Barking and Dagenham 3-4 Thurrock
ON ANOTHER WET and windy day, Barking & Dagenham were on the wrong end of a seven goal thriller at Robert Clack.
Resting several key players after recent excursions, the hosts once again started brightly.
In control, the BAD Boys knocked the ball around confidently, and kept the visitors largely at bay. The central midfield duo of Ibrahim Msabah and Marvellous Oppong moved the ball quickly into wide positions, and the ever dangerous Denzel Decardi-Nelson asked early questions of the full back.
Lead
Their early dominance did not however result in any clear cut opportunities, and mid-way through the first half, Thurrock sprung to life. A quick move down the right hand side caught the hosts out, and the drive into the home penalty area nearly gave the visitors the lead.
Barking & Dagenham had not learned their lesson, and two minutes later a carbon copy move and low cross gave Thurrock the lead.
Two goals in a minute, and the visitors were cruising. A curled shot from outside the home penalty area nearly made it three, and the hosts were in danger of being swamped.
The hosts dug deep, and began a siege of the visitors’ penalty area.
Oppong narrowly missed with a low shot, and Decardi-Nelson almost scored directly from a corner – with the Thurrock goalkeeper pulling off a fantastic save.
With ten minutes to go in the half, the BAD Boys upped the pace again, and their persistence won a penalty. Decardi-Nelson stepped up, but drilled his low shot wide.
Far from dropping their heads, the hosts rolled up their sleeves and came again. More mayhem in the Thurrock box lead to another penalty for the hosts, and Decardi-Nelson had his chance at redemption. He stepped up confidently, and made no mistake this time – placing his low shot just inside of the same post.
Pressure
With time for one more attack, a cross from the right hand side once again set the cat among the pigeons in the Thurrock box. First, Shayne Pickering hit the cross bar with a crisp volley and the rebound was blazed over by Decardi-Nelson.
Half time did little to slow the hosts down, and they began the second half as they had ended the first. The pressure lead to a corner, and Decardi-Nelson’s viscous in swinging delivery was turned into their own net by the panicking Thurrock defence.
All even, and Barking & Dagenham sensed the game was there for the taking. Another attack and cross from the right hand by Chinoso Ibeh put Pickering through on goal. The Richard Alibon striker hit a superb half volley right into the top corner of the Thurrock net, and the turn-around was complete.
Or so the hosts thought.
They relaxed, and offered Thurrock a path back into the game. The visitors began a siege of their own, and their pacey front line began to once again cause problems.
The pressure yielded a low and hard shot from the edge of the penalty area, which George Miller brilliantly tipped wide.
Deserved
The visitors would not be denied however, and their next attack and quick passing brought about the equaliser.
It was no more than the visitors deserved, and sensing the wind had been knocked out of the home sails – and into their own – they went in search of the winner. With the hosts on the ropes, an attack down the right hand side was again repelled by the Grafton stopper at point blank range.
With seven minutes to go, Barking & Dagenham failed to clear a Thurrock corner, and a low shot from the edge of the box was deflected into the home net, as Thurrock sealed the win in this thrilling see-saw game in the rain.
Next up, the team will leave the friendly confines of Barking & Dagenham, and head to Camden for their first group match in the Lester Finch Trophy.
Barking & Dagenham: George Miller (Grafton), Jayden Ikechukwu (St Vincent’s), Jahcorey Blair-Charles (George Carey), Ibrahim Msabah (George Carey), Denzel Decardi-Nelson (St Peter’s), Chinoso Ibeh (St Peter’s), Dexter Douglas (St Vincent’s), Shayne Pickering (Richard Alibon), Theodore Mintah (Valence), Marvellous Oppong (Northbury), Ruari Stanton (Northbury)