Match Reports 2008/2009
East Thurrock United 5, Cheshunt 0
Attendance 134
M-o-M: Kris Newby (East Thurrock)
AFTER several below par performances recently, table-toppers East Thurrock were back to their best on Saturday.
They made a confident start and their early dominance was rewarded when Kris Newby opened the scoring on 17 minutes when keeper Ashley Harris fumbled Martin Touhy’s shot and the Rocks player showed composure to finish from the edge of the box.
Kurt Smith extended the advantage on 29 minutes with a fine finish after a neat one-two with Touhy and two minutes later top scorer Touhy imperiously shot home from the edge of the box.
Cheshunt’s frustration came to the fore soon after when captain Glenn Parry was sent off after striking out after being fouled and he compounded the offence when he raised his hands to Ben Boyce as he left the pitch. Boyce was booked for his part in the exchange.
Minutes before half time a mistake by Newby allowed Cheshunt to break and Ashley Taylor-Forbes ran half the length of the pitch and, despite the attentions of James Donvan got in a shot that Richard Wray pushed away for a corner.
Taylor –Forbes then had another chance in added time, but shot over when well-placed.
Those chances might have put Cheshunt back in the game but they found themselves emphatically out of it seven minutes after the restart when Charlie Simpson’s backpass was worfully short and Touhy clipped the ball over Harris for his 49th goal in all competitions this season.
He will have to wait for his 50th as he was replaced by Brendan Cass soon after.
Cheshunt were continuing to create chances and former Rocks player Julian Edwards forced a good save from Wray, with Taylor-Forbes blazing the rebound over the bar.
Newby had a great chance to extend Rocks' lead on 72 minutes but dithered and the ball was cleared for a corner. Newby took it and it was met with a diving header at the near post by substitute Elliot Gresham and he guided it across the face of the goal for Rocks’ fifth.
East Thurrock: Richard Wray, Ray Powell, Matt Lovell (Lee Williams 60), Ben Wood (Elliot Gresham 55), James Donovan, James Donovan, Steve Harrison, Kris Newby, Nick Barnes, Ben Boyce, Martin Touhy Brendan Cass 55), Kurt Smith. Subs not used: Ryan Sammon, Luke Hall.
Cheshunt: Ashley Harris, Gary Schillaci, Glen Parry, Mick Thurogood, Mark Clarey, Jerome Boyce (Michael Pelly 65), Aaron Churchouse (Graham Dearie 77), Bradley Harrison, Julian Edwards, Ashley Taylor-Forbes (Daniel Bradford 65), Charlie Simpson. Subs not used: Tom Tresadern, Christian Beapierre.
East Thurrock United 1, Concord Rangers 1
EAST Thurrock moved back to the top of the Ryman One North after a fractious match that ended in ugly scenes with several confrontations after the final whistle.
Concord’s Anthony Cook was sent off for his part in the fracas, joining East Thurrock’s Nicky Barnes who had earlier had a red card for a late challenge.
It was a heated end to a match that rarely came to the boil as nerves seemed to get the better of two promotion-chasing sides.
The first half was error strewn, with neither side able to put a foot on the ball and possession switched rapidly from team to team, with little purpose.
Chances were few and far between, the most dramatic moment coming midway through the half when Yohance Lewis turned and hooked the ball fiercely goalwards, only for James Donovan to pull off a brave block.
At the other end East Thurrock forced several corners but little came of them.
The opening minutes of the second half were dramatic, with Adam Rafis pulling off an excellent reflex save to deny Brendan Cass, who had burst through the backline, and at the other end one time Rocks player John Turnbull failed to make connection with a close range header with the goal at his mercy.
Rocks’ Kurt Smith, who had just been booked, left the action after receiving a head wound in an ugly challenge taht had an element of retribution about it, and his replacement, Ben Boyce, had the ball in the net soon after but was rightly adjudged offside.
