Nick Crittenden celebrates scoring with Ryan Moss
DORCHESTER TOWN
1	Simon Evans
2	Kyle Critchell
3	Jake Smeeton
4	Mark Jermyn
5	Nathan Walker		69
6	Ashley Vickers		79
7	Nick Crittenden
8	James Coutts
9	Ryan Moss
10	Matt Groves
11	Steve Devlin
Substitutes
12	Jules Emati-Emati
14	Ryan Hill
15	Kevin Hill		79
16	Gary Bowles		69
17	Harry Nodwell
STAINES TOWN
1	Louis Wells
2	Michael Kamara
3	Dean Thomas
4	Danny Gordon
5	Marien Ifura
6	Andre Scarlett
7	Howard Newton
8	Darty Brown
9	Marc Charles-Smith
10	Leroy Griffiths
11	Mazin Ahmad
Substitutes
12	Scott Taylor
14	Alfie Arthur
15	Lee
16	James King
17	Trent Phillips
Referee
-

Saturday 23rd January 2010
		Dorchester Town	2
		Crittenden 66, 72
		Staines Town	2
		Charles-Smith 45, 65

Critts to the rescue

by Derek Bish

Nick Crittenden’s double rescued a point for Dorch-ester Town, who had to come from two behind before sharing the spoils with Staines Town at the Jewson Stadium.

Marc Charles-Smith saw his effort creep in at the end of a forgettable first half and then doubled the visitors’ advantage after rounding the returning Simon Evans.

But Crittenden struck twice in five minutes, heading in Ryan Moss’ cross before latching on to an incisive pass from new man James Coutts.

Ashley Vickers made several changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Weymouth on New Year’s Day.

Out went Ryan Hill and Neil Martin as well as the departed Phil Walsh and Ian Selley, and injured goalkeeper Regan Coward.

Nathan Walker, Evans and Coutts were handed debuts while Jake Smeeton and Matt Groves were recalled.

The home side also reverted to 4-4-2 with Kyle Critchell and Smeeton as the full-backs and Nick Crittenden and Steve Devlin as the wide midfielders.

Coutts linked up in the middle of midfield with captain Mark Jermyn while Ryan Moss partnered Groves in attack.

A dire opening half was nearly gifted a goal it did not deserve when Coutts found himself behind the visiting back line only to drag the ball out of play when trying to round goalkeeper Louis Wells.

At the other end, the first actual effort on goal was recorded in the 25th minute when Leroy Griffiths stood up a left-wing cross but Howard Newton headed down and wide at the far post with Evans scrambling across.

Shortly after Charles-Smith headed tamely at Evans and Griffiths sliced well wide from an acute angle while Groves headed away from goal instead of at it for Dorchester – three efforts barely worthy of note in any half other than this one.

Evans was lucky not to hand the visitors the lead five minutes before the break when he badly fumbled Mazin Ahmad’s cross, with Newton just unable to apply the finishing touch under serious pressure from the Magpies’ defence.

Ahmad tested Evans again, this time with a volley straight at the Dorchester custodian, but with time all but up at the end of a woeful first half Newton rolled the ball across the face of goal and Charles-Smith took advantage of Vickers’ slip to guide it home.

Tempers frayed, particularly between Vickers and the Staines team, as both sides left the field for the half-time break but the ill feeling seemed to evaporated by the time play resumed 15 minutes later.

Steve Devlin fired an opening warning in the second period as he headed on to Groves, picked up the return and drove low and wide in the 52nd minute while Darty Brown only succeeded in finding the trees behind Evans’ stand.

Ahmad’s shot was deflected wide for Staines’ first corner from which Marien Ifura headed over under pressure from Vickers.

Staines seemingly put the game out of Dorchester’s reach after Charles-Smith latched on to Ahmad’s through ball, rounded Evans and tucked home from six yards.

However, the Magpies threw themselves a lifeline just seconds later when Moss got a cross in from the left and Crittenden headed home his side’s first goal since December 5 into the top right-hand corner despite the best efforts of Wells to keep it out.

The ex-Chelsea winger burst into life after that and levelled matters up 18 minutes from the end when Coutts found him with a lovely ball into the box and Crittenden rounded an out of position Wells before calmly finishing in front of the ecstatic home fans.

Evans was nearly caught out by a cross that was headed over by Charles-Smith, who was now in a personal battle with Crittenden to win the match ball.

Vickers volleyed just beyond the left-hand post before being replaced by Kevin Hill, who received a rapturous round of applause on his return from injury.

But neither side could find a winner but the two sides clashed off the ball once again when Mark Jermyn caught Ifura at a 50/50 in stoppage time and received a yellow card for his challenge.