White Ensign 2 Buckhurst Hill 2 - Last gasp header from Ellis Devereux rescues point for hosts to keep their unbeaten start to their Essex Senior League campaign in tact

Essex Senior League, Wednesday September 4th

My first visit to Burrough's Park, Great Wakering, for the season on the first Wednesday in September saw me taking in action between White Ensign, who were unbeaten in their first three league games of the campaign, and Buckhurst Hill, who were looking for a second win of their campaign after two draws and three defeats in their five league outings.

It's been a solid start for the hosts so far, often punching above their weight at this level, but this young energetic side had played five games in all comps with their only defeat coming in the FA Cup against Brantham Athletic, but two wins and two draws in the other four games were certainly something to build on.

Buckhurst Hill themselves lost three of their first four in all comps, with the opening day point against Little Oakley their only positive result, that was until they won at Sawbridgeworth Town in the league before they then netted a very decent win at home to Cockfosters in the Vase before a narrow defeat at Benfleet last time out took them into this one looking to try and end Ensign's unbeaten league start.

The first certainly yielded plenty of openings, mostly for the visitors who were wasteful in front of goal, George Thompson & Tyreece Robertson should have done better with chances they had, and the visitors somehow saw a point blank range effort saved by hosts keeper Bradley Davidson, sending their bench into a frenzy at how they had not taken the lead.

Ensign did come close themselves, their best chance seeing Riley Weir get to the ball before visiting keeper Toby Smith who had come out to try and thwart him, Weir poked the ball towards goal but it didn't not have enough power on it and a defender managed to get back to clear it off the line, but with nine minutes of the first half remaining Ensign did grab the lead.

It came when a poor header from the visitors allowed the ball to be recycled to the right hand side and a ball into the box saw striker Chinedu Duru head back across goal and into the far corner, meaning the hosts went into the break a goal to the good.

The visitors would have no doubt been very frustrated with this after having several chances to grab the lead themselves, however, eight minutes after the break they were to finally find the net and level the contest up when after Robertson saw a close range effort saved on the line by a defender, Ethan Daniels made sure the ball ended up in the net by forcing the loose ball home, and it didn't take long for the visitors to turn it around.

That's because just three minutes later Robertson managed to shift the ball onto his left foot and then sent a powerful effort beyond Davidson from close range and the visitors now had the lead, a lead they probably felt they deserved.

However, after going ahead they spent the majority of the second half on the back foot as Ensign tried all they could to get back on level terms and preserve their unbeaten start to the league season, the visitors rode their luck on more than one occasion but Ensign just could not add that killer touch in front of goal.

Buckhurst Hill had their moments, although they were far less than in the first half, one particular chance for them to seal it saw Dan Jones volley into the side netting from close range when he probably should have scored, but as the game sunk deeper and deeper into the latter part of the contest they tried all they could to hold onto what they had and record a very good win.

It looked like they would do this as well, that was until the eighth minute of added on time when a ball slung towards the far post for the umpteenth time found Ellis Devereaux who managed to send a header back across goal and creep in at the far post and rescue a point for Ensign and maintain their unbeaten start to the season in the league.

Heartbreak though for Buckhurst Hill who were so so close to holding on, the goal was pretty much the last action of the game as the referee blew for full time soon after the restart, a bit of a sickener for them for sure, but it is another point to add to the tally, although after conceding so late they probably won't see that as a positive right now.

A really good battle though and another enjoyable game to watch.

Full time White Ensign 2 Buckhurst Hill 2

There was one other game in the league this evening and it brought two unbeaten sides together.....

Woodford Town 1 Takeley 0

Just the one goal came in the match between Woodford Town and Takeley at Ashton's and it came midway through the first period when a lovely through ball found David Gokou-Siakouri who managed to fire beyond the onrushing Jarvis Monk in the visitors goal and end Takeley's unbeaten start to their league campaign.

Let's check out the table after the midweek action was completed this evening:-

So, after tonight's results there are now only five sides left who have yet to taste defeat, Wakering & Woodford are now level on points at the top after the latter's narrow win over Takeley this evening, but still early days as said many times before.

That's you all up to date with the ESL for now, thanks for reading!!!

