STATISTICS

Date: Saturday 1st February 2025
Kick-off: 3pm
Competition: Essex Senior League 
Venue: Lawtech Stadium
Attendance: 56
Starters: Dan Purdue, Charlie Thomson, Caleb Dennis, Sam Edwards, Alfie Attrill, Fahad Nyanja ©, Akiljo Balliu, Teddy Stacey, Tony Martin, Sam Shaban, Tyrese Sibanda
Substitutes: Henry Mabassa, Juwon Akintunde, Michele Maccari, Fahad Nazor, Sakeel Balfour-Brown
Substitutions:
70’ Nazor for Stacey
70’ Mabassa for Balliu
76’ Maccari for Shaban
82’ Akintunde for Sibanda
82’ Balfour-Brown for Martin
Goals:
Edwards 10′ 1-0
Lester Ward (Halstead) 18′ 1-1
George Frodsham (Halstead) 26′ 1-2
Martin 45+1′ 2-2
Martin 53′ 3-2
Sibanda 64′ 4-2
Alfie Cleal (Halstead) 85′ 4-3
Yellow cards: None
Red cards: None

REPORT

HALSTEAD HALTED BY STUBBORN BLUES

Barking came away with all three points in a tense seven goal thriller against a Halstead Town side that refused to give in, the two fixtures against today’s opponents this season have yielded a total of fourteen goals.

The teams went in level at half time, with Barking’s goals coming from Sam Edwards and Tony Martin. Barking pulled away in the second half, thanks to a free kick that might have come off Tony Martin and a first Barking goal for Tyrese Sibanda, before being pegged back late on by Halstead for a nervy finish.

Both sides had chances in the first ten minutes as Sibanda saw his shot saved by the feet of Halstead stopper Jack Cherry while Halstead went close themselves with a curling half volley attempt from Joel Older that was wide of the mark. It was Barking who did take the lead at the ten minute mark, Caleb Dennis seemed to be closing in on goal before an excellent tackle led to a corner,  Sam Edwards took it short to Sam Shaban, he backheeled to Sam Edwards who slotted it low and under Cherry into the net.

Halstead were back level quickly however, as Barking failed to deal with pressure, after some brave blocks the ball fell to Lester Ward who rifled a shot into the net with Dan Purdue left without a chance to save it. Halstead completed the comeback after 26 minutes, a long ball fell between the defence and Purdue and with both unsure on how to deal with it George Frodsham had time to get in-between them and slot the ball low into the net.

Fahad Nyanja squeezed past some defenders to find the side netting from a narrow angle on 36 minutes but Barking got an important equaliser in first half injury time, Tyrese Sibanda drove down the right wing before crossing perfectly for Tony Martin, he saw his close range header saved by Cherry but the ball fell kindly to the Barking striker and he gratefully bundled home the rebound.

Barking completed the one-two punch on 53 minutes, a foul on Dennis led to Sam Edwards stepping up for a free kick from the left wing of the box. His curling cross invited everyone as it drifted across goal and was possibly nodded on by Tony Martin as Cherry was left stranded with the ball nestling in the bottom right corner of the net. 

Halstead nearly had an immediate reply as they again drove through the middle of Barking’s defence but as the attacker found himself through on goal he dragged the ball wide of goal. Barking punished that miss and doubled their lead after 64 minutes when Akilijo Balliu found Tyrese Sibanda in space on the edge of the box and he had time to open his body up and perfectly side foot his shot into the bottom right corner of the net. 

Halstead kept pushing however, and they had a route back into the game with five minutes remaining. Firstly, an excellent save from Purdue after a cross to the far post led to a corner which Barking failed to deal with properly and the ball came back across goal and a dangerous low cross found Alfie Cleal who had the easy job of tapping the ball home from close range. Barking should have made the game safe after 87 minutes as they countered the continuing Halstead pressure but Caleb Dennis skied his effort well clear of the bar. In recent weeks it has been Barking benefitting from late goals, but they were nearly punished in the final moments, a corner to the far post inexplicably finding a free Halstead striker, his header back across goal seems destined to equalise with Purdue stranded but Dennis amongst the crowd of players had made his way back onto the line and his vital header just cleared the ball before it crossed the goal line, despite the celebrations of the Halstead players. The final whistle blew shortly after and a relieved Barking took all of the points.

With other results going our way we moved into fifth place leapfrogging Great Wakering Rovers and we now move onto Tuesday evening when we travel to Benfleet for a rearranged league fixture.

Report source: Trevor 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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