REPORT | Lye Town 2-1 Quorn
Quorn’s two match winning run was brought to a juddering halt by a determined Lye Town. Devon Kelly-Evans scored his first goal for the Reds in the fourth minute, but Maxwell Ngbeken levelled things up in the 19th minute and Matt Funge handed the hosts a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, shortly before the half hour mark.
Riding the high of a last minute winner on Wednesday evening, the Reds were in imperious form to start this contest, applying pressure from the off. It took a little over three minutes for that pressure to tell, as Kelly-Evans showed great close control in the box, riding a couple of challenges and poking the ball in off the underside of the bar from close range.
The Reds were in complete control, and cruising as Courey Grantham and Tyrell Shannon-Lewis had good chances to add to the lead. The course of the first half took a dramatic turn in the 19th minute though, as Ngbeken unleashed a stunning strike from outside the box that left Charlie Woods helpless in the Quorn goal.
Lye’s equaliser had come against the run of play, but for the following 25 minutes they blitzed Quorn, taking the lead when Kelly-Evans was caught in possession. The ball came in from the left, finding Funge all alone, with time to smash in a second. Woods was down quickly, and looked in good position to make the save, but the ball appeared to bobble right in front of him and bounced over his outstretched hand.
It could have been much worse for Quorn, but Woods made a couple of excellent saves to keep his side in the match. On the stroke of half-time, the Methodists were finally able to get back moving forward, and, when a cross from the right found Cain Noble at the back post, the midfielder looked certain to pull the visitors level, but his effort fell millimetres wide of the upright.
Rich Lavery’s side dominated possession in the second half, as Lye looked content to sit on their lead, but the hosts defended well, shutting down wave after wave of attacks. Ben Newey was rarely troubled in the Lye goalmouth, making routine saves from Shannon-Lewis and Noble. Quorn’s best chances fell to Noble and Shannon-Lewis in the dying moments, but Town’s defensive efforts were rewarded by a couple of blocks that saw them secure the three points.
The victory maintained Lye’s place in the playoffs, opening a small gap to the chasing pack. Quorn are part of that group, sitting in ninth place, but with two games in hand on Town. Next up is a trip to bottom place AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday afternoon.