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Pacquette: Scored the second equaliser

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Magpies Fight Back to Earn Point

A tremendous second half fight back earned United a point at Weston to preserve their unbeaten start to the season and propel the Magpies up to the heady heights of third place in the Blue Square South.

The goalscoring reflected the passage of play with Weston going into the break two goals to the good, but in an uncanny repeat of the crucial relegation match at the end of last season, the home team allowed Maidenhead back into the game in the second half.

The Seagulls took the lead in the fourth minute, when left winger Mark McKeever, who has become something of a Nemesis figure for the Magpies in recent seasons, capitalised on some lax defending to put Marvin Brown through, Brown making no mistake with his finish.

The goal set Weston up for a good opening to the game but Maidenhead eventually recovered their composure and began to look capable of equalising.

Debutant striker Mustafa Tyriaki, a last minute replacement for the injured Lee Newman, was at the centre of most the action, and was unlucky not to score just short of the half hour mark, when his shot was blocked on the line by Ryan Northmore.

Instead it was Weston who added to the score in somewhat controversial fashion ten minutes ahead of half time. A quick counter attack by the Seagulls prompted a rash tackle from a Magpies defender.

Initially referee Justin Amey indicated that the ball had been won and play should go on, however on seeing the linesman with the flag across his chest, Amey pointed to the spot, Brown duly converting the kick.

The second half saw a Maidenhead performance more in keeping with their current form as they set up camp in the Weston half in search of goals. The comeback started after ten minutes with the goal of the game, the move beginning with a superb tackle by Jack Bradshaw on the edge of the United penalty area.

United then moved the ball quickly down the left wing, Narada Bernard, Dale Binns, Richard Pacquette and Tyriaki all linking up to set up Ben Surey, whose shot from twenty yards, aided by a slight deflection, flew into the net.

As the half drew on, United cranked up the pressure on a Weston team now without the substituted McKeever. Having run the length of the left wing Bernard could be forgiven for fluffing a great chance with eighteen minutes left, and Tyriaki was deserved to cap his debut with a goal in the 79th minute only for the woodwork to intervene.

The equaliser finally arrived with three minutes left when an Ashley Nicholls cross from the byline on the left hand side of the penalty area was met by the head of Pacquette at the far post to score (pictured left).

Weston Super Mare 2 (2) Maidenhead United 2 (0)

Seagulls: Northmore, Green, Willshire, Mullings, Abraham (62 Gurney), Comyn-Platt, Wells, McKeever (66 Holgate), McGregor, Brown, Grubb (74 Palmer).

Unused subs: Havard, Haddock.

Goals: Brown 4, 35 pen.

Magpies: Gore, Bradshaw (74 Behzadi), Bernard (81 Fyfield), Surey, Sterling, Nisbet, Smith A (79 James), Nicholls, Pacquette, Tyriaki, Binns.

Unused subs: Hamsher, Carter.

Goals: Surey 55, Pacquette 79.

Cautioned: Pacquette 37.

Crowd: 212.