Thurlow Nunn League Challenge Cup Second Round, Wednesday 26th August
It was time for Round Two of the Thurlow Nunn League Challenge Cup as August winds down, and I was over at Gardiners Close in Basildon to see an Essex derby between two Thurlow Nunn South sides in the shape of Basildon Town & Rayleigh Town with a place in Round Three up for grabs.
The hosts league campaign had seen them start slowly, only one win in five so far, but it's actually five games unbeaten all in competitions for them since they lost their opening two games of the season, including a win at Essex Senior Hackney Wick in the Vase and a superb 1-0 win at home to Isthmian North Buckhurst Hill in the Essex Senior Cup, two very big results already this term.
Rayleigh's four league games so far this season have seen two wins from four games, and they were on a three match winning run in all competitions too, netting ten goals in that run too, so both sides were playing with some confidence heading into this cup tie, so we should be in for a decent game you would of thought no?
Well, although both teams did have opportunities in the opening forty five minutes, it wasn't a half to remember if truth be told, Bas Town had plenty of efforts but did not test Rayleigh keeper Josh Hudson as they were all off target, whereas the chances Rayleigh did create were, they saw one of those cleared off the line and another two well saved by hosts keeper Dino Maras, but it was a half that wasn't full of much quality and ended goalless.
The second half though was to be a different story, it began with a bang as only three minutes after the break the hosts rifled themselves into the lead, a ball was laid back into the path of Lucas Polybank and he sent an unstoppable effort beyond Hudson, but that lead only lasted three more minutes as the visitors saw Jack Hyslop equalise, totally mishitting an effort towards goal but the hosts made a mess of trying to keep it out and it ended up in the net.
And Rayleigh then turned the match around midway through the half when they got themselves ahead, a ball being knocked across goal for Nathan Elgie to apply the finishing touch from close range, and that looked as if it would be enough for them to win this tie and go through to the next round.
But, deep into added on time came a dramatic late twist, and it was a total mess at the back from the visitors that led to the leveller. A ball into the six yard box should have easily been dealt with by either keeper or defender, but total miscommunication between them saw both go for the ball and see keeper knock ball onto defender, and the ball fell perfectly for Abidemi Lamina who could not believe his luck, and had the simple task of blasting home from a yard out with an empty net at his mercy.
It meant penalties would be needed to decide this tie, Bas Town went first and saw Hudson save, but Rayleigh then missed their third penalty meaning 2-2 after three each, and after Bas Town had netted their final kick, Rayleigh had to net theirs to force sudden death, but hit the bar instead, meaning the hosts prevailed in this tie and will take their place in Round Three which is due to take place in the third week of September.
Full time Basildon Town 2 Rayleigh Town 2 (Basildon Town won 4-3 on penalties)
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