Barkingside 2 Leyton Athletic 2
Essex Senior League
Saturday 12th January
The bottom two met at Cricklefields and put on an entertaining game that saw Barkingside come back from 2-0 down to gain a share of the spoils.
Both teams went at each other from the off, with Leyton Athletic winning an early corner, then Barkingside winning one of their own. They made better use of it too as David Hornsby’s header needed Callum Lynskey to pull off a save on the line.
Side had the better of the opening chances; a powerful run by Isaac Marfo looked promising but Joe Oates ended the move with a shot that was always veering away from goal. Rujorn Tuitt had Leyton’s first shot on goal, but it sailed over the bar and Hornsby then whizzed a shot across Leyton’s goal.
But while Barkingside may have made the brighter start they then fell behind due to a defensive mix-up; David Ottley’s header back to Ryan Karrer went beyond the Side keeper and Tuitt had the simple task of following up on the ball and then rolling it into the unguarded net.
Barkingside immediately re-grouped with Marfo pacing into a position to send over a scitilating cross that Darnell Goather-Braithwaite nearly connected with at the back post. Another cross, this time by Hornsby reached Edward Buchannen who cannoned shot that was deflected away by a Leyton defender. The Barkingside pressuer continued with Oates having a shot blocked, while player-manager Eli Benoit had to clear Leyton’s lines as a Barkingside corner sailed into the six-yard box.
Leyton came back with Misha Djemaili blazing a shot over. However it started a spell of Leyton pressure that saw them win a corner that was headed off the line by Hornsby. Then in the 34th minute a free kick into the Barkingside box wasn’t cleared and that allowed Abdul Bangura the chance to thump a left foot rocket into the back of the net.
2-0 to Leyton Athletic in this relegation six-pointer; could Barkingside recover from this? Well it didn’t look likely as Karrer was soon having to pull off a full-stretch dive to tip away a Lance Ledgister shot; then in the 43rd minute the Barkingside stopper was adjudged to have upended Bangura in the box, but Tuitt failed to take the opportunity to increase Leyton’s lead even further as he cannoned the penalty high over the bar.
That penalty miss gave the Side faithful a sigh of relief, then a minute into first half stoppage time there was further joy as the deficit had been reduced. A sweeping Barkingside move was finshed by Oates curling a shot into the top right hand corner of the net.
Barkingside had more possession of the ball in the opening stages of the second half; but it was Leyton Athletic who were able to engineer two shots at the Barkingside goal. Both from free kicks, with Bangura’s attempt being sved by Karrer, while Djemaili drilled his effort wide.
Barkingside went on to equalise in the 62nd minute as a corner worked its way towards Matthews who slotted home at the back post. Barkingside had now got themselves back in the game, and this time their defence didn’t let them down as Tuitt had an initial shot, then the rebound both blocked. A further rebound was fired in by Benoit but this time Karrer pulled off a great save to keep the ball out.
The final twenty minutes saw the balance tipped more towards Barkingside’s favour, with the hosts almost scoring after good play by Goather-Braithwaite saw him get to the byline and centre to Hornsby; somehow Lynskey was able to claw the ball away prevent the hosts from taking the lead. The resulting corner also saw Leyton riding their luck as Marfo had a shot hit the post.
And Barkingside had other chances to win it late on too. Goather-Braithwaite had a shot saved by Lynskey, then Shaquain Maisara got behind the Leyton defence but wasn’t able to get his shot on target. Barkingside’s defence also dealt with two Leyton attacks as a deep cross by Tuitt to Elliot Moon was deflected away, then a powerful tackle by Matthews put on end to Chinua Archer’s mazy run.
Barkingside had the lion’s share of the possession in the second half and they uped the ante as the half progressed. It meant that Leyton Athletic had to stand up to a bit more pressure as the game reached its closing stages. A corner swept across the box, reaching Hornsby who flashed his header inches wide; then Side went even closer in stoppage time when Oates cut inside and dinked a shot over Lynskey that clipped the cross bar and bounced away.
It certainly was an entertaining encounter, but you wonder if the shared point was what either side wanted seeing as they both remain in the relegation zone and were unable to close the gap on the teams above them.
Barkingside: Ryan Karrer, David Ottley, Edward Lang (Garjay Thompson 77’), Dan Jones, Adrian Kostadinov, Harry Matthews (Capt), Joe Oates, Edward Buchannen (Shaquain Maisara 65’), Isaac Marfo, David Hornsby, Darnell Goather-Braithwaite.
Scorers – Joe Oates (45+1’), Harry Matthews (62’).
Leyton Athletic: Callum Lynskey, Elliot Moon, Sheldon Alfonso, Cliff Edaferhoro, Eli Benoit, Cory Rider (Capt), Misha Djemaili (Sheldon Steeds 80’), Louis Wright, Rujorn Tuitt (Chinua Archer 80’), Lance Ledgister, Abdul Bangura (Scott Gipson 74’).
