Billericay Town 3-3  Tonbridge Angels

Dagenham & Redbridge 3-2  Stevenage

Southend United 2-1  AFC Wimbledon

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FULL TIME: Wow.  Just wow.  One of the best games I’ve seen in a long time.  Action and excitement from start to finish.  What a sting in the tail but credit to the Angels for hanging on in there when all seemed lost.

Next time Billericay get the live treatment is their upcoming trip to Staines Town.  If tonight’s anything to go by, it’ll be unmissable.  There will be plenty of other coverage in the meantime.  I’m just not sure what just yet, but it’ll be fun whatever it is.

I’m off for a lie-down.  Laters everyone.

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90th +1 – GOAL! ….. Billericay Town 3,  TONBRIDGE ANGELS 3 And less than one is all it took for Angels to sensationally draw level.  The ball came in from the left, Blues fail to clear on the edge of their six yard box, and it’s slotted it in.  What a finale!

Injury Time:  Three minutes.  That’s somewhat kind for the home side.  Hurrah!

89th min – Not been as frantic as I’d anticipated.  Angels are trying to come forward but the sum total of zero squared has been created.  That could change in a second though.

84th min – GOAL! ….. Billericay Town 3,  TONBRIDGE ANGELS 2 From nowhere, Angels are back in it.  A crude challenge in the area and FRANNIE COLLIN whacks the penalty in.

Game most definitely on.

81st min – More treatment and another ‘Ricay substitution, this time Luke I’Anson being replaced by Craig Edwards.  Not the manager ming guy, but his very handy son.  But you knew that anyway.

76th min – Alex Osborn is on for the hard working Marc Charles-Smith, who comes off to well earned applause.  Attendance tonight is 365.  And one drily cynical media chappie.  Ahem …

74th min – As it happens, the Angels subs have made a difference.  Great ball from George Crimmen on the left almost released Ollie Schulz in the area.  It took a bit of last ditch defending to stop a dangerous stuation there.

70th min – You haven’t missed a thing.  Except a foul throw.  Which the lino did.  Been injury treatment and Angels substitutions.  The away supporters are being very, very rude.  Very unangelic.  Possibly due to being upstarted tonight.  Or more likely to being hen pecked at home.  Chortle.

65th min – Apologies for the slight break there, too busy writing, taking pics and yappng into a mic.  Blues seem to have the game under control now.  Angels have just had a corner on the right but it went straight into the hands of Dale Brightly.  Anyone coming in now would know who were winning by the teams body language.  Definite Alpha males and Beta males out there.

58th min – GOAL! ….. BILLERICAY TOWN 3,  Tonbridge Angels 1 Well, we got there in the end!  Another home surge inside the area, there’s a shot on goal by Nathan Green as the foul comes in, and it rebounds off the post.  GLENN POOLE hits the follow up into an empty net but the ref has already given a penalty, which he dispatches with ease.

That could be the game breaker.

54th min – Debuatant left back Joe Anderson is having a storming game for ‘Ricay.  He runs forward menacingly and hits a cracker of a shot.  It’s probably in Stock by now though.  High and wide it certainly was.

52nd min – Back come the Angels, though, and Lee Browning’s speculative effort from 30 yards is a cracker, and Dale Brightly does superbly well to put out for a corner, which is easily defended.

51st min – Luke I’Anson tries to get in on the act too, on the left, and even gets a shot in, but it’s a relatively tame effort.

50th min – Although having said that, a quiet start to the second half.  Both sides settling down a bit after the excitement of the first half.  Duran Reynolds just had a nice run to the edge of the area, though, but was well blocked.

8.45pm – KICK OFF! This could be a thriller, you know!

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HALF TIME:  Blimey, that was a rip-snorter of a first half, packed with incident, action, goals, supporters getting het up, and the promise of players losing it sooner rather than later.

Billericay deserve to be ahead, but no mistake about it, Tonbridge look dangerous coming forward.  They could still win this.  Pulsating stuff.  And that’s not just my pacemaker.

Right, off for a Bovril and a hyper-ventiliation or two.  Laters.

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45th min – and 2 minutes of added time.  I can see handbags breaking out in this game.  All getting a little bit niggly and shouty-shouty.  And that’s just me.

39th min – GOAL! ….. BILLERICAY TOWN 2,  Tonbridge Angels 1 Karma!  Tonbridge refuse to give the ball back, their attack breaks down, Billericay go forward, win a corner on the right, and this time ROB SWAINE heads in at the far post.

Justice!  And liquid football!

37th min – Duran Reynolds goes down after an off-the-ball clash that nobody really saw.  Play stops and one of the Tonbridge Angels players berates the linesman, asking him where the foul was.  I think you’ll find it was the chap with the whistle, running around with you chaps in the black kit, that gave it.  Chortle.

32nd min – And the hosts come again.  Sam Lechmere has another run and his shot from just over 20 yards out canons off the keeper, who positioned himself well.  No doubts, though, Billericay are well on top at the moment.

