If you had offered the visitors a point from their trip to face champions Northerners beforehand, they probably would have snapped your proverbial hand off, but having got to within a couple of minutes of pulling off a shock victory, they headed back to Port Soif with an air of disappointment wondering what might have been.
Their mood would not have been helped by the 88th minute North equaliser coming from a disputed penalty.
In fairness, referee Luke Pattimore had the best view of the incident of anyone at Northfield and he was very decisive as he pointed to the spot, having deemed Tyler Crowther had gone through Harry Tough in taking the ball away from the North substitute as he was pulling the trigger. Everyone else’s opinion on the matter depended on which shade of blue they were supporting.
The home side felt it was a stonewall penalty whereas Rovers felt it was a perfectly-timed tackle to such an extent that Harrison Brehaut was sin-binned for dissent in the immediate aftermath.
Even after order was restored and Liam Mahon stepped up to take responsibility from 12 yards, young Rovers goalkeeper Reuben Woollaston-Winn was very nearly their hero as he got a good hand to the spot kick, diving full stretch to his right, but the ball crept inside the post and North had got out of jail.
A point was the least Rovers deserved and they certainly merited the two-goal advantage they established in the first half in spite of playing into the strong wind, with Crowther taking both goals impressively.
Barry Maroney’s side relished being underdogs and captain Blair Howitt set the tone for his side in the opening quarter with a strong, purposeful display in the heart of midfield where he was up against, among others, former long-time teammate Charlie Platt.
The rest of the Rovers followed that lead and made life tough for North, who were miles off their best throughout the opening 45 minutes. In fact, they were downright poor.
Howitt had the first attempt on goal of the league season, forcing Sam Cooley into an important block, while the closest North came to scoring was when Danny Hale whipped a low free-kick right across the face of goal and it struck the far post.
The deadlock was broken midway through the half with the conditions playing their part as Liam Butler’s ball forward held up in the wind, allowing Crowther to get to it ahead of River Marsh in the inside-right channel. There was still work for him to do, but having cut back onto his left foot, Crowther sent a curling shot beyond Alex Le Cheminant and into the far corner.
Twelve minutes later Crowther doubled his side’s lead in almost cheeky fashion.
Having received the ball from a throw-in just inside the penalty area he managed to skip by a couple of Northerners down the byline and then sneak the ball past Le Cheminant from close range at his near post.
With half-time approaching, a rare genuine opening for North fell to Platt, but as he let fly with a right-footed drive, Jake Robin came from nowhere to make a big block that earned several pats on the back from colleagues.
After the turnaround – and no doubt a rollicking in the dressing room – North posed more of a threat in the opening exchanges of the second half but Woollaston-Winn, one of two teenage goalkeepers on the pitch, did well to make important saves from Owen Wallbridge and Dave Rihoy.
Things soon got scrappy once more and barring one wind-affected Hale cross that came close to catching out Rovers, North did not create anything more of note until the final 20 minutes.
It was Hale who eventually managed to spark his side into life when he halved the deficit with an instinctive finish after an initial ball through to him rebounded off an opponent back into his path.
With time starting to run out, Steffan Timms and Liam Hammer blocked efforts from Marsh and Platt while Rovers still posed a threat on the counter-attack with substitutes Ronaldo Goncalves and Brehaut going close with decent strikes.
However, it was North who came up with another goal to earn them a point which was the most they deserved.
The champions know they have to improve.
TEAMS
North: Le Cheminant, Belnavis (Tough), Marsh, Cooley (Jackson), Rihoy, Mahon, Platt, Wilson (Roussel), Prigent (Smith), Hale, Wallbridge.
Rovers: Woollaston-Winn, Louie Stevenson (Jones), S Howitt, Mahy, Butler, Robin (Hammer), B Howitt, Santos (Goncalves), Crowther (Ogier), Timms (Brehaut), Robilliard.
Referee: L Pattimore. Assistants: J Le Cheminant, R Tyson.
