Barking 3 Maldon & Tiptree 1

Isthmian League One North, Friday January 14th

I was over at Mayesbrook Park for some Friday night football in the Isthmian North and saw Barking come from behind to beat Maldon & Tiptree after a George Purcell volley, a debut goal from Freddie Parker and a screamer from Barney Williams sealed a big three points.

The hosts needed the points to try and pull themselves further away from the relegation play off spot, they started the evening just three points above it, but with only one win in their last five form had not been great, and they welcomed a Maldon & Tiptree side to Mayesbrook who were looking for three points themselves to try and keep up a play off position in touch, they began the day six points off fifth spot in tenth.

The Jammers form before their last game saw them net back to back wins in a three match unbeaten run, but defeat at AFC Sudbury last time out knocked them back a little, so they were looking to try and hand The Blues a second successive defeat and get back on track, so how would this one pan out at a freezing Mayesbrook Park.

The Blues had to terrific chances early on to take the lead, Purcell hooking across goal and wide from close range, and then Kieran Jones headed wide from a great position, but they were barely threatened by a rather abject Maldon side, that was until ten minutes before the break when a huge moment of controversy saw the visitors awarded a spot kick.

This came about when a ball played into Eoin McKeown saw the attacker with his back to goal anticipate a touch from his marker so fell to the ground asking for a penalty, and the referee obliged and pointed to the spot, much to the despair of the hosts who were furious, and resulted in James Folkes receiving a booking for his protests. There was barely any contact with the defender so it did seem to me that the award of a penalty was harsh to say the least.

A penalty it was though, and Shad Ngandu dispatched the spot kick emphatically to give the visitors the half time lead, and the home crowd certainly let their feelings be known to McKeown and the referee as they walked off down the tunnel past them, they were less than impressed and felt very hard done by, how would their side react to this set back in the second half?

The reaction was a very positive one as it turned out, and four minutes after the break levelled when a ball looped into the path of Purcell saw him beat the offside trap to volley past Tommy Dixon-Hodge, and then seven minutes after that took the lead when a lovely ball from Williams found Parker who slotted beyond Dixon-Hodge, and in eleven second half minutes Barking had turned this one around.

Could The Jammers respond, well they tried but found the hosts defence resolute, and also found James Shaw in the Barking goal solid as well as he made a decent near post stop, but Barking were to go further in front with just under twenty minutes to go in some style too, as Williams sent an unstoppable long range effort into the top corner and handed the Blues a two goal cushion. It was a superb strike it really was, one of the finest I have seen this season.

Barking then continued to defend well and keep the Jammers from having many efforts at goal, they did manage one decent attempt thereafter but Shaw saved down to his right very well indeed, but apart from that as said, Barking were very solid in defence and comfortably held out to take a superb win and earn a big three points and put some daylight between them and the bottom three.

The gap to third bottom is now six points as they jump up three places to 14th, whilst for Maldon it was a difficult night for them and not their best showing I'd suspect, and The Jammers remain in tenth and still six points off the play off spots.

Full time Barking 3 Maldon & Tiptree 1

 

Billericay Town 3 Canvey Island 1

BBC Essex Senior Cup Round Four, Tuesday 11th January

Tuesday saw me over at New Lodge for a South Essex derby between Billericay Town & Canvey Island, and the hosts won through to the Last Eight thanks to an own goal and strikes from Joshua Smile & Shaquile Coulthirst.

Both these sides had entered the competition at the Third Round stage, The Blues had seen off Essex Senior League side White Ensign 1-0 at New Lodge whilst Canvey had dispatched Thurlow Nunn South Holland 5-0 at Dulwich Road on the North Essex coast, and a win for either of these sides in this one would see them into the Quarter Finals.

Town had played their youngsters side against Ensign, however, they went fairly strong for this contest and only made five changes from the side that had held Vanarama South leaders Maidstone United at the weekend, they were taking Canvey very seriously indeed, and they had every reason too, the Gulls have had a decent season so far and were confident of an upset here, despite their two step gap in terms of the football pyramid.

Billericay had the first chance when Norman Wabo found himself clear on goal after breaking the offside trap, but after lifting the ball over the stranded Bobby Mason, saw his effort go over the bar, and then on seventeen minutes Canvey struck to take a shock lead when Matthew Price chased down a cross that had been played in from the right, and he fired in a pinpoint centre to Callum Fitzer who nodded home from close range.

