Redbridge 1 Clapton 0

ESL Len Cordell Memorial Cup Group B, Saturday April 10

Saturday saw me over at Oakside to see Redbridge and Clapton get their Len Cordell Memorial Cup campaigns underway, and an early second half goal from Anthony Martin was enough for the hosts to take all three points in a battling victory against The Tons.

The visitors were quicker out of the blocks and were the better side in the opening forty-five minutes, looking especially dangerous through Idries Turay, who was causing the hosts plenty of headaches with his attacking play, and they had the better of the openings too but could not find the target.

Motormen keeper George Martin had to field a couple of strikes on goal, whilst Turay himself saw an effort blocked and also send another opening over the bar, Redbridge did improve slightly as the half entered its last fifteen minutes, but Clapton’s keeper Carlos Simeon’s only real moment of concern was when a cross shot drifted wide of the far post.

Redbridge though had to do a lot of defending in that opening half but managed to dig in and get to the break level, and after the teams had a chat on the field at half time as they cannot use the changing rooms these days, the hosts came out a different side early in the second period and three minutes into the second half they edged ahead.

A flick towards goal saw Simeon brilliantly claw the ball off the line, and as Redbridge appealed for a goal as they thought the ball had crossed the line, Martin was quickest to react to force the ball home via Simeon and into the net from close range and make sure the ball had crossed the line for sure on that occasion.

The Tons had sort of lost their way a bit after a pretty decent opening forty-five minutes as Redbridge maybe sensed a second a breathing room in this contest, but as the half went on Clapton began to get more possession once again as Redbridge sunk deeper into a defensive shape but try as they might they could not force an equaliser and it meant the hosts held on to take a very hard earned three points.

It had been a better half of football from Redbridge, but it wasn’t their best display today but it’s a win and three points which is all that really matters, they will improve as the games tick by, whereas for Clapton there were many good points to take from this encounter, but they lacked a cutting edge going forward and had they had this they would have certainly taken something from this game.

Full Time Redbridge 1 Clapton 0

 

Let’s see what else happened this weekend in the Len Cordell Memorial Cup…

 

Group A

DTFC 2-2 Cockfosters

St Margaretsbury 1-1 Hoddesdon Town

DTFC were seconds away from a superb win against Cockfosters until the visitors netted a leveller deep into stoppage time, Fosters led at the break thanks to a Ned Clarke strike ten minutes before the break, but the hosts turned it around in the second period to lead and it looked like they would take the win until Marcus Crowther converted a Mosanya cross and snatch a point.

Over at The Rec St Mags and Hoddy drew 1-1, Hoddy did lead at the break but the hosts levelled in the second period to grab a point and make sure they got something from their opening group game in this competition.

 

Group B

Woodford Town 3-4 Barkingside

In the other Group B encounter on Saturday Barkingside held on to win a seven-goal thriller against Woodford Town, Side were two goals up early on through Joe Gent and Reece Simpson, Woodford did reply but then further goals from Jack Gibbons and Jacob Dingli had Side 4-1 up and cruising, but two late goals from the hosts made it an interesting final part to the game, but Side held on for the three points.

 

Group C

Billericay Town Reserves 3-0 Holland

FC Clacton 2-1 Stansted

Billericay’s young side saw off Holland in their opening group game, Marlon Stratford gave them an 11^th minute lead with a composed finish, and two minutes after the break they doubled their advantage after Max Gnandi finished off a brilliant free-kick routine before the hosts sealed the points with twenty minutes remaining after Nyan Mesuna capped a great performance with a brilliant finish from the edge of the box.

FC Clacton also got their campaign underway with all three points after goal from Lartey and Coyle (a penalty) helped them to victory over Stansted.

 

Group D

Hackney Wick 3-5 West Essex (this took place on Friday night, see my blog for a report on that http://pedroslocalfootiefix.blogspot.com/2021/04/hackney-wick-3-west-essex-5.html)

Frenford 1-1 Barking

Frenford and Barking shared the points in Saturday’s Group D encounter at The Drive, Isaac Westendorf gave the visitors a 28^th minute lead but Frenford fought back to level just past the hour mark through Owen James to make sure they ended up with something from this encounter.

 

Group E

Athletic Newham 1-1 Brimsdown

Great Wakering Rovers 1-4 White Ensign

In the all Thurlow Nunn One South contest Athletic Newham and Brimsdown picked up a point a piece after their 1-1 draw, whereas over at Lower Road in Hullbridge White Ensign defeated their landlords Great Wakering Rovers after netting four in that one.

Dominic Locke first half goal separated the sides at the break and Ensign doubled that lead ten minutes after the break when Connor Barnby fired home, and it was 0-3 in the 64^th minute after Locke added his second of the contest after beating the Rovers offside trap to round Scammell and slot home. Wakering did pull one back with just over ten minutes to go when Jake Gordon slotted home, but the visitors sealed a great win with six minutes to go when Locke turned provider to play in Luke Skinner who slotted home. For a more detailed report of this game please visit https://survivor16b.wordpress.com/2021/04/10/match-report-great-wakering-1-4-white-ensign-sat-10-apr/

 

So that concludes the first round of group fixtures in the inaugural Len Cordell Memorial Cup, it’s been a good start to this competition.