Skegness shine at St Neots to book UCL cup quarter-final spot
Skegness Town produced an outstanding performance on the road to secure a tremendous 3-2 victory at St Neots Town in the UCL Cup on Saturday.
And they now steel themselves for an away trip to Clay Cross Town in the UCL Premier North on Saturday amid the ongoing FA investigation over alleged homophobic remarks Clay Cross claim were made to one of their players by a Skegness opponent only three weeks ago.
Skegness director of football Chris Rawlinson was delighted to see the Lilywhites clinch a quarter-final spot on Saturday and said: “Saturday was a fantastic result and a fantastic performance.
“It was a beautiful surface, though a bit wet and it is a great set up down there at St Neots.
“Our performance was as good as I have seen for a long time with our ball retention and sticking to the plan.
“We cut them apart at ease really and were well worthy of our two goal lead.
“They pulled one back with a wonder strike before half-time.
“The next goal was important, which we managed to get.
“It was great to see Conor Marshall back in the team and on the scoresheet, then we saw the game out with ease really, though they did score a penalty in the 96th minute.
“We had a bench of 16 and 17-year-olds again and it was great to see them come on and hold their own at this level.
“We now look forward to a quarter-final in February, and hopefully we will start to see some players come back in the next couple of weeks.”
On the FA Investigation and Saturday's trip, he added: “We have heard nothing from the FA as yet.
“But I don't think it will affect the players on Saturday, though I can't say that for definite until we get there.
“There are frustrations of course, but we know the most important thing on Saturday is to get three points to assist with our league position, which doesn't look great, and that is all we are focused on.”
At St Neots, Skegness produced a dominant display of possession-based football, excellent attacking movement and defensive organisation deserving of a result that arguably flattered the hosts.
Two first-half goals from Declan Johnson gave Skegness a deserved advantage, before Marshall's superb second-half header extended the lead.
Although a spectacular strike from St Neots' Ronnie Parker and a late Parker penalty made the scoreline closer, Skegness thoroughly deserved their victory.