The hosts though gradually got their act together and started to put pressure on the visiting back line, and eight minutes before the break levelled when a ball nodded back across goal saw Canvey defender Evangelos-Nikalaos Empochonstif, under pressure from Wabo, knock the ball into his own net from close range and hand the hosts a leveller.

The hosts then so nearly took the lead but saw Mason somehow keep out a close range effort, but two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the half he could do nothing to stop a superb long range effort from Smile who made his team mates and home support 'smile' as his effort hit the back of the net with Mason rooted to the spot, and it meant Town went into the break with the lead.

Town's best chance after the break saw Wabo head over when in a decent position but the final twenty-twenty five minutes certainly belonged to the visitors who took the game to their higher league opponents, and backed by a superb away support all evening could and should have at least forced penalties.

Rhys Lovett in the home goal produced a brilliant one handed stop to deny Canvey from range, and then Price should have had another assist as his lovey dinked ball to the far post fell perfectly for Elliot Ronto, but he could only head wide with the goal gaping, it was a golden chance.

Canvey threw on Conor Hubble, Evans Kouassi & Liam Oliver late on to try and salvage something, but it was Billericay who were to grab the next goal and seal the tie with four minutes left when Coulthirst was played in to slot beyond Mason, although Canvey felt there had been a handball in the build up so were not happy with that.

Canvey still had a few minutes to try and make it interesting, and Oliver blazed over from close range, rather summing up their luck in front of goal in this one, on another day they could easily have got something from this game, but it was a solid performance from the hosts, especially first half, which ended up getting them into the Quarters.

The Gulls will take plenty from this though, and now have promotion to try and grab in the coming months ahead, whilst for the Blues it's a Last Eight spot and also survival in the Vanarama South to concentrate on, if they do not achieve this then there is a good possibility of these two meeting in the league next season.

Full time Billericay Town 3 Canvey Island 1

    

Hashtag United 2 Heybridge Swifts 1

BBC Essex Senior Cup Round Four, Monday 10th January

I was over at The Len Salmon Stadium for an all Isthmian North Essex Senior Cup Last 16 tie between Hashtag United and Heybridge Swifts, and it was the hosts who progressed into the Quarter Finals thanks to goals from Harry Haysom and Luke Hirst.

Both these sides had come into the competition in the last round (Third Round), The Tags had seen off another fellow Isthmian North side in Romford 1-0 at home, whilst Swifts had dispatched Southern League One Central side Harlow Town 4-1 at Scraley Road, and both knew another win in this competition here would take them into the Final Eight and only two more wins away from the final. 

Tags started this one the better and after striking the post early on took a 17th minute lead when a corner swung in found the head of Haysom who headed into the net, and later on in the half he almost did the same again but on that occasion saw his effort thump against the post, meaning the hosts had hit both posts.

The visitors rarely threatened in the opening forty five minutes, with their best effort a Jack Adlington-Pile strike from outside the box whistling over the bar, and they had big concerns as we all did late in the half when centre half Alex Stephenson was taken out by Tags winder Josh Osude, resulting in the visiting player to be briefly knocked out, thankfully though he did recover to walk off the pitch as the half time whistle sounded, Osude was booked but some felt it could have been a red and the visitors were not very happy to say the least.

The Tags continued to be the better side after the break though and just before the hour mark doubled their lead after sloppy play from the visitors saw them give the ball away in the final third, and the hosts pounced as Hirst drove into the box to fire home, and it seemed Hashtag would cruise into the Quarters.

Ten minutes after that though Swifts grabbed themselves a lifeline as Tags switched off, maybe thinking the job was done, and saw a ball swung in headed home by Stephenson at the back post, and suddenly it was very much game on and from nowhere Swifts had a chance of maybe forcing penalties, they had twenty minutes to find a leveller.

That goal though was pretty much Swifts only attempt on target in what had been a disappointing performance, and they could not muster another attempt in the remainder of the contest as Hashtag, who had chances to seal the deal before and after that goal, completed the win thanks to those goals from Haysom and Hirst, and it is they who are into the Last Eight of the Senior Cup.

