Month: December 2015
Ryman League Premier: Leatherhead 1 Brentwood Town 0
Brentwood Town suffer another away defeat, as their survival in the Ryman Premier becomes harder after a narrow 1-0 loss at Leatherhead.
Chris Kinnear’s first half strike was the only goal that separated the two sides despite Leatherhead’s dominance throughout the majority of the game.
‘The Blues’ remain 21st in the table and seven points adrift of safety and with scoring only one goal in their last five games, George Borg is still without a win as Town manager.
Borg made one change to his side that drew away at Met Police last week, as Shad Ngandu comes in for Ritchie Jones who suffered a knee injury last week.
Within the opening few seconds of the game Brentwood’s Leon Gordon was already in the book for a strong tackle on Paul Walsh.
Brentwood had the first opportunity 12 minutes in, as Mitch Hahn on the opposite wing kept the ball in-play out wide. He cut it back for Shad Ngandu whose cross was just overhit for Liam Hope.
The home side struck early, as Brentwood did not close down Leatherhead’s men so Kinnear’s shot from just outside the box squirmed its way in off the inside of the post.
Leatherhead almost doubled their lead from a floating free-kick, which was met by the new assistant manager Steve Watt but came off the top of the crossbar.
‘The Tanners’ had another chance to extend their advantage, as Alex Brown found space inside the box but his shot went wide of the target.
In the second half, Leatherhead continued their dominance with another shot from Brown which was deflected off a Brentwood defender to go wide.
From the resulting corner which Kieran Huches-Mason whipped in, was headed again by Watt into the ground and Martyn Guest had to pull off a smart save – to deny the hosts.
Brentwood had sparse opportunity, as Hogan’s free-kick was whipped in low for Jamie Guy to hold up and on the turn his shot was well-held by Captain Louis Wells.
Leatherhead thought they had practically sealed the three points, as a whipped in ball to the far post was almost put in by Phil Anderson but for Guest to claw it off the line.
The home side had a chance to wrap it up in injury time, as Huches-Mason went on the counter-attack for the home side but was palmed away by Guest.
Brentwood threw everything at Leatherhead even resorting to Guest going forward but could not break down ‘The Tanners’, as their revival to get out the relegation zone gets tougher.
Leatherhead Lineup: 1 Louis Wells ©, 2 Adam Cash, 3 Adam Green, 4 Paul Semakula, 5 Steve Watt, 6 Jerry Nnamani, 7 Alex Brown (90), 8 Chris Kinnear, 9 Paul Walsh (59), 10 Kieran Huches-Mason, 11 Kaka Dembele (74)
Substitutes: 12 Tomi Adeloye (59), 14 Josh Callacher, 15 Ryan Mahal (74), 16 Matt Smart (90), 17 Stephen Okoh
Brentwood Town Lineup: 1 Martyn Guest, 2 Leon Gordon, 3 Louis Baucutt, 4 Martyn Stokes ©, 5 Phil Anderson, 6 Nicky Symons, 7 Shad Ngandu (73), 8 Connor Hogan, 9 Liam Hope (45), 19 Jamie Guy, 11 Mitch Hahn (63)
Substitutes: 12 Sherwin Stanley (45), 14 Ryan O’Rawe, 15 Connor Witherspoon, 16 Dwade James (63), 17 Arthur Rodgers (73)
Attendance: 238
Essex Premier progress unbeaten
Essex Premier extended their pole position finish in their final Inter County group match with a healthy 25-15 away victory over Oxfordshire, at the Regal Centre.
Essex were without numerous players including manager Adam Sultana, Barry Hedges, Matt Stifford and Mo Binstead but still stuck to the job at hand – to progress to the knockout stages.
Mitchell Young and Matt Dillon stepped up into the singles with Young getting Essex off the mark after a 14-6 win over Gareth Davies. Dillon found himself behind early on and struggled to get back into the game despite his best efforts lost 15-13.
Chris Coates and Peter Fautley continued their superb partnership with a 14-9 victory over the Oxford pairing skipped by AJ Brown. Babs Morokutti and Keith Paxman tried their best to find a way through Geoff Brown and Dave Wiggins but could not find enough, as they lost 15-10 – to split the session 4-4.
In the second session, the Essex triples had a tough time as Shirley Banner, Alan Kay and Tony Ealham fell to a 13-6 defeat. Also Tony Orpin, Paul Read and Phil Banner went behind and to lose by the same scoreline.
