Westview Essex Senior League
Saturday 22nd October 2005
	AFC Hornchurch	3 - 0	Basildon United
G Golby 9', Holland 75' Hambley 80'		H/T 1-0 Att: 435

Match Highlights

AFC Hornchurch

Basildon United

G Golby - GOAL	9
Heale - BOOKED	52
	61	OFF - Church ON - Smith OFF - Downer ON - Roberts
Heale - SENT OFF	67	BOOKED - Allen
Holland - GOAL	75
	79	BOOKED - Forbes
Hambley - MISSED Pen	80
Hambley - GOAL	80
	90	BOOKED - Thompson
Tiffin - OFF Thomas - ON	90+

Match Report by Tony Middleton
 

With a very impressive 435 in attendance it was no surprise that all programmes were sold out long before the kick off. Steve King was unable to play, having received a back injury late on in the match against Tilbury, and Lee Perry came into the starting line up. Unbeaten Basildon, whose sky blue strip looked remarkably like slate grey in colour, were not given any chance to settle, for Danny Cowley immediately played a pass to Nicky Cowley , who played the ball neatly upfield to Heale, took a return pass, and crossed into the middle, where Allen outjumped Heale to the ball and headed away. Steady pressure was maintained, but when Bostock mistimed a pass, McArdle was able to play the loose ball through to Russell, who was left with a scoring opportunity, but he his weak shot was well wide of the goal.

Tiffin, wearing different boots once again, was put clear on the right, and though he rounded Cordell with ease, his centre was headed away by Forbes, but the goal, long overdue, soon followed, thanks to a good interception by Danny Cowley, who touched a short pass to Perry, who was charged heavily out of play by Cordell. The referee, himself an ex-player with Bishop’s Stortford, awarded an indirect free kick on the touchline, and Paul Golby floated the ball high into the goalmouth, where GLEN GOLBY outjumped the defence to head powerfully home. Time eight minutes and 33 seconds.

Basildon had little to offer apart from a series of heavy tackles, which were sometimes penalised, but the young Urchins side refused to be intimidated, and Holland created a good opening when he ran out to the left, leaving his marker trailing, rounded, Cordell, and turned the ball low across goal to Nicky Cowley, who was pulled up for offside. Nicky Cowley was quickly back in the picture, with another excellent pass to Holland, whose cross was missed by Lodge but headed out by Lewis, for a corner, taken by Tiffin. Hambley was on to the cross and his header was deflected out for a second corner, again taken by Tiffin, but this time the ball eluded everyone and was eventually cleared by Cordell. A minute later it was Tiffin again, finding Holland, who played a short pass back to Heale, whose first time shot hit a defender and went to safety.

A Basildon break away was turned out for a corner by Bostock. Thompson took the corner and landed the ball onto the roof of the net. Cordell was fortunate to escape a loud hand ball appeal at the other end, but Nicky Cowley quickly put the ball back to Heale, who put in a long high centre, which fell to Holland who twisted and turned and then fired in an excellent shot, which beat Lodge and went narrowly wide. Lewis saved a possible dangerous situation when he hammered the ball high over the stand, but it was headed back by the oak tree behind the stand, and Paul Golby quickly took a long throw back into the goalmouth, where Forbes put the ball back out the ground. Nicky Cowley took a pass from Perry and set Heale up nicely, but the ball took an awkward bounce and Heale could not get in an accurate shot at goal. Clever interplay between Tiffin, on one side of the field, and Hambley, on the other, opened up the struggling visitors, and Hambley found Holland in the middle, whose run ended when Forbes slid the ball out for a corner. Tiffin came across to the left to take the kick and Glen Golby met the centre with a powerful header, which was cleared by Allen, who survived a loud appeal for hand ball. Hickman, a spectator for long periods, got into the act when his long upfield clearance reached Holland, who was only stopped by a quick thinking Lodge who had raced out of goal to kick away. Paul Golby, who appears to have been taking lessons from Glen, then took a long throw, which landed in the goalmouth, where Nicky Cowley picked out Holland, whose first time shot cannoned off a defender on the line.

A free kick, taken by Paul Golby, was one of many, but it created havoc in the away goalmouth, and the ball was eventually cleared wildly upfield. Then, something of a surprise, as Basildon enjoyed a lengthy spell of dominance. Thompson, very much a favourite with the East Side, sped away and won a corner, when Bostock turned his low cross out of play, and from the corner, taken by Thompson, the ball was cleared off the line at the far post by Glen Golby, with Tiffin completing the clearance, but seconds later the referee awarded a free kick to Basildon about 40 yards out, taken by Thompson, and this time it was Danny Cowley who cleared, only for another free kick to be given in virtually the same spot for what appeared to be a legitimate tackle by Tiffin on Thompson, who this time played his free kick short to McArdle, who homed in on goal, where Bostock came across to concede a corner. Woods came up to take the corner, and McArdle headed goalwards, where Glen Golby headed out for another corner. Woods again took the kick, and it was Glen Golby again who this time cleared the danger with a massive upfield kick. Several questions at half time – where was the away support which was promised, how many could Urchins run up in the second half, why was John Hickman wearing a different shade of red socks to the rest, and most important of all, why was the number five worn by Lee Perry in a different font size to the rest of the numbers. The answer was that the number five shirt had been torn in the previous match and a replacement had not yet arrived, so it was down to the nearest shop to get one.