Full time Hashtag United 2 Heybridge Swifts 1

May & Baker 1 Ipswich Wanderers 5

Thurlow Nunn Division One South, Friday January 7th

I was over at Parkside on Friday night to see Ipswich Wanderers go to the summit of the Thurlow Nunn South after coming from behind to net five against ten man May & Baker in a freezing Aveley.

It had been almost a whole month since the home side had last tasted action, but prior to that break they had lost three straight in the division, seeing them slip into mid table and nine points off the top five, whereas Wanderers were on a five match winning run and knew if they avoided defeat in this one they would go top of the pile.

The visitors had netted twenty one goals in those five league games as well, and had only conceded three goals in that same period, two of which came in their last outing against Burnham Ramblers, so they were in imperious form should we say, they had won fifteen of their twenty league games so far, losing only once, so this was going to be a difficult evening for the home side, or so we thought.

However the hosts rolled up their sleeves and really got into the contest, and on the quarter hour mark had a surprise lead when a sloppy pass back towards their own penalty area from the visitors saw Idris Aminu race onto the ball, round keeper Henry Dion-Curtis, and then slot into the empty net, and the visitors knew this was not going to be easy.

Just past the half hour mark though came the equaliser, when a sloppy pass in midfield was seized upon by Wanderers, and a ball dinked to the back post saw Jack Baker stoop to head home and bring his side back on parity, both sides had created openings throughout the first period but with both sides only managing a goal a piece it saw the teams go into the break all square. It had been a thoroughly compelling competitive half and a surprise to me as I thought the hosts would struggle in this one, but far from it. 

How would the second half pan out? Well, a fairly even first ten to fifteen minutes followed in the early exchanges, but then just before the hour mark came a moment that changed the contest, as home striker Gabriel Odili went into a challenge with visiting keeper Dion-Curtis, and although it looked like a fifty fifty challenge, the referee decided to show Odili a second yellow and send off the striker, it was a big moment and one that swung the game in favour of the visitors.

And barely two minutes after this Wanderers were to take the lead when star striker Matt Blake got in on goal and slotted home, but what happened next was very bizarre, as the substituted Dan Cunningham, still smarting from being taken off I assume, took offence to Blake and his team mates from running over to celebrate with their bench after giving their side the lead, and an altercation between Cunningham and Blake ensued, resulting in the subbed player being shown a straight red, and Blake received a booking, it was a truly bizarre few moments and something I have never seen before. 

It didn't really affect the visitors who were now taking control of the contest for the first time, and with fourteen minutes remaining sealed the contest when the superb Jacob Lay controlled a pass on the by-line superbly before cutting inside and belting an effort into the far corner to give his side a two goal advantage.

The hosts were struggling to deal with their opponents now, a man light and looking like they were going to concede with every Wanderers attack on their goal, and with a minute left of the ninety they did concede a fourth when lovely one touch play ended with Evan Bolt slotting home, and then in stoppage time centre half Kris Rose thumped home from a yard out to complete an emphatic final half hour from the visiting side.

This was tough on May & Baker and 5-1 wasn't really a true reflection on the contest, for an hour it was in the balance at 1-1, but the red card totally changed the game and Wanderers took full advantage of their extra man to ram home four goals in the final half hour and send themselves to the summit of the Thurlow Nunn South, whilst for Bakers they remain eleventh and nine points off the play off positions.

They welcome bottom side Haverhill Borough to Parkside next Friday evening, you feel that is must win to give them some confidence and to try and keep their hopes of a top five finish in tact, Wanderers themselves have next weekend off and are not in action again until the 18th January when they welcome Coggeshall United to Suffolk.

Full time May & Baker 1 Ipswich Wanderers 5

Sporting Bengal United 0 Takeley 3

Essex Senior League, Wednesday January 5th

Mile End was the setting for this weeks Wednesday night fare, and it saw an own goal from Adebayo Gbadamaosi plus strikes from Kieran Southgate and Freddie Burrell hand Takeley a comfortable win over Sporting Bengal United in their Essex Senior League encounter.

The hosts have had a very poor season thus far sitting rock bottom of the division, and since their last point against Sawbridgeworth Town, one of only four all season, they had lost six straight in the league scoring only three and conceding twenty one, taking their goal difference to a staggering minus seventy seven in just twenty two league games. And in new boss Steve Clark's first game last time out they shipped four at home to White Ensign.

