Gordon Brasted Trophy Semi-Final
Saturday 11th February 2006
	Tilbury	1 - 1	AFC Hornchurch
Deakin 96'		H/T 0-0 Att:166 After extra time 1-1 after 90 mins AFC Hornchurch win 4-3 on penalties	Tiffin 94'

Match Highlights

Tilbury

AFC Hornchurch

McClean - BOOKED	8
	37	OFF - Sontag ON - Hambley
McGoldrick - BOOKED	43
Webster - OFF Deakin - ON	58
	72	BOOKED - D Cowley
McGoldrick - OFF Andrews - ON	81
Smart - OFF Dada - ON	92
	94	GOAL - Tiffin
Deakin - GOAL	96
	112	OFF - Burbridge ON - Springer

Penalty shoot-out (Tilbury took first)

Tilbury

AFC Hornchurch

Sammons - MISSED	0	1	SCORED - D Cowley
Deakin - SCORED	1	1	SAVED - Holland
Dosser - MISSED	1	2	SCORED - N Cowley
Talbot - SCORED	2	3	SCORED - Springer
Middlesmass - SCORED	3	4	SCORED - Hambley

Match Report by Tony Middleton

What should have been a festive occasion was dampened more than a little by the hundreds of wreaths placed on the verge at the scene of a fatal accident only a few days before, just half a mile from the ground. Urchins retained the same line up from last week, the only changes being Timmy Hambley back into the squad and Paul Golby replacing the cup-tied John Hickman, with Rhys Madden not being eligible to play. Urchins, backed by a massive away following, started well, Burbridge winning possession from Sammons, his first time shot being blocked by Smart. After this, play settled down, and neither side could gain the initiative, though the best Tilbury could manage was a Port free kick which rebounded harmlessly off the defensive wall. Urchins soon began to dominate, Hayes heading the ball on to Holland, Hattam tackling to concede a corner. Hayes floated the ball over, and Nicky Cowley’s shot was deflected by a defender, the ball running back to Hayes, who chipped it back into the middle, Nicky Cowley again getting there first, his shot going wide of the post.

A Sammons free kick was headed on by Webster, Collier saving comfortably, but then a very hard challenge by McLean on Thomas earned him the first yellow card of the day – it should have been red, though the Tilbury bench may not have agreed, as two of them were on the field arguing loudly with the referee, the first of much ranting and raving from that area. Thomas, to his credit, simply got up and walked away. Burbridge then picked out Holland, playing almost as a left winger, and his centre reached Nicky Cowley who headed wide. Tilbury threatened briefly when Webster played a good ball to Port, Golby covering well to concede a corner. Talbot, wearing number twelve, sent in a good corner which Collier flicked over, for another corner, and this time Talbot put the ball further out, where Sammons moved in to shoot, and Collier made a good save. Danny Cowley was working very hard in midfield and he broke up a Tilbury move, fed the ball through to King, who turned it inside to Holland, with Smart doing well to cover.

Burbridge was put through by Danny Cowley, but Harris tackled and put the ball out, leaving Burbridge on the ground, with loud appeals being ignored. Hayes then chipped the ball out to Tiffin, whose centre appeared to be handled by a defender. Nicky Cowley put Sontag clear on the left, but the popular McLean tackled, and shortly after Sontag needed lengthy treatment at the other end of the pitch following a clearance. The best move so far came when King, Nicky and Danny Cowley exchanged passes, with Danny playing Sontag clear again on the left, his cross being deflected by Middlemas for a corner. Hayes took the corner, and Marrable punched the ball clear. Sontag was then replaced by Tim Hambley, whose first touch found Golby, and Glen turned the ball out to King, who ran a long run forward, with Marrable timing his own run to perfection and he was able to gather the ball. When Port mistimed a pass, it allowed Hayes to run on, and quick thinking by Marrable saved the day for Tilbury. A Hayes cross to Tiffin saw Tiffin’s return into the middle turned out of play and from Hayes corner, King rose high to power in a header, which looked a certain goal, until a defender headed out from under the bar. McGoldrick was booked following a mistimed tackle on Danny Cowley and almost on half time Talbot found Smart with a long deep pass and Collier did well to save.

