STATISTICS

Date: Saturday 2nd November 2024
Kick-off: 3pm
Competition: Essex Senior League 
Venue: Hargrave Park
Attendance: 102
Starters: Dan Purdue, Teddy Stacey, Miles Smith, Henry Mabassa, Ryan Cosson, Simon Omope, Micah Jackson, Jerrold Cobblah, Juwon Akintunde, Sam Shaban, Sam Edwards
Substitutes: Andre Anderson, Pat Ahern, Archie Sherrin, Rhys Paul, Nelly Martins
Substitutions:
90+2′ Ahern for Akintunde
Goal:
Shaban 65′ 1-0
Yellow cards: Omope (X2), Cosson, Shaban
Red cards: Omope

REPORT

A MUDDY GOOD WIN

Barking battled their way to a 1-0 win over Stansted in a fixture which demanded work rate and clinical finishing over quality on the ball in muddy conditions and a difficult pitch.

Stansted did start the better side: debutant Simon Omope bringing down Ashaan Siddiq on the left wing of the box after eight minutes and earning himself a yellow card. Siddiq’s initial free kick was cleared back out to him and his second attempt was headed on target but collected comfortably by Purdue. Juwon Akintunde had Barking’s first chance two minutes but his low shot was wide of Charlie Turner’s near post. Set pieces were important, 23 minutes saw both sides of the pitch introduced to the long throws of Simon Omope, like Siddiq earlier his initial effort was cleared back out to him and his side footed half volley was palmed away from goal by Turner.

The remainder of the first half was devoid of chances and quality from either side, but Stansted again started stronger in the second half with Purdue called into action three minutes into the second half as his strong hands were equal to a strong half-volley. Stansted came the closest of either side after 63 minutes as they rattled the post with a curling effort from the right side of the box and they were made to pay two minutes later, an Omope throw-in went short to Micah Jackson who played it back to Omope with time on the left wing, his cross is squeezed through to Sam Shaban on the edge of the six yard box. Sam’s first effort while falling was saved by Turner and his body but it fell back to Shaban and even while on the floor managed to poke the ball past Turner and into the net for a Barking lead. 

Stansted left gaps as they pushed forward and the Yellows went close to making them pay. Firstly with ten minutes to go Sam Edwards hitting the top of the bar from a corner and then with five minutes to go Shaban turned provider for Akintunde but his low effort was blocked by a defender and then smothered by Turner. A foul on Jerrold Cobblah saw Luke Skinner getting a second yellow after 85 minutes. Stansted were entering “last call” territory as their sequence of chances late on started: Portway found himself through on goal and even with a dramatic slip Purdue did well to save with his feet, the ball ended up going for a long throw, more scrambling saw the ball ended up just to the left of the penalty spot and the subsequent shot smacked the crossbar. The rebound ended up going up on the wing of the box with Siddik, he managed to get the ball past Omope but Omope’s despairing slide brought Siddik down – earning Stansted a penalty and Omope a second yellow and an early bath. After some internal discussions Charlie Portway stepped up to take the penalty – he attempted to find the bottom right corner with his penalty but he could only find the palm of Purdue who got down quickly and not only saved the penalty but removed any further danger as he palmed the ball wide of goal.

Missing those chances took all the wind from Stansted’s sails and Barking saw out injury to record a vital three points and a clean sheet that was a long time coming.

We now move onto Tuesday evening when we return home to meet Frenford in our next 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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