Hullbridge Sports 3 Romford 3 - Extraordinary night at Lower Road sees ten man hosts fight back from three goals down in the final twenty minutes to salvage a dramatic point

Essex Senior League, Tuesday September 3rd

My first midweek action in September saw me over at Lower Road in Hullbridge for the very first time this season as Hullbridge Sports and Romford did battle, it was part of six league games taking place this evening, more on those later.

Now Hullbridge started the season really well, netting nine goals in their first two league games and only conceding one, but since then it's gone a bit south for them, their next two games both ended in defeats, a thumping defeat at Grays Athletic in the FA Cup was followed by a 6-1 reverse at the hands of Athletic Newham in the league.

They did manage a 2-0 win at Long Melford in the Vase but their last outing in the league saw a 1-0 loss at home to Frenford, so they really were hoping to get back to winning ways in the league this evening although they were up against a Romford side who have started the season well and are unbeaten in the league so far this season (two wins & two draws).

In their seven games in all comps this season their only loss was a 4-0 reverse at Brightlingsea Regent in the FA Cup, and in their last two games, both in the league, they have kept clean sheets in both (a win against Benfleet & and a goalless draw with Takeley), so solid form coming into this match up then, although those were their first clean sheets of the campaign, despite a solid enough start to the season.

Hullbridge though had only scored four goals in the four games since those first two outings of the season, so it would not be easy against a solid Romford back line, and after just twelve minutes they already had a mountain to climb as they fell two goals behind, firstly when Praise Ogbebor saw a deflected effort find the net after just four minutes, and then eight minutes later the hosts gave the ball away on the edge of their own box and saw Ogbebor square to Arnold Mengi who thumped a powerful effort in off the crossbar. It looked like it could be another long night for the hosts at this point.

The visitors continued to look dangerous when they came forward and you feared for the hosts defence at times, Hullbridge did have their moments though going forward but were lacking any cutting edge up front, and when the half time whistle blew, Romford looked fairly comfortable with a two goal lead, a lead that was to increase on the hour mark when a wonderful ball in by full back Sam Elwood found Kennedy Feyi who guided a lovely header into the far corner, and that looked like game set and match in all honestly.

And when the hosts saw Jake Wiggins sent off with twenty minutes to go for a second yellow, things looked bleak for the home side, and surely Romford would cruise to victory, no?

Well, football is a funny old game, and sayings like 'It's not over till it's over' always come around, but no one saw what was to happen in the final part of this contest, the red card seemed to galvanize Hullbridge and with 75 minutes on the clock pulled a goal back when substitute Connor Hart guided home a lovely cross from the right with his head into the far corner, and you thought 'surely not?'.

Even at that point you felt Romford would still see out the game with a man advantage and a two goal cushion, but their shape and discipline was wavering somewhat as they felt a lot of refereeing decisions had gone against them, and even though they were 3-1 up, they seemed very agitated with things and the hosts could sense this.

And in the 86th minute they pulled another one back to really set the cats amongst the pigeons when Hart converted at the back post, and with Romford barely able to recover from that set back they then gave away a penalty a minute later when skipper Ollie Jenkins powerful run was ended by a foul, although the infringement occurred outside the box, but the referee thought otherwise and pointed to the spot, much to Romford's fury.

Freddie Moriaty held his nerve by firing the spot kick home, and the most remarkable of recoveries had been completed, nobody could believe what they were watching, and somehow the hosts had come from three goals down with a man light no less to grab an unlikely point, dramatic scenes for sure at Lower Road!!!

To rub salt in what was already gaping wound for the visitors they saw defender Kojo Feyi dismissed deep into stoppage time as well for second yellow, and after the final whistle they also saw two red cards flashed at the management team for whatever they said as they confronted the referee at the full time whistle, they were furious with him, especially with the award of that penalty for the leveller.

Sadly their were some unsavoury scenes around the tunnel area with words exchanged between visiting players and some personal around the tunnel, and another player decided to shower some of us with a bottle of water too after things were said, lovely stuff, oh and things continued in the dressing room area too where things were said, some of which were quite concerning, all very childish and not what you want to see.

I understand football is an emotive and passionate sport, and things can get heated, but this was not a good example to set kids who were nearby these events, so that is not on in my view, Romford clearly felt hard done by but you cannot condone some of the things that were said and some of the actions afterwards by some, but despite all this you cannot detract from the efforts the hosts put in to pull this one back from the dead.

