Phoenix FM’s JOHN CHUBB reporting from the AGP Arena
Billericay Town won their eighth league match in a row as they edged out Hendon – who had been in second place at the start of play – in this seven goal thriller.
Non-League Day proved to be a great success for Glenn Tamplin’s club, with almost 2000 spectators forming the largest crowd for a league fixture in the Blues’ history. But they saw the visiting Greens go in front after only three minutes, via Ashley Nathaniel-George whose 20 yard effort flew past Ricay goalkeeper Alan Julian and into the top corner of the net.
The hosts looked to respond quickly and with 12 minutes on the clock, they were level via the in-form Ricky Modeste after Louie Theophanous had gone close. But Hendon regained the lead six minutes later when Keagan Cole’s superb effort beat Julian to put his side 2-1 in front.
This lasted all of two minutes as Adam Cunnington, celebrating his birthday put Billericay on level terms. This again spurred the Greens into fighting back, and Cole had another effort which hit the bar. But Blues regained the lead on 35 minutes when Billy Bricknell – hat-trick hero in last Tuesday’s FA Cup replay against Hungerford Town – made no mistake from the spot and Cunnington added his second just before half time, with a superb diving header to make it 4-2.
After such a hectic and exciting first half the pace of the game slowed down after the break, and there was little of note to report until the 88th minute when Nathaniel-George netted again for Hendon to make it 4-3. As the game moved into injury time, the home team experienced a nervous few minutes as the visitors had the bulk of the possession. But Billericay held on and although they may have been slightly fortunate to have picked up all three points, they will be delighted to consolidate their lead at the top of the table as well as extend their unbeaten run.
Billericay Town: Alan Julian, Josh Urquhart, Paul Konchesky, Joe Ellul, Rob Swaine, Sam Deering, Ricky Modeste (Danny Waldren 46), Danny Waldren, Rob Evans (Matt Paine 79), Billy Bricknell (Dan Walker 61), Louie Theophanous, Adam Cunnington.
Hendon: Tom Lovelock, Jake Eggleton, Samuel Murphy, Michael Corcoran (Josh Walker 72), Rian Bray, Arthur Lee, Keagan Cole (Matt Ball 84), Dave Diedhiou, Zak Joseph (Daniel Uchechi 75), Niko Muir, Ashley Nathaniel-George.
Attendance: 1,988