Takeley in contrast were in good form after a very slow start to their campaign, four wins from their last five in the division since they were humbled at home by Woodford Town back in early November and looking to break into the top ten with a win here, and by all accounts that was what everyone inside the ground were expecting.

The opening half hour saw Takeley have a lot of the play and attacks on the hosts goal, with the home side having fleeting attacks themselves, but after 32 minutes came a rather calamitous moment in the home sides defence, not for the first time this season, when a ball into the box saw defender Gbadamaosi stretch to intercept the cross, but with keeper Kevin Rrushi behind him expecting him to leave it and claim the cross himself.

Gbadamaosi and Rrushi lacked communication though, and the action of the defender incepting the ball took it towards goal where the keeper was not, and although the defender got back to the ball he could not keep it from going into the net, and Takeley had the lead in the most comical of ways. It kind of summed up Sporting's season thus far.

This meant Takeley went into the break a goal up, and eight minutes after the break Southgate, who had missed a great chance moments before, gobbled up this one after being played into the box and with Rrushi coming out the close the angle, slotted beyond him and into the net, and he had just put his side two goals up and firmly in control of the contest.

Thereafter both teams seemed to be going through the motions, Sporting lacked any threat going forward whilst Takeley, who were not at their best by any means, were just happy to run down the clock and get out with a win, and with several stoppages in a poor second half, it wasn't easy to watch.

Takeley did add a third goal with twenty minutes to go, getting in behind the hosts defence with ease before a ball squared across goal saw Burrell on hand to sweep home from close range, and that was most certainly game over at that point, if it hadn't been before.

Sporting did have a couple of decent chances to pull one back after the visitors had rather taken their foot off the pedal themselves, but lack of cutting edge, a problem for Sporting this season as well as their defending, meant Takeley would leave with a clean sheet and another three points, taking them into ninth now, they didn't really get out of first gear in this one, but they didn't have to really and still won fairly comfortably.

This is because the hosts just are not good enough at this level, and new boss Clark needs to bring in quite a few new players if they are to stage a miracle escape from relegation this season, they put in a lot of effort but sometimes that is just not enough and they remain rock bottom  and seven points adrift of second bottom Southend Manor, and with a goal difference of minus eighty now, things get bleaker and bleaker each week.

Full time Sporting Bengal United 0 Takeley 3

Concord Rangers 0 Billericay Town 0

Vanarama National League South, Sunday January 2nd

The first Sunday of the New Year saw me over at Thames Road on Canvey Island for a Vanarama National League South Essex Derby Part Deux between Concord Rangers and Billericay Town although sadly it failed to live up to its billing as the sides played out a drab goalless draw.

These two had met on Boxing Day at New Lodge in rather damp and misty conditions and The Beachboys fought back from a goal down at the break to net a 3-1 win over the ten-man hosts, and since that result Concord had been brought down to earth with a bump after suffering a 3-1 home reverse to strugglers Chelmsford City, whereas Billericay picked up a superb goalless draw at then league leaders Ebbsfleet United.

Coming into this game then Concord sat 12^th in the division, and within touching distance of the play off positions, Billericay despite that terrific result were still bottom of the pile and three points behind second bottom Braintree having played a game more, however they knew a win here against the Beachboys would see them draw level on points as Braintree’s game against Chelmsford had been postponed.

It is often said that two games close together between the same sides rarely go the same way, so could Concord buck that trend and do a quick double over their Essex rivals or could Billericay gain revenge for that Boxing Day loss and build on that awesome result at Ebbsfleet, well let’s find out shall we.

If truth be told, not a lot happened in what turned out to be a fairly poor game, the pitch did not help proceedings, it looked very tired it must be said although considering the amount of rain that had fallen in the last week or two, it wasn’t really a surprise, and that coupled with some poor play from both sides, it wasn’t a recipe for entertainment.

It says a lot when the one of the most exciting things to happen was a lovely rainbow during the first half following some heavy run and then proceeding sunshine, it was a lot brighter than what was being offered on it, any efforts on goal from either side, which were few and far between, were straight at the keepers who had very little to do for the entire game.

