Goddy off and running in chase for Premier promotion

TOM Moran’s goal was enough to seal the points for Rovers and get the season off to the perfect start.

Ridgeons First Division

Godmanchester Rovers 1-0 Debenham LC

TOM Moran’s goal was enough to seal the points for Rovers and get the season off to the perfect start.

A crowd of nearly 100 fans assembled hoping to see the new-look Goddy squad hit the ground running, and saw their team create enough chances to have made victory more comfortable.

New signing John Turner went close to opening his Rovers account early on and Mickey Hyem must wonder how he failed with one of two early chances.

The Debenham keeper was on working overtime compared with Rob Mackney in the Godmanchester goal, and when a corner was poorly dealt with Moran slotted home on 10 minutes.

However, Rovers sat back and allowed their opponents back into the match but the home defence was solid and Mackney was commanding between the sticks.

The second half saw Rovers continue to dominate but bad luck and good defending kept the margin at just the one goal.

A couple of efforts from Jon Hall and Stephen Hurst should have given the home side the cushion of a second but the Debenham defence held out. The final five minutes were a tense affair but Rovers were not made to pay for their profligacy, and held on for the three points.

Joint-manager Neville Nania said: “The club have assembled a good young squad over the summer. They will get better game by game, and Saturday’s game was a good start in the push for promotion to the Premier level.”

March Town visit Bearscroft Lane tonight (Wednesday) at 7.45pm, and Rovers travel to Yaxley in the FA Cup on Saturday.