Redbridge and Ilford 2 v 4 Thurrock 2nds
ON similar points as the hosts Thurrock 2nds visit to Redbridge & Ilford could have been a tricky one, and ten minutes into the game with things looking tougher after an opening goal for a surging Redbridge front line, the game looked to be slipping away from Thurrock’s second string.
Absorbing more pressure the first half looked to be a training session for a well organised Thurrock defence, led by Team Captain Keith Mager and defensive stalwart Chris Smith, Thurrock defended valiantly for 25 minutes keeping the score at 1 – 0. As the Tees started to get a foot hold a swift counter attack was illegally stopped and gave Thurrock the lifeline of a short corner.
What followed was a move slick enough to appear at the Olympics with Ash Snell and Mike Hewing interchanging passes and the returning Michael Murray flicking coolly into the top corner. The home team shaken Thurrock quickly applied their own pressure and in the next five minutes added a second
goal from a short corner, again Ash Snell and Michael Hewing combining for Hewing to make the score 1 – 2 in Thurrock’s favour.
Paul Mailey quickly added a 3rd goal before the break after some excellent mid-field play by the T’s.The second half was a similar story to the first half with Redbridge dominating possession and Thurrock creating chances on the break; with Mike Murray going close on several occasions, being thwarted by great saves and bad luck in front of the home team’s goal.
For 20 minutes it did not seem like Thurrock’s defensive wall would break with superb interplay between Sam Webb and Mike Fallows, but sustained pressure from a Rebridge side containing former Thurrock 1st teamer Sandeep Gahir led to a short corner which they converted making it 2 – 3. The goal rallied Thurrock’s players, and attack proved the best from of defence for the last ten minutes of the game with Michael Murray getting his second goal of the game and giving Thurrock a hard fought 2 – 4 victory.
Club Captain and second team goalie Keith Mager commented after the game “Those are the games we have to win; we did not play to our full ability for the full 70 minutes and made it tougher than we should have, but we all worked extremely hard and got a positive result. With a full strength team this side will be competitive in this league and should be aiming for promotion after taking 13 points from the last 5 games”
