FA INTER-LEAGUE CUP – RESULT: HERTS SENIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE (2) ESBFL (0) (H-T 1-0)
FA INTER-LEAGUE CUP – Round 3.
HERTS SENIOR COUNTY FOOTBALL LEAGUE. 2.
ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE. 0.
Date: Saturday 17th February 2024. Venue: Harpenden Town FC.
This season the Competition has seen the return of the FA Inter-League Cup for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign, with Leagues from Step 5 and 6 invited to enter their representative teams in the Competition. There is also the added, bonus of this season’s winners going on to represent England in the UEFA Regions Cup. The competition is strictly for amateur players who have never been under a written professional contract and who are aged under forty years old and over eighteen years old.
After the original draw for the Competition, possibly regionalised, had seen the ESBFL drawn away to our near neighbours, the Essex Olympian Football League and on the day the EOFL won by three goals to two. However, it transpired that the EOFL had played two players who were underage and the Second Round, tie was awarded to the ESBFL, which meant that following the draw the ESBFL were reinstated and drawn against the Herts Senior County Football League (HSFL).
Once again, Felixstowe Travel provided the coach to take the players and Management Committee to Harpenden Town FC, the weather was much warmer although a stiff breeze was blowing down the pitch, a new 3G pitch, however, the changing facilities were tight for even a reduced squad, where you can name seven substitutes but only use three, “roll-on / roll-off substitutions are not allowed and neither are “sin-bins”!
The FA appointed Match Officials were Jamie Stevenson, recently promoted to Level Three and he would be assisted by Matthew Paul and Chris Walton, once again in a keenly contested match their job was made easy by the players excellent attitudes, but there were a number, of cautions issued.
The Respect Handshake was held at the pitch entrance and the HSFL kicked-off, Vaughan picked up a loose pass, he found Sauka down the right side and from Blanchett the ball fell kindly with keeper, Freeman. Griffiths ran at Long, quick feet on the dribble and plenty of pace but, Long, stuck to his task to concede a throw-in, from which Abagnale leant back and put the ball into the car park. From the goal-kick, Swain headed forward to Griffiths, whose, cross from the right was fielded by keeper, Weller, from his clearance Thomson played the ball wide to Vaughan whose cross eluded Swain but Blanchett fired over from just outside the penalty area. The HSFL had picked up the pace of the game, and through Kacy on the left side were beginning to cause problems and kept possession, keeper, Weller fielded a through ball and sent it downfield towards Thomson who gave chase, but Chapman (M) covered his defence. The game was effectively now a midfield battle, two fairly-evenly, matched teams, both had tall players in strategic positions and thus were cancelling each other out. The ball, or several of them had been cleared out of the ground and a couple needed pumping up as players from both teams questioned if there was enough air in them! Sauka chased forward but keeper, Freeman was quickly out to the edge of his penalty area to gather the ball and from his long, wind-assisted clearance Griffiths was tackled by Long, conceding a corner. On eleven minutes, the quickly taken corner was taken short by Henry, to Griffiths who played the ball back to KACI HENRY, now whether he intended the low shot or whether a cross was intended, only he knows, but it totally deceived keeper, Weller and a flat-footed defence and the ball crept in off the inside of the near post. The HSFL pushed forward again, and good link up play between Blunden, Hutchings and Henry found the forward in space between Burch and Baker (C) but keeper, Weller made a fine save advancing to narrow the angle of approach.
That was a frantic first fifteen minutes, the HSFL had been quicker to the ball and made better use of it when in possession, that said the ESBFL were defending well and trying to build out of defence but the ball into the final third was lacking accuracy and the HSFL came away with the ball again. Abagnale found Henry and then Blunden received the ball in space, he turned and shot goalwards, again keeper, Weller was well placed to save with his feet. Once again Griffiths used his pace to break out of defence, thirty yards were gained before he found Abagnale but he fouled Hodgson on the centre-circle, from the free-kick taken by Long, he found Burch who gained a throw-in, from this Daly ran around a couple of defenders and sent in a shot which was handled, the referee pointed to the spot, a penalty to the ESBFL, unfortunately Blanchetts weak left-footed kick was saved by keeper, Freeman diving to his right side. Kacy, a trickly player chipped the ball over Hodgson, but Vaughan was on hand to clear and the ESBFL broke down the right side with Sauka, who was beaten to the ball by Chapman (C). Baker (C) passed out to Daly but his pass to Thomson was under-hit, keeper, Weller sent the ball long to Sauka, a throw-in from Vaughan also found Sauka, Blanchett and Hodgson then combined before keeper, Freeman clutched the ball out of the air. The ESBFL long ball tactic was not helped by the strong breeze blowing in their faces, Henry for the HSFL was their playmaker, always looking for Griffiths running down the right side, keeper, Weller did get a long ball forward to Blanchett, but keeper Freeman was quickest to the bouncing ball. Vaughan played another ball through midfield to Sauka, he found Hodgson whose jump for the ball was beaten by that of keeper Freeman, once again equal to the task with a slight suspicion of a back-pass in the movement of the ball off a defender.
