Sporting Bengal United 0 Saffron Walden Town 3
Premier Division
Saturday 25th January
Saffron Walden Town needed a win at Mile End Stadium if they wanted to maintain their five point lead at the top of the table. They managed to do this thanks to a late first half opener from Jack Isherwood, with Gavin Cockman then notching a late brace to ensure victory. However they found Sporting Bengal, who had four players under the age of twenty in their line-up, very stubborn resistance.
The first chance of the game fell to former Bengal player Steve Carvell, who took a freekick after Gurpreet Singh had fouled Nathan Scarborough. However Carvell was unable to inflict any damage on his former team as his free kick cannoned off the Bengal wall. Scarborough then won the league leaders a corner after his decent cross was knocked behind by Abraham Jairette. The resulting corner was met by Scarborough but he couldn’t keep his shot down.
Bengal having soaked up a bit of early pressure then launched a counter-attack with a ball over the top setting Chaka Barnett free. However Nick Eyre was alert to the danger and rushed out of his box and hooked the ball clear. At the other end and Denzil Kobia, the Bengal keeper, showed safe hands as he cut out a number of balls that came into his box. However the Bengal keeper nearly put himself in an embarrassing situation midway through the half when a ball over the top, which looked a routine save, somehow slipped from his grasp. In rushed Scarborough, hoping to capitalise on the error, but Kobia quickly made amends by smothering the ball before the Saffron striker had a chance to shoot.
It was by no means one-way traffic as Bengal did get balls into the Saffron box which tested the Saffron defence. However the Bloods did look pacey on the counter-attack and in the 39th minute Ross Adams unleashed from just outside the box but Kobia was equal to it and made a good save. And Eyre had to make an equally important save moments later when Debourin Osekita fired a free kick towards the Saffron goal.
It had been a half of few clear cut chances, and just before the break a Scarborough ball flashed across the Bengal six-yard box and with Saffron players in the vicinity it would have been dangerous had Josh Coulsen not put in a last-ditch clearance to knock the ball behind for a corner. But after such heroics from Coulsen it was then a case of rough justice as the resulting corner hit a Bengal player and fell kindly to Jack Isherwood who poked the ball into the bottom left hand corner to give his side the lead in first half stoppage time.
The Bloods having taken the lead late in the first half then started the second period with purpose and in the opening minute of the re-start almost scored again when Scott Pethers got into a good position to fire off a shot that was only just wide. George Pullen then had a bullet header saved by Kobia.
Bengal however stemmed that flow although Kobia had to pull off a great save in the 64th minute to deny Scarborough. Felix Laws almost found an equaliser in the 70th minute with a curling shot outside the box that almost crept under Eyre’s crossbar. However Cockman spurned a golden opportunity to double Saffron’s lead when a ball swept across the box, but Cockman at the back post could only direct his shot into the side-netting. Moments later Cockman had another shot flash across Bengal’s goal.
The Bloods definitely needed to get another goal as their hosts were also creating the odd chance with Osekita placing a shot just over and as the game came into the last ten minutes you did wonder whether Saffron would end up rueing some of their missed chances. That proved not to be the case as Cockman lashed home a shot in the 87th minute to seal the deal. And then Cockman applied further polish deep in stoppage time when he connected with a throughball, took it past Kobia and then rolled it into the empty net.
The win on paper looks a comfortable win, but it was anything but as the league leaders were made to work for the points.
Sporting Bengal United: Denzel Kobia, Raul Gazi, David Vaughan (Capt), Abraham Jairette, Gurpreet Singh, Josh Coulsen, Chaka Barnett, Boyan Dimichev, Debodun Osekita (Harry Rixon 65′), Anton Witzman (Jordan Walker 59′), Felix Laws (Samir Ali 86′).
Saffron Walden Town: Nick Eyre, Spike Bell, Tom Shelton, George Pullen, Scott Pethers (Capt), Ross Adams, Tyger Smalls (Julian Simon-Parsons 89′), Jack Isherwood, Nathan Scarborough (Greg Strong 83′), Steve Carvell (Fahad Nyanja 83′), Gavin Cockman.
Scorers – Jack Isherwood (45+2′), Gavin Cockman (87′, 90+5′).
