It was a shortlived spell that I got to see Daventry play in this season's competition, however they have so far been the team that has captured my attention with their hunger, desire and for the atmosphere inside the ground. Coming to Daventry has felt like coming to a proper football club, one that stays true to its roots but can also harbour ambitions of success.
Right from when the draw was announced I had a feeling this tie was going to be special. Firstly, having spent the best part of a year working in the town of Nuneaton, I had the pleasure of knowing some of the locals, for all their charm and quirkiness. Secondly, I happened to be acquainted with the home side's assistant manager, Mr Andy Reece who had, for the previous game, generously provided me with a signed programme. My interest in this game was to heighten even more upon learning that a certain Mr Lee Hendrie might be making his Daventry debut.
Unsurprisingly, I was rooting for the hosts, though in reality they had little hope. Nuneaton are 2 divisions above them, playing in the Blue Square Premier, which for Daventry, was quite a leap in standard. However it proved to be a much tighter game on the pitch, Nuneaton were quiet in the first half, unlike their fans, and by half time the scores were still level. Both teams had had chances but it was certainly Daventry who were controlling long passages of play, their main attacking outlet being my friend Lee. The former Villan showed some neat touches and seemed more than capable of fitting in to his new team.
How often it is though, that games are won and lost in the second half. Daventry were by now playing with the sun in their eyes and it showed, Nuneaton scoring just after the interval and in a second seemingly undoing all of Daventry's excellent first half work. Still, it was harsh on the home side, the goal only being scored courtesy of a huge deflection. And they deserve a lot of credit for the manner in which they fought back, still going forward, still creating some good chances, their only failure being totally unable to hit the target. Up until the disasterous second goal, Daventry still had an excellent chance. This changed however, after a defender failed to clear the ball, instead choosing to make life incredibly hard for himself....do I need to tell you what happened next?
Yet still, at 0-2 down, with barely a third of the match remaining, they kept coming, and to my mind they thoroughly deserved their goal when it finally did come, and what a finish it was too, a cracking strike from 20 yards out. Had a close range header been just inches lower it would surely have sent the vast majority of fans into a state of delerium just seconds from the end, but it wasn't to be.
I cannot help but feel quite sad about Daventry's exit. They matched Nuneaton for long periods of the game and to concede two goals the way they did must be crushing. To be honest, I'm not exactly relishing the idea of a home draw at Nuneaton either, I used to work there, working for the local community and I'm bound to bump into someone I know. So here's to an away draw!
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