21/01/2023 – REPORT – Frinton & Walton FC versus Barnston AFC Reserves
CHELMSFORD CITY RACECOURSE
ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE
DIVISION THREE
FRINTON & WALTON FC: 4 BARNSTON AFC RESERVES: 3.
Date: Saturday 21st January 2023. Venue: Frinton Recreation Ground.
Despite “Mr Jack Frost” returning with a vengeance again this weekend, there were eighteen ESBFL matches completed with another sixteen postponed at various stages from Thursday onwards! The League rule states that matches should only be postponed within three hours of scheduled kick-off, and that after an inspection by the Match Official, that said Pitch Owners and local Councils can and do tend to postpone matches earlier. This week I made a first visit this season to a Third Division match, this was down in Frinton, and a venue I had not visited for many seasons, in fact, not since my Club involvement days. The pitch was in perfect condition with the home team having made numerous inspections during the morning as their opponents, Barnston AFC Reserves, had one of the furthest distances to travel, so well done to all concerned. A word of caution for any other team scheduled to play at Frinton, there are significant roadworks, with 4-way traffic lights through Kirby Cross, perhaps seek the alternative route via Kirby-Le-Soken.
Frinton & Walton FC sat in fifth place in the Division but had not played since Saturday 26th November 2022, Barnston AFC Reserves sat seventh having played three matches more, these teams should have met in the Tommy Thomson Cup last week but that has to be re-scheduled by the stressed Fixture Secretary. The afternoon was cold, in the sun it was pleasant, but the chill breeze made it feel colder, some hardy souls stood and watched in T-Shorts or just a fleece, not for me I’m afraid, suitably wrapped up as usual, the referee was Army Referee, Arturo Robinson who would be assisted by respective Club Assistants.
Frinton kicked-off, it was noisy start with players from both teams calling for early decisions in their favour, the volume increased after just over a minute of active play, Spyrou threaded the ball forward, clearing the high Barnston defensive line, BENJAMIN HARTLEY darted forward from half-way and coolly lobbed the back-pedalling keeper, Johnson (L), an excellent start for the home team. Frinton remained lively and threatened again, Johnson (R) fouled Spyrou and was spoken too after twice impeding the tricky midfielder, Payne took the free-kick, but Spyrou fouled Monk (A) who was injured in the process, then Spyrou was fouled again, this time by Johnson (K), again Payne took the free-kick, the ball dipping just over the cross-bar. To me, the match ball seemed flat, a number of players questioned this as well, but the referee deemed it acceptable, just as well, as the home team pump had been broken earlier! Barnston made a player change after just five minutes, Manager, James replaced himself with Scott-Bell who had arrived late, after kick-off. Barnston had bucked the previous defensive duties, not quite “whack-it-out” more like “whack-it-forward” and chase meaning they began to get more forward usually through Johnson (R) and Johnson (K) alongside Armitage.
Already, in these early exchanges, there had been some bite in the tackles, nothing sinister, just good solid tackling from both teams on a surface that was by now, very soft. Spyrou thought he had been fouled through the centre-circle, I had to sympathise this time, but Barnston moved forward with Gibson finding Johnson (R) but he dragged his left-footed effort just wide. Another crunching tackle came from Johnson (K), this time on Sargent whose head collided with an outstretched knee of another player, play was stopped and the injured player received treatment over by the side of the pitch, fortunately Sargent was able to return soon after. From the free-kick play broke to the other end, Armitage dribbled down the left side before crossing inside to RYAN JOHNSON who found the bottom corner of the net to give keeper, Auty no chance to save, game on! With twenty-five minutes gone, Barnston did not hold back, Johnson (R) worked his way down the left side before crossing towards Gibson diving in, but he was fractionally short of connecting on the six-yard line. At this stage the game had been fairly frantic, plenty of aggression in the tackles, no quarter given or taken but both teams had tried to play attacking football. Spyrou, again, skipped down the right side, he was the playmaker for Frinton, along with Payne but good defensive work here by Monk (S).
On thirty minutes a fine run by Sargent saw him reach the goal-line but Monk (A) was on hand to block the cross and Barnston tried to get forward, but it was the home team that capitalised. First time control and forward movement by Dixon saw him pass inside to Spyrou whose cross fell to BENJAMIN HARTLEY who steadied himself before scoring past keeper, Johnson (L). Once again Barnston countered, Johnson (R) led the charge with defender Duce forced to concede a corner, we had not seen many of them so far! Once the corner was cleared, Payne set Spyrou away but his left-footed effort fizzed narrowly wide and the same player took a free-kick just before half-time with the ball flying at pace across the crowded penalty area where nobody could get a touch and the final action of the half saw Armitage set up Johnson (R) who shot straight at keeper, Auty.
