Edmondson that pounced on a mistake from St Andrews and gave the hosts the lead.

The striker was first to a loose ball after a blocked clearance and beat the on-rushing goalkeeper in the air before volleying the ball into an open net.

Lee Clarke almost added a third in added time but his header from the St Andrews’ penalty spot was tipped round the post by Brown.

St Andrews almost found an immediate equaliser at the start of the second-half.

Law’s cross-goal shot from the edge of the Stones’ penalty area was sliced just wide of the left post by Andrew Boome and out for a corner.

St Andrews’ frustrations grew in the second half which led to the first bookings of the game, first for a foul just outside of the visitors’ box and then minutes later for a tactical foul to stop a Cowles counter.

Blake produced an outstanding save to claw the ball off his goal-line to deny an equaliser in the 63rd minute following a header from Richard Black.

In the 69th minute De Sousa came on for Morley and had an instant impact on the game with a goal after less than a minute.

A cross from Blackstones’ left-wing lobbed the St Andrews keeper and rebounded off the bar to the feet of the substitute who tapped the ball into the ball into the net with a defender trying to clear, giving the hosts a two-goal lead.

Seven minutes later De Sousa added a second goal to seal the three points for Blackstones.

Cowles set up the chance for De Sousa with a driven pass across the goalkeeper and the forward finished the chance from the edge of the box despite pressure from St Andrews’ Aniya King.

St Andrews tried to come back into the game late on but were unable to put the hosts under any kind of pressure and the match ended in a 4-1 victory for Blackstones.

The result was an important one for Blackstones who were aiming to increase the gap between them and St Andrews, who started the game five points behind Stones in seventh.

Blackstones will take on St Andrews again in the league this Tuesday and will be hoping for a similar result as they look to strengthen their promotion push.

Blackstones: Blake, Easson, Pell, Wilmer, Bates, Cowles (Simpson), Boome, Moore-Papworth, Morley (de Sousa), Edmondson (Brown), Clarke. Subs not used: Buttery.

St Andrews: Brown, Brown, King, Black, Wells, Page, Harriot (Kirk), Law (Sheehan), McClean (Ginvert), Douglas, Beardmore. Subs not used: Nkosinatch, Shaw.

Attendance: 76.