Tilbury u14s v Halstead match report

clarry Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:21 am

Tilbury 4 Halstead 1

Date Venue
15/11/2009 Home
Attendance Referee
62 Trevor Megran

This fixture survived despite the horrendous weather over the last forty eight hours although the pitch was heavy going and sticky though not muddy.

Tilbury were playing in yellow due to Halstead not having a change of kit thus late arrivals to the ground could be forgiven for thinking the away side were the home side in their black & white striped shirts.

We were honoured to have two Tilbury stalwarts at the game today to see a youth team in action for the first time this season, Life Vice Presidents Peter and Jean Jennings and we thank them for joining us and hope they enjoyed the experience.

The Dockers started the game somewhat nervously with passes going astray and unable to settle into any rhythm although they still dominated possession as Halstead were finding It difficult to get any foothold in the game. Flynn managed two or three long range efforts which failed to trouble the visiting keeper. More than once Inside the Halstead area Jesse, Bradley and James found the ball bobbling away at the last minute before they were were able open the scoring. Eventually James latched onto a ball just Inside the area and drilled the ball home to give Tilbury a deserved lead on twenty minutes and this was followed by a second from the prolific Jesse eight minutes later.
Halstead were working hard to make life difficult for Tilbury, however apart from a single shot from outside the area, which Jordan smothered well, the Tilbury keeper had very little to do. Most of his work was to start the play again from feet following a string of back passes as the young Dockers were trying to "start again" playing from the back rather than launch the ball. Whilst pleasing to see them trying to play from the back It was causing some frustration at times. Half time Tilbury 2 Halstead Town 0.

The second half saw Bradley make way for Robbie, Lee replace Ronnie who had taken a knock and Connor in for James. Leading two nil we were hoping the lads would push on and put the game beyond Halstead however this did not happen as the start of the second period was again a scrappy affair. Halstead scored a goal following our defenders failing to clear their lines. A ball played Into the area saw both Warren and Luke try to play out of our own six yard box only for the Halstead striker to pounce and score at the second attempt.
Tilbury once again started to dominate the possession and were finally rewarded with a third goal to settle the nerves when Robbie outpaced the away defence and fired a shot low into the corner for a good finish and 3-1. A long ball over the top caught Tilbury knapping however Jordan was alert racing out of the penalty area to clear his lines. Whilst Jordan undoubtedly got the ball first the Halstead management were up in arms that the referee did not give them a free kick seeing their striker go down under the challenge.
The Dockers made sure of the points when Ben met a pass from Flynn on the half volley and drilled the ball home with a smart finish again low into the corner for 4-1.
Frustration had crept into the Halstead game leading to one or two poor challenges, this ultimately lead to our first yellow card of the season when Luke retaliated following a late challenge in the middle of the park.
A disjointed performance on a sticky and at times heavy going pitch but good sides win when they play below par and that is exactly what happened today.
Next week we hope to welcome Maldon Town to Chadfields weather permitting.

(report courtesy of Tilburyfc.com)