Tower Hamlets 2 Wadham Lodge 2

Essex Senior League, Monday 7th September 2015

My latest game saw me over at the Mile End Stadium for a Monday night ESL fixture between Tower Hamlets and Wadham Lodge.

Hamlets have had a stuttering spell of form lately and have gone out of both FA competitions in the past few weeks whilst Lodge have began life in Senior football with three wins out of four in the league.

After a fairly quiet opening five minutes the first chance fell to the visitors on 7 minutes when Ellery burst into the Hamlets box but hit an effort across goal which went just wide of the far post. Another fairly quiet period ensued as Lodge had a lot of the ball but failed to really do anything noteworthy with it. Then on 17 minutes the hosts pounced with their first real meaningful attack of the match when sloppy defending allowed Hamlets front man Keita to be slipped in and he made no mistake firing past French for the opener. Tower Hamlets 1 Wadham Lodge 0.

Two minutes later Hamlets should of made it two when Martelli found himself in acres of space inside the Lodge box and after he swiveled onto his left foot he struck wide of the post. Moments later Hamlets had another golden chance when a free kick found Keita unmarked inside the box but he headed wide of the far post as Lodge breathed a sigh of relief again.

Wadham were still having a lot of possession but still not doing much with it and both sides were giving the ball away regularly too as the passing was at best sloppy. Just before the half hour Lodge gave the ball away in a dangerous area and saw Hamlets Cheikh-Sadibou burst into the box and square across goal but the ball just invaded Keita. Minutes later and Lodge sprung forward dangerously but the final pass saw them stray offside. It had been a frustrating half for Tony Ievoli’s side and moments later Lodge lost the ball in the danger area again and Cheikh-Sadibou ran at the back line before seeing his effort deflected wide.

Eight minutes before the half time whistle Lodge again gave the ball away near their own area and Cheikh-Sadibou sent the ball over to Williams who cut inside onto his left foot and struck an effort at goal which French could only parry into path of Keita although the forward was flagged for offside anyway. A few minutes later a Lodge clearance towards the edge of the box towards Keita saw the Hamlets forward control, turn and strike first time in an attempt to lob over French but the Lodge keeper was alert to the effort and saved.

Then a minute or so before half time the visitors found a route back into the contest when after some good football from the Walthamstow side Owusu was fouled inside the box and a penalty was awarded. Ellery stepped up and converted emphatically for the equaliser and this meant the sides went in at the break level. Tower Hamlets 1 Wadham Lodge 1.

Half Time Tower Hamlets 1 Wadham Lodge 1

Lodge came out with more purpose at the start of the second period and seconds into it Mantovani’s corner was headed inches wide by Pike. Then five minutes after that Mantovani struck over from a decent position as the visitors had started the half well. However the next chance would fall to the hosts on 57 minutes in what could of been a major embarrassment for the Lodge. A back pass to French had a bit to much pace on it which caught the keeper out and he could only just about clear to Cheikh-Sadibou outside the box but he seemed surprised by this and his first time effort went no where near the goal thankfully for French and his lucky defenders.

Lodge though continued to be the better of the two sides in this half and on 63 minutes should have gone in front as Mantovani’s free kick saw Owusu power a bullet of a header over the bar from point blank range. Moments later Lodge went close again as the visitors looked very dangerous indeed. On 67 minutes came another chance for Lodge as Mantovani released Bankole in on goal but keeper Traore came out to make a decent save and thwart the men in red again.

It had been a frustrating half for the hosts and this came to a head with twenty minutes left when full back Springer got into an altercation after a foul on Lewis-Kiewan and his attitude towards the referee and others wasn’t the brightest as he was shown a yellow card. You could see the red mist had descended and moments later he went in on Lewis-Kiewan again on the touchline and although the foul wasn’t really worthy of a yellow card his attitude and intent probably led to his second yellow and dismissal. It was totally unnecessary from the Hamlets full back and left his side a man short for the last twenty minutes.

Lodge looked to make this numerical advantage count and on 74 minutes another good ball into the Hamlets box, this time from Ellery, saw centre half Carroll head over from close range as Lodge missed the target again. Hamlets though as is often the case in football began to play better with ten men and as the clock hit 80 minutes they incredibly took the lead with only their second real attack of the half as after Ibenwe’s effort was parried across the goal line by French, Keita moped up the rebound from a yard out and celebrated by taking his shirt off and running over to the corner of the stadium to celebrate, which seemed a bit unnecessary and got the forward booked for over celebrating. However the hosts had the lead. Tower Hamlets 2 Wadham Lodge 1.

The question was could the ten men of Hamlets hold onto their lead for the remaining ten or so minutes left………errrr no as Lodge levelled almost immediately as the ever impressive Mantovaniwas played through and he slotted under Traore to bring the visitors level once again, which was the least they deserved after their second half showing. Tower Hamlets 2 Wadham Lodge 2.

Hamlets though should of retaken the lead with six minutes to go when Keita had the freedom of the area after the ball had broken to him only a few yards out but he hit his effort straight at keeper French when either side of the keeper would surely have been a goal. Two minutes later Lodge missed another header from point blank range, this time from centre half Holt and then Hamlets forward Keita got in down the left but subsequently fell over his own feet which was fairly amusing. The game though ended in a draw and a point a piece in what was a fairly entertaining East London Derby at Mile End.

Full Time Tower Hamlets 2 Wadham Lodge 2

Tower Hamlets 1.Traore 2.Earle 3.Springer 4.Abayomi 5.Ndau 6.Ibrahwim 7.Cheikh-Sadibou 8.McLean 9.Keita 10.Martelli 11.Williams
Subs 12.Sumithran 14.Adama Bamba 15.Ibenwe 16.Abalo 17.Tandel

Wadham Lodge 1.French 2.Williams 3.Shikheey 4.Owusu 5.Carroll 6.Holt 7.Bankole 8.Ellery 9.Pike 10.Mantovani 11.Lewis-Kiewan
Subs 12.Coelho 14.Bennett 15.Okunlola 16.Ibeawuchi 17.Oppong