7.12.19: Representative Match

Hackney 2-2 Barking & Dagenham
BARKING & DAGENHAM DREW their latest representative match away

Barking & Dagenham

at Hackney, in a see-saw game that could have gone either way.

For the second week in a row, the visitors were faced with adversity. This time all three goalkeepers in the squad were absent, meaning Tomas Jonyla – who had never played in goal before – volunteered to be Barking & Dagenham’s last line of defence. The Manor man performed admirably, and was rarely troubled in the first half as the visitors were once again quickly into their stride.
Barking & Dagenham pinned Hackney back and attacked at will, with wide players Mohamed Njie and Marcanthony Kitoko ripping down the wings before sending over crosses that had the home team scrambling in it’s own penalty area.
Somehow the hosts survived until half time, with Njie hitting the post with a rasping drive from the edge of the penalty area that the Hackney goalkeeper managed to turn onto the woodwork.
Run of Play
The second half began much as the first half ended, with Barking & Dagenham again putting the hosts on the back foot.
Hackney would however take the lead against the run of play, as a rash challenge in the penalty area resulted in a spot-kick which the home side duly converted.
Stung into action, the visitors went on a relentless surge to rescue the game. Joint top goal scorer Ikay Ozoani had a couple of efforts saved by the Hackney goalkeeper, before having an equaliser disallowed due to encroachment into the penalty area from a goal-kick.
With the game slipping away, Hackney conceded a free-kick on the edge of their own penalty area. Captain for the day Luis Ameny stepped up, and curled a right foot shot inside the near post to give the visitors the goal their endeavours deserved.
Frantic
Not content with being on level terms, the visitors would remain on the front foot and frantically went in search of the winner.
Half chances from Ameny, Kitoko and Adrianno Morrison were blocked by the home defence, before a slick one touch move between Kitoko, Ozoani and Morrison teed up the latter to score for the third game in a row.
With five minutes to go, the visitors appeared to have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Hackney would however equalise in the last minute from another set-piece gifted to them by a rash challenge – this time on the edge of the box. The resulting cross caused a mass scramble in the Barking & Dagenham penalty area, and before the hosts could clear their lines Hackney had poked home the equaliser to earn a draw.
Despite the late lapse, the visitors performed admirably against all the odds, and can feel good about themselves heading into their first Essex League game away at Thurrock this Saturday.
Barking and Dagenham: Tomas Jonyla (Manor), Calvin Edomi (George Carey), Tolga Ibryam (Valence), Tomiwa Akinyimika (Roding Cannington),
Marcanthony Kitoko (George Carey), Luis Ameny (Valence), Dennis Oppong (Grafton), Mohamed Njie (Gascoigne), Adrianno Morrison (William Bellamy), Ikay Ozoani (St Joseph’s Barking)