Westview Essex Senior League
Thursday 23rd March 2006
	London APSA	2 - 2	AFC Hornchurch
Dakra 27' 82'		H/T 1-1 Att: 142	Drake 19', D Cowley (pen) 89

Match Highlights

London APSA

AFC Hornchurch

	19	GOAL - Drake
Dakra - GOAL	27
	51	BOOKED - Heale
Ford - OFF Kamara - ON	61	OFF - Hayes ON - D Cowley OFF - Springer ON - N Cowley
Shah - OFF Mahmood - ON	67
	73	BOOKED - Sontag
	78	OFF - Heale ON - Holland
	80	BOOKED - P Golby
Dakra - GOAL	82
Nicholls - BOOKED	88
	89	GOAL - D Cowley (pen)
Pain - BOOKED	90+7

Match Report by Tony Middleton

On an unusual night for football, at an unusual stadium, Urchins fielded an unusual lineup, with Glen Golby, Nicky and Danny Cowley as well as Billy Holland all being on the bench instead of in the starting line up. By start time there were nearly 200 inside the ground, but the start was delayed by nine minutes, possibly to enable the visitors to locate the pitch, which was so far away from the stand that it was almost in the next borough.

The uneven and bumpy pitch did not help the Urchins style of football, and they were playing into the strong wind in the first half. Urchins took time to adapt to the difficult conditions, and APSA set the pace, Gannon trying his luck with a long free kick from 70 yards away, with Hickman seeing the ball safely out of play. At the other end Billy Drake charged down a clearance by keeper Adam Rafis, younger brother of Romford’s Danny Rafis, and Springer did well with a weaving run from Hayes’ pass, which came to nothing when Pain tackled. Rafis then took a free kick from midway inside his own half, the wind carrying the ball into the arms of Hickman at the other end, and it was promptly returned up the left wing where Sontag made ground and played the ball low into the middle, where Gannon cleared from Drake. Reza Sale – his name was listed as Saue in the first and second matches against Urchins, and then as Save in the third match – was as usual, whatever the correct spelling of his name, a constant threat to the visitors, and he won a throw on the right, and Shah threw the ball into the middle where Dennis, named as captain for the first time, headed away. A Hayes free kick was well flighted into the goalmouth and King came in with a header but was given offside, whilst at the other end Sale, Save or Saue broke through and got in a good shot which rose over the bar. APSA put Urchins under pressure when Gannon’s corner was headed out by Dennis, and Shah played the ball back, for Ket to clear along the right side, but APSA came back again, Dakra taking a free kick which Paul Golby turned out for a corner. Saue took the kick and King headed away, out to Tiffin who was playing in midfield rather than in his normal position. Greg touched on to Heale and thence to Sontag, whose hard shot was blocked, with Heale following up and playing the ball back into the goalmouth where Shah headed away. A very long clearance by Rafis saw Hickman having to race out of his goal to kick clear as Hussan ran through a hesitant defence, and then the best move so far when Ket played a short pass to Tiffin and Greg sent Springer away on the wing, his excellent cross reaching Heale whose first time shot was blocked. Sontag followed up and his shot rebounded off the post. Billy Drake played the ball back into the centre and Nawaz eventually cleared.

Urchins took a deserved lead when Tiffin’s free kick was glanced home by BILLY DRAKE, who almost created a second goal shortly afterwards when he combined with Springer to give Matt Hayes an opening, but Rafis ran out to kick clear. A free kick by Dennis proved disastrous as the ball was played straight back upfield and the Urchins defence was left wide open and MOHAMMED DAKRA ran through to beat Hickman with a low shot to the keeper’s left to give APSA a surprising equaliser.

Drake nearly got a second with a quick burst through the centre but Rafis came out to save and concede a corner, which Sontag flighted too low and Hussan headed away. Heale played a low cross into the middle and Springer’s shot was saved by Rafis, the ball rebounding back to Springer who put the ball back into the goalmouth, for Sontag, but the finish did not have enough power in it to trouble Rafis. A Sontag free kick went across goal whilst Rafis then came out to gather another cross from Sontag. King went close with a header from Dennis’ free kick and a Sontag corner was scrambled clear before the half time whistle caught most of the crowd by surprise, as so little stoppage time was added, given that the ball had often ended up a hundred yards from the pitch.

Many Urchins went on a burger hunt at half time, and instead found some triangular objects which set one’s throat on fire, whilst others wondered who the real Danny Rafis was. On returning to the stand, many were amazed to find that the theory of continental drift was actually correct as the pitch had by now moved a further 50 yards away from the stand. And it was not only the teams who had changed ends, as the Urchins were once again having to play into the wind which was now blowing from the east.

