Essex Senior League Cup
Tuesday 4th October 2005
	London APSA	1 - 2	AFC Hornchurch
D Cowley (og) 74'		H/T 0-1 Att: ca130	Burbridge 7', 61' (pen)

Match Highlights

London APSA

AFC Hornchurch

	7	GOAL - Burbridge
	30	BOOKED - Cowley
Choudhury - BOOKED	40
Shah - OFF Pain - ON	54
	61	GOAL - Burbrige (pen)
	67	OFF - BurbridgeON - Drake
Save - OFF Banda - ON	70	OFF - Pamplin ON - Perry
D Cowley (og) - GOAL	74
	77	OFF - Everett ON - Makitu
Martin - OFF Miller - ON	78

Match Report by Tony Middleton

The kick off was delayed to 8pm to as one of the linesmen was late, which must have pleased the latecomers who were queuing to get in to the only turnstile. With 120 Hornchurch supporters in the crowd, they must have wondered at the line up, with Terry Everett making his debut (or his second debut, having made his debut last season at Boston), and with Rikki Burbridge making a long overdue return from injury, whilst Ket Makitu was also coming back after a long lay off.

And it was a promising start, with Gareth Thomas pumping a long free kick upfield for Burbridge to run on to, though his shot was well saved by Rafis. Shah conceded a throw in with a hurried clearance, and Golby found Danny Cowley who was tackled by Butler, only for Nicky Cowley to take up the running and slide the ball inside to Burbridge, who shot narrowly wide. Then a Nicky Cowley free kick swerved dangerously close to goal, but Rafis dropped onto the ball as Asa closed in. Nicky Cowley was prominent in almost every move, linking up frequently with Danny Cowley, and with Everett looking happy to move up the right, LAPSA were already struggling, but nearly caused a surprise when Hughes chased a long clearance and caught the defence flat footed, but he ran the ball out of play. A long and extremely powerful upfield kick by home keeper Rafis bounced awkwardly on the turf but Ward was on hand to gather, whilst it was a steady surge at the other end, with Charlie Bull creating problems on the left. From one of Bull's runs, he touched the ball inside to Nicky Cowley, who cut into the middle and cracked the ball goalwards, where Choudbury slid the ball out for a corner. Nicky Cowley took the corner, and King came in with a header, which rebounded out for another corner, thanks to Martin being well placed on the goal line.

Incessant pressure had to produce something, and it was RIKKI BURBRIDGE who opened the score with a vicious volley on the turn which had Max leaping to
his feet in the stand. With LASPA wondering what to do next, it was Paul Golby who opened up the left side with a quick throw to Bull, who raced inside, turned past Shah and then past Martin, and his shot beat Rafis and then swerved wide of the far post. Next a Danny Cowley free kick was played out to Golby whose low cross was held on the line by Rafis, with Burbridge racing in onto the ball. Charlie Bull looked certain to score when he sped past two defenders, but was tripped up inside the area only for the referee to allow play to continue, and Rafis kicked clear. Danny Cowley was first to recover and played the loose ball out to Everett on the other side of the pitch, but Rafis again held the cross as it came over very low and dangerously.

Nicky Cowley was dispossessed in midfield and this allowed Shah to send Dakri away but the final shot was well wide. However Urchins had a let off when King conceded a free kick against Dakri, and Ward could not hold onto the free kick, resulting in a massive goalmouth scramble, before Bostock cleared upfield. Everett, Danny Cowley, Burbridge lurking in the middle for the cross, and this time it is Choudbury who cleared. For LAPSA only Reza Save was really noticeable, partly due to the massive afro hairstyle, reminiscent of Chris Elsegood, and he was behind the few promising moves created by the home side, but lacked support. Asa Pamplin opened up the right with a penetrating pass out to the wing, and again Burbridge was thwarted by the alert Shah, whilst Burbridge was tackled in full flight, resulting in a free kick, which Danny Cowley hammered over the wall, only for Rafis to touch the ball onto the bar. Another Danny Cowley free kick was fumbled by Rafis, and Martin scrambled the ball away. Nicky Cowley then switched play to the far side where Thomas appeared out of the gloom to cross the ball back to the left side, and Bull ran in with a powerful shot which was cleared off the line by Martin. Danny Cowley then hit a 30 yard free kick high over the bar and into the packed overflow car park, but the highlight of the half came right on half time, when Rikki Burbridge hammered a 40 yard free kick onto the bar.

