Essex Senior League, Saturday 15th April
This was a bit of a bonus game for me if truth be told, I wasn't expecting to be at football today due to other commitments, but after those finished earlier than expected at 2pm in Romford (lunch with a friend) I decided that I had plenty of time to get over to Mayesbrook Park for a 3.30pm kick off and I am glad I did as it turned out to be a very decent contest, and very entertaining too.
This game was part of what was supposed to be a triple header at Barking, making use of the 3G surface and trying to get games on as their grounds were likely to be unplayable due to the sodden weather, although as it turned out this ended up being Part Two of a double header at the ground, Part One saw West Essex lose out to Athletic Newham (more on that later) and then Southend Manor up against Woodford Town, although that one didn't take place, and I am not going to go into why either, just check out the leagues and the clubs twitter accounts if you want to find out more, the situation/disagreement has been ongoing re this fixture since Wednesday/Thursday let's just say.
Anyway, back to today's game I was at, and it brought together two sides who are trying to finish their season's as best as possible, the hosts have not had the best of season's after a pretty good start and pre season, they were in the lower half of the division and although they had won twelve league games, they had lost seventeen too, with only four draws, and it was unlikely they were going to improve on that position come the end of the campaign, so it was literally give the last four games a good go and see what happens.
Stansted by their standards have had a below average campaign, they began the day just inside the top ten and were just trying to see how high they could get, and take some momentum into the summer break, although they too were not likely to get much higher than they were now as well, but still, it's a competitive game of football, so both sides were certainly up for it and wanting to take the points.
It was good to see Pitzy back in the Stansted dugout alongside Watters as he continues his recovery, and they both would have been happy with the start as they went in front after just three minutes thanks to a bizarre own goal from the hosts, Bieron Ademi attempted to play the ball back to his keeper Jake Anderson, but instead saw the ball end up going past his own keeper and into the far corner of the net, whoops.
It was certainly a gift for the visiting side, but on seventeen minutes Stansted returned the favour somewhat when they failed to stop a cross from the right, and the ball skidded off the 3G surface and proved to hot for James Askew to hold, and saw the ball skerm from his grasp, and allowed Hassan Nalbant to squeeze the loose ball home and bring his side level.
It had been a fast start to this contest, and it wasn't to let up in the first period, and just past the midway point of the half, The Airportmen got their noses back in front when Jack Mitchell cut inside onto his left foot and drove a powerful effort past Anderson at his near post, it was a decent strike and one that gave the visitors the advantage, however that advantage only lasted six minutes as on the half hour mark the hosts were level again.
It was another goal the visitors could have prevented in truth, but they allowed Charlie Morris to burst through into the box and drive an effort past Askew into the far corner, it had been a belter of a contest thus far and both teams were attacking at any moment they could, it was like a basketball game at times, so end to end, but fabulous to watch.
Romford almost went in front before the break when a long range effort cannoned off the crossbar, and after the break although the game got a bit more scrappy, the tempo remained, and for a majority of it saw Romford in the ascendancy, but they could not turn their openings into goals and found Askew in particular hard to get past, he made some decent stops to prevent the hosts taking the lead. A special mention must be made to Camilo Restrepo who made some pretty amazing runs at the visitors back line, although he could not apply a finishing touch ultimately.
The visitors did have their moments to and missed a couple of chances themselves as they looked to find a winner, and it was one of the second half subs Ashaan Siddik who provided the 'assist' you could say in the winning goal for the visitors, as he was chopped down just outside the box, and Mitchell stepped up to rifle home a brilliant free kick in the 89th minute, and that proved to be the winner and hand Stansted a very good win indeed. It had been a cracking game of football, and made the unexpected trip to Mayesbrook Park very worthwhile indeed.
Full time Romford 2 Stansted 3
Let's have a look to see what else happened in the Essex Senior League today shall we.....
Halstead Town 1 Buckhurst Hill 0 (Kane Gilbert (who else) netted the only goal of the game two minutes before half time to hand The Humbugs yet another win in what has been a remarkable run of late, six unbeaten now and five clean sheets on the bounce too, not a bad end to the season you could say)
Ilford 0 Enfield 2 (League leaders Enfield took another step towards promotion thanks to goals from Jack Johnson and Tom Richardson, Johnson gave the visitors a 27th minute lead when heading home a Mason corner, and that lead was doubled seven minutes before the break when another Mason corner was headed home by Richardson)
Redbridge 3 Takeley 2 (The Motormen need just one point from their final three games to secure second spot and that all important play off place for promotion after they edged out Takeley at Oakside. After a goalless opening forty five minutes the hosts went ahead though Tendai Quamina's goal early in the second half, Takeley then levelled but goals from Tony Martin and Jerold Cobblah gave the hosts a 3-1 lead, and although the visitors pulled one back, it wasn't enough to deny the hosts the points)
Stanway Rovers 0 Little Oakley 0 (The match at The Hawthorns ended goalless, Stanway had the majority of the play in the opening forty five minutes and did it the post during that, the second half saw both teams tire after plenty of games over the last few weeks, although Oakley could have pinched all three points at the end when they struck the woodwork themselves, but it was a hard earned point for each in the end)
West Essex 0 Athletic Newham 1 (Joel Appiah's first half goal proved enough for the visitors to take all three points in this contest, Part One of the Mayesbrook Park double header was settled five minutes before the break when a good ball in from the left evaded the hosts defence and allowed Appiah to head in from close range)
White Ensign 2 Clapton 1 (The Tons will finish the season in the bottom two and the relegation places after they were defeated at Burroughs Park by White Ensign. The visitors made the perfect start after just two minutes but were pegged back when Joe Gregory levelled right on half time, but it looked as though Clapton had grabbed a hard earned point, but Mitchell Stuart-Evans netted a late winner for the hosts to see them grab all the points)
Finally, let's see how that affects the table.....
Down at the foot of the table and the bottom two have now been confirmed as Clapton cannot now catch third bottom Sawbridgeworth Town so will end the season in the bottom two along with already doomed Southend Manor. Whether or not both get relegated we shall see but it's pretty nailed on Manor will but as is always the case at this level, we will never know until it's confirmed in the off season.
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