Saturday November 15th
I was over at Garon Park today for a double header of football on a dank cold misty mid November afternoon, there was a big clash in the EOFL Premier Division as Old Southendian hosted last years champions Old Chelmsfordians, who snatched the title away from their hosts in the process last season, and then their was an Essex Saturday Junior Cup tie between Old Southendian's A side and BKS Sports Reserves, so an action packed afternoon was in store.
First up was that EOFL Premier tussle, let's see how that went:-
Essex Olympian Premier Division
Old Southendian Vs Old Chelmsfordians
It had been a mixed bag for the hosts this season compared to the last two at least, they sat sixth in the division having only won five of their ten league games thus far, but only losing two in the flip side, OCs, who were the current champions of the division were having a better season having won seven of their thirteen matches and only losing a couple, although they were eleven points behind leaders Catholic who are threatening to run away with the division as it stood.
They were the leaders closest challengers mind along with Corinthians & Shenfield AFC, so the visitors knew they needed to keep winning and hope Catholic would lose a few, OS on the other hand were miles off the pace and defeat today and defeat today would see them fall further off the top places, somewhere they have occupied for the last two seasons at least, and also they were keen to get one over there opponents who miraculously stole the title from under their noses last season.
It started well for the hosts as well, nine minutes were on the clock when they were gifted the lead, a stray pass from the visitors sent Reece Munro clean through on goal, and he applied a lovely finish past visiting keeper Taylor Ellis to give the hosts a decent start, and hope of a decent win over their opponents, but in the 26th minute the visitors were to restore parity when a lovely strike from range by Joe Murphy saw hosts keeper Max Seymour get finger tips to it but only push it onto the bar and in, 1-1.
The visitors were now in the ascendancy and turned the match around six minutes before the break when a nice ball from Connor Jones found Jonny Waskett who provided a decent finish across keeper Seymour into the far corner, Jones did look offside from the original ball to him but this wasn't given and the visitors now had the lead.
Things might have been different had visiting keeper Ellis not produced three brilliant saves in the first period, the latter one of those the best of the lot when he somehow tipped a deflected effort from Nathan Elgie wide of the post, but the visitors after a slow start had improved and were good value for their slender lead at half time, could the hosts fight back and try and win this one, or could the visitors stamp more authority on the contest after the break.
Well, the second half was only six minutes old when OCs increased their lead, it was sloppy from the hosts too, caught out by a quick free kick over the top allowing Josh Brown to fire across Seymour and into the far corner, and now the hosts had a mountain to climb, although it was a mountain they certainly did their best to scale, that's for sure.
OCs did hit the bar from close range but despite this most of the pressure came from the home side as they pushed their opponents back, the visitors showed their grit and determination to keep them at bay, that was until the 63rd minute when Mitch Ali sent in a cross for Jordan Faulkner to apply a looping headed finish perfectly beyond Ellis, it was certainly game on, could the hosts find another?
They certainly tried but failed to find that killer moment, OCs did play on the counter and look dangerous, it was a superb game of football from start to finish, a game decided by 'moments' which is often the case in these battles, OCs though managed to hold on and secure a big win, a win that takes them into second spot, albeit still eleven points behind the leaders.
For the hosts it was a disappointing loss, they could easily have grabbed something from it, but defeat sees them slip down to eighth now and ten points off OCs and a massive twenty one off the leaders, it appears the cups, especially the Premier Cup, will be there best shot at success this season, but they certainly played their part in a wonderful contest, one that was very enjoyable to watch and cover.
Full time Old Southendian 2 Old Chelmsfordians 3
So, a superb first game of the day, as expected, how would Part Deux go, let's find out, there wasn't a lot of time between games so it sure was a quick turnaround!!!
BBC Essex Saturday Junior Cup 2nd Round
Old Southendian A Vs BKS Sports Reserves
This pitted EOFL Division Four South East Vs Division Three South East, OS's A side were not having the best season, sitting second bottom having only grabbed five points in nine games, and they were up against a BKS side who were a level above and also having a decent season too, sitting fourth in their division and only five points off the leaders.
Therefore you expected a comfortable away win although this isn't always the case when a higher level opponent plays someone from a lower level, however, on this occasion it was certainly to go the way of the higher league visitors, who grabbed a 17th minute lead when a long ball saw striker Lucas Phillips run onto it and round the on rushing keeper and calmly slot home, this was to be theme of the afternoon as well for the visiting striker who was to certainly fill his boots as the day went on.
Phillips was on hand to double the visitors lead just past the midway point of the first half, it was a typical poachers goal too, prodding home at the back post after the hosts could not clear their lines, and then seven minutes before half time it was three for BKS when Lewis Judge managed to burst into the box before producing a finish under the keeper, and as expected the visiting side went into the break in total control of this cup tie.
And then came a fifteen minute spell after half time that was truly remarkable and saw the visitors totally dismantle their opponents, in the 48th minute Phillips completed his hat trick by nipping in to round the keeper once again and slot home whilst off balance, and then two minutes later another clinical finish from that man Phillips made it five for BKS and four from the striker.
Another two minutes went by before BKS made it three goals in five minutes, Jamie Chapman, who actually ran the line in the first half (club linos of course) for BKS, came on as a sub at half time and netted their sixth, firing across the keeper into the far corner, and then it was seven just past the hour mark when you know who grabbed his fifth of the contest when firing emphatically across the keeper into the far corner.
And in the 63rd minute it was eight for BKS, Phillips once again firing a powerful, and clinical, finish beyond the keeper into the bottom corner, he has six and BKS had eight and there was still twenty seven minutes left, you really did feel for the hosts and feared for them, as at this stage BKS looked likely to reach double figures as this had turned very ugly for the home side.
To OS's credit though they actually then played some decent football thereafter and kept on going despite that horror spell after half time, and they were rewarded by grabbing a late consolation in the 87th minute when Spencer Ali, son of first team manager Altan, struck a powerful effort from outside the box which deflected home to at least see them end the contest on a positive note.
They had been well beaten though and it was BKS who cruised into the next round of the competition, Round Three, where they face another away trip, this time to Fleet, who ironically knocked out BKS Sports first team today, so a very weird occurrence where a side welcome a first team and then a reserve team of the same club in consecutive rounds, mad eh!!!
Full time Old Southendian A 1 BKS Sports Reserves 8
Not a good day for Old Southendian then, both teams losing to their respective opponents, but congratulations to both Old Chelmsfordians & BKS Sports Reserves on their wins, it was a very enjoyable day indeed, even if it was tad cold by the end of it!!!
That concludes today's blog, thanks again for reading, it's always appreciated!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment