Bostik Premier League

WINGATE & FINCHLEY 1 BILLERICAY TOWN 3
By JOHN CHUBB

Billericay Town placed their title challenge back on the rails with a fine victory away to Wingate & Finchley.

Both sides enjoyed some decent possession in the first quarter of the match, Reece Beckles-Richards having an early opportunity for the hosts and both Jake Robinson and Sam Deering going close for Ricay.

Tommy Tejan-Sie of Wingate & Finchley wasn’t far from opening the scoring just before the half hour mark, his shot being deflected just wide, before he fired over the bar from the resulting corner.

But the visitors went in front on 36 minutes, Danny Waldren finding the net from a Jamie O’Hara cross.

Calum Butcher had a couple of decent chances to add to Ricay’s lead, but the score remained 1-0 to Billericay at half time.

The visiting Blues didn’t take long to add to their led once the match restarted, as they were awarded a penalty within a few minutes of the second half, which was netted by Billy Bricknell to double the scoreline.

The spot kick marked a tremendous personal milestone for Bricknell, as it was the forward’s 100th Billericay goal of his two spells with the club.

Ricay were clearly buoyed by their two-goal advantage as Bricknell, Robinson and skipper Rob Swaine all came close to adding a third.

Marc Charles-Smith wasn’t far away from getting the home side back in contention on 57 minutes, but Billericay goalkeeper Alan Julian made a fine save.

The hosts had another excellent chance to get back into the game several minutes later, only a goal line clearance from Josh Urquhart preventing the deficit from being reduced.

But in the 68th minute Jake Robinson made it 3-0 to the Essex side, scoring goal number 48 of his season from the edge of the penalty area.

Wingate pulled a goal back a couple of minutes from the end of the 90 minutes, second half substitute Irnti Rapai – who had come close to scoring five minutes previously- beating Julian with a close range header from Ben Pattie’s cross.

But Billericay took all three points back to Essex to boost their confidence after a turbulent recent run of league form.

Wingate & Finchley: Shane Gore, Luke Ifil, Layne Eadie, Jake Eales, Sean Cronin, Ahmet Rifat, Rob Laney (Irnti Rapai 69), Freddy Moncur (Afolabi Obafemi 53), Marc Charles-Smith (Ben Pattie 76), Reece Beckles-Richards, Tommy Tejan-Sie.

Billericay Town: Alan Julian, Joe Kizzi, Josh Urquhart, Danny Waldren, Rob Swaine, Sam Deering (Luke Rooney 72), Robbie Evans, Calum Butcher (Nick Wheeler 72), Billy Bricknell, Jamie O’Hara (Matt Paine 68), Jake Robinson.

Attendance: 240