Urchins, having lost momentum late in the first half, needed more than just a goal, as Basildon were looking dangerous up front, but they were soon back in defence, Holland leading the way with a good pass out to Nicky Cowley, who was tackled by Cordell, with Lodge completing the save. Paul Golby was quick to intercept when Downer threatened to break free and Golby switched defence into attack with a long ball across to Holland, moved up to take a return pass, and then centred, where Lodge held on to the ball as Holland moved in. Glen Golby decided it was his turn to take a long throw and found Holland in the middle, and Holland quickly opened up play with a through pass to Heale, who touched it on to Nicky Cowley, and thence out to Hambley. Hambley ran in and shot, the ball rebounding off a defender, and Hambley regained possession, played a short pass inside to Heale, who put it back to Glen Golby. Up the middle to Nicky Cowley, inside to Holland, and Forbes again with a tackle on the edge of the area.

Basildon’s tackling was getting harder and free kicks were becoming the norm, and when Heale was fouled on the half way line by Forbes, Danny Cowley took the kick and sent Holland away, but Allen came across to tackle, but only put the ball as far as Hamlin, who switched play to the right, where Tiffin raced away, but Cordell came across to hammer the ball out of the ground into an overworked oak tree, which fielded the ball for the sixth time in the match. Lewis then lost possession and Paul Golby sent Heale away on the left. Heale squared the ball into the middle, and Forbes hit it wildly out for a corner. This was taken by Tiffin, and Heale touched the ball into the net, and was booked for handling the ball over the line. It was Danny Cowley who started the next move, taking a short pass from Perry, and Danny’s run ended in another corner, which Paul Golby took and which was headed over the bar by Heale.

Basildon were still looking alert up front, though their defence was by now conceding numerous free kicks, whilst other tackles were going unrealised. A good run by Thompson on the left saw him put in a good low cross into the middle, which Bostock turned out for a corner. This was taken by Woods, McArdle rose up for the ball, but Bostock was first there to head out for another corner. Woods took this one as well, and Russell headed wide. Basildon made a double substitution, Church for Smith and Roberts for Downer, but it did little to boost their defence, for whom Allen and Forbes were prominent. Following a mix up in defence, a bad call left two Basildon defenders leaving the ball for each other, and Holland raced away, but Cordell tackled, to concede a corner, the ball disappearing in the general direction of the restaurant. Tiffin took an inswinger and Lodge punched the ball out from under the bar.

Then followed a midfield incident when Holland was fouled yet again, and with Holland still on the ground, the Basildon team seemed to lose control and a midfield melee ensued. The referee took no action against the culprit, and then held a lengthy discussion with both linesmen, before, some three minutes later, he called Danny Heale, Dean Allen and Robbie Russell over to him. Two yellow cards were waved, followed by a red, which was waved specifically at Danny Heale, which left Urchins a player short. Seconds after the resumption, with the East Side clearly incensed judging by the loud comments, Danny Cowley was heavily tackled by Woods, though no action was taken as the match threatened to get even more out of hand.

A player short, and Basildon unbeaten to date, there was of course only one logical answer. The move started with Perry and Danny Cowley, and ended when Tiffin’s speedy run was stopped by Cordell’s tackle, which brought no action from the referee, other than a free kick. When Tiffin got back up, play resumed with a free kick, taken by Paul Golby, and BILLY HOLLAND headed home at the far post – that was action enough. By now, Basildon were content to hang on, and the number of balls leaving the ground made one wonder if there would be any remaining. The third goal came when there was another foul, this time on the right. Linesman puts flag across chest, referee runs over, waves a yellow card at Forbes, and correctly awards a penalty. TIMMY HAMBLEY steps up, Lodge saves, and Hambley follows up to net. Game over. Well, not quite. Lodge had to grab a low cross by Holland from the left, and Holland then broke clear in midfield, and Allen came across to kick the ball out for a corner. Tiffin took the kick, but it was too low and Thompson headed away. Holland and Hambley interlinked with Holland getting in a shot which went only narrowly wide. Basildon won a corner on the left in stoppage time, which Thompson took. Bostock headed out to Tiffin, who moved upfield but was fouled, and Thompson became the third Basildon player to go into the book. The final whistle went with just four minutes being added on, and Urchins were still top of the league

Video Highlights by Rob Monger

- 9mins. Glen Golby heads in his first goal for the club (430KB)
- 75mins. Billy Holland puts us 2-0 up (400KB)
- 80mins. Timmy Hambley heads in after seeing his penalty saved (470KB)
- Post match interview with man of the match Nicky Cowley (3MB)

  Teams

AFC Hornchurch John Hickman Greg Tiffin Paul Golby Glen Golby Lee Perry Jordan Bostock (c) Nicky Cowley Danny Cowley Billy Holland Danny Heale Timmy Hambley SUBS Rikki Burbridge Lee Springer Gareth Thomas Sean Dear Michael Collier

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

Basildon United David Lodge Jamie Lewis Tim Cordell Dean Allen (c) Lee Forbes Billy Thompson Alan Woods Robbie Russell Frank McArdle Danny Downer Ald Smith SUBS Anthony Church Jamie Bradbury S Roberts S Poultee Keke St Hilaire

Man of the Match Nominated by Treeboy & co Nicky Cowley

Match Officials: Wade Norcott with Lee Doring and Gareth Spicer
Match Duration: First half 45mins 34secs, Second half 49mins
Weather Conditions: 13 degrees and cloudy - wind speed 5mph
 

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