Essex Senior League, Wednesday 11th March
It was more Essex Senior League action for me on Wednesday night as I made a trip to Seven King and Cricklefield Stadium for a match between play off chasing Ilford and an Athletic Newham side who were trying to pull themselves away from the drop zone of the division.
The Foxes have surprised many this season with their lofty position in the table, but they are more than deserved of this top five position with only eight games to go, they came into this one in fourth spot and having the chance to increase the gap to the sides on the cusp of the play off positions too, that gap was five points ahead of this game.
They would also close the gap to third placed Barking as well if they could pick up maximum points, and they were on a run of five unbeaten in the league as well coming into this contest, and up against an Athletic Newham out only above the bottom two on goal difference, it was surely a home win right?
Well, not quite, as despite their latest form and having not won in the league since January 3rd, they have put in some decent performances and have held Little Oakley & Woodford Town to draws as well as pushing the likes of SOUL Tower Hamlets and Barking all the way too, they just haven't got the results to show for their efforts, so Ilford knew they would be in for a tough game, as we all thought they would be, and an exciting close contest was indeed expected, despite the positions and gap between the sides in the league table.
However, what was to follow in the opening forty five minutes was anything but, as The Foxes put in one of their best showings in the first half all season as they blew away their opponents, it took them less than a minute to go ahead, Daniel Izekor breaking the offside trap to bear down on goal, although initially it appeared he had blown the chance by not shooting and trying to round keeper Harvey Simson, he did manage to fire the ball across goal from the left and see the ball cannon into the net off defender Jonathan Ogubsanya who could do nothing to prevent this happening and see the hosts lead after just 52 seconds.
And it was only the fourth minute when Ilford doubled that lead, Izekor going through clean on goal once again, and this time he made no mistake by slotting beyond Simson into the far corner, Newham had no answer to this onslaught from the hosts who then made it 3-0 after just twelve minutes when, you guessed it, Izekor broke the offside trap for a third time, and he had all the time in the word to pick his spot and fire in off the post.
It had been an unbelievable start from Ilford, and they looked like scoring every time they came forward, they did have to wait twenty five minutes for the next goal though, but it was worth the wait, Soloman Ofori receiving the ball inside the box before shifting the ball inside onto his right foot and curling an absolute beauty beyond Simson into the top corner, 4-0 at half time and game over, a truly superb first half performance from the play off chasing side, and Newham just needed to tighten up and try and put in a positive second half showing otherwise they were going to be embarrassed.
Ofori and Ilford only needed five minutes of the second half to add to their tally, the diminutive attacker getting in behind the back line before slotting past Simson into the far corner, fair play to Newham though as they kept plugging and did make more of a fist of it in the second period, and were rewarded with a consolation goal late on as substitute Chuks Ozor got in on goal to slot nicely beyond hosts keeper Wilkinson Boateng.
However, it was a rare positive on the night for Newham who were well beaten, especially first half where all the damage had been done, mostly inside the first fifteen minutes, and they remain just above the bottom two on goal difference, a goal difference got battered in this one, only two better than West Essex now who are the side occupying the second bottom spot.
Ilford would have been disappointed at conceding so late on and not getting that clean sheet, but this was a rare blip in what was otherwise a terrific night for them, it strengthens there position in the top five and also enhances their chances of finishing in the top five come the end of the regular season, they have an eight point gap to sixth placed Woodford now and are three points behind third placed Barking, things are looking good for the hosts you could say.
Full time Ilford 5 Athletic Newham 1
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