Essex Senior League
Venue: Cricklefield Stadium
Attendance: 47
Date: Wednesday 21st December 2016 7.45pm
Ilford: Blue & White Hooped Shirts, Blue Shorts, White Socks
Basildon Utd: Black & Amber Striped Shirts, Black Shorts, Amber Socks
Scott W reporting (Follow me on Twitter: @ScottMHC14)
On a fairly chilly evening at Cricklefield, Ilford took on mid-table Basildon Utd on the last evening of ESL action in 2016. It was also a ‘battle of the Odedoyin brothers’, Wale for Ilford coming up against his brother Ayoola. The visitors were also missing their top-scorer Nathan Dewberry.
The match had a low-key first half hour or so with relatively few chances, as both sides attempted to settle into a rhythm. Ilford had the better of the possession though couldn’t quite find that incisive final ball though they were well-organised, attempting to play out from their strong back-four.
Basildon, to their credit were not flustered either as wingers Jamie Brown & Ayoola Odedoyin together with forward Reece Tranter led their side’s forward play with pace, occasional trickery & running.
The match suddenly fizzed into life as Ilford’s Joe Killingback smashed a sweetly-struck 25-yarder into the net, past the despairing dive of visiting ‘keeper Jonathan Eckett to open the scoring eight minutes from half-time. It was a cracker and Killingback was rightly delighted.
Half-Time: Ilford 1 – 0 Basildon Utd
The second half began with a bit more tempo, Ilford forward Sipho Mytanda striking a decent free-kick just over the bar from a decent position. Just on the hour mark, Basildon responded in possession terms as Tranter was denied by the impressive full-back Toib Adeyemi for a corner. Shortly after that, Ayoola Odedoyin headed over the bar from another corner.
This geed the Foxes up as Wale Odedoyin made a great run down the right wing, though couldn’t put an effort on target. Ilford certainly had willing runners in W Odedoyin, Luke Thomas, Killngback & forward Ryan Ramsey though still couldn’t quite make the most of their overall possession.
That was until the later stages, shortly after coming off the bench, good hold-up play by Carl Mullings, gave fellow sub Eden Nelson an opening, though he blazed his strike over the bar. The home side didn’t have to wait much longer though as a good counter saw ‘keeper Eckett come rushing out, Nelson kept his composure and slotted the ball home into the empty net.
Only a couple of minutes later, Ilford made the points safe as Basildon full-back Jim Paterson brought down Ilford winger Luke Thomas in the box, and Killingback converted the resulting penalty into the left corner.
Full-Time: Ilford 3 – 0 Basildon Utd
Killingback 37’, 86 (pen)
Nelson 84’
Ilford will be happy with their second win this week, though what they’ll be seeking is consistency now. I saw enough tonight that if they keep a settled squad then they could rise up the table. Basildon will be disappointed that they couldn’t quite get more of a foot-hold in the match though they showed they will create chances, particularly against defences less well-drilled than their opponents this evening. Ilford finish 2016 in 13th place, only nine points off the top six. Basildon are 10th spot, ten points off the top four.
I’d like to wish all Non-League Football fans & readers of this blog a very Merry Christmas & a very happy 2017.
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Teams: |
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Ilford
Manager: Allan Fenn |
Basildon Utd
Manager: Aaron Bloxham |
| 1 Adam Seal (GK) | 13 Jonathan Eckett (GK) |
| 2 Toib Adeyemi | 2 Jim Paterson |
| 3 Liam Whipps | 17 Joe Gilbert |
| 4 Leon Rolle (C) | 4 Lee Delf |
| 5 Ajay Ashnike | 5 Tyler Jalland |
| 6 Luke McLeavy | 19 Ayoola Odedoyin (Subbed 81’) |
| 7 Luke Thomas | 7 Joe Skeels |
| 8 Joe Killingback | 8 John-Joe Slater (C) |
| 9 Ryan Ramsay (Subbed 78’) | 20 Reece Tranter |
| 10 Sipho Mytanda (Subbed 78’) | 10 Suleyman Zuhdu |
| 11 Wale Odedoyin | 11 Jamie Brown (Subbed 46’) |
| Substitutes: | |
| 12 Carl Mullings (On 78’) | 6 Lee Scott (On 81’) |
| 14 Justas Paliulis | 21 Paul Shave |
| 15 Andy Edmunds | 3 Churchill Chiatitor |
| 16 Eden Nelson (On 78’) | 16 Alf Lindfield (On 46’) |
| 17 Jean-Tarach Bavangila | |
| Booked: Killingback, Ramsay, Whipps | Booked: Paterson |
| Referee: | Tom Fell |
| Assistant Referees: | Jamie Wood
Alan Steward |
survivor16b 