Youhill hits the winner to deny depleted Daventry a vital point

Daventry Town welcomed back former striker Scott Cross to the club taking his place on the substitutes bench for what proved to be a frustrating afternoon for the Town in Saturday’s Evo-Stik Northern Premier League clash at Communications Park.

Cross will stay with the club until the end of the Division One South campaign. The Northern Premier League has allowed Daventry to sign two more players despite the transfer embargo due to an increasing injury list of players.

Despite a number of players nursing recurring knocks and sickness before kick-off Daventry produced a fine performance against one of the form teams in the league. Shaw Lane have lost just three matches all season and are well placed to seal a play-off position come the end of the season.

What proved to be the winning goal was scored by Youhill who lifted the ball over Heath to give the Ducks all three points just after the hour mark.

Shaw Lane moved up to fourth in the league table with Daventry sitting in 17th position nine points off the two relegation places. But Daventry have games in hand over Loughborough Dynamo and bottom club Tividale, who are 18 points behind Darran Foster’s side.

Daventry had a couple of strong penalty appeals in the first half when Kieran Fitzgerald and Edilson Panzo-Antonio appeared to have been bought down in the area but both appeals were waved away by the referee.

Goalkeeper Ben Heath kept Daventry in the game with a number of fine blocks and saves throughout but his efforts could not help his side losing their sixth consecutive match in the league.

Looking back on Saturday’s narrow defeat, Foster said: “We definitely deserved something from the game.

“We created two or three great chances and should have been well on the way to three points after the first half.

“Shaw Lane are a very good side with a couple of strong strikers who at times caused us some problems.

“We competed well and all credit must go to the lads for sticking at it under the present situation at the club.”