Clapton 1 Cockfosters 2

Essex Senior League, Wednesday January 19th

Wednesday night saw me over at The Terrance McMillan Stadium in Newham for an Essex Senior League contest, and a first half brace from Cockfosters player boss Ryan Wade helped the visitors to all three points over Clapton.

The hosts came into this contest sitting down in 18th spot (fourth bottom) seven points ahead of second bottom Southend Manor and a massive fourteen points above bottom side Sporting Bengal United, in what had been a struggle so far this season with only five wins and sixteen losses in their twenty four games so far. 

Their last win had come against Sporting Bengal United back on 18th December, but since that win they had lost two in a row in all competitions, so they wanted to try and pick up their first points of the new year against a Cockfosters side who had beaten them in the very same ground only a week earlier in the Errington Challenge Cup so also wanted to avoid a similar result in this league game.

Fosters were having a better season although theirs had started so well back in August but mixed results had seem them fall way behind the top spots as they started the game in tenth, some ten points off the top three, and they were on a two match winning run in all competitions after that win here last week and also against Takeley at Chalk Lane at the weekend.

Advantage Fosters then? Well initially it looked this way as the visitors dominated the opening half hour and looked like they were going to record a comfortable win, taking the lead after twelve minutes when a cross from the left by Jamal Brimah found the head of his manager Wade and the latter nodded past hosts keeper Brandon Bullman, and then doubling it on 24 minutes when a lovely ball through by George Beattie to Wade saw the player boss fire across Bullman and into the bottom corner, it was all to easy at this point for the visitors.

Clapton though to their credit managed to work their way back into the contest, although some of it was helped by the fact Fosters took their foot of the gas and started to lose concentration, and a minute before the break won a penalty kick which Raphael Duyile converted to reduce the arrears, although that was not the end of the drama for the first half as Carl Mullings thought he had restored Fosters two goal cushion, only to see the linsman's flag go up, much to the disbelief of Wade and his side. It did mean Fosters only took a 1-2 lead into the break.

Clapton were the side now on the front foot after the break though as Fosters struggled to get anything going, a far cry from that opening half hour dominance, and were thankful for keeper Loris Marcimain who made a superb save early in the second period, and then saved skipper Danny Haigh from embarrassment when the defender knocked the ball past his own keeper, seeing the number one scramble back to try and prevent it from going in, seeing the ball hit the post and then Marcimain stop it going over the line!!! 

The hosts though were wasteful in in the final third though and then got a slice of luck themselves midway through the half when Fosters should have had a spot kick when they had a man brought down inside the box, only for the officials to decide it was outside the box, and Beattie could only fire the resultant free kick over, meaning the game remained in the balance.

Clapton continued to try and find a leveller but could not, and they almost got picked off on the counter towards the end, with the best chance of sealing the deal falling to substitute Frederick Agyemang after he was played in by Joseph Entwhistle-Wilkinson, but the big striker could only poke wide of the near post, however it mattered not as Fosters clung onto the points and moved up to eighth spot in the division.

Clapton remain in 18th following this loss, and ultimately a slow start did for them in this one, you can't be giving teams two goal head starts if you want to win football matches sadly, but they could and should of got something out of this game in the end, but sadly for them it's another defeat for Michael Walthers side.

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