22/08/2015 – Coggeshall Town FC versus Gas Recreation FC

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE                  PREMIER DIVISION

 

COGGESHALL TOWN FC:          1.                 GAS RECREATION FC:               5.

 

Date:   Saturday 22^nd August 2015.                         Venue: The Crops, Coggeshall.

 

It’s week two of the new season, it the “V Festival” weekend so a reduced fixture list gave me just nine matches to consider, however the Premier Division clash between Coggeshall Town FC and Gas Recreation FC looked a good prospect. This fixture could be billed as a number of things, the haves and the have not’s, a club looking ahead to higher level football versus one of the leagues strongest teams who, until now at least, have bided their time in the E&SBFL.

 

Much has been said about the new look Coggeshall Town FC facilities and their team, many old faces have moved down the road to Cressing FC but a useful team, at least on paper, took the field against old warriors Gas Recreation FC. They too had new faces in their starting line-up, mainly owing to the enforced absences of club stalwarts Braddon and Murray both on the injured list and Ayling who is suspended. At the start of play many neutral spectators expected a tight game, with both teams expected to feature in the championship race throughout the season.

 

Match Referee for this fixture was Stuart Gillman, returning to the E&SBFL after several seasons in the Thurlow Nunn leagues and who today would be assisted by Anthony Keeble and Keith Succamore. The teams were led out side by side on a pitch looking in excellent condition and once the mandatory “Respect” handshake was observed we were ready for kick-off on a very hot afternoon.

 

The home team kicked off playing towards the clubhouse and from an early stage the long kicks of Walker would be a potential threat to an inexperienced visiting defence with Staines being the first recipient and he ghosted past Webb to set up the first cross of the match. A rare error by Craig in an advanced position for Gas led to a home attack involving four midfield players, until Dillon intercepted with Craig putting pressure on Mensah. When Wheeler fell to the ground holding his back the stretcher was called for and after a lengthy delay Dadds replaced the unfortunate Wheeler, who later revealed the cause as a back spasm, which subsided as he watched from behind the goal. A corner by Taylor was cleared by O’Connell then a free-kick from Taylor flew straight to Walker who started another attack down the right hand side for Coggeshall Town which led to a throw-in. Gilder took the throw which cannoned off West for a corner, taken by Bone but over-hit and the danger passed.

Play was initially waved on when Marangou fouled Clark (L) with play being brought back when possession was lost and allowed the referee to speak to the Gas player. Barnsley, took the free kick finding the head of Blanche whose goal-bound effort was acrobatically cleared by Dadds for a corner. Barnsley took the corner and a firm header from O’Connell tested Caley, rooted to his goal-line then Mensah put in a strong challenge on Craig and with fifteen minutes gone the game was beginning to warm up. Mensah started the next home attack down the left side finding Barnsley whose cross was challenged for by Staines and Webb with the home player getting in a cross that Caley totally missed with Bone retrieving the ball and passing to O’Connell and fellow defender sending rising shot directly to Caley standing just off his goal-line. Firkins a young addition to the Gas starting line-up was then guilty of over-exuberance when chasing back and by fouling Mensah from behind earned the first caution of the game.

Another long clearance from the hands of Walker fell to Blanche with Webb conceding a throw-in and when the long throw from Gilder fell in the six yard box Caley was forced to save low to his right hand side with an ensuing goal-mouth scramble but Gas were not defending set pieces as one would normally expect. Coggeshall continued to press forward, Caley advanced to catch a cross from the right hand side by Gregory then Gilder got in a similar position but the delivery was poor. Then poor defensive distribution from Caley put Webb into trouble on the edge of his penalty area where Barnsley robbed the ball and forced Caley to save low to his right hand side and with Gas not heeding that warning were almost un-done again when Blanche drifted past two defenders only the strike the ball against the right hand upright and surely the first goal was not far away!

On twenty-five minutes that first goal did arrive, Coggeshall worked the ball down the right side, Gilder took the throw-in finding defender MICHAEL O’CONNELL with his back to goal and standing near the penalty spot but despite there being a defender close behind him he executed a fine over-head kick to plant the ball firmly over all other players and the keeper. Gilder was then forced to defend when Dale broke down the left side and when Dale cut inside and entered the penalty area keeper Walker raced out to clear downfield. Most of the free-kicks were going the way of Coggeshall Town as Gas defended desperately with Taylor guilty of a foul on Mensah but the first real talking point was the foul by Barnsley on Springett, a free-kick was given but as they fell to the ground the two players locked boots and following the ensuing tangle, Springett receiving a caution for his reaction to the foul, with West (D), not to be out-done also receiving a yellow card for dissent before play re-commenced.

With ten minutes to go before half-time Bone was fouled by Marangou with Bone blasting the ball high and wide of the target with Blanche drifting wide to receive the ball but generally any Coggeshall attack was causing problems for the Gas defence. A strong run by Dillon almost set up Dale who chose to control rather than hit the first time shot and the chance went begging but this was a rare attack from the visitors. On forty minutes a corner from Craig was cleared as far as Dale but O’Connell go the better of challenge with Gilder and Bone helping their defence. Craig and Taylor linked up with the latter player setting Craig into space but the executed volley was too high and home keeper Walker had only one moment of real first half action when a cross from Webb was held just under the cross-bar whereas his opposite number had kept the score to just one goal.

