(Report by Peter Dudley & Scott Lanza / Photo by Peter Dudley)
Len Cordell Memorial Cup
Group A
DTFC 2 Cockfosters 2
St Margaretsbury 1 Hoddesdon Town 1
DTFC were seconds away from a superb win against Cockfosters until the visitors netted a leveller deep into stoppage time, Fosters led at the break thanks to a Ned Clarke strike ten minutes before the break, but the hosts turned it around in the second period to lead and it looked like they would take the win until Marcus Crowther converted a Mosanya cross and snatch a point.
Over at The Rec St Mags and Hoddy drew 1-1, Hoddy did lead at the break but the hosts levelled in the second period to grab a point and make sure they got something from their opening group game in this competition.
Group B
Redbridge 1 Clapton 0
An early second half goal from Anthony Martin was enough for the hosts to take all three points in a battling victory against The Tons.
The visitors were quicker out of the blocks and were the better side in the opening forty-five minutes, looking especially dangerous through Idries Turay, who was causing the hosts plenty of headaches with his attacking play, and they had the better of the openings too but could not find the target.
Motormen keeper George Martin had to field a couple of strikes on goal, whilst Turay himself saw an effort blocked and also send another opening over the bar, Redbridge did improve slightly as the half entered its last fifteen minutes, but Clapton’s keeper Carlos Simeon’s only real moment of concern was when a cross shot drifted wide of the far post.
Redbridge though had to do a lot of defending in that opening half but managed to dig in and get to the break level, and after the teams had a chat on the field at half time as they cannot use the changing rooms these days, the hosts came out a different side early in the second period and three minutes into the second half they edged ahead.
A flick towards goal saw Simeon brilliantly claw the ball off the line, and as Redbridge appealed for a goal as they thought the ball had crossed the line, Martin was quickest to react to force the ball home via Simeon and into the net from close range and make sure the ball had crossed the line for sure on that occasion.
The Tons had sort of lost their way a bit after a pretty decent opening forty-five minutes as Redbridge maybe sensed a second a breathing room in this contest, but as the half went on Clapton began to get more possession once again as Redbridge sunk deeper into a defensive shape but try as they might they could not force an equaliser and it meant the hosts held on to take a very hard earned three points.
It had been a better half of football from Redbridge, but it wasn’t their best display today, but it’s a win and three points, which is all that really matters, they will improve as the games tick by. Whereas for Clapton there were many good points to take from this encounter, but they lacked a cutting edge going forward and had they had this they would have certainly taken something from this game.
Group C
Billericay Town U23s 3 Holland 0
FC Clacton 2 Stansted 1
Billericay’s young side saw off Holland in their opening group game, Marlon Stratford gave them an 11th minute lead with a composed finish, and two minutes after the break they doubled their advantage after Max Gnandi finished off a brilliant free-kick routine before the hosts sealed the points with twenty minutes remaining after Nyan Mesuna capped a great performance with a brilliant finish from the edge of the box.
FC Clacton also got their campaign underway with all three points after goal from Lartey and Coyle (a penalty) helped them to victory over Stansted.
Group D
Frenford 1 Barking 1
Hackney Wick 3 West Essex 5
Frenford and Barking shared the points in Saturday’s Group D encounter at The Drive, Isaac Westendorf gave the visitors a 28th minute lead but Frenford fought back to level just past the hour mark through Owen James to make sure they ended up with something from this encounter. Hackney Wick and West Essex got the Len Cordell Memorial Cup rolling on Friday evening, serving up a peach of a game. Both sides know how to score goals and a mere five minutes into the game and both sides had found the net. West Essex took the lead on 3 minutes via Callum Bloss, but Mohammed Razza levelled up within two minutes. In a game of end-to-end action, it was to be Hackney Wick who scored next with Lewis Danquah hitting the target in the 21st minute. But this time it was West Essex who found an instant reply, within one minute as it worked out, with Cameron Gray putting his name on the West Essex score sheet. Bloss then fired West Essex into the lead in the 30th minute, then extended it even further when he completed his hat-trick via a penalty just before half time. Razza scored his second on 54 minutes, which certainly cut the deficit, but West Essex sealed the deal when Emmanual Shoduru struck in the final minute to win the game 5-3 in West Essex’s favour.
Group E
Athletic Newham 1 Brimsdown 1
Great Wakering Rovers 1 White Ensign 4
In the all Thurlow Nunn One South contest Athletic Newham and Brimsdown picked up a point a piece after their 1-1 draw. Brimsdown were handed the lead when Chris Ndjoli scored an own goal in the 46th minute. But Newham were able to snatch a point when Richard Kone equalised deep in stoppage time. Meanwhile their was an early shock result as White Ensign, from the Thurlow Nunn Divion One North humbled Isthmian League opponents Great Wakering Rovers. Dominic Locke opened the account for White Ensign in the 18th minute, going on to score a second in the 64th minute, and as Connor Barmby had scored one himself on 55 minutes, meant that White Ensign found themselves three goals up with twenty five minutes left to play. Jake Gordon closed a gap a little bit when he scored in the 79th minute, but White Ensign restored their three goal advantage in the 84th minute: Luke Skinner supplying the final goal in a captivating performance.
Week 2 Fixtures
There will be two live stream games next week. On Friday West Essex take on Frenford, while the Saturday game features Holland v Stansted. Links will be posted on the Essex Senior League twitter and on www.essexseniorleague.co.uk
The rest of the schedule is as follows:
Group A
Cockfosters v St Margaretsbury
DT FC v Hoddesdon Town
Group B
Barkingside v Redbridge
Clapton v Woodford Town
Group C
FC Clacton v Billericay Town U23s
Holland v Stansted
Group D
West Essex v Frenford
Group E
Athletic Newham v White Ensign
Brimsdown v Great Wakering Rovers