So, a dramatic night in Hullbridge, and a precious point for the hosts who looked down and out with twenty minutes to go, for Romford this will feel like a defeat after they looked likely to cruise home in this one, football eh, it's a funny old game at times!!!

Full time Hullbridge Sports 3 Romford 3

 

Let's see how the remaining action went in the league on Tuesday, oh and their was the small matter of two FA Cup replays involving Athletic Newham & Barking.....

Emirates FA Cup First Qualifying Round Replays

Amersham Town 1 Athletic Newham 0

Athletic Newham suffered defeat for the first time this season after they excited the FA Cup at Amersham Town after the hosts netted the only goal of the contest through Sidney Gueye in first half stoppage time.

Barking 3 St Neots Town 2 (AET)

The Blues saw Jalen Johnson net an extra time winner as they are now the only sole survivors left from the ESL in this years FA Cup, Michael Amaeshike had put the visitors ahead early on but saw Ezekiel Badamosi level with seventeen minutes to go. James Hatch then restored the visitors lead with ten minutes to go but Barking fought back again through Teddy Stacey four minutes later, but when Barking saw Miles Smith given a straight red deep into stoppage time, the hosts would have to play extra time with ten men so advantage St Neots then? Well, no, because in the 105th minute Johnson netted to send Barking into the next round and a trip to Great Yarmouth to take on Gorleston.

League

Benfleet 1 Stansted 3

The hosts solid start to life at Step Five was brought crashing down to earth after Stansted netted their very first win of the season at Woodside Park. The visitors found themselves three goals up by the half hour mark after a George O'Connor goal was sandwiched in between two Correy Davidson strikes, Benfleet did manage a very late consolation from Max Jobson but by then it was too little to late for the home side.

FC Clacton 0 Frenford 4

Frenford's brilliant start to the season continued as they put four past a struggling FC Clacton side at The Rush Green Bowl, Warren Kayembe gave the visitors the lead two minutes before the break and then they increased that lead when Paulius Ditkevicius netted eight minutes into the second period. And goal machine Jordon Elongo netted twice in stoppage time at the end of the game to put more gloss on the scoreline and send the visitors into the play off places.

Little Oakley 2 Great Wakering Rovers 4

Wakering took over at the summit of the ESL after they netted four at Oakley, two Harry Brown goals had them two goals ahead before Daniel Rowe pulled one back before half time, Darren Mills then levelled early in the second period but Brown then completed his hat-trick in the 56th minute and then the visitors sealed the win as Harrison Topliss netted a fourth with eight minutes to go and see Oakley's unbeaten start ended here.

Sawbridgeworth Town 1 Ilford 0

Kieran David's goal three minutes before half time was enough for Sawbo to grab their first win of the season to see them climb two places to fourth bottom, one of those sides they climbed above being Ilford who dropped down to third bottom as a result.

West Essex 2 Stanway Rovers 4

Stanway Rovers fought back to two goals down to record victory at West Essex and climb into second place as a result.  Goals from Nathan Braithwaite on ten minutes and Pascal Thornton just before the half hour mark has West in control, but Stanway have so much firepower and belief and roared back to take the win. They reduced the arrears ten minutes before the break through Harrison Chatting & were level barely a minute after the break when George Okoye netted, Joe Debell then gave the visitors the lead with eighteen minutes remaining and then Chatting added his second and a clinching fourth for Rovers when he netted a minute later.

Here is how the table looks after those games:-

Leaders Wakering, third placed Woodford Town, fifth placed Romford, sixth placed Takeley & also Athletic Newham & White Ensign remain unbeaten, FC Clacton & Halstead Town are now the only two sides who haven't tasted victory as yet after Sawbo's win against Ilford.

Wednesday evening sees two more games in the league, here are those matches:-

White Ensign Vs Buckhurst Hill

Woodford Town Vs Takeley

I'll be over at Burroughs Park for the Ensign v Buckhurst encounter, can Ensign remain unbeaten or will the visitors end that, whereas two more unbeaten sides do battle at Ashton's as Woodford Town look to try and go top of the table with a win wheras Takeley could go past their opponents with a win themselves, promises to be two good battles on Wednesday evening. 

