STATISTICS

Date: Tuesday 22nd October 2024
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Competition: Essex Senior League
Venue: Lawtech Stadium
Attendance: 54
Starters: Max Spence, Miles Smith, Jay Bacon, Andy Greenslade, Teddy Stacey ©, Charlie Thomson, Izzy Bademosi, Jerrold Cobblah, Juwon Akintunde, Lewis Byrne-Hewitt, Andre Anderson
Substitutes: Sam Edwards, Anthony Martin, Teddy Bowden, Nelly Martins, Bradley McDonald
Substitutions:
HT McDonald for Byrne-Hewitt
63′ Edwards for Anderson
69’ Martin for Akintunde
82’ Martins for Bademosi
Goals:
Michael Adu (Ilford) 1′ 0-1
Bademosi 55′ 1-1
Emmanuel Wazola (Ilford) 77′ 1-2
Martin 90′ 2-2
Yellow cards: Akintunde, Bademosi
Red cards: None

REPORT

A POINT GAINED

Barking extended their unbeaten league run to six games, but it was a hard fought point in a match where Ilford seemed poised to take all three. 

Struggling for fluency in attack, the home side  had to rely on a 90th minute equaliser from the returning Tony Martin to salvage the 2-2 draw.

The game got off to a disastrous start for Barking when they conceded a goal just 50 seconds into the match. Michael Adu capitalised on a failed clearance from a free kick, volleying past Max Spence to give Ilford the early lead. Barking tried to respond quickly, with Izzy Bademosi providing a cross for Troy Hewitt-Byrne, whose shot was saved by Ilford goalkeeper Wilkinson Boateng’s legs after five minutes. Another chance came moments later when Juwon Akintunde’s angled shot was cleared off the line by Nik Ahmadi. However, Barking struggled to maintain possession and allowed Ilford to control much of the game, frequently giving away set pieces and inviting pressure on their own goal. As halftime approached, Barking looked more likely to concede again rather than score an equaliser.

The second half began with Ilford continuing to look the more dangerous side, but Barking’s persistence finally paid off in the 55th minute. Teddy Stacey sent Akintunde down the wing, and after his shot was saved by Boateng, Izzy Bademosi calmly slotted home the rebound for his fifth goal of the season, levelling the match at 1-1. 

Ilford quickly responded with more pressure, and the well placed former Blue Greg Akpele, fired over the bar after a defensive clearance fell to him. The game entered a stop-start phase, with neither side able to create many clear chances until Ilford regained the lead in the 77th minute. Emmanuel Wazola fired past Spence after being set up by Akpele, putting Ilford 2-1 up. As the clock ticked towards full time, Barking seemed headed for defeat, but in the final minute of normal time, they found an equaliser. Miles Smith launched a long ball into the box, which was nodded down by Andy Greenslade to substitute Tony Martin. Martin marked his return to the club by volleying the ball spectacularly into the net to make it 2-2.

There was a moment of controversy in added time when Ilford had a strong shout for a penalty. Spence appeared to make contact with Joel Appiah, but the referee, Mr. Temu, waved play on. Reviewing the WDSportz stream the incident occurred outside the box but either way the referee was not interested in what appeared to be a foul. In the end, Barking will be relieved to have earned a point, though Ilford may feel they should have capitalised on their chances to claim all three.

We are at home again on Friday evening when we entertain Buckhurst Hill in our next league fixture and hopefully we can keep our run going.

Report source: Terry Gilbert/Barking FC

Please note that the opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to Barking Football Club.

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