One of the only major incidents to occur came seven minutes into the second period when Concord were reduced to ten men after Reid was shown a second yellow for a foul on Stevenson on the far side, and you felt this may give the visitors a boost and hand them a great opportunity to maybe grab a massive three points.

However, it didn’t really change anything, and it was hard to tell one side had a player missing, and the game continued in its rather mundane state, with neither side able to gain control and have a spell of any sort of pressure.

Could anyone nick this contest though? Would we get a goal? It almost happened as in around the 98^th minute and with the final act of the game, Billericay should have won it as a ball into the box bounced around inside the area, and it fell to skipper Chambers six yards out, but he failed to connect with the ball and the home keeper Roberts gladly fell on the ball and smothered it, and that was that.

Concord remain 12^th and only two points off the play-off spots, whilst Billericay grab their second away 0-0 in a week but remain bottom now two points behind second bottom Braintree Town who have two games in hand on them now.

Full time Concord Rangers 0 Billericay Town 0

 

Great Wakering Rovers 1 Barking 1

Isthmian League One North, Saturday 1st January

New Year's Day saw me over at Burroughs Park to see an Isthmian North contest between Great Wakering Rovers and Barking which saw hosts striker Martin Tuohy's header cancel out a Charlie Heatley opener to see this match end all square.

These two sides were sitting just above the relegation play off spot in 17th and 16th respectively, with the visitors two points above their opponents, and with Witham Town, who occupied that relegation play off spot in 18th, just two points behind, a win for either of these sides was paramount.

The hosts form coming into this contest wasn't brilliant, just three points in December out of a possible twelve, although that solitary win did come at Witham Town, a huge result in terms of league positions, but they were beaten 4-1 at home by Aveley last time out, so needed to bounce back in this one that was for sure.

The Blues form in December had not been a lot better, in the five games they had played they had one win, that against bottom side Romford, draws against Brentwood Town and Heybridge Swifts, but defeats against AFC Sudbury and struggling Hullbridge Sports for whom that was only one of two wins all season, so not great for Barking who also needed the points here as said.

This was a pretty important game then down towards the bottom of the division, and a decent crowd of 178 turned out to watch it,  and the majority of the crowd would have been pleased with what they saw in the opening forty five minutes as the hosts asked most of the questions, however, they could not put the ball in the onion bag, which ultimately matters.

This was down to poor finishing, two good stops from Blues keeper James Shaw, and also dogged defending from the visitors, the only real chance Barking had in the opening forty five minutes was a decent one though, when Jess Norey headed a cross wide, but apart from that they were on the back foot for the majority of the opening half, and could count themselves lucky to be level heading into the break.

Could Barking make Rovers pay for those misses in the opening forty five minutes, well nine minutes after the break they struck a hammer blow to their opponents when edging ahead with probably only their second real effort at goal as Heatley managed to get goal side of his marker, shrugged him off to run in on goal, and send a nice finish beyond Tim Brown into the far corner.

Could Wakering respond? Five minutes later we had an answer as after s shirt pull on the far side had resulted in a free kick for the hosts, a decision which the Barking bench were upset about, not sure why as we could all see the shirt pull from where we were, the ball was crossed into the near post where Tuohy was on hand to head home, he had missed a great chance just before that so he had made amends for that at least, and Rovers were back on level terms which was the least they deserved.

Who would go on and win this contest? Wakering probably had the best chance in the remainder of the game but struck wide of the far post from a great position, but the rest of the half was a much more tightly contested affair, much more so than the first period had been at least, but with neither side able to find another goal, it ended up finishing all square and a point a piece for either side. Barking would certainly have been happier with the point, Rovers will be disappointed not to have won it with the amount of chances they created throughout, especially first half.

It all means that Rovers remain 17th, still two points above Witham Town (who also drew today) in that relegation play off position, and seven points above the bottom two, whilst Barking are a further two points ahead and whom climb a place to 15th above Basildon United who lost today.  No doubt many twists and turns to come in the months ahead, Rovers next game is away at Canvey Island on Monday, a very tough assignment that's for sure, whilst Barking take on Hashtag United at home , also on Monday, which is also a tough ask. 

Full time Great Wakering Rovers 1 Barking 1