LAPSA started the second half well, when a shot from Dakri bobbed up and Ward had to make two attempts to gather the ball. But free kicks were the order of the day, with Thomas curling the ball into the centre for the first, and then Danny Cowley shooting narrowly wide with another free kick, and from a third free kick inside two minutes, Danny Cowley sent over a perfect ball to Everett, who was pulled up for offside. Then Bostock called for the ball and Burbridge obliged with a neat side pass. Bostock flicked it out to Bull who crossed first time, for Martin to concede a corner, which Nicky Cowley swung into a crowded goal mouth, and Rafis punched away. A Danny Cowley free kick was palmed away by Rafis, and yet another Danny Cowley free kick found Everett whose resultant cross hit the bar, and was then touched over by Rafis. Bostock came through the middle, opened up the play and sent Burbridge away, but Choudbury tackled, and then an excellent run by Bull led to a corner, which Nicky Cowley sent into the goalmouth. King headed powerfully, and the ball was cleared off the line. The referee awarded a penalty for a push in the scramble which followed, and despite lengthy LAPSA protests, RIKKI BURBRIDGE ran up and neatly slotted the  penalty home - only for the referee to decide on a re-take. More protests, but Burbridge waited calmly and stroked the ball home once again.

Charlie Bull was next to be lined up for a goal attempt, his shot going wide, but Bull's next run ended when his cross was headed inches over by Burbridge. Danny Cowley pumped another free kick into the middle, where Bull homed in, but Rafis got to the ball first, and then Nicky Cowley's free kick rebounded to safety off the defensive wall. And then LAPSA scored. Gannon had taken a corner on the right, as Urchins eased off the pace, and Butler had got in a header which was deflected by King for another corner, this time on the left. KELLY HUGHES took the corner, which seemed harmless enough as Bostock hammered the ball upfield, only for it to hit Danny Cowley and rebound back, past Bostock and into the net, via the post.

With Urchins still reeling from the shock, Dakri went off on a long run and Bostock had to come in quick to concede a corner, but order was soon restored , with Ket Makitu coming on for a welcome return, and quickly combining with Perry, who had replaced Pamplin, for Ket to send in a low and difficult cross which Rafis did well to hold. But LAPSA came back yet again, with Pain dummying the ball on to Dakri, whose shot was cleared by King off the line. Urchins were now in the position of strolling through the match, and suddenly finding themselves unable to step up the pace as LAPSA tried for an equaliser. Perry went close with a shot from the edge of the area, and Drake forced Rafis into a hurried clearance, as he raced out of goal to field Makitu's cross, but LAPSA nearly scored when Ward palmed out a cross from Dakri which fell invitingly to Hughes, whose first time shot was saved by Ward who had recovered well.

Though Urchins had 80 percent of the play, they had slackened off the pace, and perhaps LAPSA could have grabbed another goal, but for Urchins, the result was possibly not in any doubt, and they were warmly applauded by their large posse of travelling supporters at the end.

Video Highlights by Rob Monger

- 7mins. A stunning opening goal from Rikki Burbridge (690KB)
- 61mins. Rikki Burbridge makes it 2-0 from the spot (610KB)
- 74mins. A bizarre goal for the home side (530KB)

  Teams

London APSA Adam Rafis Andrew Martin Kelly Hughes Fatim Shah Asim Choudhury John Higley Darryl Gannon Majid Hussain (c) Mohammed Dakri John Butler Reza Save SUBS Luke Pain Hastings Banda Donnie Miller Imran Patel Bilal Baru

- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 * 12 14 15 16 17

AFC Hornchurch Lee Ward Gareth Thomas Paul Golby Terry Everett Steve King Jordan Bostock (c) Danny Cowley Nicky Cowley Rikki Burbridge Asa Pamplin Charlie Bull SUBS Billy Drake Lee Perry Ket Koka-Makitu Greg Tiffin

Man of the Match Nominated by ...

 

Match Officials:
Weather Conditions:  Clear and 12 degrees at start, 9 degrees at finish - wind speed zero
Match duration: First half 45mins 55secs, second half 46mins 49secs
 

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