Pre-Season Friendly
Venue: Stambridge Memorial Ground
Season 2020-21: Match 3
Tuesday 25th August 2020 – 7.30pm KO
Corinthians: Sky Blue & White Striped Shirts, Black Shorts
Wakebury: Yellow Shirts, Royal Blue Shorts
Corinthians edge to the win in an enticing pre-season win over battling Wakebury
Corinthians 4 – 3 Wakebury
Match Summary & Photos by Scott W [Twitter: @ScottMHC14]
With some parts of normality returning after a hugely challenging last five months, my third pre-season match of season 2020-21 saw me return to Stambridge Memorial Ground to see two good Olympian League teams in Corinthians and Wakebury. Safety measures were in place for both spectators and players alike, with both sides having players unavailable. Joining us for this match was my GFS colleague Pete Dudley along with a few ground-hoppers, which is always nice to see.
The weather was definitely going to play its part in this match with the swirling wind making its presence felt in the first half and with two attack-minded sides, that was going to add to an exciting game. We weren’t disappointed on the latter front as chances came about in the early stages, with a decent visiting attack forcing a good save by home custodian Ethan Lemmon. Moments later, a breezy team move on the part of the hosts ended with a neat finish by forward Jake Lang to break the deadlock with nine minutes on the watch.
To their credit, the Berries did keep to their attacking ethos, having some good attacks down the flanks and keeping the home defence alert However, their finishing wasn’t clinical enough at this point to make an immediate impact. Meanwhile, at the other end Corinthians also had chances as their rapid supporting forwards were posing a challenge to the opposition defence, though again they also couldn’t make the most of their opportunities.
A free-kick down the left-side channel for the hosts presented a good opportunity with three minutes to play before the break. Midfielder Luke Owen’s delivery evaded the visiting defenders and attacking full-back Bill Wilton was on hand to force it over the line from barely a yard out. The visitors were two goals down at the break, though young forward Harry Kateley had a couple of chances himself to negate the deficit.
Half-Time: Corinthians 2 – 0 Wakebury
As the darkness approached, so did the threatening clouds as the second half got underway. Again, we didn’t have to wait long for more goals as two minutes into the half, Ben Munday (who scored nine league goals last season) hammered home an absolute thunder-bolt of a strike past Lemmon into the net to halve the hosts’ advantage. As we passed the hour mark, the hosts were getting revved up again and after missing at least two good chances, Lang got his second of the evening on 62 minutes with a well-placed curling finish from twenty-odd yards out to make it 3 – 1 to the hosts.
Once again the visitors responded in short shrift as a accurate free-kick from Munday made it a brace for him as well and kept Wakebury in the match. The hosts are a tough side to match though when they are ‘in the mood’ for goals though and restored their two-goal cushion with twenty minutes remaining through a deft lobbed finish from Jake Hodder – who notched eight times in the league last term, with only a certain Nathan Dewberry scoring more league goals for the club last season.
The action didn’t end there as Billy Bonham-Dare pulled another goal back barely two minutes later for the visitors, who stuck to their task well and that will please the management team of Matt Cardy and Dan Blewett. Unfortunately the driving rain rather influenced the latter stages of this entertaining game and although the hosts got the win, both sides have reason to be happy with their exploits here.
Full-Time: Corinthians 4 – 3 Wakebury
Goal-scorers (Corinthians): Jake Lang [9’ & 62’], Bill Wilton [42’], Jake Hodder [70’]
Goal-scorers (Wakebury): Ben Munday [47’ & 65’], Billy Bonham-Dare [72’]
Referee: Adekola Adeyemi
To close, Corinthians showed once again they are a side fill of goals and enterprising play which will set them up well for the coming season, having kept the vast majority of their squad from last term. A note also for Wakebury who fought their way back into the match very well, despite the worsening conditions in the second half.
These sides compete in Essex Olympian League Division Two (Corinthians) and Division Three (Wakebury) and tonight’s game in a good indication for how these sides will approach their respective divisions. Personal opinion here but I wouldn’t be surprised if both sides are aiming for elevation this term. Finally, it was good to catch with the management from both sides and I wish them both well for the season ahead.
survivor16b 