Barking & Dagenham 1-0 St Albans

IT TOOK UNTIL EIGHTY seconds before the end of scheduled time for Barking & Dagenham’s all-time leading scorer, Aysia Matabaro, to dramatically make the breakthrough and seal a second Southern Counties Cup title for the borough under the Spring sunshine at Oxford City FC. It was a thrilling end to an amazing advert for district football which saw a combative and resilient St Albans side repel wave after wave of Barking & Dagenham advances until the thrilling finale in front of a sizeable and raucous support.

Barking & Dagenham arrived in top form, with eleven straight wins since the same two sides played out a 2-2 in the London Girls’ League just after Christmas. Meanwhile, their opponents came into the game off the back of a heavy defeat to Woking in the same competition just seven days earlier.

Intensity

In the early stages though, it was St Albans who came to terms with conditions the quickest, winning the first half dozen fifty-fifty tackles and swamping Barking & Dagenham’s midfield with their intensity.

Amaya Amaning, Pearl Brown, and skipper Chi-Chi Musa Onyeka had to be at their brilliant best – and they were, camping out on the edge of Barking & Dagenham box to ride the initial storm.

Then it was time for their team to show what they could do at the other end.

First, Lara Sousa Franco almost connected  following Hazel Walker’s early cross.

And then Matabaro began a one-woman mission to open the scoring that lasted from the fifth to the fifty-ninth minute.

Dropping into midfield to win possession, the Roding striker held up play, waiting for runners down either flank that never came. With nothing on, Matabaro chanced her arm from just inside her own half with a powerful dipping effort that just flew over the bar.

As a signal of intent, it was quite a statement. And one the game would witness time and again until the decisive moment.

Close

Two minutes later, Matabaro skipped past three desperate challenges before firing just wide from the edge of the area.

And Musa-Onyeka came close with a twenty-five-yard free-kick following an accidental elbow to Sousa Franco’s face.

On thirteen minutes, Matabaro chased down keeper Kornelija Klimaviciute’s drop-kick to steal possession from a pressured St Albans defence before flicking her effort wide of the upright with the outside of her right foot.

Then midway through the half, Walker picked out Matabaro in the area, only for a fine save to deny her once more.

Another corner led to Mia Green’s attempt dropping over the bar before Walker again crossed from the right to create an opportunity for Erin Taylor ghosting in at the back post.

Meanwhile, St Albans registered the second of a handful of speculative long-range attempts at the Barking & Dagenham goal, without troubling keeper Honey Thomas, as half-time came and went with the tie still in the balance at 0-0.

Business As Usual

Three minutes into the second half, it was business as usual as Matabaro’s fierce blast resulted in another diving stop, with Taylor’s follow-up skied over.

The same pair combined seconds later, only for Matabaro’s curled attempt to fall wide.

Next, Charlotte Bryant headed Walker’s corner past the outside of the post before Matabaro found the talent, skill, and determination to craft a dazzling sequence of attacks: from the thirty-eighth to the forty-fifth minute, Matabaro registered an attempt on goal at an average of one every sixty seconds. Dancing around challenge after challenge, time and again she beat one, two, three, four and even five desperate tackles before finding a keeper in inspired form ahead of her.

Both players seemed to thrive off the buzzing atmosphere as the crowd rose to the battle between two brave warriors that was fast emerging as the central narrative to the tie.

Matabaro wasn’t just knocking at the door. She was trying to smash it to smithereens. However, thanks to a series of wonderful saves, blocks and last second interventions, access was well and truly denied.

Final Quarter

Chances came again as the game entered its final quarter.

Matabaro went past five before her goal-bound effort was parried, with another fine save blocking Elizabeth Dimitrova’s follow-up.

By now, the ground was heavy with tension as every Barking & Dagenham sortie into enemy territory was an event in itself.

Sousa Franco was outstanding as her side’s creative force in central midfield alongside Bryant who brought a physicality and focus that typified her team’s will to win. Zoe Freeman nipped around too, trying to find the decisive final pass as Barking & Dagenham knew their opponents might need just one chance to settle the tie.

So, when, with just six minutes remaining, an innocuous ball behind the Barking & Dagenham backline led to a picked-up back-pass – and subsequent indirect free-kick inside the penalty area – the drama was ramped up to new levels.

Would this be the moment when all of Barking & Dagenham’s hard work was undone by their own hand?

In the end, the chance – like so many at the other end – came to nothing, with the BAD Girls defence, led by Walker and Kadie Gibbs, charging out to win possession immediately before resuming their campaign.

Rattled

With seven minutes to go, Musa-Onyeka’s long-throw found Matabaro in the box. The shot whistled wide.

Three minutes later, another dazzling individual run from Matabaro saw the next one fly over.

With two minutes to go, she came closer than ever, this time rattling the bar with an attempted lob from just inside the box.

Another block by the keeper followed, denying Matabaro yet again.

Then it came. The moment the whole game had been building towards since that half-way howitzer fifty-four minutes earlier.

Amaning was the instigator, keeping calm to play out from the back when she could have been forgiven for lumping the ball away aimlessly. Instead, she switched play left to Taylor – using the width of the pitch – who, in turn, squared to you-know-who.

This time, once Matabaro had rounded the final defender for the umpteenth time in the match, she opted for an extra touch.

It proved crucial, as it drew the opposing goalkeeper off the line which she had defended so diligently throughout. Space was created for a delicate flick with the outside of Matabaro’s boot into the only gap that had appeared all game. As the ball rippled into the back of the net, the ground erupted.

It was an amazing end to an amazing game.

Commitment

Defeat was a bitter blow for St Albans, whose commitment and willingness to contend every tackle, block and header was outstanding.

But no-one could deny Barking & Dagenham their victory. Twenty-six genuine goal attempts to the opposition’s five hopeful efforts, reflected their dominance.

The sheer ferocity of their attacking play deserved their reward and how fitting it was that Matabaro – who led the charge from first to last – should seal the win.

Next Saturday, Barking & Dagenham go again. This time South London are the visitors to Robert Clack as the BAD Girls look to take one step closer to securing a fourth London Girls’ League title in succession.

One in the bag, one to go.

Barking & Dagenham: Amaya Amaning (Warren), Pearl Brown (Rush Green), Charlotte Bryant (Roding), Zoe Freeman (Rush Green), Kadie Gibbs (James Cambell), Mia Green (Southwood), Hazel Walker (Parsloes), Chioma Musa-Onyeka (St Peter’s), Lara Sousa Franco (St Peter’s), Honey Thomas (James Cambell), Kornelija Klimaviciute (Parsloes), Aysia Matabaro (Roding), Erin Taylor (Leys), Elizabeth Dimitrova (James Cambell)