CHAMPIONS OF THE BOSTIK NORTH. The Urchins secured the Bostik North title with a 2-0 win over mid-table Mildenhall Town. First half goals from Nathan Cooper and Brad Warner were enough to claim the 3 points.
Tuesday 17-April-2018
HORNCHURCH 2 MILDENHALL TOWN 0
HFC – Mott, Bentley, Porter, Lee, Cooper, Styles ©, Hogan (Oluwatimilehin 76), Roberts (Livings 63), McKenzie (Fairweather-Johnson 76), Purcell, Warner
Subs – Chouman, Collis
MT – Hallett, Hood, Smith, Kerins, Debenham, Crow, Chambers-Shaw (Pereira 76), Green, Holde (Asensi 56), Ofusu (Nolan 63) Brown
Officials – Tom Fell with Deryll David and Martyn Cannon
Scorers – Cooper 25 – Warner 31
Booking – Livings 86 (H)
Attendance 203
Duration 45.00 + 48.00
H – red and white stripes / black / black
MT – all yellow
HORNCHURCH 2 MILDENHALL TOWN 0
Hornchurch cruised to a comfortable win over Mildenhall, who had the first opportunity of the match, when a dangerous cross from the right was turned out for a corner by Alex Bentley. Most of the action took place at the other end, and on five minutes a long upfield kick by Sam Mott was touched on by Brad Warner to George Purcell, whose hard shot was well held by Jake Hallett.
Mildenhall relied heavily on the long throws into the goalmouth, but they came to nothing, all being headed away to safety.
On twenty minutes a weak clearance fell to Alex Bentley who volleyed the ball back towards goal, with Leon McKenzie just unable to reach the ball, which went narrowly wide of the far post.
Mildenhall had a good opportunity with a free kick Danny Crow fired past the defence, the ball being deflected for a corner, which was delivered into a crowded goalmouth and eventually scrambled away.
Hornchurch took the lead on 25 minutes when Sam Mott took a free kick for offside, ten yards inside his own half, and the ball landed in a crowded goalmouth, where Nathan Cooper provided the finishing touch.
Six minutes later, Leon McKenzie gained possession on the right, played the ball inside to Brad Warner, who ran across, chased by a defender, and then turned and fired in a hard drive from thirty yards out that beat the diving Mallett for the second goal.
A third goal seemed likely when a Warner free kick sailed over the defence, but Cooper was just inches away from getting the touch needed to place the ball into the net.
Hornchurch had a chance to go further ahead when they won a free kick ten yards outside the area, but Purcell’s hard shot cannoned back off the defensive wall.
With the championship wrapped up, the second half was played at a slower pace, with the visiting defence often looking nervous, and several balls ended up in the gardens in Bridge Avenue, but it was Mott who was called upon to make his first save of the match, when he held a shot from Jake Chambers-Shaw, who had made a powerful run through the middle.
Back at the other end, a long ball out of defence found Warner, who flicked on to Purcell, and his shot was well saved by Hallett, who was somewhat fortunate a few minutes later when his own defender headed the ball over him, and just wide of an own goal.
On the hour Warner sent in a long shot from the wing that almost found the net, and a hard drive from McKenzie from a similar position met the same fate, whilst Purcell twice attempted long range shots, both of which went wide of the target.
With Hornchurch in command, the closest they came was when Purcell sent Jay Porter clear on the left. Porter cut inside but his shot was well defended, and the only other attempt came from Theo Fairweather-Johnson, his shot also being blocked by a packed defence, as the match moved into the final few minutes, with the celebrations already ringing out loud and clear from the East Side.
