Tuesday 13th November 2007 – ESC
TILBURY   2  HORNCHURCH  1
T – Paul Agu – Danny Smith - Luke Stanley – Jay Taylor © - Marc Clarey – Nathan Philip – Erkan Yusuk – Danny O’Connor – Kurt Smith – John Hefford – Sam Holloway
Subs – Lee Springer for Hefford 66 – Olagunju Olatunde – Steve Mensah – Joshua Coulson for Yusuk 73

HFC – Richard McKinney - Jordan Bostock - Danny Glozier - John Purdie © - Ollie Adedeji – Andy Tomlinson – Joe Keith - Mark Janney - Kris Lee - Harry Elmes – Richard Halle
Subs - Simon Parker for Elmes at half time – Elliot Styles – Shane Oakley for Kris Lee 73 – Amos Foyewa for Tomlinson 70 – Ronnie Fletcher

Scorers – Kurt Smith 9p, 23p (T) – Mark Janney 90+1p (H)
Weather 6 degrees, clear – wind speed 10 mph
Officials – S Rubery with IR Hogg and S Franklin
Duration – 47.17 + 48.41
Attendance estimated at 80 – all from Hornchurch
Bookings – Halle 23 (H) – Philip 38 (T) – Glozier 61 (H) OFF – Foyewa 74 (H) – Ron Hanley 81 (H) OFF – Coulson 83 (T) – not known 84 (T)

TILBURY   2  HORNCHURCH  1
A pitch more suited to motocross, and a totally fired up home side for the fansfocus Essex Senior Cup. And a welcome return to referee Steve Rubery, who took the home match against Waltham Abbey last season and the controversial away match at Wingate & Finchley, when his decision to ignore a late substitution led to the Wingate equaliser. And the Tilbury floodlights were a lot better than they were two seasons ago. Debut for Richard McKinney and Ron Fletcher was named in the squad.  A crowd estimated at 80 and an almost complete lack of home supporters.

Urchins kicked towards the clubhouse end, and made a promising start, Janney playing an excellent pass through to Kris Lee who ran clear, only for Clarey to tackle and concede a corner. Any attempt at playing the ball on the ground was a lottery, with the bumpy pitch, and when Adedeji mistimed his clearance, the ball bobbing up in front of him, Kurt Smith broke clear, his cross being comfortably dealt with by John Purdie. Yusuk cut in from the right, the linesman flagged, the referee ignored it, Yusuf continued, and was stopped by an excellent tackle – the referee did not agree and a penalty was awarded and KURT SMITH stepped up to slot the ball home. Urchins came back upfield and a Keith corner was played short to Tomlinson, whose centre was well held by Agu. A defensive mix up saw McKinney fail to gather the ball and a corner was conceded. Holloway played the corner into the goalmouth, the whistle shrilled, and another penalty was awarded, the storm of protests ending in a waved yellow, aimed more on less somewhere in between Danny Glozier, and Richard Halle. Up stepped KURT SMITH once again to slot the ball home.

Two nil and play was punctuated by a succession of free kicks, invariably in Hornchurch’s favour, though no cards were produced. Janney to Elmes, who was fouled by Taylor and from the free kick Keith curled the ball over the bar. An Elmes centre found Janney, whose shot went out for a corner, which Janney took and Agu saved. A high ball into the middle by Purdie saw Agu rush out to head away, and Lee’s follow up shot went wide of the goal. A miskick by Adedeji, the ball again bobbing up in front of him, allowed Hefford the chance to run on, but he hit his shot high over the bar. At last a Tilbury player was shown the yellow card, Nathan Philip being perhaps fortunate not to have got a red, and Glozier’s free kick found Lee, whose shot skimmed the post. Janney made a good run on the right and picked out Elmes, whose centre was too close to goal and Agu saved.

Half time and considerable dissatisfaction was expressed over the two penalties and the lack of protection being given to the Urchins, and Simon Parker came on, making an immediate impact, winning a corner on the left, but Keith floated the kick too close to keeper Agu. Richard Halle moved up on the left and found Tomlinson, his centre being tipped over by an inspired Agu for another corner. Bostock played a deep ball into the goalmouth but Clarey headed away, and Halle headed narrowly wide from a Janney free kick. Another free kick, this time just outside the area when Parker had been brought down – no card was waved at the defender – saw Keith put the free kick too high and over the bar.

Another Keith free kick – over twenty were awarded to Urchins – saw Parker go close, Agu touching the shot out for a corner, and with Urchins in full control, they lost momentum when Danny Glozier’s innocuous tackle in midfield was greeted by a straight red card, a decision which infuriated just about everyone connected with Hornchurch. With Urchins still regrouping, Tilbury won two corners, both of which were held by McKinney, and then Amos Foyewa and Shane Oakley came on for Lee and Tomlinson and Lee. Two successive Keith corners were cleared by Taylor and Clarey, whilst a breakaway saw Tilbury win a corner at the other end, and then Amos went racing goalwards, and down he went, well inside the penalty area, but the referee allowed play to continue and then booked Amos instead of giving the expected penalty. Lee Springer found himself unmarked and raced away, playing the ball inside to Philip, who skied his shot over the bar. Ron Hanley was then sent off, following a series of remarks aimed at the referee – but they had not come from Ron, but from a well known Urchin standing slightly to the left of the dug out, the away following going mental at the decision, and a very upset Ron being forced to vacate the dug out..

Tilbury’s Coulson was booked and a minute later another yellow card was again waved at a Tilbury player. Difficult to say which one, as the two in question had both gone racing away back up the field by the time the card was produced, in stoppage time a hard drive was handled well inside the area – no one was carded – and MARK JANNEY hit the penalty home. Only four minutes were added on, despite some blatant time wasting, and a free kick from Danny Smith resulted in a corner for Tilbury, with the home manager screaming for them to lock the play up in the corner. Full time and Tilbury reacted as though they had just won the final.

Weather Conditions: 6 Degs. C., Clear, Wind Speed = 10 mph

Match Officials: Referee - Mr. S. Rubery, Assistants - Mr. I. R. Hogg and Mr. S. Franklin

Match duration: F/H 47 mins. 17 secs., S/H 48 mins. 41 secs.