MOTORS came back from Cambridgeshire empty handed following an ill-tempered game which featured three red cards and a 20-man brawl at the final whistle.

The 90 minutes of football were a fairly dull encounter, however the talking point of the game was the mass brawl at the end which saw Vauxhall’s Andy Nicholas and Histon’s Omar Folkes both sent off for picking up second yellow cards.

A poor first-half saw both teams struggle to break the deadlock.

Motors’ Craig Mahon, however, was outstanding and had the best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes when his long range effort was well saved by Histon keeper Joe Mellings.

The game changed nine minutes into the second-half when Motors’ defender Leon Clowes clashed with Histon’s new signing Ben Coker and was duly shown a red card.

The home side still struggled to break down ten-man Motors but they eventually took the lead on 65 minutes. A long throw was initially cleared but fell kindly to Jay Dowie whose first-time screamer from 25 yards out flew into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

The lead was doubled 13 minutes later when Histon midfielder Jim Stevenson went down under Chris Noone’s challenge in the penalty area. Stevenson picked himself up and converted the resulting penalty, which crept inside the post beyond Zac Jones.

Mahon forced a good save from Mellings in the dying minutes but Histon held on to claim all three points.
Commenting on Clowes’ sending off after the game, manager Carl Macauley said: “There was no real force behind the contact, however it was a daft thing to do. I have got no complaints about the red card.”

Vauxhall:  Jones, Noone, Dames, Hannigan, Nicholas, Thompson, Mahon, Clowes, Rutter (Owusu-Andrews 62), Clair (Egerton 56), Parkinson (Moss 76)
Subs not used: Martindale, Spotswood

Attendance 260

Vauxhall Motors Youth play Grimsby Town Youth in the third qualifying round of the FA Youth Cup on Thursday, October 18. Kick-off at Rivacre Park will be 7.30pm and admission prices are £3 adults and £1 concessions and juniors Winners are rewarded with an away trip to Bradford City.