14th April 2009

TAKELEY WERE BUZZING AGAINST ‘THE BEES’

BASILDON UTD FC 1, TAKELEY FC 3.

Even with stand-ins Takeley took on an appearance of Master against all-comers. The visitors front line was intimidating as masters of every attack, whilst midfield and defence made every tackle count. In the first quarter of an hour Takeley took apart the Basildon defence. Within five minutes Lewis Baker crossed the ball from the left flank which goalkeeper Mann tipping the ball against the top right angle of the upright. This just one of quite a number of early opportunities, but on 13 minutes Gregg Williams lobbed over the advancing goalkeeper to Michael Kennedy. He passed through to James AMOTT and the big fella hit the ball into the back of the net.

13 mins… BASILDON 0, TAKELEY 1 (Amott)

Takeley took the ball almost immediately from the centre of the field and Michael KENNEDY raced forward past the defence and the goalkeeper R. Mann to put the ball into the net, to double the scoreline.

15 mins… BASILDON 0, TAKELEY 2 (Kennedy)

Two minutes later Louis Bristow had a great shot tipped over the crossbar by the keeper, to deny Takeley advancing the score even further.

Time moved on with fewer breaks to encourage either side further goals until ten minutes from half time when Louis Bristow got behind a blast at goal, only to have his attempt deflected for a corner. The corner kick by Lewis Baker curled in under the bar, with a mass of players trying to connect, but it fell to the goalkeeper to kick clear, off the line. Gregg Williams fired in a free kick, which found Mark Watters’ head and onto the head of Louis Bristow denied yet again, this time low against the upright. A shock attack from the Basildon midfielder Steve Poulter was kicked off the Takeley goal line, following a mis-kicked clearance by James May on half time.

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Into the second half and Takeley was still pressing forward, on 53 minutes James Amott missed a head chance by a whisker, from Louis

Bristow’s idyllic centre. The hour passed before Takeley again forced Basildon to crumble, as Charlie Pollard won the ball from a heavy tackle, followed up with a through ball onto Michael KENNEDY and he clipped the ball up and over Mann, ‘The Bees’ goalkeeper.

66 mins… BASILDON 0, TAKELEY 3 (Kennedy)

There was little affective action to clear Takeley lines and the inattentive defence let Wes BOCKING  to score in a goalmouth scrimmage on 72 minutes.

72 mins… BASILDON 1, TAKELEY 3 (Bradford)

A scorcher by James Amott, from over 20 yards, with six minutes to run, turned just wide of the top angle of the crossbar.  At the opposite end of the field one of few successful moves forward by Basildon made James May busy and he pulled off a magnificent save from a drive by Ollie Baker, as the game closed.

The Man of the Match for Takeley Michael Kennedy was closely matched by James Amott. Stefan Szajewski, Charlie Pollard and Mark Watters gave a great display, along with James May. This does not take away anything fro the rest of the visitors, for all of the players played well together and could have finished many more goals to their advantage. Basildon did not play too badly, their attempt to take the game in hand was prevented by a very competent opposition. Dan Hipgrave kept up good effort in the middle of the Basildon defence but enthusiasm by the home side was diminished by the ruthless pursuits of Takeley.

The officials were splendid, today. Referee Mr Steve Tate (Leigh on Sea), supported by Ryan Martin (Chelmsford) and Dave Bloxham (Rayleigh) kept the game flowing for ninety minutes. It was a very rare occasion that either side had any dispute with a decision and only one Yellow Card was distributed to a Basildon player late in the game, following an incident.

Teams:

BASILDON: R MANN; Dean STRUTT, Paul LANDER; Martyn GUEST, Dan HIPGRAVE, Lance McDOWELL; Dan WILLIAMS, Steve POULTER, Ollie BAKER, Craig GILLAM, Paul COSSU. Substitutes: Ben BRADFORD, Adam VYSE, Luke PETHEBRIDGE, Ryan WILSMER.

TAKELEY: James MAY; Charlie POLLARD, Stefan SZAJEWSKI; Chris DORRIAN (Captain), Mark WATTERS, James AMOTT; Michael GLIDDEN, Gregg WILLIAMS, Louis BRISTOW, Michael KENNEDY, Lewis BAKER. Substitutes Josh COLSON, Jack PARKER, Scott SMITH.

David Edwards

News from the Dugout

David ‘SCOOP’ Edwards

Press Liaison

On behalf of Chairman Pat Curran, Officials, Players and Supporters Takeley Football Club.