Squad is key as Huntingdon Town head to Stewarts & Lloyds after Peterborough Northern Star draw

IT’S never a dull place, Jubilee Park – and so it proved once again when Huntingdon Town drew 2-2 with Peterborough Northern Star on Saturday.

It’s a sign of how far Huntingdon have come under manager Ricky Marheineke since the beginning of last season in Division One that it will have been Peterborough who left the coldest hill in the region happier with a point than their hosts.

Tonight (Tuesday), Marheineke was promising to use the squad to its full potential again with Huntingdon due to go to Corby for their fifth game in 11 days against Stewarts & Lloyds.

But on Saturday, Ben Seymour-Shove took both of his goals with aplomb against a young PNS team, and Niks Savalneiks starred after a month on the bench, excelling in his role as a hard-working and uncompromising forward in a team made of much, much more than the sum of its parts.

Without Ollie Medwynter at right back – there were fears of broken bones when he went to hospital during Huntingdon’s 2-1 win over Harborough last week, his injury turned out to be a soft tissue one – or influential captain and central midfielder Ricky Dear, who has been playing with a groin strain, the manager was forced to make changes to his personnel, yet he was disappointed with a result which maintained his club’s brilliant so-far unbeaten 2013 in the United Counties League Premier Division.

Jamie Graham missed an early chance, lobbing the goalkeeper but also the crossbar, before PNS went 1-0 up against the run of play.

Seymour-Shove found the net with a lovely strike from a Savalneiks pass to make it 1-1 and the lively former Peterborough United trainee was on target again a little way into the second half, only for a late, swerving strike which was parried into his net by goalkeeper Enol Ordonez to level things.

An excellent later save by the Huntingdon goalkeeper kept the visitors from taking all three points at the death.

“Unfortunately again, the same as against Harborough, we missed really good chances at really crucial times in the game,” said Marheineke.

“When we went 2-1 up I thought we looked comfortable and I couldn’t see them getting back in it but then the lad has hit a wonder strike and the ball has moved right at the end – a lot.

“Because of the amount of the games we have played in such a short space of time we have picked up a few injuries.

“Josh Crick and Declan Rodgers have been playing with injuries and Enol’s got an injury and Ryan Spencer has serious injury in his shoulder and will now have an operation on Thursday. He will be out for about a month.

“But it’s the sign of a good team that when you are not playing well and you use your squad they are prepared to roll their sleeves up and grind out results.

“We can and must do better, but I am still proud of the boys and that’s a major positive.”