Essex Senior League
2019-20 Season: Match 14
Saturday 17th August 2019 – 3pm KO
Venue: Wadham Lodge Stadium
Attendance: TBA
Walthamstow: Blue Shirts, Blue Shorts, Blue Socks
Stansted: White Shirts, Grey Shorts, Grey Socks
‘Stow defeat gritty Stansted at Wadham Lodge
Walthamstow 1 – 0 Stansted
Report & Photos by Scott W [Twitter: @ScottMHC14]
This weekend’s match took me to on a solo jaunt to Wadham Lodge Stadium to see Walthamstow renew rivalries with Stansted in an Essex Senior League encounter. The plot thickened this week as ‘Stow signed winger Callum Ibe from the Airportmen this week, and yep you guessed it – Ibe started against his old club. He was joined in the home front-line by Emiel Aiken and the prolific Dwade James. The back five for Ryan Maxwell’s side were imposing ‘keeper James Bransgrove, full-backs Jamie Bennett & Kyan Gulliver with centre-backs Vinny Murphy and Gus Douglas. Recent signing Jack Grosvenor was ruled out with a knee problem, we wish him well in his recovery.
Stansted were looking for a better performance after exiting the FA Cup last week and opted for solidity with three centre-backs, Sam West, Joe Clark and Jack West with Moses Carvalho and Billy Coyne acting as attacking full-backs. Recent signings Michael Ogboin and Daniel Cheema also both started, with full-back Louis Monk joining Joe McEvoy and Harvey Brown on the substitute’s bench.
In the early stages of the match, the Airportmen were looking to build a foundation defensively as home winger Danny McCullock pinged in a few good crosses from the right flank, ultimately to no avail. As we approached the quarter-hour, ‘Stow forward Dwade James went up for a aerial challenge with visiting custodian James Pellin, which left Pellin needing treatment. What followed in the next phase of the match was a bit of a scrappy time, with fouls breaking up the rhythm of the game and a lot of play in midfield. As ever, Callum Ibe was posing a threat, coming inside from the left and before the half-hour, he did well to seize a loose ball before skewing a low shot wide of a post. Minutes later, the ever-dangerous James had two half-chances at goal though on both occasions his strike lacked the punch to beat Pellin, though his movement was adding to the visitors’ concerns. That said, Paul Pittuck & John Watters’ team were dealing with balls in the air well to stifle their hosts’ attacks.
Six minutes before the break, a rare clear chance for the visitors saw winger Jack Mitchell in on goal, one-on-one with home goalkeeper James Bransgrove though scuffed his shot wide. Moments later, Ibe struck wide again after finding a yard of space and then on the stroke of half-time, James was once again denied by a well-placed defender on the goal-line following a free-kick.
In fairness, the hosts did shade the half with Emiel Aiken being a good presence in the air, acting as a good foil for Ibe and James. Michael Ogboin was also a physical presence in attack for Stansted though he was being crowded out by the home defence.
Half-time: Walthamstow 0 – 0 Stansted
Moments after the second-half began, a stinging drive from near the touch-line by left-back Moses Carvalho was gathered by Bransgrove though unfortunately for the visitors, that wasn’t a precursor to many further attacking moves. Almost immediately after Carvalho’s effort, ‘Stow forward Emiel Aiken’s angled drive was well-parried away from danger by Pellin. The visitors’ resistance was broken with 56 minutes on the clock as ‘Stow left-back Kyan Gulliver found Ibe down the left channel and in turn, he played in James who coolly slotted over Pellin, much to the home crowd’s relief. The visiting defence kept their composure minutes later as another testing Ibe cross was well headed away by centre-back Jack West. Midway through the half, Stansted skipper Billy Coyne stroked in a free-kick from deep though midfielder Paul Clayton could only head above the woodwork.
Soon afterward, Pellin pulled off another smart save by tipping over a venomous 20-yard drive by McCullock as the hosts had the better of the second-half in terms of chances. ‘Stow saw the game out and will be happy with the points though in their minds they may have wanted another goal or two. Stansted didn’t have many clear-cut opportunities today as the supply line to their forwards was cut off probably more often than not. The biggest positive for them today for me was that defensively they looked much more like their ‘usual selves’ and that bodes well for the remainder of this long campaign.
Full-Time: Walthamstow 1 – 0 Stansted
Thank you to Walthamstow for their assistance today & best wishes. On a nice side-note, remember the many sticker albums (Be it the Premiership or World Cup etc) that many a kid used to enjoy back in the day? Well, ‘Stow have their own one this year and to be fair, it’s a nice bit of fun and rare to see a Non-League club do it so that’s good to see. Best wishes to Stansted for the rest of the season as well, I believe the team are in good hands under the stewardship of Messr’s Pittuck & Watters.
Teams
Walthamstow | Player-Manager: Ryan Maxwell | Player-Assistant Mgr: Nicky Symons
James Bransgrove (GK), Jamie Bennett, Kyan Gulliver, Vinny Murphy (Capt), Gus Douglas, Jack Folan, Ben Crilley, Daniel McCullock (Ryan Reed 82′), Emiel Aiken (Charlie Yexley 77′), Dwade James, Callum Ibe (Olly Fortune 70′)
Goal-scorer: Dwade James [56′]
Booked: Murphy | Subs Not Used: Symons, Madu
Stansted | Joint-Managers: Paul Pittuck & John Watters
James Pellin (GK), Billy Coyne (Capt), Moses Carvalho, Sam West, Joe Clark, Jack West, Rob Norris (Joe McEvoy 30′), Paul Clayton, Michael Ogboin, Daniel Cheema (Harry Prince 78′), Jack Mitchell (Harvey Brown 83′)
Booked: Norris, Carvalho, S West, Clayton, Clark, Ogboin | Subs Not Used: Monk, Turvey
