Ryman Div One North
Thurrock 2 v 2 Aveley
By Scott Lanza
YOU simply couldn’t have asked for a more contrasting game than what transpired at Ship Lane on Tuesday evening. The hosts made better use of their possession in the first half and when the half-time whistle went had raced into a 2-0 lead and were looking on their way to picking up all the spoils against their local rivals. By contrast the second half belonged to Aveley who were able to put aside a potentially empty-handed visit by upping their game in the second period to salvage a point.
The Fleet set their stall early in the game as they looked to play nice passing football with Glenn Poole acting as the talisman as he dinked balls over the Aveley defence for the Fleet forwards to latch onto. Ronnie Winn also got down to business straight away and in the opening minutes put over two pin-point crosses from the left which almost bore fruit. The first effort eluded Lamar Joseph-Johnson but alas couldn’t quite reach Charlie Simpson; while the second cross floated dangerously towards Ross Wall and required Harry Gibbs to put in a timely interception, using his head to remove the danger.
The Millers eventually put together some attacking play themselves and after 9 minutes almost took the lead when a fine pass from midfield played in Emmanuel Ighorae who took the ball past his marker and the resulting shot was a mere inches the wrong side of the right upright. Taylor Tombides also crafted an opening for himself on the quarter hour mark when he found himself some space to unleash a powerful drive just inside the box; the resulting shot ended up being straight at Behcet.
However Thurrock took the lead on 21 minutes when Poole chipped over a free-kick that was pounced on by Winn, who swivelled and fired a shot that was initially blocked; with the ball loose just outside the six-yard box, Wall reacted quickly and smashed the ball past Joseph-Johnson to put the Fleet ahead.
Aveley at this point of the half were still able to muster some decisive passing themselves and when a through ball played in Ighorae it looked like an equaliser was on the cards as the Aveley forward bared down on goal. A last-ditch tackle from Remi Sutton ended the attack. The Millers found their hosts had an almost impenetrable defence with Taylor Tombides and Arian Retkoceri both launching balls towards the Fleet goal that were knocked away from the danger zone by Sam West and Richard Halle. With Thurrock’s defence fiercely contesting every ball and keeping a tight watch on the Millers frontline meant that something special was going to have to be conjured up by Aveley if they wanted to get back on level terms. On 33 minutes Billy Coyne became Aveley’s wizard after he collected the ball in his own half, put on a burst of speed as he darted past several Thurrock players before laying off to Tombides. However his first touch was woeful and the ball run away from him.
The game suddenly turned on its head in the 39th minute when another quality pass from Poole went to Winn who held off two Aveley players before laying the ball off to Wall. The Thurrock marksmen then showed perfect poise as he sped away from his marker and stoked the ball past Joseph-Johnson. At that point it looked like Thurrock had the game fully under control because Aveley suddenly found it very difficult to find any passing rhythm and they suddenly found it a struggle to pass the ball to their own players. This was best summed up by a piece of play involving Olumide Oluwatimilehin, who showed some skill and pace to move out of defence into midfield with the ball under his control and then promptly gave the ball away when his attempt to pass to one of his team-mates ended up going to a Thurrock player. When Mr Richardson blew up for half-time it couldn’t have come for a better time for Aveley – the second goal had taken the stuffing out of them and Thurrock looked very much in the driving seat.
However it was Aveley that started the second half brightly and they pulled one back on 51 minutes. There was a degree of fortune about the goal because even though Emmanuel Ighorae drilled in an excellent shot from twenty-five yards, it looked like it was heading straight towards Behcet. However the ball ended up sneaking past the Fleet keeper, crashing into the back of the net. The goal perked the Millers up and all of a sudden their hosts had lost their fizz.
On the hour Ighorae let another shot fly that wasn’t too far wide. Soon after Retkoceri popped up with a cheeky little shot towards the near post that Behcet did well to tip away. Ross Wall, who had scored twice in the first half to give his side a two goal advantage, was involved in some defensive work after 65 minutes. It all started with Sherwin Stanley, who came on for the Millers almost an hour into the game and whose first meaningful contribution saw him hold the ball off before knocking it off for Ighorae. His charge towards goal was ended when Wall put in a firm challenge to take the ball out of Ighorae’s possession.
Aveley drew themselves level on 67 minutes after a ball from the left was knocked just outside the area. The ball landed to Danny McCullock who stood just outside the right-side of the penalty area. He took once touch to get the ball under his command before unloading a superb shot that ended up in the bottom left-hand corner of the Fleet goal. Aveley had taken a while to get going; even slipping to a two-goal deficit. But now they were well and truly in the game and all of a sudden it was Thurrock who were having trouble making meaningful use of the ball, with their frontline also seeming unable to beat Aveley’s offside trap. It meant the Fleet were now unable to mount any serious attacks aside from a far too high Ronnie Winn effort on 75 minutes.
Aveley however threatend Behcet and his defence on a fairly regularly basis after they had found themselves back on level terms. Abs Seymour tested Behcet with a low shot from the left that required the Aveley keeper to dive full-stretch to his right to push to safety. Retkoceri’s head came within a whisker of connecting with a cross from the left and then McCullock hit a fierce drive from distance that Behcet parried. In the last minute of normal time Michael Pindy very nearly carved out a chance for the Millers when he bundled his way into the box but some frantic Fleet defending prevented him getting a shot off. In the end the final whistle couldn’t have come at a better time for Thurrock as they were very much under the cosh. Aveley’s second half performance had at least salvaged a point because at half-time they were facing defeat very much in the face. It was very much a game of two halves and the point earned by Aveley keeps them inside the play-off positions. Thurrock meanwhile sit in tenth place and keeping themselves within touching distance of the play-off action. The two teams clash again in November when it will be Aveley’s turn to host their nearest rivals. It will be interesting to see whether either side have posted serious promotion candidacy notice by then.
Thurrock: Darren Bechet, Reece Morgan, Sam West, Richard Halle (Capt), Remi Sutton, James Goode, Joe Christou, Glenn Poole, Charlie Simpson (Jordan Clark 74), Ross Wall, Ronnie Winn (Ross Gleed 81)
Scorers – Ross Wall (21′, 39′)
Aveley: Lamar Joseph-Johnson, Harry Gibbs, George Woodward, Billy Coyne, Perry Dunn, Olumide Oluwatimilehin (Michael Pindy 81), Jack Edwards (Danny McCullock 57), Abs Seymour, Taylor Tombides (Sherwin Stanley 57), Arian Retkoceri, Emmanuel Ighorae
Scorers – Emmanuel Ighorae (51′), Danny McCullock (67′)
