22/11/2025 – REPORT – Ramsey & Mistley FC versus Frinton & Walton FC Reserves

ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

DIVISION FOUR

RAMSEY & MISTLEY FC.        1.         FRINTON & WALTON FC RESERVES.             4.           

Date:   22/11/2025.                                      Venue: SHRUBLANDS RISE, FURZE HILL, MISTLEY.

            There is never a dull moment in grassroots football, the heavy rain and frosty conditions last week were expected to have caused mass postponements, by Saturday only four matches had been cancelled, these by a local council, as early as Thursday, which to me was far too early, as Friday was a glorious day. As readers know, I no longer have any team affiliation, so I travel around ESBFL matches and write a match report, last week it was a Division Three match, very entertaining it was as well. This week, Division Four, league leaders, Frinton & Walton Reserves, in their first season since rejoining their first team in the ESBFL, were playing fourth placed Ramsey & Mistley, I hoped for another close game, given their respective current form.

            Saturday, on a cold, wet, and windy afternoon the Match Official was Paul Sadler who was assisted by Club Assistant Referees, their honesty counts and again this week, standards were upheld. The pitch, despite a marked slope was perfectly playable but I do sometimes question players choice of football boots, fancy colours do nothing for me, neither in my view, do those dangerous skinny shin pads, might look fashionable but do they protect the shins, I’ve read that some Clubs have banned them at youth and adult levels!

            Frinton & Walton kicked off, Lovesee dived into a challenge on Chohan, who then did the same on Thorpe, both teams seemed in a hurry in these opening exchanges, the ball appeared to be under inflated but it was probably the ground conditions that masked its true quality, good to see plenty of match balls available to use on the sidelines, the ball can go a long way at this ground! Home captain, Halls, a former manager of Frinton & Walton, First Team was quickly into a challenge on Keen, Auty took the free kick and home keeper, Rixon (Bra) initially dropped the slippery ball, but regained possession before any player could capitalise. The first corner, went to Frinton & Walton Reserves, taken by Daniels, a second corner followed, this time taken by Dean, as the ball was cleared, Halls committed a foul, a fairly obvious push in the back, from the free kick Dean rifled a shot goalwards, keeper, Rixon (Bra) who parried the wet ball which was cleared away for throw in. From the resulting throw in, taken by Dean, the ball was flicked on, as it bounced up ALFIE KEEN reacted quickest to head the ball over keeper, Rixon (Bra) and into the net. When play resumed, a long clearance from keeper, Rixon (Bra) cleared the visitors defensive line, Cook ran on but could not reach the ball before visiting keeper, Bennington cleared.

            Robinson fouled Bryne through midfield, Rixon (Bro) took the free kick but it flew straight to keeper, Bennington, from his clearance Bryne fouled Thorpe, from the free kick taken by Keen, the ball hit the four man defensive wall, Ramsey & Mistley broke away through Garlick, from a pass from Halls, but keeper, Bennington saved with bis feet. From the corner taken by Garlick, keeper, Bennington punched the ball clear, Cook headed the loose ball against the crossbar and from the resulting scramble CHRISTOHER HALLS headed the ball home from a couple of yards out. Ramsey & Mistley, buoyed by this goal pushed forward again, Cook was denied by keeper, Bennington, who was yards outside his penalty area when he cleared up field, leading to Edwards, diving into a challenge on Robinson on the halfway line, again the home defence cleared the ball forward. When keeper, Rixon (Bra) made a save at the near post, a corner followed, taken left footed, by Daniels, the ball curled out of play over the goal, Frinton & Walton were on the front foot again when a shot from Thorpe hit his own player, Hockey, and bounced away for a goal kick, soon after, Hockey tried to make amends but his long range effort from near the halfway line drifted well wide.

            Lovesee, fouled Cook just outside the penalty area, Edwards took the free kick which keeper Bennington held at the second attempt, Edwards had shown some useful touches so far, so when he broke through, the goal beckoned, he rounded the advancing keeper, Bennington, but placed the ball wide of the gaping net, a big miss! Another forward ball played by Bryne was cleared by Lovesee, conditions underfoot had deteriorated and a few players were slipping over, the match official making sensible allowances for those conditions when challenges were made. Hockey had a another shot from distance, keeper, Rixon (Bra) caught the ball at the second attempt, is this a trend! Edwards was spoken too by the match official after a challenge on Auty, Auty took the free kick, Rixon (Bro) headed clear, but only to O’Brien who lashed the ball over the crossbar. As this evenly fought first half came to an end, Hockey fouled Halls, and Eagle did well when defending against Dean down the left side.

HALF-TIME:    1 – 1.

