Sporting Bengal United 0 Southend Manor 3

Essex Senior League, Wednesday 23rd March

Wednesday night saw me in at Mile End to see a big game down towards the foot of the Essex Senior League, and it saw three late goals hand Southend Manor a big three points and almost certainly condemn Sporting Bengal United to relegation from the division.

Sporting's task before kick off was simple, they had to win, and keep on winning for the remainder of the season if they were to make a miracle escape from the bottom two, they started the evening eight points behind second bottom Sawbridgeworth Town, and eleven points behind third bottom St Margaretsbury, so wins were all that would be required.

Manor were just the five points above the bottom two so needed probably two more wins from their remaining six games to be almost certain of avoiding the drop, but although three points here was expected, a point would not have been a disaster, the pressure was very much on the hosts to get the points as they were in a far more precarious position shall we say.

Wins and goals have been hard to come by for the hosts although they had netted wins against Woodford Town and Ilford recently so they were certainly capable of getting the points in this one, as did Manor who had encouraging draws against Redbridge and Hoddesdon Town, with the former result a very impressive one away at a promotion chasing side.

The game itself however was a hard watch at times, with quality lacking for the majority and chances at a premium, the best chance in the first period fell to Manor but they saw a close range header superbly kept out by Bengal keeper Chris Villanucci but both sides struggled on a very hard bobbly surface, and up until the 70th minute or so the only other real shot on target saw the hosts force a decent stop from Manor keeper Christian North.

The final twenty though saw Manor end the game well and net three goals as they finally found their shooting boots and picked up what were three very important points in the process, Isaac Acquah, who had just come on as a substitute, volleyed home a cross from the left to give Manor a 72nd minute lead, and then four minutes later they doubled that lead when good work down the left ended with a ball over to Ben Allen, and he shifted the ball onto his left foot before curling beyond Villanucci.

Sporting now had a mountain to climb and to be honest it never looked like one they would even get close to climbing, they just haven't got the gear to do it, and this has been their problem, scoring goals, as well as keeping them out at the other end, not a good recipe for success, hence their current predicament at the bottom of the table.

And a minute or so into stoppage time Manor added gloss to the score line when Allen twisted and turned his way past several defenders inside the box before firing into the far corner for a lovely individual goal, 3-0 probably flattered Manor slightly as nether side had played that well, but Manor won't care one jot and will be delighted with a 3-0 success.

It all means Sporting now have the same amount of points to make up to the ones above before kick off, but with one less game to get them in, which looks very unlikely now, whereas for Manor they probably need just one more win from their remaining five games just to be sure of their place in the division next season although they now have an eight points gap to second bottom so can breathe easier than before at least.

Full time Sporting Bengal United 0 Southend Manor 3