Plenty to talk about at half time, with a large black mass of smoke rising up in the distance and blue flashing lights heading towards the scene, whilst closer to the ground the main question was whether the Tilbury bench would ever stop shouting, with the supplementary question being would they have anything useful to say – answer was no in both cases. One irate Urchin was heard to remark – TA used to stand for Technical Area, but here it stands for Torrent of Abuse.

Urchins stepped up the pace in the second half, Tiffin, Danny Cowley and King combining well, but the ball was quickly hammered upfield where McLean chased hard after it, with Glen Golby seeing the ball safely out of play. From Collier’s goalkick, Holland raced through the middle, but mistimed his kick and Marrable was able to gather. Port always looked dangerous and his free kick was punched out by Collier, under pressure from two Tilbury forwards, play going straight back to the other end where Hayes’ cross reached Burbridge who was denied by a good Marrable save. A low penetrating free kick from Hambley was cleared by Sammons, whilst another run by Hambley saw him spread the defence wide open with an excellent ball out to Hayes, who then touched it on to Nicky Cowley, whose dipping cross was tipped over by Marrable. Tiffin’s corner found Burbridge whose header crashed wide of the post. King then sent Hayes clear, the move being pulled back by a debateable offside flag, though it is fair to say the home bench agreed with the linesmen, possibly for the first time in the match.

Harris created danger with a hard drive, which Collier punched out, whilst a free kick by Port, conceded by Hayes, was headed upfield by King, the ball being played straight back again, for Collier to catch and he punted it deep upfield again, with Burbridge racing through from near the half way line, and Rikki beat Marrable to the ball but prodded it wide of the post. Hambley then found King, who switched play to Tiffin on the right wing, and his low cross was hit hard at goal by Holland, the ball rebounding out to Burbridge, whose first time shot was again blocked. Burbridge then sent Holland away, but he could not reach the ball before it ran out of play. A long pass by Golby allowed Hambley a clear run along the left, and his low cross went begging in front of goal. Then Nicky Cowley drove the ball into the middle, where Burbridge reacted first to hit the ball home – or so it seemed, but the ball had just gone wide, with most of the crowd already shouting goal.

At the other end, Collier punched clear from Port’s centre, and a Port corner went harmlessly behind the goal, the cheers of the Urchins behind the goal for once masking the constant vocal stream from the home bench. Smart cleared well when Holland’s low cross was heading for the waiting Burbridge, and Thomas’ free kick saw Marrable punch the ball away, with Golby playing it back again and Marrable again punching away. Thomas sent Holland away on the left, and Hattam put the ball out for a corner, which Tiffin took, and Hayes chipped the ball back to Tiffin, whose hard drive was turned over the bar by Marrable. Hayes took the corner and King headed over the bar. Burbridge again broke through, Holland placing the ball neatly through the middle, and again Marrable timed his run perfectly to gather the ball, but when Hambley lost possession near the half way line, it took a last ditch challenge from Thomas to prevent Port breaking through, and from the resulting corner, Port found Sammons whose shot was saved by Collier who turned defence into attack with a long kick which found Thomas breaking upfield and his cross reached Nicky Cowley, whose shot was blocked by Smart.

And so to extra time, and incredibly there was now a mass of black smoke rising up behind the clubhouse end of the ground. The referee inspected both penalty spots and the first period started with Hambley’s deep cross going across the face of the goal. Bradley Smart then did not get up after challenging for the ball, and lay motionless whilst play continued for. Both trainers went out onto the pitch. There was absolutely no excuse at all for the four Urchins followers (they cannot be described as supporters) who chanted for the player to the taken off the pitch to let play continue, after he had still not moved after four minutes. The ambulance quickly arrived, Hornchurch left the pitch as did the match officials. It was over 26 minutes before play continued, the player being taken to hospital.

Right away Hayes played the ball long to Burbridge whose hard shot went behind the goal. A poor goal kick by Marrable gave Holland a chance when Port was mistimed his pass back, Marrable doing well to save, and then, following a corner by Tilbury which Collier caught the ball was played back up field and Thomas found GREG TIFFIN who ran on to score. Cue mass hysteria, both on the terraces and on the home bench, although it did not appear that the home bench were saying “oh well done old fellow”.

