Isthmian One North, Friday 28th October
Friday night saw me over at Gardiners Close and saw a late Andy Freeman goal hand visitors Brentwood Town all three points against Basildon United in a keenly contested Essex Derby in the Isthmian North.
These two sides have had differing starts to their campaigns, The Bees are under new management after the sacking of Mark Bentermen a few weeks ago and are now under the stewardship of joint management Darren Manning and James Wakeling, who both of course took Hullbridge Sports to the Essex Senior League title a few years ago now.
The duo are trying to steer Basildon away from the foot of the table and have signed some players in the weeks of their tenure to try and build a side to do just that, and after a disappointing loss to struggling Gorleston they had a lot of positives to take in the draw with AFC Sudbury who are towards the top of the standings.
And like AFC Sudbury, Brentwood Town were another side flying high and would be another stern test for the home side and their still relatively new management, and the visitors had won every game in October too, and were on a five game winning run, so many were expecting a win for the high flying visitors who were trying to chase down league leaders Lowestoft Town along with several others.
The opening twenty-five minutes or so certainly suggested that The Bees would be in for a long night, Brentwood looked far more organised and confident, and on twelve minutes took the lead when Marlon Agyakwa's effort from outside the box seemed easy meat for keeper James Askew, but sadly for the keeper the ball went underneath him and into the net, a poor one to concede, and it looked as if it would be a comfortable evening for the visiting side.
But credit to Basildon who didn't give up and showed that determination they need to pull themselves up that table, and they gradually got back into the contest and found a leveller three minutes before the break when a corner swung into the box from the left found Michael Salako who sent a header into the back of the Brentwood net, and the sides went into the break all square and with everything to play for.
A decent Friday night crowd of 232 were inside the ground all wondering who might go on and win this one, could The Bees stun the visitors, or would Brentwood restore some order and grab yet another win, well momentum was certainly with the hosts after the way the ended the first period, and they certainly carried that into the second period and were pushing their opponents back, however no end product meant it remained all square.
Brentwood did regather themselves though and it became a very competitive derby, as you would expect, and the game really could have gone either way, but with around twelve minutes to play The Bees were to be reduced to ten men after an awful challenge from Sid Walker on Chris Gregan, it was a second yellow although it could have easily been a straight red, and it meant the hosts would have to dig in and try and at least get a point from the game in the time remaining.
With seven minutes left though, Brentwood struck the fatal blow, as after two opposing players battled for the ball on the far side, it looked as if the hosts should have been awarded a free-kick, but no, play on said the referee, and after the hosts failed to clear their lines and allow the visitors to burrow their way into the box, and ball across goal found Freeman who had the simple task of converting from close range.
The home side were not to happy with the non award of what they thought was a foul in the build up on one of their players, but that is how it is going for them right now, not getting the rub of the green, but if they keep battling that way, they will soon be moving in the right direction. Their fans certainly appreciated their efforts and gave them a rapturous applause as they came off the field, their side remain 16th though after this loss.
For Brentwood, well this one was one of those ugly wins, a win you seem to get when your on a run like they are, they simply can't do anything else right now and now have six straight wins, winning all five games in October too, frightening form on the eve of Halloween you could say, and they are now up to third and level on points with Grays Athletic in second and six behind leaders Lowestoft Town, Stringer and Co must be happy with how things are going that's for sure.
Full time Basildon United 1 Brentwood Town 2
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