Half-an-hour has gone by quickly, Blanchett passed to Daly who moved inside then out before Blanchett received the ball back, but his effort was scuffed, Milburn picked up another poor clearance and worked the ball wide to Daly, his pass inside was met by Long whose effort deflected off a defender, hitting the outside of the left-hand post and bouncing away for a corner. Vaughan was seeing plenty of the ball, either marking Henry or getting forward to find Blanchett and Sauka gave chase, but poor control let him down. Another long clearance from keeper, Freeman fell to Griffiths, he rounded Long but hit the back to the goal stanchion and when the ball did get cleared Blanchett was adjudged to have fouled Akinbulumo, from this free-kick the HSFL broke forward and keeper, Weller made another fine save to deny Henry. Griffiths put in a fine cross, but Burch nodded the ball back to his keeper, Weller who then had to save from Hutchings. Abdulle fouled Thomson on the half-way line then Hutchings fouled Milburn, possession was lost from the free-kick and Griffiths ran sixty yards with the ball before passing to Abagnale who shot wide and really the score-line should have read two goals for the HSFL. Long and Griffiths faced up, once again the ESBFL did well but conceded a corner, this was cleared and the ESBFL gained one themselves at the other end, taken by Sauka, but headed clear by Akinbulumo but only to Daly who made a fine run and dribble across the edge of the penalty area before crossing into the six-yard box where keeper, Freeman held the ball unchallenged, its that final ball problem again! Vaughan made a rash attempt at a challenge on Griffiths, no contact was made and strangely no foul was given, Abagnale found some space moving onto an astute pass from Henry, and in a one-on-one situation Burch came out on top with the first half finishing.
HALF-TIME: 1 – 0.
The ESBFL restarted this close match, that penalty miss might be rued later, unless they can score from open play, Burch sent the ball long to Sauka, defender Chapman (C) was beaten but keeper, Freeman had to head clear and from his clearance Long snatched at his shot to fire over the crossbar. Hodgson, Milburn, and Thomson had a spell on the ball, but the HSFL stepped in to stop that approach and moved the ball around quickly themselves. On fifty minutes Baker (K) replaced Blanchett, Baker (K) was immediately caught offside, Sauka sent Vaughan away on the overlap, he found Thomson running in near the near post, but Chapman (C) was on hand to clear the ball out for a throw-in. Keeper, Weller advanced to thwart Abagnale who was injured in the process, and from his throw-out Vaughan lost possession and when attempting to regain the ball, dived into a challenge on the far touch line to earn the first caution of the match. On sixty minutes the ESBFL took off Long and brought on Hunt, and the HSFL replaced Abdule with Gyabaah.
Keeper, Weller, with the wind now behind him sent the ball long to Daly, he moved inside onto his right foot before crossing towards Baker (K) but Chapman (M) blocked the goal-bound effort. Keeper, Freeman, punched away a cross from Vaughan, Milburn picked up the ball, finding Sauka who forced a corner, taken by Sauka with Hutchings and Burch clashing inside the six-yard box with the home player requiring treatment. Milburn won another midfield tackle to find Thomson who was fouled just outside the penalty area by Akinbulumo, Baker (C), Milburn and Daly stood over the ball before Daly struck a curling effort just over the crossbar. The HSFL broke quickly on sixty-five minutes, Henry found Blunden before Abagnale found space, only to be denied by another fine save by keeper, Weller. The second caution of the match went against Chapman (C) for the HSFL, this for a foul on Daly, Sauka, took the free-kick curling the ball right-footed towards Burch and Baker (C) who were challenging keeper, Freeman who sustained an injury. On seventy minutes, Hodgson was replaced by Makanjuola and almost immediately the HSFL scored their second goal, with the ball not cleared effectively, Griffiths found space got around Hunt and played the ball inside to CHRIS BLUNDEN who ran between Burch and Baker (C) and this time he made no mistake placing the ball past the advancing keeper, Weller.
