Westview Essex Senior League
Saturday 12th November 2005
	AFC Hornchurch	1 - 0	London APSA
Holland 82'		H/T 0-0 Att:366

Match Highlights

AFC Hornchurch

London APSA

	30	OFF - Higley ON - Pain
	51	BOOKED - Butler
Heale - OFF Springer - ON King - OFF Longman - ON	69
	74	OFF - A Rafis ON - Pael
	76	BOOKED - Pain
Holland - GOAL	82
	89	OFF - Hussain ON - Gannon

Match Report by Tony Middleton

With Rikki Burbridge out with an injury, Craig Dennis, signed from Tilbury during the week, was given a place in the squad, and Lee Springer was also named in the squad, though the starting line up remained unchanged from last week. London APSA won the toss and made Urchins kick the wrong way in the first half, which meant having to content with a very strong setting sun as they played towards the restaurant end of the ground. The restaurant itself remained crowded, as the denizens thereof chose to remain in situ rather than move onto the inviting warmth of the terraces.

Urchins made a somewhat unsteady start, as Hughes pumped in a long free kick which Collier dealt with easily enough. Urchins won a free kick in midfield shortly after, and Glen Golby took the kick quickly, playing the ball out to Tiffin, whose well flighted centre reached Heale who headed wide of the goal. But it was London APSA who had the first real scoring opportunity, Saue, whose massive afro hair appeared to have been trimmed somewhat since the last encounter, was allowed to run clear. Glen Golby challenged and Saue tripped himself up and the chance was lost. Saue was constantly in the action, and his mistimed tackle on Bostock could well have ended in a booking, but Glen Golby took another quick free kick, to Heale, whose cross into the middle found King, who directed his header to Holland, who could not finish the move, and shot wide of the post. Holland then chased a long ball down the middle, but Miller hoofed it out of the ground, the first of six balls that sailed either into the gardens or into the river, where the lost ball from Bowers was floating past. Paul Golby took the throw, and the ball was crossed to the other side where Tiffin mistimed his cross and sent it in too low, and Hughes hammered it to safety. A long through ball by Paul Golby then found King, to touched it out to Holland, and thence to Hambley, but the resulting cross was poor and Rafis gathered easily.

King, again in a midfield role, won a corner, which Nicky Cowley took, playing the ball short to Danny Cowley, who in turn passed back to Nicky, and his swerving centre beat Rafis but went out of play at the far post. Higley conceded a free kick when he fouled Holland, and Paul Golby’s kick found Nicky Cowley, coming in at speed from the right, but Rafis recovered well to save at the foot of the post. Another free kick, taken by Tiffin, saw Holland jump with Rafis, but the ball beat them both and went out of play.

With Urchins perhaps a little too casual at the back they were woken up when Daniel Rafis played a long ball which found Saue unmarked and with a straight run at goal. His shot was low and accurate, and Collier made an excellent diving save, turning the ball out for a corner, which was taken by Saue but pumped far too deep across goal. Saue was again in the action, running clear along the left wing, and Bostock had to come across to concede a corner as Saue homed in on goal. Saue again took the kick, and again it was too deep, and Paul Golby cleared upfield where Nicky Cowley embarked on a long weaving run, which ended when Dakri blocked the ball inside the penalty area. Danny Cowley was then brought down by a heavy Daniel Rafis tackle, and Rafis was perhaps fortunate to escape without a booking, and although Paul Golby picked out Heale on the left with the kick, and he played the ball on to Danny Cowley, the cross was not accurate and the ball went out of play. Holland and King combined to create an opening through the middle for Danny Cowley, but Rafis raced off his line to gather the ball, and then a long run by Nicky Cowley ended with Dakri clearing, whilst a Nicky Cowley free kick was headed on by Heale to Holland, who returned the ball across goal to Heale, and Rafis did well to stop the shot. Rafis was in action again when he outjumped Holland to reach Nicky Cowley’s centre, Bostock having started the move from inside the Urchins half, whilst a free kick a minute later found King whose header was cleared off the line. Heale followed up and he tried to chest the ball over the line, but Hussain managed to hook it out for a corner. Nicky Cowley floated the ball in and Holland powered his header over the bar. Tiffin found himself clear on the right but took too long and was tackled before he could get his cross over, and as the first half moved into stoppage time, McKechan broke clear but decided to shoot from long range and put the shot wide. When Danny Cowley gave Nicky Cowley an opening, Rafis came out to save, with loud penalty appeals from the terraces being ignored on field, but APSA almost took a surprise lead with the last kick of the first half when McKechan, left with yards of space, hammered his shot onto the bar.

