(Action from the Errington Challenge Cup final)
Monday 2nd May
I was over at Burroughs Park, Great Wakering, for two Essex Senior League finals on bank holiday Monday, and it saw Hashtag United Reserves and Enfield take the honours as they both won their respective finals in front of another decent crowd on a at times warm and sunny day in what is statistically the driest part of the UK.
There were two finals, the Len Cordell Plate for the reserve sides, and the Errington Challenge Cup for the first teams, Hashtag United and White Ensign were competing in the Plate whilst Cockfosters and Enfield contested the Challenge Cup, shall we see how these two games panned out?? Why not.....
Len Cordell Plate Final
White Ensign Reserves 1 Hashtag United Reserves 2 (aet)
On paper you would have expected the Tags to win this one, they had narrowly missed out on the Reserve Division One title to Billericay Town and were up against a White Ensign side who had finished down in eighth out of eleven sides in Division Two.
Both sides had finished bottom of their respective tables in the Group Stages of the Len Cordell Memorial Trophy, but had ended up in this Plate Final in the end, so both sides at least had a chance to win something this season. It was a morning kick off too, so who would be the most awake and take the title?
It turned out to be a much tighter affair than most expected, and Ensign were the ones to break the deadlock just past the midway point of the first half, and it was a very disappointing goal for The Tags to concede to as hesitant defending allowed Ensign attacker Emmanuel Abudiore to steal in and loft a header over Jack Gannon and into the net.
Hashtag though managed to respond five minutes before the break when a free kick into the box saw Brandon Chapman send a glancing header towards the far corner, and although Archie Matthews got a big hand on it, he could not prevent it from finding the bottom corner, Matthews would have been disappointed to have not kept it out though.
But then moments before half time Hashtag's Jonny Vandyck was brought down just outside the box on the by-line, and appeared to take a dislike to whatever his opponent did and duly kicked out at him, resulting in a straight red for the Tags player and an early bath, and leaving his side a man light for the remainder of the contest, it was a very stupid thing to do and Ensign must have thought advantage them.
It did not turn out that way though as the Tags seemed to cope quite well with a man light, and it were they who enjoyed the better of the majority of the second period, but as the game headed towards extra time, Ensign begin to get a foot hold back into the contest, maybe Hashtag were tiring, and they almost lost the game right at the end when Abudiore found himself with a clear shot at goal, but keeper Gannon made a crucial save meaning an extra half hour was needed.
And in the 109th minute the winning moment came, although many felt it was a controversial lead up to it, as the linesman flagged for a free kick over on the right flank which looked soft to say the least, although I did speak to the official afterwards and he says he played the man before the ball, so that is why the free kick was given.
Anyway from this free kick the ball was swung in to the box and substitute Brad Bunker rose to nod home and send the ten men into the lead, this was too much for the Ensign bench who were still incensed with the award of the free kick, and resulted in one of their management being shown a straight red for something said towards the linesman.
Hashtag managed to hold onto the lead as well and saw them crowed Len Cordell Plate winners for 2021/22, this after having to play the best part of 75 minutes with ten men, an extraordinary effort for them indeed, whereas it was disappointment for White Ensign who could not take advantage of that man extra and fell to a tough defeat.
Full time White Ensign Reserves 1 Hashtag United Reserves 2
Errington Challenge Cup Final
Cockfosters 2 Enfield 3
Both sides had received byes into the First Round of the competition, Fosters then saw off Clapton, FC Clacton and then Stanway Rovers on penalties in the semi finals, whilst Enfield saw off Saffron Walden Town, Sawbridgeworth Town and then Hoddesdon Town in the semi finals, setting up this final tie at Burroughs Park.
Fosters actually started the better of the two sides but it was Enfield who broke the deadlock after eighteen minutes when Louie Johnson cut inside onto his right foot and struck a shot from outside the box which bounced off the hard surface in front of keeper Charlie Mann, hit the keeper, and then squeeze over the line, it was a error for sure and it handed Enfield the lead.
It was a lead that was to be doubled five minutes later with one of the best goals I have ever seen, as Dwade James hit a rising ball with his right foot from the right side of the box, cutting across it to put backspin on the ball, and saw an unstoppable effort fly past Mann and thump into the top corner of the net, it was an amazing goal and had everyone in the ground going wow, it was superb and now Enfield had a two goal cushion from nowhere.
Fosters were shell shocked to say the least, as was I and most of the other spectators inside the ground, still reeling from that James wonder goal, and Enfield pretty much ended the contest just past the half hour, or so we thought, when a free kick from the left was nodded home at the near post by Samrai Gebrai, and Enfield had a three goal lead to take into the changing room.
It was harsh on Fosters who did not deserve to be three goals down, but The E's had been ruthless in attack and had grabbed that three goal lead, did Fosters have anything left, or would Enfield go on and win handsomely?
It was imperative Fosters got the next goal, and seven minutes after the break they did just that when The E's backline fell asleep and allowed Reece Mosanya to nip in and slot past James Bransgrove, game on?? Well things were about to rather halt that comeback or any chance of one.
That is because just before the hour mark Fosters defender Michael Okafor produced a very poor and dangerous challenge on Reece Conway, leaving the Enfield midfielder in a lot of pain and discomfort, and cued a rather angry reaction from Conway's teammates as a melee ensued.
After it had all calmed down the referee had no choice but to show Okafor a straight red card, it was the correct decision in my view, and it left Fosters down to ten men for the final half hour and leaving their comeback hopes less likely now, attention then turned to Conway who received lengthy treatment before being helped off the pitch, hopefully the damage isn't too much although he could at least lip around afterwards which was a good sign.
Would the game now just drift to a conclusion, well of course not, the ten man of Fosters continued to battle gamely and try and get back into the contest and risk being countered on by the E's, but just after the board had gone up for seven minutes of added on time to be played, Fosters netted a second to really set up a grandstand finish, and what a goal it was, we were being spoiled in this one!!!
Substitute Daniel Ferrigno, not to be outdone by James after his first half stunner, sent a terrific right footed volley from outside the box and saw it dip over Bransgrove into the net and reinstall belief back into Fosters as an unlikely comeback was very much on again with several minutes left to play.
However, they could not muster another decent chance, and fair play to Enfield whose game management in stoppage time was first class, and it meant they held on to win this prestigious competition and become winners of the Errington Challenge Cup for 2021/22. What a game it had been, so fair play to both sides for creating such a wonderful game of football.
Full time Cockfosters 2 Enfield 3
No comments:
Post a Comment