Chapman (M) won a throw-in off Burch, Baker (K) sent the ball wide to Makanjuola and from his pass inside towards Sauka, the ball ran quickly to, keeper, Freeman, a better approach from the ESBFL though. On seventy-five minutes, the injured Hutchings was helped off to be replaced by Pinto, Baker (K) was cautioned for persistent fouling of Chapman (C) down by the corner flag, bit harsh I thought, but what do I know! Abagnale fouled Baker (K) in midfield, keeper, Weller took the free-kick, Akinbulumo headed clear and with most ESBFL players up for the free-kick, Hunt was cautioned for disrupting the quick break by the HSFL. Burch chased back against Henry but injured himself when making the tackle, further treatment was required as the player had led with his left foot to make the tackle, rather than the orthodox right foot! Hunt fouled Chapman (M) Henry took the free-kick headed away by Milburn and then cleared forward to Sauka who was caught off-side. Pinto had the ball in the ESBFL net, but he rightly was flagged offside, Vaughan made a fine tackle on Griffiths, sending the ball long to Sauka who did not like the tackle made on him, showing some dissent and was summarily cautioned. With the game now in added-time the HSFL made a final change replacing Abagnale with Wallace, and the ESBFL mounted a final flourish, Vaughan, started the move, Burch joined in, finding Milburn whose cross found Makanjuola but keeper, Freeman was comfortable with that final save, game over.
FULL TIME: 2 – 0.
This was a tough game for all concerned, the HSFL had won through on penalties in the second round, this against a team the ESBFL had gone out to when the last competition was held, so today was clearly going to be a hard game. Beforehand, the ESBFL Management and players were confident they had a good team and the new camaraderie shown on the coach on the way to the match gave everyone hope, sadly the HSFL proved to be a very useful team who like the ESBFL had chosen players from just a handful of their top teams.
Congratulations to the HSFL who move forward to the semi-final, with their opposition still be notified once the draw takes place, probably, next week and we thank them for their hospitality on the day.
The ESBFL, Management Committee and Acting Team Manager, Keiron Baker, in the absence of Danny Laws, would like to thank all the ESBFL players involved and to their respective Clubs for allowing them to play, more friendlies are expected to be played in the future.
Teams:
HERTS SENIOR COUNTY FOOTBALL LEAGUE:
Colours: Yellow Shirts, Blue Shorts & Yellow Socks
Team:
Connor Freeman Belstone FC.
Matthew Chapman Chipperfield Corinthians FC.
Connor Chapman Chipperfield Corinthians FC.
Hamza Abdulle Bush Hill Rangers FC.
Tuoyo Akinbulumo Belstone FC. (Captain)
Mitchell Swain Belstone FC.
Louie Griffiths Chipperfield Corinthians FC.
Samuel Hutchings Chipperfield Corinthians FC.
Chris Blunden Belstone FC.
Claudio Abagnale Bush Hill Rangers FC.
Kaci Henry Belstone FC.
Manager: Scott Patmore.
Coach: Dean Seabrook.
Physio: Lee Maddison.
Used Substitutes:
Johnny Gyabaah Belstone FC.
Daniel Pinto Bush Hill Rangers FC.
Gary Wallace Chipperfield Corinthians.
Unused Substitutes:
James Henney Bushey Rangers FC.
Dean Brinton Everett Rovers FC.
ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE:
Colours: Red Shirts, White Shorts and Red Socks.
Team:
Rob Weller (G/K) Colne Athletic FC.
Jake Vaughan Great Bentley FC.
James Long Silver End United FC.
Jack Burch Colne Athletic FC.
Conrad Baker Brightlingsea Town FC. (Captain)
Keelan Milburn Colne Athletic FC.
Quinton Daly Colne Athletic FC.
Henry Hodgson Silver End United FC.
Ashley Sauka Brightlingsea Town FC.
Lewis Blanchet Colne Athletic FC.
Charlie Thomson Tiptree Heath FC.
Acting Manager: Keiron Baker.
Coach Matthew Hill.
Physio: Joshua Leggatt
Used Substitutes:
Keiron Baker Brightlingsea Town FC.
Callum Hunt Tiptree Heath FC.
Abiola Makunjuola Silver End United FC.
Unused Substitutes:
Regan Farley-Hearn White Notley FC
Referee: Jamie Stevenson (L3).
Assistant Referees: Matthew Paul and Chris Walton.
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The semi-final is scheduled for Saturday 23 March 2024, with the provisional date for the Final being Sunday 4 May 2024.
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