Athletic Newham 3 Amersham Town 3 - Jaime Obama Nvumba nets hat-trick as hosts fight back to earn Emirates FA Cup replay against Amersham Town in pulsating cup tie at The Terrance McMillan Stadium

Essex Senior League/Emirates FA Cup First Qualifying Round, Saturday August 31st

The last Saturday of August and indeed the last day of the month saw eight leagues games in the Essex Senior League, but two of their sides were also in Emirates FA Cup action in the shape of Athletic Newham & Barking, they were the only two to make it into the First Qualifying Round of the competition after winning their previous two ties.

More on the league games later on in this blog, but the main focus was on the two FA Cup ties, one at The Terrance McMillan Stadium and one over in Cambridgeshire in St Neots, I was at the former for Athletic Newham Vs Amersham Town and it promised to be quite a match up between two sides who had began their seasons very well indeed.

ESL side Newham had played five games so far this season, all away from home as well, and after recording a 1-0 win at one of the pre season favourites in Saffron Walden Town, a draw with Romford was then followed by a thumping 6-1 win at Hullbridge Sports, who themselves had started the season with two big wins.

Newham had also won 2-0 at Chipstead in the Extra Preliminary Round of this competition before a 4-2 win Lancing in the last round, making that ten goals in two games prior to their two week break ahead of this their first home game of the season, decent from indeed but would that break help or hinder them? Momentum could have been lost perhaps, or would the break mean they were fresh and raring to go in this one?

They were up against Combined Counties Premier North side Amersham Town who so far this season have won six of their seven games in all competition and have netted four or more goals in five of those games, and a perfect record in their division after four games too, netting sixteen goals in the process, so that's not a bad start is it.

Their FA Cup run has seen them net a 4-2 win at Oldland Abbotonians before they then netted another four in the previous round with a home win over Clevedon Town, so to say they can score goals would be an understatement, their only loss this season came at home in the FA Vase First Qualifying Round to Staines & Lammas (MIddlesex) which was probably a bit of a shock for them, but they did recover to beat Broadfields United 4-3 away last time out on Bank Holiday Monday.

So, who would be the ones to win through in this tie, it was certainly a hard one to call, both liked to attack and score goals for sure, so if this was the case today then we would be in for a treat of a cup tie, well, we only had to wait ten minutes for the opening goal, and it came for the hosts, although the visitors were very unhappy as they thought it was offside.

A ball forward saw an attacker in an offside position, he left the ball alone though and Jaime Obama Nvumba ran onto the ball and for me was onside, and with the visiting defence waiting for a flag, none came and Nvumba duly rounded keeper Zavier Comas Leon and slotted home, and Newham had the early advantage.

Amersham would have felt even more hard done by as they had started the game the better, but just six minutes after going behind they levelled deservedly when Jake Tabor teed himself up to volley superbly past Sebastian Barford in the hosts goal, and then in the 25th minute they had turned the match around as centre half Daryl Brown fired a lovely finish into the far corner from inside the box.

And when a clever free kick into the six yard box by Louis Bircham ended up with Amersham's other centre half Jonathan O'Sullivan bundling home from close range with seven minutes of the first half remaining, the visitors looked well on their way to victory, it had been well deserved, Newham had looked off the pace whilst the visitors were looking dangerous every time they ventured forward, and at half time their looked like only one winner in this one.

Could the hosts mount a comeback, well they had the perfect start to the half when they pulled one back to make it a game once again after a ball in from the left found Nvumba who rifled a first time effort past Leon, and all of a sudden Amersham, who had looked in control of this tie, were now the ones doing the majority of the defending and keeping their opponents at bay.

Amersham did have their moments in the second half too, and probably should have had a couple of penalties for fouls but the referee thought otherwise, however Newham were knocking on the door and with 84 minutes in the clock they finally grabbed a leveller to set up a grandstand finish when that man Nvumba completed his hat trick by volleying home after the defence had failed to clear their lines.

However, their was to be no winner in the tie today as a pulsating contest ended all square, meaning they will have to do it all again next week in Amersham to see who wins through to the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, if it is half as good as this contest then we are in for a treat, it was a superb game and very entertaining for everyone there who saw it.

