Essex Senior League
Venue: Burroughs Park
Attendance: 120
2017-18 Season – Match 68
Saturday 28th April 2018 – 3pm KO
Great Wakering: Green & White Striped Shirts, White Shorts and White Socks
West Essex: Yellow & Black Hooped Shirts, Black Shorts, Yellow Socks
Report by Scott W (with photos by Andy Wilkins (Twitter: @andywilkins2015)
On a crucial day in the Essex Senior League, Great Wakering Rovers welcomed ‘surprise package’ West Essex to Burroughs Park. GWR knew what they had to do – a win would see them promoted whilst if Basildon slipped up then the title would also be theirs. Onto the team news and for the hosts, Danny Hurford remained out of action due to illness so Aaron Russell stepped in as a make-shift full-back while the attack was led by Messrs Dewberry, Richmond and Butterworth with Jay Nash, Chris Bryan and Bayley Newell all on the bench. West had ‘shuffled the pack’ in midweek due to their extensive fixture schedule and were missing Ben Leo and Joe Lefley though club captain Tom Macleod continued in a more advanced role, supporting forwards Michael Mignot and Musa Manneh.
Onto the match itself and whilst the hosts looked threatening as ever in the early stages, West captain Tom Macleod sent a overhead kick just over the bar on six minutes. This spurred the hosts on further and only minutes later, a drive by midfielder Ricky Evans was thwarted on the line by a visiting defender. Forwards Stephen Butterworth and Nathan Dewberry couldn’t find hit the target in the next passage of the game although Rovers were pretty dominant in terms of possession. As half-time drew near, tigerish midfielder Sam Carter sent two headers just off target though the wind was certainly in the Wakering sails and on the stroke of half-time, Wakering striker Neil Richmond was unselfishly played in and when one-on-one, just found the net despite West midfielder Brad Russell’s valiant effort to clear off the line.
Half-Time: Great Wakering Rovers 1 – 0 West Essex
Rovers held a narrow lead at the break though daylight did start to come as three minutes after the interval, winger Billy Johnson thundered a free-kick off the woodwork before only a minute later, Wakering were awarded a spot-kick, which Butterworth duly converted into the corner of the net.
Stags goalkeeper Jack Coker was to be by far the busier stopper in the second half as just shy of the hour, Richmond’s drive was blocked by Coker although he didn’t know too much about it, due to being unsighted. West talisman Michael Mignot barely had sight of goal today though three minutes short of the hour-mark, his run needed the intervention of home custodian Louis Hawes who gathered the ball at the striker’s feet.
A quick duo of goals for the hosts just past the hour ended this match as a contest really as first on 63 minutes, Carter powered a header off of a good leap into the net and then three minutes afterwards, a terrific 30-yard strike from Dewberry flew into the left corner of Coker’s net to certainly send the Green & White Army on their way to promotion straight back to the Isthmian North.
With eleven minutes remaining, Mignot had a goal chalked off for an offside though truth be told, it didn’t affect the true path that this match was going. Wakering ended the scoring with seven minutes left as only a minute after coming off the substitute’s bench, Bayley Newell slotted home to grab himself another goal and secure Iain O’Connell’s side another three points.
Full-Time: Great Wakering 5 – 0 West Essex
The squad remained on the pitch post-match to first applaud the Supporters’ Player of the Year which was midfielder Sam Carter and following that, the tension was palpable as we awaited news on the result elsewhere. As it turned out, Basildon being held in their match at Sporting Bengal meant Rovers had not only secured promotion, but also the Essex Senior League championship along with it, which triggered joyous scenes to finally erase the pain of last season’s hurtful relegation.
Congratulations to the Great Wakering squad, management and the Committee on their success and also a thank you for their hospitality, I wish Rovers well next season back in the Bostik Division North. As for West Essex, they will have better days than this and they know a win against bottom side Hackney Wick in midweek will mean that they will secure 6th spot, ahead of Clapton. Credit also goes to the Stags for congratulating the champions before they left the pitch.
You can catch video highlights of this match, courtesy of WD Sportz here: https://youtu.be/P05tZK9zo_k
And post-match Interviews with both managers by myself (guesting on WD Sportz) here: https://youtu.be/MSvRx0cpyP0
Teams:
Great Wakering Rovers | Manager: Iain O’Connell
Louis Hawes (GK), Jason Ring, Aaron Russell, Scott Pethers (Capt), Aaron Waters, Billy Johnson, Sam Carter, Ricky Evans, Nathan Dewberry (Bayley Newell 82′), Neil Richmond (Chris Bryan 71′), Stephen Butterworth (Jay Nash 69′)
Goal-scorers: Neil Richmond [45′], Stephen Butterworth [pen 49′], Sam Carter [63′], Nathan Dewberry [66′], Bayley Newell [83′]
Booked: None | Subs Not Used: Froud
West Essex | Manager: Kwame Kwateng
Jack Coker (GK), Sanchez Hardy, Josh Kane, Nick Walk, Josh French, Greg Frederick (James Bromley 71′), Brad Russell (Kofi Appiah 83′), Cameron Gray, Tom Macleod (Capt), Musa Manneh (Isaac Marfo 64′), Michael Mignot
Booked: Russell | Subs Not Used: Adebayo, Woodbridge
Referee: Liam Giles
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