Abington United 2 Steeple Morden 4 STEEPLE Morden extended their unbeaten run and ensured they go into the New Year well placed to maintain their promotion push with a hard fought victory at tricky Abington United. Manager Kenny Watters was forced to sh

Abington United 2 Steeple Morden 4

STEEPLE Morden extended their unbeaten run and ensured they go into the New Year well placed to maintain their promotion push with a hard fought victory at tricky Abington United.

Manager Kenny Watters was forced to shuffle his pack again with top striker Ben Holt on his honeymoon so in came assistant manager Karl Parr for his first start up front and Matt Chapman deputised for the injured Charlie Prothero in central midfield.

Steeple started brightly and took the lead after six minutes.

Dom Holt expertly released Martyn Lees and the nimble striker was unfortunate to see his chipped effort come back off the inside of the post, but the industrious Joe Morris reacted quickest to slot home the rebound.

The home team were soon back in it though when taking advantage of a loss of concentration by Steeple they scored a soft equaliser with a speculative cross-shot.

Steeple bounced back courtesy of some good work by Chapman who peppered the Abington goal with several good efforts, one of which resulted in a corner after 22 minutes.

Lees whipped the ball in and an Abington defender diverted it past his own keeper to restore Steeple's lead.

Abington struggled to contain the Steeple attacks and conceded several free-kicks and they paid the price on 34 minutes when skipper Holt extended the lead with a majestic free-kick over the wall and into the bottom corner.

The home side improved in the second half and started to cause problems although Martin Donald was outstanding in central defence alongside Darren Jarman.

The hard working Frankie Berry was forced to drop into defence when veteran full back Graham Collins picked up a knock, but Berry was still a constant threat with his speedy breaks.

With 15 minutes to go Abington pulled a goal back and Steeple had an excellent brave save from Andy Smith to thank for preserving their lead.

The game was made safe by Karl Parr with four minutes to go when a long throw from Craig Richardson was met by the experienced campaigner who looped a header over the stranded home keeper.

Kenny Watters paid tribute to his hard working team. He said: "We battled well against a good footballing side but our tenacity and cutting edge was too much for them and that is why we took all the points even with several key players unavailable."

Steeple will return to action on January 10 when they visit Camden United Reserves.

Steeple: Smith, Richardson, Donald, Jarman, Collins, Berry, Holt, Chapman, Morris, Parr, Lees. Sub: Watters