Full time Athletic Newham 3 Amersham Town 3

A brilliant cup tie at Terry Mac then, what of the other cup tie in Cambridgeshire, Barking's league start had been mixed for sure, but their win at Redbridge in the last round was superb and showed they could mix it with Step Four sides, so away to United Counties Premier South side St Neots, who were like them Step Five, they would have certainly fancied their chances of victory even if the hosts had won three of their four league games so far, let's see what happened in that one:-

St Neots Town 2 Barking 2

The Blues will be in the hat for Monday's Second Qualifying Round draw after they earned a replay against St Neots Town at The Premier Plus Stadium in Cambridgeshire, Juwon Akintunde had given Barking a tenth minute lead but saw Sam Willis level the tie up in the 24th minute, and when Kieran Barnes handed the hosts a 48th minute lead, Barking had to find a way to level the tie.  And they did with twenty minutes to go when they saw Robbie Parker put through his own net, meaning a replay at Mayesbrook Park next week.

So, Athletic Newham & Barking are still in the cup but face replays next week, let's hope they can do the business second time around.  

Now onto the day's league fixtures, eight of them took place, let's see how those went:-

Benfleet 1 Buckhurst Hill 0

Billy Carter netted six minutes from time as Benfleet picked up a second league win of the season, the visitors, who lost for the third time in the league this season, ended the contest with ten men after substitute Quincy Warner, who had only been on the pitch for fourteen minutes, was sent off with a minute of the ninety to go.  

Great Wakering Rovers 1 Ilford 0

Rovers are level on points with leaders Woodford Town and still are yet to concede in the league this season after they left it very late to see off Ilford at Burroughs Park, as with the game looking likely to end goalless, Ben Search fired home a penalty deep into added on time to see the hosts take all the spoils/

Hullbridge Sports 0 Frenford 1

Frenford are into the top ten of the division as their decent start to the season continued with a fine win at Lower Road against a Hullbridge side who after winning their opening two games have gone completely off the boil. Jordon Elongo netted the only goal of the game nine minutes after the break and despite seeing defender Wilton Domingos sent off late on, they held on to record a second league win of the campaign. 

Saffron Walden Town 7 Halstead Town 0

Walden's indifferent start to the campaign was put right today at least after they smashed seven past a beleaguered Halstead Town at Catons Lane, Solomon Ofori opened the scoring after barely a minute before Ross Wall doubled their lead just past the midway point of the first half, and it was 3-0 on 42 minutes after Julian Simon-Parson put through his own net.  Charlie Morris then netted a fourth for the hosts eight minutes into the second period, before Darren Phillips then added another midway through the second half, Phillips then netted again in the 89th minute and the scoring was completed a minute later when Emmanuel Okunja scored to cap a fine afternoon for Walden. It was a day to forget for Halstead who dropped to the bottom of the table on goal difference as a result.

     

Sawbridgeworth Town 3 FC Clacton 3

Shane Bambridge netted a 92nd minute leveller to salvage Sawbo's first point of the season and deny FC Clacton a first win of the season in what was a battle between the bottom two in the division.  Jordon Rock gave the visitors the lead just past the half hour mark but then saw Freddie Griffiths level early in the second period, James Letts then restored the visitors lead soon after and when Inrahim Barrie was dismissed for a second yellow for Sawbo on the hour mark before the visitors went 3-1 up through Dion Tansele's 71st minute goal, it looked over for the hosts.  But, Kieran David pulled one back straight away before Bambridge's late heroics saw a superb game end all square.

 

Stanway Rovers 0 Woodford Town 0

The final 100% record has gone as Woodford Town drew at The Hawthorns against a Stanway Rovers side who played the final few minutes of the contest with ten men after Milo Grimes was dismissed for the hosts.

   

Takeley 0 Romford 0

Takeley & Romford drew a blank at Station Road although both sides remain unbeaten so far this season and occupy the top five as a result.

West Essex 2 Stansted 1

West are up to eighth after they defeated Stansted at Wadham Lodge, The Airportmen, who were yet to win this season, grabbed a ninth minute lead through Correy Davidson, however a second half turnaround saw West take the points, Nathan Braithwaite levelling early on in the second period before Yemi Adelani netted just past the hour mark to give them the lead. And they went onto take points although their afternoon ended with ten men after substitute Darnell Asare-Williams managed to pick up two yellow cards in three stoppage time minutes, but it's defeat for Stansted who have not won in five league games now and only have two points so far. 

Let's see how the table looks following those games:-

Woodford & Wakering lead the way then, neither have conceded a goal as yet too, and along with them Romford, Takeley, Athletic Newham, Little Oakley & White Ensign remain unbeaten (the latter three were not in league action today).