 

HALF-TIME:       1 – 0

 

There were no changes to players after half-time however Gas had changed their formation but the home team were only one goal up despite having the lion’s share of the first half play whilst restricting the visitors to half chances. With one minute of the second half played Springett moved the ball forward to Dale only for a needless foul to be committed just on the right hand corner of the penalty area, LUKE TAYLOR set the ball up and with his trusty left foot swung the ball goalwards, Dale ducked but his marker, O’Connell could do little else other than nudge the ball past his own keeper with his head for the equaliser. I don’t think any of the watching crowd were expecting that but from this point the game changed dramatically as Gas upped their attacking game which had not been seen at all in the first forty-five minutes. Young player, Webb, put in a great tackle on Barnsley and from his ball forward Taylor tested Walker. Gas skipper Dillon chased all the way back to stop Buckland whilst Taylor again found his touch to play the ball wide to Dale and Coggeshall were suddenly on the back-foot.

Dale and O’Connell had a running battle down the right side with both players being spoken too by the efficient referee, Dale maybe should have scored when running in towards goal but somehow managed to miss the ball with the net gaping, perhaps the closer than usual attention of Mensah was to blame with the watching Gas contingent screaming for a penalty! On the hour mark Coggeshall replaced Bone with Dobrowolski but when keeper Walker advanced to intercept a ball heading towards the unmarked Craig he totally missed his attempt to clear allowing ELDON CRAIG to run on and score, despite Mensah trying to narrow the angle as last defender. Two minutes later and Coggeshall replaced Staines with Monk whilst Gas replaced Firkins with Cant and with the home team seemingly in disarray, Taylor tried a cheeky lobbed effort from inside the centre-circle with Walker way outside his penalty area. The quick thinking of Barnsley almost reduced the arrears when from a quickly taken free-kick, Caley showed his agility by racing across goal to tip the dipping free-kick over the cross-bar. When O’Connell and Craig clashed outside the penalty area it was Dadds who swept up and continue the Gas attack.

Coggeshall made their last substitution with twenty minutes to go replacing Buckland with McCracken only for the home team to quickly concede again three minutes later when a long ball out of the Gas defence fell mid-half where keeper Walker had advanced, however his attempt to control the ball was an unmitigated disaster that allowed ELDON CRAIG to run through unchallenged to score once again. Gas replaced Webb with Barker, another new player and clearly the home team had become frustrated, so dominant in the first half but now a shadow of that performance. Goal number four for Gas came in the seventy-fifth minute a cross from Barker was headed down by Dale to Cant who returned the pass to Dale whose low effort was parried by Walker but straight into the path of ADRIAN CANT who slotted home at the near post. Coggeshall did have the ball in the net with ten minutes to go but the header by Blanche from a Barnsley cross was ruled out for off-side. Gilder was forced to leave the field with a bloody nose having taken a driven shot from Craig full in the face and whilst the defender was being treated Dillon embarked on a surging run from his own half, brushing aside O’Connell before blasting a shot goalwards where Walker pulled off a fine save.

With five minutes remaining a cross from the right wing saw ELDON CRAIG rise to head home at the far post, thus completing his hat-trick and making it five goals for his team. Craig almost scored again latching onto a throw-in taken by Taylor whilst when Coggeshall attacked a move between Dobrowolski and Blanche forced keeper Caley into action then Mensah and Dobrowolski linked up with Caley forced to save from a fine lobbed effort from Barnsley and just to complete a hat-trick of saves Caley denied Gilder who had broken through on his own.

 

FULL TIME:        1 – 5

 

Well, what can you say about that game, definitely a game of the proverbial two halves, Coggeshall Town FC were good value for their first half lead, a period in which Gas had struggled to get going and clearly missing a natural central attacker. So what changed these teams fortunes in the second half as it was a complete reverse, yes an own goal set up an early equaliser, two goal-keeping errors exacerbated the situation but where was the home defence who also seemed to go missing for the last two goals as well! Credit goes to Gas Recreation FC for weathering the first half and for making the second half much more watchable, at least from the perspective of their supporters.

 

This week my Man-of-the Match selection goes to Eldon Craig, always in the mix for tackles to break up play, always looking for a break forward to support the attack as well as score three goals but generally he leads from any position on the field of play.

 

Teams:

 

Coggeshall Town FC:                                         Colours: Red & Black Stripes, Black Shorts and Red Socks

Matthew Walker., Dean Gilder., Abednego Mensah., Luke Clark (C)., James Gregory., Michael O’Connell., Matthew Staines., Jacob Buckland., Toby Blanche., Ben Barnsley., Rory Bone.

 

Manager:                        Graham Smith.

Used Substitutes:             Kane Dobrowolski., Tom Monk., Joseph McCracken.

Unused Substitutes:         John Pollard., Daniel Clark.

 

Gas Recreation FC:                                            Colours: All Orange

Ryan Caley., Craig Minter., Dean West., Michael Wheeler., Jack Webb., Reife Marangou., Eldon Craig., Luke Taylor., Josh Dillon (C)., Asten Firkins., Ryan Dale.

 

Assistant Manager:           Jay West.

Used Substitutes:             Liam Dads., Adrian Cant., Jay Barker.

 

 

Referee:                        Stuart Gillman                 (Wivenhoe).

Assistants:                      Anthony Keeble               (Witham)

&          Keith Succamore              (Witham)

 

Man of the Match:          Eldon CRAIG                    (GAS RECREATION FC)