East Thurrock had claims for a penalty for handball turned down on 75 minutes and their frustration increased minutes later when Anthony Cook showed athleticism in the box to reach a ball that Rocks struggled to clear and he lashed it into the roof of the net.
East Thurrock then lost Barnes, who recently joined them from Concord, when he was sent off for a challenge from behind on Turnbull with seven minutes to go.
However, the ten men didn’t give up and with three minutes remaining Kris Newby put a long throw into the box and Touhy dived to meet it and squeeze it between Rafis and his near post. It was Rocks' 100th league goal of the season, Touhy having got 35 of them and his individual seasonal tally is now 47.
And it might have been more for the Rocks when, in the last minute Boyce rounded the keeper but was forced wide in doing so and his curling shot drifted across the face of the goal to safety.
There were other anxious moments at either end as five minutes of added time were played out but there were to be no more goals and only the untoward scenes to remember from the final stages.
Attendance: 178.
East Thurrock United: Richard Wray, Ray Powell, Matt Lovell, Ben Wood, James Donovan, Steve Harrison, Kris Newby, Nick Barnes, Brendan Cass (Martin Llewellyn 76), Martin Touhy, Kurt Smith (Ben Boyce 67). Subs not used: Ryan Sammon, Lee Williams, Elliot Gresham.
Concord: Adam Rafis, Kevin Watson, Sam Taylor (Taylor Sinfield 76), Jon Turnbull, John Easterford, Nick Skelton, Anthony Cook, Nicky Cowley, Fabien Batchelor (Elliott Buchanan 81), Danny Heale (Piers Wixon 90), Yohance Lewis. Subs: Danny Scopes, Jack Carlile.
Witham Town 2, East Thurrock United 10
EAST Thurrock boss John Coventry was keen to stress the excellence of his side's performance after this rout of strugglers Witham on Saturday.
"Some people may looks at the result and see it as Witham struggling but to be fair they weren't as bad a side as the result suggests, it was one of those when we really clicked and everyone in our side played extremely well," said the Rocks' boss.
The goals feast started in the third minute when league top scorer Martin Touhey netted and Brendan Cass added to the tally two minutes later.
Kurt Smith got the third on 20 minutes and two goals from Kris Newby and Touhy's second made it six at the break.
Ray Powell continued the onslaught with two goals in the second half and skipper Lee Williams got his first of the season from the spot before Ben Boyce completed the visitors' scoring.
To their credit Witham kept going and James Robinson and a Garry Hill penalty proved some consolation late in the game.
Redbridge 0, East Thurrock United 3
ROCKS bounced back from Saturday’s home defeat by Brentwood with a convincing win at Redbridge on Tuesday evening to maintain their challenge for the Ryman One North title.
Manager John Coventry made a couple of changes with new full-back pairing of Matt Lovell and Ray Powell charged with adding a touch of creativity to their play.
And it made a significant difference as Rocks produced some fine passing to weather Redbridge’s early burst then dominate the first half, with two goals from new striker Brendan Cass to show for their efforts.
Redbridge came at Rocks in the second half but, as the heavens opened, the visitors rounded off a competent display with a goal from James Donovan five minutes from time.
East Thurrock United 1, Brentwood Town 2
EAST Thurrock were knocked off the top of the Ryman One North with a disappointing home performance against Brentwood, who enhanced their own title chances with a strong display.
East Thurrock introduced new signings Brendan Cass from Dartford and Nicky Barnes from Concord Rangers but both failed to make an impression as Rocks went down to their first league defeat since November 29 when they went down at Aveley – who went back to the top of the table today after beating Enfield Town 1-0.
Rocks made a bright start and took the lead on ten minutes when Kris Newby’s free kick into the box was handled by Darren Blewitt. Newby converted the sport-kick.
Brentwood responded well and levelled on 18 minutes when Sammy Higgins ran into the box and struck a low volley past Richard Wray.