FC Clacton were denied a first league win after Sawbo's late leveller saw them gain a first point of the campaign, they do go up two places though after Stansted's loss at West Essex, and Sawbo come off the bottom on goal difference after Halstead's awful showing at Walden today.  

     

Well, that concludes today's blog, thanks for reading as always!!! 

Bowers & Pitsea 1 Canvey Island 2 - Goals from Chris Harris & Finlay Dorrell enough for Canvey Island to net first points of season in their bank holiday Monday Isthmian Premier Division Essex derby at Bowers & Pitsea

Isthmian League Premier Division, Monday August 26th

My bank holiday Monday fare came from The Len Salmon Stadium as Bowers & Pitsea hosted Canvey Island in what was already likely to be a big game in terms of the league table positions as well as local bragging right's at stake too.

This is because after four games of the new season, these sides occupied the bottom two positions in the league, Bowers are second bottom having picked up only one point so far, whereas Canvey have lost all their league encounters so are yet to register a league point, so a win for either side here would no doubt kick start their season.

Even though Bowers have lost three out of four, they have been in all their games, contests against Hendon & Whitehawk, both away, were only lost by one goal, whereas their home game against Chatham Town was only a 0-2 defeat, their only point came at home to Cheshunt in a 1-1 draw, so if they could just turn the tide a fraction, they will no doubt start picking up points.

Equally for Canvey it's been a similar story thus far, three of those four defeats, against Chichester City, Hashtag United & Wingate & Finchley, have only been by the one goal, the only one more than that was against Dartford when they lost 0-2, so again if they could just turn that tide for them and not against them, fractionally, then they could also start picking up some points to get them away from the bottom four places.

It needed to start today for both sides, if they could get one over a rival in doing so as well, even better, the start was all important to this contest, well, the opening forty five minutes were devoid of any real quality if truth be told, chances were at a premium, and you could see why both sides had started the season slowly, but it was Canvey who netted the only goal of the first period.

It came after twenty six had elapsed, a free kick swung into the box by Conor Hubble went to the far post where Chris Harris managed to bundle the ball over the line, not sure how, but he ended up in the net although the hosts were unhappy as they felt keeper Rhys Byrne had been fouled before the ball ended up in the net, no whistle was forthcoming though, and the goal was in keeping with the lack of quality on show, although the ball in was pretty decent it has to be said.

So, Canvey had slender lead, were they on their way to a first win to open their points account for the season, well five minutes into the second period they strengthened their grip on the contest by doubling their lead after a wonderful lung busting run down the right by full back Tobi Tinubu saw him find Finlay Dorrell who took a touch before firing across goal and into the far corner, making those Canvey fans behind that goal very happy indeed.

Canvey to go on and cruise to their first points of the campaign then no? Not quite, Bowers were never going to throw in the towel in such an important game against an Essex rival, and the longer the half went on the hosts gathered more momentum, and in the 72nd minute they got themselves right back in the contest when a lovely diagonal pass across the pitch the to right hand side found Samir Ali, who had only been on the pitch seven minutes, and he played a nice ball into the box where the waiting Valckx Fernandes was to apply a lovely first time finish into the bottom corner, game on!!!

Bowers now sensed that their opponents were getting nervous, Canvey had gone from a position of strength to now hanging on to their lead, and the hosts were trying all they could to force an equaliser, an equaliser that they thought they had found in the final ten minutes of the ninety when Fernandes sent a decent header towards goal but saw Bobby Mason pull of an incredible diving save to keep it out and maintain his sides advantage.

The hosts kept up the pressure on the visiting back line, and with six minutes of additional time, nerves were no doubt shredded amongst the visiting contingent, but when the hosts dragged a decent opening wide, they knew the game was up, and Canvey had held on to record a very hard fought win.

It's a win that takes Canvey off the bottom of the table and out of the bottom four, how things can change in an instant, especially at this time of the season when teams are tightly packed together, for Bowers well, they remain without a win this season and still just have one solitary point from five games, and they replace Canvey at the bottom of the pile, still early days though and plenty of positives to take despite a disappointing loss today.       