The fours had more fortune, as Del Coates, Rachael Cordy, Steve Killington and Craig Burgess held off the Oxford quartet to win 8-5. Debbie Dillion, Linda Lambert, Paul Bax and Anthony Fautley pulled away towards the end of their game to win comfortably 18-5 – as both sides went into the break level at 8-8.
After the break, Young continued his good start, as he won 20-4. Dillon followed up with a 15-10 win over Davies – to claim the bonus points.
Fautley (Senior) and Coates (Junior) showed their promising partnership, as they won 15-6. Morokutti and Paxman struggled once again against Brown and his counterpart, but Paxman saved the bonus points with his last bowl as they lost 16-7 – to split the points and gave Essex a 17-11 lead.
In the final session, Banner, Kay and Ealham found themselves in more trouble – resorting to damage limitation as they lost 21-6. Orpin, Read and Banner put their first game behind them, as they won 13-6 but unfortunately was not enough to recover the bonus point deficit.
The fours carried on where they left off, as Dillon, Lambert, Bax and Fautley (Junior) held off a late attack from the Oxford four as they won 10-8. Coates (Senior), Cordy, Killington and Burgess also maintained their lead despite a last end gasp, with a 10-8 victory and the bonus points to complete the 25-15 win.
Essex will now await their opponents in the knockout stages, after the festive break in search of their first ICC premier title.
Ratings:
Craig Burgess: 7 1/2 / 10
Matt Dillion: 7/10
Debbie Dillion: 8/10
Mitchell Young: 8/10
Peter Fautley: 8/10
Chris Coates: 8/10
Babs Morokutti: 4/10
Keith Paxman: 4/10
Tony Orpin: 5/10
Paul Read: 5 1/2 /10
Phil Banner: 5 1/2 / 10
Shirley Banner: 3 1/2 /10
Alan Kay: 4/10
Tony Ealham: 4/10
Linda Lambert: 7/10
Paul Bax: 7/10
Anthony Fautley: 7/10
Del Coates: 7/10
Rachael Cordy: 6 1/2 /10
Steve Killington: 7/10
Ryman League Premier: Metropolitan Police 0 Brentwood Town 0
Brentwood Town held on for a resilient point with a 0-0 away draw against mid-tabled Metropolitan Police.
Neither side could break the deadlock in blustery conditions at Imber Court, for Brentwood’s second consecutive draw in the league and move up to 21st in the table.
Brentwood still remain in the relegation zone but reduce the gap to four points behind Hendon, with games in hand.
George Borg made one change to his side that drew at home to Farnborough last week, as Louis Baucutt comes in place of Dwade James who moved to the bench.
Brentwood had to make an early substitution 24 minutes in, as Ritchie Jones had a knee injury and was replaced by the return of Connor Witherspoon.
The first real opportunity of the match came 40 minutes in from the left as Louis Baucutt whipped in ball, was flicked goalwards by Jamie Guy but could not get a good enough connection to steer it on target.
In the second half, Brentwood had to make their second substitution as Captain Martyn Stokes suffered a dead leg and was replaced by Josh Banton.
The Met Police almost broke the deadlock five minutes in, as Joe Turner’s half volley beat Martyn Guest but his volley hit the outside of the post.
The home side had another opportunity on the break, as Captain Billy Crook cut the ball to Will Salmon whose tame shot went wide of the goal.
The Met Police had another glorious chance to open the scoring, as Charlie Collins’ corner was on a plate for Nathan Campbell but he miss-timed his header for Brentwood to clear their lines.
Guest denied the Met Police the lead with 13 minutes remaining, as Leon Smith broke past Banton and his shot was well-saved, to maintain his clean sheet.
The hosts thought they had the lead, after a Collins free-kick took a wicked deflection in the box went up in the air and was heading in but for the top of the crossbar, to deny the home side.
Brentwood held on in the closing stages to move up a place and close the gap on the teams above, who were all defeated.
‘The Blues’ will now look to Tuesday night, to continue their good recent form and host title chasers Wingate and Finchley.