The second half was something of an anti climax for long periods, with play staying firmly in midfield, and with the uneven pitch and strong wind causing havoc with Urchins smooth flowing passing style. Danny Heale’s frustration earned him a booking, and it was APSA who made the first dangerous move, Hussan coming up to play the ball across the goalmouth. A Dennis free kick at the other end was headed wide by King, and a short throw by Paul Golby to Heale gave an opening on the left, but the finish was poor and Rafis gathered. Tiffin made a good run on the left but his final pass lacked accuracy and Gannon cleared, but a quick flick by Hayes to Tiffin gave Greg another opening but his shot was hurried and too high.

Another cross from Heale saw Drake homing in, but Rafis got there first. Drake again, this time from Paul Golby, and he played a great ball through to Tiffin which ended in a free kick, taken by Dennis, and King’s header went over the bar. APSA were struggling to stay in contention, though in a rare breakaway Dakra went close, and Hickman had to come to the edge of his area to field a dangerous through pass by Kamara, as Nicholls chased. At the other end, Drake slipped the ball through to Heale and Rafis turned the shot around the post, with Sontag’s corner finding King, whose header was cleared off the line. A long free kick by Dennis reached King, whose header was turned out for a corner, and Tiffin played the ball short to Danny Cowley who played it in to Drake whose shot was saved by Rafis. With Danny and Nicky on for Hayes and Springer, Tiffin moved over to his more usual position on the right and Nicky took up the midfield role, and it was his pass to Drake which saw Billy touch the ball on to Heale, with Shah doing well to intercept and clear. Another King header, this time from Nicky Cowley’s free kick, was saved by Rafis, and then a Danny Cowley free kick was punched away by Rafis as King came in. Billy Holland came on for Heale and almost reached a through pass by Paul Golby and then APSA broke out of defence and Pain’s centre saw Hickman having to come out quickly to clutch the ball, but he straight away threw the ball out to Nicky Cowley who played it on to Heale, whose low cross looked dangerous only for the flag to go up for offside. Hickman saved from Dakra and then MOHAMMED DAKRA sent the home team into delirium with a surprise goal, when he took advantage of some very slack defensive work to score.

With time running out, APSA seemed to be able to contain the Urchins, but then a Nicky Cowley pass to Billy Drake gave him a good opening, but Billy was brought down and a penalty resulted. This took some four minutes to take, thanks to the histrionics of the home team, with the ball being kicked off the spot, with another player digging his heel into the ground on the spot, and it finally ended when a yellow card was waved by Nicholls, who was not the main culprit by any means. Even then the kick could not be taken as the linesman wanted a word, though no more cards were flashed. DANNY COWLEY casually stepped up to score.

With constant stoppages to retrieve the ball, with long delays for yellow cards and substitutions, it was no surprise that nearly twelve minutes of stoppage time resulted, and in this time the Urchins kept up a steady and increasing pressure on the home goal, enjoying their only spell when they looked like their real selves. Holland was a constant threat, and Danny Cowley played three free kicks into the goalmouth, and then Pain was booked, to the delight of the 150 Urchins in the crowd, many of whom thought he was perhaps fortunate not to be booked at least once in the penalty incident. A Danny Cowley free kick found Nicky Cowley, whose centre found King, whose header was again saved, and in the twelfth minute of stoppage time it was King again, rising to Danny Cowley’s free kick when Drake was again taken out, but King’s header went over and APSA held on. There was one more chance, again falling to King, who headed over from Tiffin’s corner, and APSA had held out.

Many Urchins commented on the ground as they left – unfortunately none of the comments are printable. And in case anyone was wondering where the roof was for the open plan dug outs, the roof was lying on the ground alongside the entrance.

Video Highlights by Rob Monger

- 19mins. Billy Drake gives us the lead (395KB)
- 27mins. Mohammed Dakra levels for the home side (580KB)
- 82mins. Dakra puts APSA in front (750KB)
- 89mins. Danny Cowley equalises from the spot (700KB)

 

  Teams

London APSA Adam Rafis Daryl Gannon Luke Pain Barinder Tihara Fahim Shah Shadaz Nawaz Reza Save Clinton Ford Majid Hussan Steve Nicholls Mohammed Dakra SUBS Samara Kamara Tanner Erdal Faraaz Mahmood Darren Mitchell -

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

AFC Hornchurch John Hickman Ket Koka-Makitu Lee Sontag Paul Golby Steve King Craig Dennis (c) Greg Tiffin Matt Hayes Billy Drake Danny Heale Lee Springer SUBS Danny Cowley Nicky Cowley Glen Golby Billy Holland Michael Collier

Man of the Match Nominated by ...

Weather Conditions:  2 degrees - wind speed 15mph

Match duration: First half 45mins 55secs. Second half 56mins 27secs
 

AFC Hornchurch Forum Latest Posts