Essex Senior League
Venue: Lower Road
Attendance: 50
2018-19 Season – Match 28
Saturday 27th October 2018 – 3pm KO
Hullbridge Sports : Bue & White Striped Shirts, Blue Shorts, Blue Socks
Ilford : Red & White Hooped Shirts, Red Shorts, Red & White Hooped Socks
Resolute Ilford hold ‘Bridge in an entertaining affair
Report by Scott W (Twitter: @ScottMHC14) with Photos by Neil Hunwicks (Twitter: ABridgeTooFar16) & Scott
My second match of the weekend took me to Lower Road to see an intriguing tie in prospect between two sides who have started their seasons well. Hullbridge were missing a few key players, with Matt Rose, Dan Okah and Jimmy Cox all banned plus Rob Hodgson was unavailable. George Marsh continued in goal with Shawn Coe and Lewis Risk being the full-backs with Joe Skeels making his first league start for the club. Ilford were also missing the likes of Morgan Seaman, Mitchell Victorin and Callum Maltese. Yemi Adelani and Lauric Diakiesse led the line for Martin Haywood’s side with a powerful centre midfield partnership of Jamal Dzotsi and Jermaine Findlator.
The match didn’t take long to whirl into life as only two minutes in, Hullbridge took the lead as after Ilf custodian Hugo Rosetti made a decent save to deny forward Luke Hornsley’s effort, Nathan Scarborough tucked home the re-bound right into the top corner from a narrow angle. Both sides looked a threat going forward as moments after the goal, a curling drive from Ilford midfielder Jamal Dzotsi was gathered by by home goalkeeper George Marsh. At the other end, home winger Aundre Spencer fired wide from 18 yards.
The Foxes had a good sight at goal on 13 minutes as forward Yemi Adelani was one-on-one with Marsh though couldn’t beat the ‘keeper. This spurred the visitors on as ten minutes later, Adelani’s pace and tricky rounded the defender in the area, sending a low centre for strike partner Lauric Diakiesse to help himself to a tap-in to level things up. The hosts had one or two more chances to re-take the lead though Hornsley and fellow foorward Ollie Sotoyinbo couldn’t get past Rosetti.
Six minutes before half-time, livewire Adelani raced clear of the home defence before calmly slotting past Marsh to give the visitors the advantage though said advantage lasted mere moments as at the other end, Scarborough’s initial strike was saved by Rosetti, Sotoyinbo made no mistake from close range. An entertaining half it was, though at this point you felt defences were not going to be on top here.
Half-Time: Hullbridge Sports 2 – 2 Ilford
Hullbridge had the better of the early-going after the break though couldn’t make the most of the their chances, though Rosetti did pull off a decent save to deny Scarborough’s powerful effort on 54 minutes. Ilford did gradually get back into the game as Ilford continued to search for telling balls in though much to their credit, the home defence remained undaunted with centre-back Jamal Allen and right-back Shawn Coe particularly impressing.
The weather may have been distinctly chilly but the tension was racking up as well as Rosetti denied Taylor’s free-kick before a nice move involving full-back Lewis Risk and Hornsley resulted in Spencer’s tame shot being gathered by the Ilf stopper. The visitors were thankful that Sotoyinbo’s toe-poke was denied on the goal-line, after substitute Michael Salako had picked him out well.
Late on, Adelani was played in well though just as thought he was was about to strike, a superb tackle by Coe denied him the oppurtunity, almost as quickly as it appeared. It ended all-square though it was in my view, a fair result as both sides could’ve won this entertaining match.
Full-Time: Hullbridge Sports 2 – 2 Ilford
Hullbridge Sports | Manager: Darren Manning
George Marsh (GK), Shawn Coe, Lewis Risk (Matt Tapley 76′), Sam Taylor, Luke McLeavy, Joe Skeels, Luke Hornsley (Capt), Ollie Sotoyinbo, Nathan Scarborough (Arnold Achaempong 84′), Aundre Spencer (Michael Salako 70′)
Goal-scorers: Nathan Scarborough [2′], Ollie Sotoyinbo [41′]
Booked: Sotoyinbo, McLeavy | Subs Not Used: None
Ilford | Manager: Martin Haywood
Hugo Rosetti (GK), Luke Casey, Isacka Mncube, Henry Mabassa, Dany Haigh (Capt), Jamal Dzotsi, Yasseir Nazor (Leon Bernard 76′), Jermaine Findlator (Lamarr Douglas 82′), Yemi Adelani, Lauric Diakiesse, Lion Docaj (David Oyeleku 85′)
Goal-scorers: Lauric Diakiesse [24′], Yemi Adelani [39′]
Booked: Haigh, Findlator, Bernard | Subs Not Used: J Fudge
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