The rest of the half was a midfield battle, with East Thurrock showing a lack of invention, while the pace and strength of Sherwin Stanley always posed a threat for Brentwood.
And it was Stanley who got what proved to be the winning goal on 53 minutes when East Thurrock’s defence went awol and the ball ran loose in front of goal where the striker tapped in from close range
East Thurrock’s only real chance to get back into the match came when a lob from Cass was athletically cleared off the line by Steve King.
Brentwood finished the match stronger and came close to extending their lead when
Ricky Holmes hit the bar and then fired wide at the far post with the goal gaping.
East Thurrock: Richard Wray, Ryan Sammon, Steve Harrison, Ben Wood, James Donovan, James Donovan, Elliot Gresham (Ben Boyce 55), Kris Newby (Ray Powell 83), Lee Williams, Brendan Cass (Kurt Smith 83), Martin Touhy, Nick Barnes. Subs not used: Matt Lovell, Luke Hall.
Brentwood Town: Bill McMahon, Steve King, Danny Glozier, Steve Good, Darren Blewitt, Gareth Street, Ricky Holmes, Nicky Symonds, Sherwin Stanley, Sammy Higgins, Lee Perry. Subs not used: Dean Parrott, Julien Ashby, Nicky Mitchell, Ryan Oliva, Danny Carroll.
Crowd 195
Entertainment: Three stars
Man of the Match: Sherwin Stanley (Brentwood).
East Thurrock United 1, Chatham Town 0
By Neil Speight of the Essex Enquirer - ask at your newsagents for a free copy.
EAST Thurrock United moved to the top of the table but made hard work of seeing off brave Chatham, who spent much of the match with ten players, missed a penalty and only succumbed to a goal in the third minute of added time.
There were several pivotal moments in a hard-fought game of limited vision but plenty of honest endeavour and the first came after 18 minutes when slack midfield play by Rocks allowed Rob Denness a run into the box and when defender Elliot Gresham obligingly hung out a leg, the striker produced a triple salko on his way to winning a spot kick. It was a penalty, but the way the Chatham player embossed the decision began acrimony that frequently spilled over throughout a match indifferently handled by over-fussy Rob Allum.
Denness may be a candidate for the Olympics diving team in 2012, but Matthew Solly won't make any of the target sports, with the limpest of penalties that Richard Wray easily pawed away from his goal.
Other than a late, fierce drive from Lee Hodges that was well saved by Chatham's makeshift keeper James Smith and a spooned, angled close range shot from Rocks' James Donovan there was little else to note in a rather poor fist half.
The quality didn't rise much after the break, when Chatham found themselves with an increasingly difficult task six minutes into the action when Danny Larkin was sent off for his second bookable offence.
His departure only served to increase the Kent side's work-rate, exemplified by the superb Stephen Best, and they frequently frustrated Rocks, who showed a remarkable lack of invention for a title chasing side.
And the visitors could well have snatched all the points had not Wray produced a superb save from Grant Duff and then :Lee Barnett blazed over when it looked easier to score as East Thurrock were caught out by the visitors' quick counter attacks.
The defining moment came deep in stoppage time when Rocks were gifted a corner and when it was swung over into a crowed penalty area, centre back Ben Woods - far and away Rocks' best player, crept in at the far post to guide a header down and up into the roof of the net to break Chatham hearts and send the home players into jubilant celebration.
Rocks' John Coventry conceded his side were poor, saying: "It was one of those games where you don't play very well but the luck goes with you and I'm grateful to play badly and still take the points. Sometimes things aren't always fair, but that's football and you need a slice of luck - though there have been games where things have gone against us in other matches, so it evens out."
Star man: Ben Wood
Attendance 117
Entertainment value ***
Rocks: Richard Wray, Elliot Gresham, Steve Harrison (Ben Boyce), Ben Wood, James Donovan, Max Cornhill, Kris Newby, Lee Williams, Kurt Smith (Ray Powell), Martin Touhy, Lee Hodges (Matt Lovell).