Metropolitan Police Lineup: 1 Craig King, 2 Will Salmon, 3 Ollie Treacher, 4 Billy Crook ©, 5 Jay Lovett, 6 Rob Bartley, 7 Charlie Collins (84), 8 Nathan Campbell, 9 Leon Smith, 10 Ryan James (67), 11 Joe Turner
Substitutes: 12 Elliot Taylor, 14 Steve Sutherland (84), 15 Tom Hickey, 16 Neil Barrett (67), 17 Alex Kozakis
Brentwood Town Lineup: 1 Martyn Guest, 2 Ritchie Jones (24), 3 Louis Baucutt, 4 Martyn Stokes (45), 5 Philip Anderson, 6 Nicky Symons, 7 Leon Gordon, 8 Connor Hogan, 9 Liam Hope, 10 Jamie Guy, 11 Mitch Hahn (75)
Substitutes: 12 Dwade James, 14 Sherwin Stanley (75), 15 Connor Witherspoon (24), 16 Josh Banton (45), 17 Bradley Nobbs
Attendance: 95
Click on the link for a full interview with George Borg:
http://www.phoenixfm.com/2015/12/12/ryman-league-premier-metropolitan-police-0-brentwood-town-0/
Essex Senior Cup Fourth Round: Brentwood Town 3 Bowers and Pitsea 5
Underdogs Bowers and Pitsea progress to the quarter-finals of the Essex Senior Cup with a spirited 5-3 victory away at struggling Ryman Premier side Brentwood Town.
Bowers with now six wins out of their seven games in all competitions, gained a deserved three goal advantage before Brentwood got into the game, as Jack Gardner on his return grabbed a goal along with a Vinny Durrant goal for a 2-0 lead at the break.
An early second half wonder strike from Scott Pethers gave Pitsea a three goal lead, Arthur Rogers goal gave Brentwood a glimmer of hope. A Chris Bryan brace sealed their place in the next round cancelling out a Dwade James goal and a Charlie Portway free-kick.
George Borg kept only five players from his team that drew 1-1 at home to Farnborough with regulars Martyn Guest, Connor Hogan, Mitch Hahn, Dwade James and Nicky Symons starting, mixed with a youthful Brentwood side – with Steve Portway taking charge of Brentwood for the evening.
The Essex Senior side almost took the lead ten minutes in, as Vinny Durrants’ early cross was into the path of Lewis Manor whose shot was superbly parried away by Guest.
Brentwood had their first opportunity, as Connor Hogan bent a free-kick into the box for the unmarked Charlie Portway who headed into the hands of Dylan Skinner.
From the resulting save Bowers went down the other end and capitalised on Brentwood not dealing with their lines, as another dangerous cross caused panic in the box and on his return Gardner turned it in from a tight angle to lead.
Pitsea almost extended their advantage with a set piece in a central position on the edge of the box which Bryan bent goalwards and had to be tipped over the bar by Guest.
A loose ball fell to James on the edge of the box which he struck on target and Skinner spilled the initial shot but collected the loose ball.
The visitors doubled their lead shortly after, as Billy Sendall broke down the far flank and whipped a ball into the far post for the unmarked Durrant to smash into the net.
In the second half Bowers stunned Brentwood only a minute in, as Pethers burst forward from a clearance and struck a shot from 25 yards which went in – with Guest glued to the spot to give the visitors a three goal lead.
Brentwood gave themselves a lifeline four minutes later, as Portway fed in Rogers who coolly tucked in to give Brentwood a fighting chance.
The away side were given a penalty, as Baucutt slid in on Simon-Parsons giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Bryan stepped up and sent Guest the wrong way to restore their three goal lead.
Brentwood got their second virtually from the restart, with Baucutt making up for his miss-timed tackle with a superb ball into James who brought it down and his first time shot beat the keeper to go in off the post.
‘The Blues’ put Bowers under more pressure with two minutes remaining, as Portway’s free-kick bent into the top corner from 20 yards – to give Brentwood a glimmer of hope.
The away side clinched the tie in injury time, as Bryan ran through on goal from the half way line with the Brentwood defence committed and went round Guest and tucked it in to send them in the quarter-finals.
Brentwood Town Lineup: 1 Martyn Guest, 2 Ollie Bell, 3 Louis Baucutt, 4 Josh Banton, 5 Ryan O’Rawe, 6 Connor Hogan, 7 Arthur Rogers (45), 8 Shad Ngandu, 9 Charlie Portway, 10 Dwade James, 11 Nicky Symons ©
Substitutes: 12 John Burgess, 14 Ruben Duarte, 15 Liam Hope, 16 Andrew Freeman (45), GK James Alborough
Bowers and Pitsea: 1 Dylan Skinner, 2 Scott Pethers, 3 Vinny Durrant, 4 Billy Sendall (58), 20 Dan Trenkel, 6 Aaron Waters, 7 Aaron Russell, 8 Jack Gardner, 9 Lewis Manor, 10 Chris Bryan, 11 Alfie Hilton
Substitutes: 12 Julian Simon-Parsons, 14 Tom Hine (58), 15 Jamie Salmon, 16 Rob Whitnell, GK Lewis Godwin-Green
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