            Ramsey & Mistley restarted this evenly contested match, they had the wind behind them and the advantage of the slope, but they lost possession to easily, which allowed Thorpe to have a shot which keeper, Rixon (Bra) saved on his goal-line, his clearance bounced once before his opposite number, Bennington fielded the ball near the penalty spot. The home team had defended well so far, Lucitt, put in a fine tackle to stop leading scorer, O’Brien, from the next attack, Edwards sent in a low shot that keeper, Bennington saved low down to his right side, the ball was cleared out for a throw in by Auty, taken by Edwards, but sent out for a corner by Robinson, from the corner, Edwards sent in a teasing curling ball that struck the top of he crossbar leading to a goal kick. Cook lost out on a chase for the ball with Lovesee, when Edwards picked up a misplaced pass he was pushed in the back by Auty just outside the penalty area, the free kick was thrashed out of play. The game remained end-to-end, keeper, Rixon (Bra) saved from Dean and Cook just lost out on a long chase towards keeper, Bennington. Halls controlled a forward pass, then tried his luck with a volley from twenty-five yards out, the ball was off target, but worth an effort with the keeper off his goal line. Edwards headed wide when he chased down a high bouncing ball lifting the ball over the advancing keeper but wide of the goal and on fifty-five minutes Frinton & Walton Reserves replaced Lovesee with Lock.

            The visitors took the lead just before the hour mark, a free kick taken by Keen was headed up in the air by Lake, as the ball dropped, Thorpe had a shot which keeper, Rixon (Bra) saved at the expense of a corner, this was taken short, but as the low cross was sent in, HARVEY O’BRIEN rammed the ball home at the far post and as the visitors celebrated, Keen was spoken too by the match official for an inappropriate outburst! Frinton & Walton Reserves perhaps sensed that the home team would drop their heads and pushed forward again leading to Thorpe having a shot that flew wide. On sixty-three minutes the home team made their first change, off went Lake with England taking his place in midfield, a long clearance from Rixon (Bro) saw Cook give chase, once again, visiting keeper, Bennington, with good anticipation, got to the ball first. Home keeper, Rixon (Bra) made another fine save, this time from O’Brien, a corner followed, taken by Hockey, Eagle headed clear from under the crossbar, and the home team worked their way forward to gain a throw in. Edwards took the throw in, Halls flicked the ball on, but Cook, leaning back, smashed the loose ball against the crossbar and a goal kick followed.

            Hockey was fouled by Edwards, a player, never too far away from the action, Ramsey & Mistley defended this free kick with Eagle exchanging passes with Bryne before Halls was tackled by Hockey, conceding a corner, comfortably cleared away by Hockey. This clearance led to a foul at the other end by Lucitt on O’Brien, so with ten minutes remaining, two substitutions took place, on went Cooper for Garlick for the home team with Tomkinson replacing Thorpe for the visitors. When the match restarted, with that free kick, Dean rifled the ball goalwards, again, keeper, Rixon (Bra) made another great save diving high to his right side. On eighty-two minutes, more player changes, Almas replaced Cook for Ramsey & Mistley and Daniels was replaced by Burrell for Frinton & Walton Reserves. Bryne played a fine ball through the visitors, defensive line, there was Edwards using his pace to outstrip everyone to round keeper, Bennington but again he missed the open goal, such a shame as a goal at this point of the game, might have meant a point apiece which to me was about right! In the dying minutes, Frinton & Walton Reserves scored again through HARVEY O’BRIEN who ended a fine attacking move from midfield then as the home defence dithered over a loose ball, CHAD DEAN ran through to score the fourth goal.

FULL TIME:     1 – 4.

            Forget the scoreline, which to me does not reflect the true pattern of play, Frinton & Walton Reserves took their chances whereas Ramsey & Mistley missed open goals and struck the woodwork at last three times! Both teams tried to play attacking football, the conditions were not ideal, but they all acclimatised very quickly and got stuck in, there were no cautions and very little dissent of note, you see, it can be done!

Turning to my choice of Star player, for Frinton & Walton Reserves, in O’Brien and Dean they have a lethal strike force, backed up by an attacking midfield, defensively Auty and captain Hockey were strong and generally gave little away, a good team effort as well. For Ramsey & Mistley, they worked hard, defender Rixon (Bro) stuck to his task and encouraged his defensive partners, up front both Cook and more so Edwards could and should have scored goals, it’s about taking chances, which were missed. Let’s not forget, young keeper Rixon (Bra) who made numerous saves to keep the score line respectable, those two late goals, like the two scored earlier were not his fault, more a case of a team taking those chances created.

Teams:

RAMSEY & MISTLEY FC:

Colours:                        Red Shirts, Black Shorts and Red Socks.

Team:

Brandon Rixon., Brooklyn Rixon., Riley Chohan., Christopher Halls (C)., Jamie Cook., Rema Eagle., Charlie Lake., Dan Edwards., Shane Lucitt., Luke Bryne., Lewis Garlick.

Manager:                      Charlene Rixon.

Used Substitutes:          George England., Darrion Cooper., Martin Almas.

Unused Substitutes:      Jack Fairclough.

FRINTON & WALTON FC       

Colours:                        Royal Blue Shirts, Royal Blue Shorts and Royal Blue Socks.

Team:

Eddward Bennington., Evan Lovesee., Toby Hockey (C)., Darren Auty., Harvey Box., Alfie Keem., Toby Robinson., William Thorpe., Marcus Daniels., Chad Dean., Harvey O’Brien.

Manager:                      Andrew Hockey.

Used Substitutes:          Lenny Locke., Rhys Burrell., Aaron Tomkinson.

Unused Substitutes:      Freddie Davidson., Reece Doe.

MATCH OFFICIALS:

Referee:                       Paul Sadler.

STAR PLAYER:            Brandon RIXON                     (RAMSEY & MISTLEY FC)