So on a day where most of the local football was wiped out due to the freezing conditions, including even Southend United‘s home game against Bolton Wanderers, I found refuge atGaron Park, where Old Southendian were hosting Old Chelmsfordians in an Essex Olympian Senior One fixture.
After having a free beer in the clubhouse courtesy of home side boss John Brandon (thank-you very much for that, was much needed after the 45 minute walk from my flat!!!) I was greeted by cold but very sunny conditions at the main pitch in the complex.
The hosts were having a mixed season it’s fair to say and sat down in tenth position in the table although they knew a win would take them up three places whilst visitors Old Chelmsfordians sat fifth and were in striking distance of third place so a win would of been very useful to slot in behind the runaway top two in Basildon Town and Catholic United.
It was the lower placed hosts though who were the better side in the opening exchanges although neither side managed to test the keeper early on. The hosts were enjoying the bulk of the possession with the visitors coming forward on rare occasions but their was nothing really clearcut it was fair to say.
However as the game went past the half hour mark the hosts really began to dominate their opponents and were creating the better openings but just could not find that killer touch in the final third, that was until eight minutes before the break when a corner from the left hand side was nodded home at the near post to give the hosts a deserved lead.
They so nearly doubled it moments after but were thwarted by a good save and as half timecame the dominant hosts knew they could and should of been further ahead and the visitors knew they needed to raise it if they were going to get back into this one.
Half Time Old Southendian 1 Old Chelmsfordians 0
The opening exchanges of the second period were rather scrappy although it seemed the hosts were beginning to assert pressure on their opponents as the half grew ten plus minutes old and saw them force a decent stop from a header and you felt maybe a similar pattern to the first half was developing perhaps.
But this didn’t materialise and on the hour mark the visitors had their only real chance of note but saw the home keeper produce a brilliant save to keep the scores level. It was a warning though and showed that the game was far from won for the home side.
Despite this though the home side always looked fairly comfortable with the 1-0 lead and this seemed to be enhanced in the 72nd minute when an Old Chelmsfordians midfielder decided to haul down an opponent after he had tried to get around him and was duly shown a second yellow and therefore dismissed from the pitch.
However rather than this affect the visitors, who up till this point had cut a frustrated looking figure and in danger of loosing their discipline, suddenly looked like they could get something from the game and were threatening a leveller as the game entered it’s final ten minutes.
For some reason the hosts had stopped playing the lovely football they had entertained all in the first half and began to try and run the clock down, maybe down to the fact they had only won four of their fourteen league games this season, so the win would be a big one so nerves may have kicked in, who knows but with ten men and a 1-0 lead maybe they should of tried to seal the deal perhaps?
The visitors sensed they could nick a point from this perhaps and sure enough with two minutes remaining they did just that with a bullet of a shot from twenty yards to bring the visitors level. It had been a scrappy half but the visitors didn’t care one jot and soon after this the game ended and the points were indeed shared.
The hosts were no doubt disappointed not to have finished the job but the point does take them up two places to eighth. As for Old Chelmsfordians well they spent a lot of this game struggling but defended fairly well and came away with a well earned point in the end although they do slip a place to sixth.
Not the best game I’ve ever seen but it was a game at the end of the day and it was a good competitive encounter, especially second half if a little scrappy. Good luck to both sides for the remainder of the season.
Full Time Old Southendian 1 Old Chelmsfordians 1
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