The half time announcement that Grays had lost for the first time this season was greeted by a massive cheer from the unsympathic east side, who however tried hard to mask their delight, but failed miserably. APSA began the second half well, as Bostock had to cover quickly from McKechan and again from Miller. Nicky Cowley then made a long penetrating run down the right, and he was floored by Butler, and from the free kick Glen Golby hammered the ball hard goalwards, where it beat everyone and went out of play. A wild clearance then sent another ball in the direction of the Ingrebourne, and Tiffin promptly put the new ball behind the goal with a mistimed cross, whilst Miller then deposited the ball into the gardens on the east side. Miller was booked for a foul on Danny Cowley, and from the free kick Glen Golby sent Nicky Cowley away, the cross being headed out by Penn. Tiffin was called into action at the other end, when his tackle turned the ball out of play for a corner, which Saue took, and which Collier held under pressure from Choudhury. From the clearance Heale set up Nicky Cowley, whose cross was punched away by Rafis. Then it was King who played a long through pass to Nicky Cowley, who sreadeagled the defence with a dazzling run and centre, but Heale headed over the bar. With the pressure building, Holland’s cross from the dark left side of the field – the floodlight pylon had just gone out – found King, whose header hit the post. Then it was Tiffin from the other side – also dark as the opposite pylon had also gone out – and Holland headed wide. Heale was put through by Hambley and was stopped by the joint efforts of Pain and Hughes, whilst at the other end Hussain made ground and Collier did well to beat Saue to the centre. A huge scramble in the APSA goalmouth saw King, Holland and Heale all go close, before Rafis was able to grab the loose ball on the line, whilst King again hit the post with a header, the build up coming from Nicky Cowley on the right. This proved to be King’s last contribution as he was nursing a neck injury and was replaced by Longman, with Springer also coming on for Heale. It was Springer whose run on the right allowed Nicky Cowley to get behind the defence, but Hughes came back quickly to clear, whilst Longman sent a long cross into the middle, where Holland’s header was saved by Rafis. With signs of desperation now apparent, Urchins continued to press, though a Paul Golby free kick found no takers, apart from a grateful Rafis. Nicky Cowley was then brought down by Pain who was shown a yellow card, and Paul Golby’s free kick was headed out for a corner, which Paul Golby took, but he played it far too deep and it ran out of play on the other side of the pitch.

APSA were still dangerous in their infrequent excursions upfield, and when Saue and Pael exchanged passes and Pael went clear in the middle, it was Bostock who came back to block the shot. With time running out BILLY HOLLAND finally eluded his marker to turn in a cross from the left, which was greeted with such jubilation that the floodlight pylons both came back on to lighten things up a bit. Urchins now looked confident, though a Paul Golby corner was gain far too deep to be effective, but Springer returned the ball into the goalmouth, where it was scrambled away, only as far as Tiffin, whose first time shot from outside the area went close to adding the second goal. In stoppage time Miller sent the last of the Total 90 balls into the gardens, and it was replaced by a mitre, which Paul Golby tossed into the middle, and the ball was cleared off the line. A good result, against a side who are vastly improved. At the end, the Grays score was again announced to the crowd, in case any had missed it earlier.

Video Highlights by Rob Monger

- 82mins. Billy Holland heads in our winning goal (510KB)
- Post match interview with Luke Longman (1.8MB)

  Teams

AFC Hornchurch Michael Collier Greg Tiffin Paul Golby Glen Golby Steve King Jordan Bostock (c) Nicky Cowley Danny Cowley Billy Holland Danny Heale Timmy Hambley SUBS Lee Springer Charlie Bull Luke Longman Gareth Thomas Craig Dennis

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

London APSA Adam Rafis Majid Hussain Mohammed Dakri Kelly Hughes (c) John Higley Duane Miller Reza Saue Asim Choudhury Daniel Rafis Neil McKechman John Butler SUBS Sultan Malik Zabir Ibraham Imran Pael Daryl Gannon Luke Pain

Man of the Match Nominated by Vantis Redhead French Nicky Cowley

Weather Conditions:  sunny and 13 degrees at start, clear and 5 degress at finish. Wind speed zero

Match Officials: Graham Atkins with Peter Kenton and Richard Airey

Match Duration: First half 48mins 53secs, Second half 48mins 25secs
 

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