30th min – A deflected Billericay shot, another corner on the right.  Quite boring this time though.  Only one header cleared off the line.  Bah.

27th min – I’ve never seen anything like it.  A corner comes in on the right for ‘Ricay, there’s panic in the six yard box, and there were at least four goalbound attempts that either bounced off the keeper or defender on the line.  And another header that hit the crossbar.  Unreal.

25th min – That could be a game changer!  Nice Angels move down the right sees Lee Browning free inside the area.  He lobs cleverly over the onrushing Dale Brightly, it looks a certain goal, but Greg Oates clears off the line.  Superb.

22nd min – Ooh, the Town defence went to sleep momentarily on the Tonbridge left at a throw-in near their own area.  George Purcell is momentarily free from any markers but I don’t think he realised just how much time he had, played it a bit too quickly, and the defence got back.

17th min – Ooh, that was close.  A Sam Lechmere run, mazier than the Amazon, takes him inside the area, where a corner is conceded on the right.  From that, Rob Swaine misses at the far post of the Blunts Wall End goal by inches.  Much better.

15th min – I’ve hardly been able to see a thing with all the writing up and talking.  Fortunately the trusty voice of Craig Edwards keeps me in touch.  And the rest of South Essex too.  Meanwhile, Glenn Poole’s free kick on the left is eventually defended after a moment of panic in the box.

9th min – GOAL! ….. BILLERICAY TOWN 1,  Tonbridge Angels 1 What did I say about missing the action?  In the midsts of typing up the past few minutes, I hear a shout go up.  I was lucky though.  I saw NATHAN GREEN and Angels keeper Lee Worgan challenge for the ball in the six yard box.  The ball ends up in the net because of it.  We look at the ref.  He runs towards the centre circle.  Hurrah!  That’s how to respond.

Liquid football!

7th min – The hosts are shocked, and the Angels, despite Craig Edwards protestations to the contrary, beat the offside trap, and their shot goes inches wide of the post.  At the other end, ‘Ricay force a corner on the right, which is defended easily enough.  The players also have an annoying habit of playing while I’m looking away doing my radio reporting bit.  Very unsporting.

89th second – GOAL! ….. Billericay Town 0,  TONBRIDGE ANGELS 1 The worst possible start.  From the kick off, Town needlessly concede a free kick on the right hand edge of their own area.  It’s whipped in quickly and MARK LOVELL sends a diving header into the right hand corner of the Cricket End net.

A shocker of a start.

7.43pm – KICK OFF! Oh yes!  They just couldn’t wait, you know.

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7.42pm – As ever, the teams come out to the strains of Rocky.  Not a massive crowd but not bad either, considering it’s a school night, and the teams’ relative early form.

7.40pm – I take it the PA man is about the same age as me, with his Beatles and Gerry Anderson songs blaring out.  Which means he’s old.  It’s no fun, you know.  Apart from being allowed to moan at everything.  We’re expected to.

7.30pm – Team news:  Billericay Town line up tonight with

1.  Dale Brightly
2.  Greg Oates
3.  Joe Anderson
4.  Luke I’Anson
5.  Rob Swaine
6.  Chris Wild
7.  Sam Lechmere
8.  Glenn Poole
9.  Mark Charles-Smith
10. Nathan Green
11. Duran Reynolds

Subs:
12. Richard Halle
14. Alex  Osborn
15. Craig Edwards
16. Josh Hutchison
17. Max Bennett

So Joe boy makes his debut.  Hurrah!

7.25pm – The big pre-match news for ‘Ricay is the signing of full back Joe Anderson from AFC Hornchurch.  He was the Urchins Player of the Season last term so you can probably take it as read he’ll be in tonight’s squad at least.

Elsewhere it’s JPT night (which sounds suspiciously like a gentleman’s interest club).  Dagenham & Redbridge play host to those perennial entertainers Stevenage.

Southend United, meanwhile, are charging just a fiver a ticket and handing out free programmes for their clash with AFC Wimbledon.  And still have only one stand open.  Yep, they love the glamour down Roots Hall way.

7.20pm – A very good evening from New Lodge.  The weather’s mild, the kids are back at school, Billericay Town are at home.  Life is good.

It could be better though.  Since that dramatic last gasp win over Truro, ‘Ricay have amassed just one point in their past four games.  Admittedly, three of them were away, but it’s a little worrying all the same.

With three defeats on their travels, good home form is crucial.  Standing in the way tonight are Tonbridge Angels, England manager Roy Hodgson’s old stamping ground no less.

They have problems of their own, mind, without a win this season and teetering on the edge of the drop zone.  This could be an opportunity to, erm, kick start Billericay Town’s start.

As ever, keep refreshing the page every few minutes, and the jolly japery that 90 minutes of soccer skills brings will be yours.

GAME ON!