Tilbury came back quickly, Collier having to run out to save when slack defending let in Deakin. And then Tilbury levelled the score with a free kick from SIMON DEAKIN which went through a mass of players and into the net, the home bench celebrating long and very loudly, with the rest of the ground in total silence, apart from one person who was jumping up and down with glee – was it the recorder reporter?.

Urchins came back strongly, a Tiffin pass to the far side finding Hayes, who ran in and placed the ball in front of Holland, with offside being given, not a decision which was greeted with overwhelming approval. Middlemas found a way through and Thomas tackled well to concede a corner, but in the 42 minute of the first period of extra time, Holland was pulled down, Hambley took the free kick, and the ball was deflected out for a corner, taken by Hayes, which Harris headed out for another corner, on the other side, and taken by Tiffin, his centre being met by King, whose header was headed off the line to Thomas, whose follow up shot was wide.

One way traffic in the second half. Golby to Nicky Cowley to Hambley, whose cross went across goal with no one able to get onto the end of it, and Tiffin played it back for Marrable to save well. Tilbury won a surprise corner, which Talbot sent over and King headed out, the ball going back to Talbot who shot wide. Lee Springer came on, for Burbridge – leaving Urchins one penalty taken less, but one penalty taker now on the pitch – and his first touch found Nicky Cowley, who touched on to Tiffin, and his cross was headed away, to Springer, whose first time volley was inches wide. Then Golby to Holland, and he headed on to Springer, and Marrable saved, whilst Tiffin then found Springer who hit the ball on the run and again it went narrowly wide. King made a long run, gaining 40 yards before he was tripped up. Hambley took the free kick and Marrable saved. Right on time Thomas headed away from Port’s cross.

And now it was penalties – taken at the clubhouse end.

Paul Sammons steps up and hammers the ball high over the bar.
Now it’s Danny’s turn, and he beats Marrable, sending the ball low and to the keeper’s left.
0-1
Simon Deakin scores with a well taken kick, and now it’s Billy Holland’s turn. Marrable saves.
1-1
There are good penalties – they are the ones that go in. And bad ones – these are the ones that go wide. And then there are classic penalties. And Paul Talbot’s comes into the latter category. Up he steps, and hits the ball as hard as he can. It screams over the bar, clears the 30 foot high netting behind the goal, clears the clubhouse, still rising, out into the fairground and into the darkness, still rising, before orbiting Tilbury and scaring the locals, many of whom reported UFOs in the area.
Now it’s Nicky’s turn. A very long run up and it’s in.
1-2
It’s not over yet, as Tom Dosser sends Collier the wrong way.
But Lee Springer replies with the perfect penalty.
2-3
This is it – can Ben Middlemas score? Yes, he can.
It’s all down to TIMMY HAMBLEY. Shortish run up, and hard and high to the keeper’s left.
3-4
Mad rush towards the corner flag, 200 Urchins racing along the terrace.
Whilst from the bench comes a sound of metal hitting grass.
Oh bucket, says he – I think he must have dropped his bucket.
As we leave the ground ten minutes later, a Tilbury official comes back carrying a ball – it’s the UFO, it seems to have ice on it, and a custom’s stamp.

Video Highlights by Rob Monger

- 94mins. Greg Tiffin opens the scoring (960KB)
- 96mins. Tilbury's Simon Deakin glances in the equaliser (490KB)
- Timmy Hambleys winning penalty plus celebration (2.3MB)
- Post match interview with Steve King (1.9MB)

  Teams

Tilbury James Marrable Courtney McClean Terry Harris Bradley Smart Bobby Port Lee Hattam Danny McGoldrick Paul Sammons Ben Middlemass Dave Webster Paul Talbot SUBS Tom Dosser Simon Deakin Tim Dada Joe Andrews Dean Cramer

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

AFC Hornchurch Michael Collier Greg Tiffin Lee Sontag Glen Golby Steve King Gareth Thomas Nicky Cowley (c) Danny Cowley Billy Holland Rikki Burbridge Matthew Hayes SUBS Timmy Hambley Billy Drake Lee Springer Nathan Philip Paul Golby

Man of the Match Nominated by ...

Weather Conditions:  Cloudy and 6 degrees at start. 3 degrees at finish

Match Officials: Graham Atkins with Robert Yeldham and Lee Dorling

Match duration: First half 48mins 25secs. Second half 47mins 35secs. Extra time 43mins 10secs. Penalties 12mins
 

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