Lewisham 6-1 Barking & Dagenham

A FINE SEASON FOR season for Barking & Dagenham ended with a heavy defeat, as National Cup finalists Lewisham showed why they are one of the finest sides in the country.

The BAD Boys travelled south of the river and started brightly on a gloomy day. Captain Lesecond Yeutembip was ruled out through injury, but those filling in were full of running. George Carey’s Jahcorey Blair-Charles and Valence’s Isaac Da Silva were ticking over in the engine room, and things looked bright in the early stages.

Blair-Charles’ creativity and flair fashioned an early chance for Chibuzo Okoli, but the William Ford man narrowly missed. Denzel Decardi-Nelson was his usual energetic self, and he and St Peter’s team mate Chinoso Ibeh had both wings flying.

Opener

However – somewhat against the early run of play – Lewisham opened the scoring after fifteen minutes. A quick counter attack caught the visitors napping, and the South London side made no mistake sliding home the through ball.

Barking & Dagenham were in shock and swung into action. Blair-Charles and Da Silva combined once again to set up Okoli, but his low shot flashed just wide.

Encouraged by the near miss, they came again. Blair-Charles played Ibeh through on the right, with the St Peter’s winger firing in a first time cross that narrowly evaded everyone.

The hosts were on the ropes and the equalizer arrived after twenty-one minutes. Blair-Charles again played Okoli through with a sublime pass, and the William Ford striker made amends for his earlier miss.

It was 1-1 and game on. Things however, would go downhill from there for the BAD Boys.

On the stroke of half time – just as Barking & Dagenham were poised to go in all level – Lewisham struck again. A pinpoint pass over the top and cross come shot was tapped in, and the home side went in 2-1 up.

Shock

The visitors still hadn’t recovered from the shock when Lewisham put together a six pass move early in the second to make it 3-1.

With the visitors rocking, the South London side landed the knockout blow. A one-two on the edge of the Barking & Dagenham box had the hosts bearing down on goal once again – and it was four.

Superman George Miller would once again show why he earned his nickname, after a sublime double save following another Lewisham foray into the visitor’s penalty area. The resulting corner had Miller tipping over a header on goal from point blank range.

With time running out, the BAD Boys would be caught out by identical long balls over the top. Two long balls, two defensive mix ups – and Barking & Dagenham had been hit for six.

Fine Season

Defeat against the National Cup finalists should not however define Barking & Dagenham’s season. A group of players thrown together in mid-April – against the backdrop of a global pandemic -managed to somehow get to two cup finals, another semi-final and deliver silverware. They ended the season with a record of 24 games played, 16 wins, 2 draw and 6 defeats.

So, overall a fine season – particularly when taking the circumstances into consideration. All of the boys – and their parents – should be proud of their achievement, and for representing the Borough of Barking & Dagenham with dignity and class.

See you next season!

Barking and Dagenham: George Miller (Grafton), Marvellous Oppong (Northbury), (Northbury), Jahcorey Blair-Charles (George Carey), Dexter Douglas (St Vincent’s), Chibuzo Okoli (William Ford), Denzel Decardi-Nelson (St Peter’s), Chinoso Ibeh (St Peter’s), Jayden Ikechuwu (St Vincent’s), Joel Ladegbaye (George Carey), Ruari Stanton (Northbury), Ibrahim Msabah (George Carey), Isaac Da Silva (Valence)