HALF-TIME: 2 – 1.
Before the second half restart Barnston replaced Rosewall with Price-Dixon, but it was Frinton who had to clear the ball from their own six-yard line, Monk (A) fouled Spyrou, Duce took the free-kick, it was poor and failed to clear the defensive cordon outside the penalty area. Monk (A) fouled Spyrou, not so much a marked player but certainly one heavily involved for the home team, sometimes annoying so when looking for infringements that were not there! Another attack by Sargent saw his pass reach Spyrou but again the finish from outside the penalty area was dragged wide, voices were again raised as decisions appeared not to go the way of the respective teams, all I can say is that players should take up refereeing! Frinton increased their lead on fifty-three minutes, an error playing out of defence by Monk (A) led to Hartley stealing the ball, run forward to shot at goal, keeper, Johnson (L) dived at full stretch to save but only managed to parry the ball into the path of MILES SARGENT who tapped home from six yards. The brothers Johnson (R & K) set about the response, they set up Armitage whose effort was pushed away for a corner by Duce, Price-Dixon took the corner and there was KYLE JOHNSON at the far post to head home.
The introduction of Price-Dixon for Barnston had certainly added more pace to this game, he was prepared to chase down any ball forward and be a nuisance to the home defence. Johnson (K) fouled Spyrou, must be a totting up issue here, but this time the free-kick from Duce was over-hit and troubled nobody, then Cook fouled Monk (A). On sixty-one minutes White replaced Sargent for Frinton and minutes later Barnston made their third change when replacing Gibson with Jagathesan, the game had not been a classic, as they say, two teams prepared to have a go though. Barnston keeper, Johnson (L) made a fine save from Hartley, seeking a hat-trick, latching on to a pass from Cook but the home player was correctly flagged for being off-side. Barnston pushed forward again, Johnson (R) raced through but home keeper, Auty was well outside his penalty area to clear, play broke to the other end, Barnston were stretched defensively as Keeys set Dixon through, but his shot cannoned back off the post.
When Spyrou pulled back Johnson (K) on he was cautioned and was almost immediately replaced by Mutch, three minutes later Frinton scored their fourth goal, Monk (A) was disposed by BENJAMIN HARTLEY and his shot took a decisive deflection off a defender to loop over keeper, Johnson (L), he will claim a hat-trick but was it an own goal, nobody at Barnston was prepared to say who touched it last! On seventy-seven minutes Frinton made their third change bringing on Wharton for Dixon but Kershaw received a caution for a poor challenge inside the Barnston penalty area. White tested Barnston keeper, Johnson (L) then Hartley missed the target from outside the penalty area, likewise Cook who blazed over minutes later. Frinton introduced Davidson for Cook with eight minutes of normal time remaining, a corner taken by Jagathesan found he head of Monk (A), at the near post, who headed over, looks like there are more goals in this game even at this late stage. Davidson showed some neat footwork on the left side before sending over a teasing cross, but Elliott cleared up field where Kershaw fouled Jagathesan, the free-kick taken by Monk (A) led to a corner. Price-Dixon took the corner, whipping the ball in close to the goal but nothing transpired, Johnson (R) burrowed his way forward against defender Bell, forcing home keeper, Auty into a fine save at the base of the post. With a minute of normal time left, from the resultant corner ALFIE MONK headed home from closer range and thereafter an eight-minute period of added time was declared for teams delaying restarts at free-kicks, throw-ins and goal kicks, come on lads its getting cold now!
FULL TIME: 4 – 3.
Well, that’s entertainment, seven goals, a full-blooded Division Three match, in my opinion Frinton & Walton FC did enough to deserve this victory, Barnston AFC Reserves will rue a couple of defensive errors which led to goals, but take nothing away from both teams efforts.
Now, let’s turn to my “Star Player”, for Barnston, the outfield Johnson brothers work hard and make it difficult for their opposition, Armitage was a good foil, at the back both Monk’, Westall and Elliott defended like their lives depended on it. Turning to Frinton & Walton FC, they sit handily placed in fifth, with a couple of games in hand but there are some important games to come and with experienced players returning the remainder of the season looks rosy. Player wise, in defence Duce and Bell looked solid, in midfield Spyrou, how long can they keep him, Payne, Cook and Sargent worked to provide for Dixon and three goal Hartley who just shades Payne for my Star Player.
Teams:
FRINTON & WALTON FC
Colours: Blue Shirts, Blue Shorts and Blue Socks.
Team:
Darren Auty., Daniel Kershaw., Reuben Keeys., Braidy Payne., Adam Duce., Cameron Bell., Miles Sargent., Connor Cook., Benjamin Hartley (C)., Anthony Spyrou., Patrick Dixon.
