04/04/2026 – REPORT – Rayne FC versus Tollesbury FC

ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE

DIVISION FOUR.

RAYNE FC.      6.         TOLLESBURY FC:        1.        

Date:   04^th April 2026.                                              Venue: Rayne Playing Fields, Rayne.

            For the third week running, its Division Four, I’d not visited Rayne before and as a new Club in the ESBFL this season I thought I’d pay them a visit, the home team sat fifth whilst Tollesbury sat ninth, I have to say the village team are making big efforts, the pitch looks good, new nets, new dug-outs and advertising hoardings on one side and a Respect barrier on the other, there were even a dozen or so spectators!

            Today’s Match Official was Adam Mehmet, who would be assisted by Club Assistants, only one caution otherwise a relatively easy game to officiate.

            Rayne kicked off playing up the slight slope and against the fresh breeze, they lost possession and this allowed Tollesbury to attack with Frost gaining a corner off Wood, taken by Eaglestone to the far post where veteran Jones, the oldest and shortest player on the pitch rose to head the ball wide! Eaglestone then took a throw-in, Wood misjudged his headed clearance which was intercepted by Page who ran through only to be thwarted by keeper, Priestley who saved with his feet, Wood helped the ball away and the home team pushed forward until Krywoszej fouled Jones. Page, for Tollesbury used his pace down the left side but the home defence stood firm with Meader and Wood prominent in central defence, Page then took aim from outside the penalty area, but the effort flew well over the crossbar. After the early flourish from Tollesbury, it was Rayne who took control and on twelve minutes, Calvert clipped the ball over the top of the Tollesbury defence which allowed LUKE ROGERS to run through and score. Buoyed by that goal, Rayne through Tighe, Wiles and Rogers pulled the Tollesbury to the left side, but Tollesbury countered with Trussler and Page interchanging passes before Frost was set up for a shot that flew past the left hand upright.

            A cross from Calvert was fielded by keeper, Chisholm then Rogers fouled Sage, then as play remained open, Rush played the ball through to Calvert who collided with the out-rushing keeper, Chisholm, Calvert required treatment but was okay to continue and a drop ball re-started proceedings. Wiles looked dangerous down the right side for the home team, he passed to Rush who found Rogers who shot wide. Jones fouled O’Neill and was spoken too, I see it still happens when he plays, fully committed as always, from the free kick Wiles thought he had sent Rogers through, but the off-side flag was raised. Trussler gained a corner off Tighe, taken by Trussler but the ball failed to reach the near post and Rayne set up an attack started by Wiles. Rush and Wiles moved down the right side, but Sage intercepted the pass and sent the ball long to BEN FROST who glided between two defenders before sending a fine volley over the head of keeper, Priestley and into the back of the net for an equaliser, no more than they deserved at this stage.

            Rogers was shown a yellow card for a high foot when keeper, Chisholm came to claim a bouncing ball, the keeper needed treatment but was able to continue, the game had so far been played in a fine spirit, Tollesbury were defending well but Rayne looked dangerous whenever they got the ball forward. Veteran player, Hill, blocked off Tighe at the expense of a corner, Tighe took the corner towards the near post where JAMES MARSHALL on forty-two minutes, stabbed the ball home as the Tollesbury defence stood watching! Tollesbury were often caught on the ball by the eager players from Rayne, but when they made a foray forward through Page, Meader was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area, it was later explained that Meader had chested the ball out of the penalty area but then handled it when outside, from the free kick, Page sent a low dipping free kick over the two man defensive wall and into he arms of keeper, Priestley, diving low down at his near post.

HALF-TIME:    2 – 1.

            With no changes to playing personnel, it was Tollesbury who kicked off, the second half, now playing up the slope and against the breeze, it could be a testing half for the visitors! Rogers gave chase to a long clearance from keeper, Priestley, Hill headed clear and Page embarked on a fine solo run down the left side and only he outstretched foot of keeper, Priestley saved a goal. Rush fouled Jones inside the centre-circle, Jones played the free kick to Frost who volleyed the ball over the cross bar, play switched to the other end and Rush volleyed the ball straight to keeper, Chisholm, end-to-end so far this half but Tollesbury were still having trouble clearing the ball effectively. When Hill went down with a calf injury, he was substituted with Penson taking his place numerically, this meant Frost had to drop back into defence. Sage stopped Wiles, conceding a corner, taken by Calvert but struck too long where Frost headed clear. A poor back-pass by Frost to keeper, Chisholm, almost caught the keeper out, his shinned clearance fell to Rogers who could not capitalise.

