It was the penultimate weekend of the Essex Senior League season in the league and I was over at The Southchurch Arena to see Southend Manor Vs Barking in a day where the club were taking part in a Kick It Out day.
Kick It Out is football’s equality and inclusion organisation. Working throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive change, the organisation is funded by The Football Association (FA), the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the Premier League and The Football League.
A small independent charity, the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ campaign was established in 1993 in response to widespread calls from clubs, players and fans to tackle racist attitudes existing within the game. Kick It Out was then established as a body in 1997 as it widened out its objectives to cover all aspects of inequality and exclusion.
Internationally, Kick It Out has close links with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) Network, and has been cited as an example of good practice by the Council of Europe, the European Commission, European parliamentarians and the British Council.
It was a day when the kids could get involved too and members of the new Manor U13s side came along to take part in a training session with the Manor first team coaches and also took part in a fun mini football match on the pitch at half time, and as you can see from the photos below they had fun.
And then during the match itself the kids acted as ball boys so to remain in a key active role within the actual game itself. And the hosts and the kids formed a guard of honour prior to kick off for the Champions and soon we were ready to kick off.
The visitors knew a win would see them reach the 100 point mark for the season whilst Manor could still achieve a top five finish,so there were still some small milestones to play for. And it was the hosts who had the first effort on goal when Kevin Zola broke the offside trap but saw Blues keeper Rob Hatton save at the near post.
On the quarter hour mark Manor saw a snap shot from Robbie Norris go just wide for hosts however in the 19th minute the visitors showed them how it was done when they took the lead as Joe Pearman received a pass, beat a defender, and duly lofted a wonderful finish beyond Lewis Down and into the net and the Champions had their noses in front.
Manor though were immediately back on the attack and saw three shots cleared away from goal as they looked for an instant response. This never came and in the 33rd minute the hosts were counting their lucky stars as Barking saw a blatant penalty turned down, with the referee actually playing advantage, and soon after Pearman saw an effort well saved by Down.
It meant the visitors held a one goal lead at the break and half way to victory and that 100 point mark, although Manor knew they were well in this match and could well take something from the contest.
Half Time Southend Manor 0 Barking 1
However four minutes into the second half Barking doubled their advantage as sloppy play from the hosts saw them lose possession in their final third and the visitors pounced, squaring a pass to Pearman who slotted beyond Down and the hosts now had a mountain to climb.
The hosts tried their best to force their way back into the contest and saw a 61st minute Zola effort flash across goal but no one was there to apply the finishing touch however the visiting defence were fairly solid and were defending well and as the game approached the final twenty minutes or so it had definitely taken on an end of season feel.
Then came a good ten or so minute spell from Manor as they continued in vain to try and find a route back into the match and in the 69th minute a ball squeezed through to Daniel Okah saw his close range effort saved by Hatton and then four minutes later a square ball to Bradley Morgan saw him mis kick his effort.
With ten minutes left Zola had another opening for the hosts but his effort was weak and at Hatton and then a minute later their best chance came and went when after Okah had seen an effort saved by Hatton, he could only smash the rebound off the bar and over from inside the six yard area. You kind of felt it wasn’t going to be the hosts day after this.
The final few minutes saw the visitors bring on Chairman Rob O’Brien for a cameo appearance, which was certainly entertaining!!! It did add to a decent atmosphere that had involved during the day and the visitors saw out the remainder of the contest and reached the 100 point mark for the season. Manor will most likely have to settle for a 7th placed finish, which is still a terrific effort from all concerned.
Full Time Southend Manor 0 Barking 2
Oh and finally the kids were presented with goodie bags afterwards and this photo shows them enjoying their contents in the clubhouse afterwards. A fine way to end the day, a good day overall.
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