Essex Senior Cup 1st Round, Wednesday 4th October
My first game in October saw me over at New Lodge, Billericay, as two familiar foes did battle for a place in the 2nd Round of the Premier County Cup competition in Essex in what was an all Thurlow Nunn Division One South match up between Hutton & Basildon Town.
The hosts have had the better start to the season so far, they are sitting third in the division in their maiden season at Senior football (this was their first appearance in this competition as well as a result) having picked up twenty five points in their thirteen league encounters thus far, which is eight more than Basildon Town have picked up in the same number of games.
Town sit five places below their opponents in the table having had a mixed start to their season, although far from terrible as they are only two points off the play off spots, which both sides will be aiming for come the end of the season as a minimum achievement you would have thought, although league thoughts were put aside for this evening as cup football was on the agenda in the prestigious Essex Senior Cup.
Basildon Town themselves are only into their second season as a Senior Club, their first one was certainly one to be proud of, and Hutton have so far been making waves so far in theirs, these two sides know each other very well though, having had some battles in Junior Football (Essex Olympian League) and also in the Essex Premier Cup, so this was bound to be another competitive battle for sure.
The last time I had seen these two do battle was in a Premier Cup tie a couple of seasons ago, and in that one Town player boss Marcus Bowers had netted twice in a 2-1 win, well after just two minutes of this one Bowers had already stamped his mark on this tie, curling home a wonderful effort from the edge of the box to give the visitors an early lead, it was some start for the visiting team, and it was a lead that for a long time looked likely it might be enough for them to progress.
There was a bit of a worry at the start of the second half when one of the floodlight pylons went out, but the game did restart despite this, and it did eventually spring into life during the second period, a period that the more it went on the more chances Hutton were passing up, but with eight minutes to go they finally found a leveller when a ball found it's way to the back post where George Nash was on hand to convert (funnily enough he netted Hutton's only goal in that Premier Cup tie I mentioned in the last paragraph!!!).
Penalties looming then, could someone grab a late winner, Hutton seemed to have the momentum and I even said to myself that they looked the likelier to find one if one came along, well what do I know, as four minutes after Hutton's equaliser the visitors got themselves back in front when a lovely one two between Bowers and Alfie Yeend saw the former thump an effort past the keeper and see the player boss grab his second of the game and a potential winner too.
There was quite a bit of stoppage time to be added though so the game was not over just yet, however, seven minutes into eight minutes of added on time Town did seal their passage into Round Two as a ball into the channel saw Bowers chase although it looked a lost cause as keeper and defender were on the scene, but as the keeper tried to trap and clear, he made a total mess of it and presented Bowers, showing everyone to never give up and treat every chase as not a lost cause, with a simple task of rolling the ball into the empty net and complete his treble and cap a perfect night for his side.
It means that Basildon Town will now host Essex Senior League side Little Oakley at Rookery Hill, that should be a decent contest, for Hutton it's a first home defeat of the season and a disappointing exit from their maiden Essex Senior Cup, the two meet again at New Lodge on Boxing Day, will Hutton grab the spoils in the league??? Only two and a half months or so to wait and find out.....
Full time Hutton 1 Basildon Town 3
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