Barking & Dagenham 3-1 Gloucester
A BRILLIANT OPENING TWELVE minutes from Barking & Dagenham saw them race into a 3-0 lead against visiting Gloucester with Malaika Uwandji’s opener after forty seconds – plus Comfort Mazel’s near-identical brace – settling the game almost as quickly as it began. A first half spot kick provided consolation for the away side but neither goal was ever seriously threatened again, despite both sides competing hard for supremacy on an entertaining morning at The Bobby Moore Sports Hub.
The home side were straight out of the traps, looking to take advantage of any rustiness in the visitors’ ranks as Gloucester began their third game in as many days on their London half-term tour.
Top of the Pops
It was the alertness of Abbie Blewitt in midfield that created the opener, with a snap in the tackle and a measured pass wide to Uwandji on the right flank. Uwandji took a touch before rifling under pressure into the bottom corner for her seventh of the season, drawing level with Simonette Johnson at the top of the team’s scoring pops.
Not long later, it was two.
After the Barking & Dagenham high press drew an anxious clearance from the Gloucester defence, Mazel found herself presented with the ball in a central position twenty-five yards out. Siezing her chance, the Godwin midfielder stepped forward and stroked a side foot effort into the same corner as Uwandji’s earlier strike to double the lead.
And on twelve minutes, there she was again in weirdly similar fashion as an identical chance saw her pounce once more.
This time the shot was blocked. But the rebound returned to Mazel like a magnet and unerringly she made no mistake, firing against the inside of the upright, with the ball deflecting over the line, leaving Barking & Dagenham in complete control.
Or so it should have been.
Lifeline
Instead, though Gloucester were handed a lifeline back into the game when a trip in the box lead to a stonewall penalty. Duly converted, it was game on.
However, neither side was able to build upon what went before, as the game progressed into an arm-wrestle played out between the two penalty areas. There was commitment and endeavour aplenty, but little evidence of the quality needed to fashion more goals.
Johnson’s powerful burst drew a save from the away keeper; one that was matched for the hosts by Emily Peka’s second half stop from close range.
But other than Uwandji firing into the side netting with ten minutes remaining, two organised sides prodded and probed without further success.
A highlight for Barking & Dagenham though was finishing the game with no less than five Y5 players on the pitch, led by the excellent Blewitt in the centre of the park. Backed up by Paloma Correia, Aaliyah Felix, Simonette Johnson and keeper Grace Attwood-Adams on debut, the conveyor belt of talent in the borough looks promising for next year as well as now.
The result makes it three wins in the last three matches for Barking & Dagenham. With crucial London and Essex League games ahead against Barnet and Chelmsford respectively, the district side will be looking to maintain that record in the weeks ahead if they are to push for silverware in 2024.
Barking & Dagenham: Emily Peka (Valence); Jona Islami (Roding); Gilda Hasani (Northbury); Abbie Blewitt (Hunters Hall); Paloma Correia (George Carey); Grace Attwood-Adams (The Leys); Malaika Uwandji (Roding); Aaliyah Felix (Goresbrook); Simonette Johnson (St Peter’s); Comfort Mazel (Godwin); Maria Matteus (George Carey)