Full time Bowers & Pitsea 1 Canvey Island 2

NW London 0 Wembley 2 - First half goals from Yashua Smith & Nathan Osaji see visitors Wembley take victory against NW London & progress into the next round of the Isuzu FA Vase

Isuzu FA Vase First Qualifying Round, Sunday August 25th

My third and final Isuzu FA Vase game of the weekend saw me travel to North London and Coles Park, home of Haringey Borough, although it was not them involved in this game as tenants NW London were the hosts today as they took on Wembley.

The hosts play in Step Six of the non league pyramid. the Thurlow Nunn First Division South, a league they have played in for two seasons prior to this one, and after a third bottom finish two seasons ago, and a 17th placed finish (five points above the bottom three) last season, they have begun this one in similar fashion, one win in six league games and just five points from a possible eighteen and sitting in 16th place, just five places off the bottom.

There last two league games have seen them concede ten goals two, this after picking up a first win of the season before that, so they were going to have their work cut out against a Wembley side who play a level above their opponents today in Step Five, the Combined Counties Premier North Division, however, the visitors haven't started the season well themselves so they may have seen this one as a banana skin perhaps?

Wembley have played for league games thus far and one FA Cup encounter, and have failed to score in four of those games, losing them all in the process, the only game they did score in was the only one they have won so far, a 3-2 home win over Burnham, although despite this the visitors would still feel they should see off their lower league opponents here, although football is not played on paper is it, and it's cup football so anything can happen right?

No doubt confidence was low amongst both sets of players though after such poor starts to their seasons, so grabbing an early initiative in this tie was paramount, well Wembley had Yashua Smith making his debut for them and it only took him eleven minutes to grab his first goal for his new club when after he had pinched the ball off a defender, he rounded hosts keeper Brandon Bullman before firing home with aplomb, and the visitors had the perfect start.

You could see the confidence surging through the visitors after that and for the remainder of the half they were the team doing most of the attacking, Jaden Newman had several openings himself but was unable to test the keeper, and the only frustration for the visitors was their inability to add to that lead, they were rarely troubled by the hosts in the opening forty five minutes, the only time they were was when Emarjay Jones cut inside onto his left foot late on in the first half but saw his effort dragged wide.

Visiting midfielder Nathan Osaji then saw a point blank effort beaten away by Bullman, but, with barely a minute of the first half to go Wembley doubled their lead to make it a bit more comfortable as Smith turned provider this time by laying the ball into the path of Osaji who burst into the box and slotted past Bullman into the far corner, and the visitors were well in control of this tie heading into the break.

Did NW London have anything to fight back with? Well, the second half was a far more competitive affair, partly due to Wembley's levels dropping somewhat in the second period, and the attacking prowess of Amin Mohammed, Bernardo De Quadros & Jones certainly gave the visitors something to think about, they had a couple of openings to get back into the contest, one effort deflecting wide and then another powerful effort fired straight at visiting keeper Jack Gordon.

Wembley though were always fairly comfortable and could have made it even more comfy had Ned Jones not missed an absolute sitter from close range, however the first half performance had earned them this win, although it was to end on a rather sour note for Wembley when substitute Marvin Emmanuel was sent off for disputing a throw on deep into stoppage time, he had originally been sin binned but obviously the referee took exception to whatever was said and brandished the red card.

Emmanuel was clearly upset with the decision and once the referee blew for full time he climbed back over the fence and onto the pitch and made a beeline for the referee and had to be held back by his own teammates, not what you want to see and especially after you team has just recorded the win, he obviously felt hard done by but still, not a great example to set, even if he did feel this way and it maybe was a harsh one, who knows.

Despite this ending, Wembley do record a win, a win that takes them into the next round where they will face a home tie with FC Deportivo Gallcia, for NW London it was a lot of effort with very little output, they improved second half for sure but they just did not have enough to get back into the contest and gave themselves to much to do after the first period, they now need to get back to league action and start picking up some points.

Full time NW London 0 Wembley 2

      

Corinthian Casuals 1 Whitstable Town 4 - Harvey Smith nets hat-trick in final thirteen minutes as Whitstable Town overturn half time deficit to defeat Corinthian Casuals & progress into the next round of the FA Vase

Isuzu FA Vase First Qualifying Round, Saturday August 24th

The second game of my FA Vase triple header this weekend saw me make a trip to Tolworth in Surrey and a very first visit to the King George's Field, the home of Corinthian Casuals as they welcome Whitstable Town for a First Qualifying Round tie in the Isuzu FA Vase.

