Hackney 1-4 Barking & Dagenham
Barking & Dagenham ended their domestic season on a high, by becoming the only visiting side to lift the John Larter Challenge Trophy at Hackney. The showpiece game is usually played between Hackney’s Under 11 and Under 12 sides. Hackney were however unable to field a side in the 2020/21 season – due to COVID – so an invitation was extended to their old friends to the east.
Feeling honoured to be invited, the BAD Boys set out to put on a show – and didn’t disappoint. On the front foot from the outset, the visitors were at their brilliant best.
Saved
Slick passing in the middle of the park from Judah Blair-Charles and Captain Michael Milburn released Milburn’s Five Elms team mate Jordane Thomas on the right hand side. His pinpoint low cross found the skipper unmarked, but his low shot was brilliantly saved by the feet of the Hackney goalkeeper on seven minutes.
A Milburn corner on ten minutes found Blair-Charles unmarked in the penalty area, but the George Carey captains’s header went over the bar.
Thomas again flew down the right hand side minutes later, but his cross evaded everyone in the box.
The BAD Boys were nearly made to pay for their missed chances when Hackney mounted their first real attack on fifteen minutes. Not to be outdone, Grafton’s Freddie Cable made a fine stop with his feet. Cable would once again need to be at his sharpest two minutes later – to deny Hackney the opener with a fine save diving to his left.
One Became Two
After weathering the storm, the visitors struck. Milburn threaded the needle in the centre to put Oba Adetona through on goal. The Valence man made no mistake, slotting low and hard into the bottom corner for 1-0 on twenty-one minutes.
One soon became two after twenty-five minutes, as a cross from George Carey’s Jesse Matsalou on the left-hand side caused panic inside the Hackney penalty area. With everyone – including most of the BAD Boys – dithering, Richard Alibon’s Elijah Armah took matters into his own hands, smashing into the roof of the net from close range.
Hackney were shell-shocked, and the visitors ended the game as a contest on the stroke of half time. Another quick counter attack found Eghosa Ekhosuehi in the middle of the park. His first time through ball found Milburn bearing down on goal. The skipper shot low and hard for his twenty-first goal of the season, and the BAD Boys went in at the break three goals to the good.
The second half started as the first had began, with more slick passing from the visitors, and it didn’t take long for them to extend their lead. On thirty-four minutes, Blair-Charles dinked a precise pass over the right back for George Carey team mate Matsalou to latch onto. His vicious first time cross was met at the far post by Armah on the half volley – and it was 4-0. Barking & Dagenham were in their pomp, with even the home fans in raptures.
Almost…
The visitors continued to press, and Blair-Charles almost scored from a corner, first with the right – and then on the rebound with his left. The ever dangerous Milburn was also still probing, and nearly doubled his tally after thirty-seven minutes – only to be denied by the cross bar.
Armah was inches away from a hat-trick three minutes later, flashing his low shoot just wide from the right hand side. Thomas headed just wide from a corner after fifty minutes, but fittingly the last act would go to Hackney.
The home side’s persistence paid off as they picked their way through the Barking & Dagenham midfield on fifty-four minutes – and got the consolation their efforts deserved. All that remained was for the BAD Boys to see the game out, and lift the trophy to end their season on a high.
Barking & Dagenham’s twenty-five games this season produced a whopping one hundred and thirty-three goals – with the BAD Boys scoring ninety-one themselves. Fabulous entertainment and a fitting ending for the twenty-two boys who represented their borough with such pride and dignity.
Thank you to the players, the teachers, the staff and the parents for a great season, and we look forward to next season!
Barking & Dagenham: Freddie Cable (Grafton), Callum Salmon (Grafton), Eghosa Ekhosuehi (St Vincent’s), Zuheir Ali (George Carey), Jordane Thomas (Five Elms), Judah Blair Charles (George Carey), Michael Milburn (Five Elms), Owen Orhue (St Vincent’s), Finley Hossack (Godwin), Jesse Matsalou (George Carey), Oliver Grange (Roding Cannington), Oba Adetona (Valence), Sultan Odofin (George Carey), Cezar Curbet (William Bellamy), Shereef Ayantade (Gascoigne), Elijah Armah (Richard Alibon)