Manager: Christopher Halls.
Used Substitutes: Kieran White., Freddie Davidson., Nathan Mutch., Jack Wharton.
Unused Substitute: Christopher Halls.
BARNSTON AFC RESERVES:
Colours: Orange Shirts, Orange Shorts and Orange Socks.
Team:
Luke Johnson., Curtis Elliot., Sam Monk., Alfie Monk., Jamie Rosewall., Richard James., Cameron Gibson., Chay Westall (C)., Edward Armitage., Ryan Johnson., Kyle Johnson.
Manager: Richard James.
Used Substitutes: Alex Scott-Ball., Max Price-Dixon., Zac Jagathesan.
Referee: Arturo Robinson.
Star Player: Benjamin HARTLEY (FRINTON & WALTON FC)
MATCH NOTIFICATIONS
Fixture Secretaries of Clubs are required to notify all match details, date, venue, kick-off time, colours etc, to their opposition and any appointed official/s, at least FIVE days before the match.
KICK-OFF TIMES
January: 14:00pm
February: 14:30pm
March, to end of season: 15:00pm
ESBFL CUP TIES: 30 minutes earlier, if necessary.
ECFA CUP TIES: Kick-Off as advertised.
CUP TIES
There will be NO requirement for “Extra-Time” to be played in ESBFL Cup Matches, if scores are level at the end of “normal time” the match will proceed directly to penalty kicks.
SUBSTITUTES
The ESBFL allows FIVE SUBSTITUTES to be named before kick-off and ALL FIVE may be allowed to participate.
Note:
In Essex County Cups (Premier & Junior) the Rule allows FIVE SUBSTITUTES to be named and those FIVE SUBSTITUTUES may be used on a “Roll-On / Roll-Off” basis.
TEAM SHEETS
Team Sheets should be shown or sent to the Referee and the Opposition team either by text, email etc
The BLUE “League Copy” of the Team Sheet, fully completed, should be sent by First Class Post to reach Mick Willmore by the Thursday after a Saturday match.
This is the ONLY item of correspondence that is required by post.
(Allowances have been made for weeks where “Postal Strikes” have occurred)
RESULTS REPORTING
Rule 21(B)
BOTH Clubs shall notify/SMS the result of each Competition Match to the Competition within 30 minutes of the finish of the match. This will include Football Association and County Football Association matches.
The results of all League and Cup matches in the Competition should be reported by the FA Full-Time “SMS” (text) System.
Failure to comply with this Rule will result in a fine in accordance with the Fines Tariff.
FA FULL-TIME
The Referees marks, team, players, substitutes, goal scorers, red / yellow cards, and sin-bin, etc MUST be entered to “FA Full-Time” by the end of the Tuesday following a Saturday match (ie 48 hours after any match).
Failure to complete “FAFT” correctly and on time WILL incur a League Fine/s.
“MATCH DAY APP”
This “App” is run by the Football Association and if Clubs have any issues on its use, then please refer to ECFA in the first instance.
As a Competition, the ESBFL does not recommend use of the “Match Day App”, it has known faults and any Club using it should check that all details are fully recorded before exiting the application.
A known issue is “Referees Marks” which have habit of dropping off once the team statistics are entered, a number of Clubs have had Fine Warnings and / or Fines for these details being omitted.
DISCIPLINE
Since the start of the season, till the end of September, there have been 30+ players dismissed and nearly 300 cautions, there have also been 7 incidences of misconduct towards players, Match officials, members of the public and county officials.
These are situations the ESBFL Management feel very strongly about, and the statistics make poor reading, the ECFA will deal with all these cases as deemed appropriate but bear in mind these actions can be very costly both for players and your, Clubs.
WHOLE GAME SYSTEM (“WGS”)
All Club Secretaries should check “WGS” on a regular basis, if you don’t, the ECFA levy a fine (25%) for late acknowledgements and payments of fines and the Club could be put into a “SINE-DIE” situation meaning they cannot play until those debts are cleared.
Club Secretaries are also responsible for adding the matches missed by players who have been suspended.
Whilst the ESBFL regularly reviews the whole Club contents on “WGS” it is not their responsibility to monitor failures by Member Clubs to follow basic procedure/s.
REFRESHMENTS
Rule 20A
The Rule {Rule 20(A)} on Page 120 of the ESBFL Handbook states:
Refreshments for BOTH teams and Match Officials MUST be provided by the home Club at half time unless these have been declined before the game.
Clubs in default shall be fined (£15.00).
NB: Whilst the Rule does not actually detail what constitutes “refreshments”, for clarity, it is in the form of drinks, these can be hot, in the form of tea or coffee or cold, eg bottled water, diluted squash or bottled energy drinks are sufficient.
About Post Author