            On the sixty minutes mark, when Rush strode out of his defence his forward pass was too long for Rogers to chase, a bit of frustration was creeping in as the Rayne dominance had not seen any further goals. Tollesbury made their second change with Mawhood limping off to be replaced by player-manager, Bentley-Griggs who had just flown home from holiday on the morning of the match, that’s dedication for you! Page thought he should have had a free kick for a tackle made by Wood, Krywoszej sent another aimless ball forward then a shot from Rush hit Frost in the chest near the penalty spot, never a penalty! Wiles took on Sage down the right side, moving inside, then outside, to get past the defender, his eventual cross was low and hard but here was nobody from his team inside the penalty area to score. Page, for Tollesbury had shown the most promise from his flagging team and another run forward was once again stopped by a robust challenge from Wood, the same happened a few minutes later, this time the challenge was well timed. Wiles had shown much promise for Rayne, his driving runs down the right side were pulling the visitors defence all over the pitch, he found Rogers who set up Rush whose shot was blocked by Frost. On seventy minutes Rayne made a double substitution, removing Marshall (J) and O’Neill and sending on Hallinan and Rosewall, the latter, for his first game for the Club.

            With seventeen minutes remaining, Rayne increased their lead, a cross from Hallinan was met by FREDDIE CALVERT running unmarked inside the six-yard box, five minutes later with the home team, looking to push home their advantage LEWIS WILES scored the goal he deserved, running through to score with ease. Three more home team substitutions were made, why not, three goals to one up, against a tiring team, so on went Smith, Ford and Marshall (L) in place of Meader, Rush and Krywoszej. On eighty minutes, poor defending between keeper, Chisholm and defender Sage set up LUKE ROGERS for his second goal, his teams fifth, and the final goal came on eighty-two minutes when Rogers found space on the left side and sent in a fine cross from which LEWIS WILES side-footed his second goal, that’s four goals inside nine minutes. A further six minutes of added time were played with Tollesbury very much on the defensive as Rayne pushed for more goals as they try to finish their first season in a high position.

FULL TIME:     6 – 1.

            I suppose the result was never really in doubt after the half-time break, Tollesbury had numerous players missing, I hear this every week, but I know the players who were mentioned and they would normally be regulars, today, those that played tried hard but Rayne, a much younger, well organised team, asked all the questions and scored four late goals, after the match I heard a comment, “we made hard work of that”, and that was true.

Turning to my choice of Star player, Wiles for Rayne stood out, a willing runner, good feet, good crossing ability and he scored twice.

Teams:

RAYNE FC.

Colours:                        Red Shirts, Black Shorts and Black Socks.

Team:

Luke Priestley., Jacob Marshall., Ethan Meader., Lewis Wood., Hayden Rush., Scott O’Neill., Freddie Calvert., Luke Rogers., George Tighe., Harley Krywoszej., Lewis Wiles.

Manager:                      Nic Crussell.

Used Substitutes:          Cory Hallinan., Billy Smith., Louie Ford., Conor Rosewall., Leo Marshall.

TOLLESBURY FC:

Colours:                        Green Shirts, Green Shorts and White Socks.

Team:

Reece Chisholm., John Hill., Jack Eaglestone., Noah Sage., Ryan Trussler., Nathan Jones., harry page., Ben Frost., Liam McIntosh., Benjamin Mawhood., Toby Foster.

Manager:                      Benjamin Bentley-Grigg.

Used Substitutes:          Benjamin Bentley-Grigg., Alfie Penson.

Unused Substitutes:      Frankie Beedon.

MATCH OFFICIAL:

Referee:                       Adam Mehmet.

STAR PLAYER:            Lewis WILES                          (RAYNE FC)