Both sides are in Step Five of the non league pyramid, Casuals ply their trade in the Combined Counties Premier South Division, they haven't began the season to well either, as after three league games they have won one and lost two so far, and last time out they dominated against Knaphill by all account but fell to a 1-0 loss, with finishing a problem for them it seems.

There only win did see them net four though, but that's the only league game they have netted in so far in a 4-3 success against Sheerwater, their only other competitive outings saw them lose out in a replay against North Greenford United, with them only netting once over the two games, could they get the better of a Whitstable side today who take part in the Southern Counties East Premier Division?

The Kent side have had an equally mixed start to their campaign, they opened their campaign with a 3-3 draw at Sutton Athletic before an FA Cup loss at Sevenoaks Town was then followed by defeat at home to  Rusthall by a 1-3 score line, but they did come into today's cup tie off the back of a first win of the season at Lydd Town, also 3-1 but in their favour this time.  

So, what could we expect in this cup tie then? It was a hard one to call as both sides seemed equally matched and had also had similar starts to their campaigns, they were welcomed by what was a superb playing surface which considering the amount of rain that had fallen since the early hours it was in pristine condition and neither side would have any excuses not to play football on it that was for sure.

Harvey Smith, the visitors number nine, thought he had given his side the lead early on when he was played through, but after the striker had slotted home, the flag had gone up for offside, and in my view and even home fans around me, he wasn't offside and was level at worst, so the hosts seemed like they had got away with one there.

And midway through the first period, and just after the hosts had lost Diogo Da Silva to injury, his replacement Ben Cheklit was heavily involved in the opening goal as he managed to get into a promising position before he saw a goal bound effort blocked, however fellow attacker Ryan Murad was on hand to fire home the loose ball and the hosts had the lead, with one home fan nearby shouting ' we have scored a goal!!!', they were certainly happy and surprised for sure.

Could the hosts go on and press home their advantage, they thought they had doubled their money late on in the half when a header back into the path of Shea Cascoe-Rogers saw him fire home via the fingertips of visiting keeper Daniel Colmer, but this time the flag thwarted the hosts and the goal would not stand, it did mean though that the hosts went into the break a goal ahead and with the slight advantage in the tie. They did also lose goal scorer Murad to injury before the break as well, so not ideal.

Ten minutes after the break though, Whitstable levelled, dangerous winger Josh Oliver getting in down the right, and although his first effort was well saved by home keeper Murillo Bernardes, the ball looped up into the air and saw Oliver get to the ball first to head at goal and despite the hosts trying to prevent the ball finding the net, they could only help it into the corner of the goal.

The game was now in the balance and either side could go on and win it now, a wonderful looping header from the visitors found the far corner on one occasion, but again the flag was to deny them for the second time in the contest, Casuals had attacks too but could not find a way through, and as the game entered it's final fifteen minutes, penalties was becoming a strong possibility as well.

Zack Jobe was to enter the fray for the visitors in the 77th minute, and he was to have a hugely positive impact on his side, teeing up Smith to fire home in the 80th minute to hand the visitors the lead, and he was involved again in the 88th minute along with fellow teammates Fin Cotton and Archie Hatcher, as a beautiful one touch passing move ended with a ball across the box seeing Smith stretch to divert the ball into the far corner and seal this contest.

Their was still time for Smith to complete a thirteen minute treble too, as once again Jobe was involved as he started the attack that lead to Smith being laid in on goal before he fired ruthlessly beyond Bernandes once again and cap a wonderful final fifth teen minutes for the visitors who had sealed their passage into the next round where they will face at home tie with Hollands & Blair.

The hosts would have been shell shocked at the way that game ended, it was in the balance until the final fifteen minutes and even up until the clinching third goal in the 88th minute, they will have to lick their wounds and try and bounce back on bank holiday Monday when they face tenants Epsom & Ewell in the league at Kind George's Field.

For Whitstable though it's a lovely way to end the game, Smith now has seven goals this season already in all comps, that over half their goal tally this season, and they welcome Faversham Town to their Belmont Stadium on bank holiday Monday hoping to take this form into the league now, if they can supply Smith with the ammunition, and perhaps start Jobe too, they will be a danger for sure.

Full time Corinthian Casuals 1 Whitstable Town 4