Barking & Dagenham 2-3 St. Albans

BARKING & DAGENHAM U11’s opened their season with a narrow 3-2 defeat to St. Albans on Saturday. Goals from David Osei-Kaffour and Harry Brown saw the team recover from a two goal deficit, only to see the visitors grab a late winner.

The visitors started brightly and Kieran Pougoue was called in action early on when Archie James tried his luck from twenty yards. Will Andipayan then went even closer with a long range free kick but luckily for the home side, the ball struck the upright before being cleared.

Denied

Barking slowly edged their way into the game and Brown was denied by a brave save from Billy Todd in the St. Albans’ goal. 

Brown then almost set up Ethan Wenayeto for the game’s opening goal but Andiyapan was alert to his clever through ball.

St. Albans always looked to deliver on the break and they went in front courtesy of Kael Beeson. The goal was created by a surging run from Tomas Galvez, who skipped past three challenges before teeing up Beeson, who made no mistake from twelve yards.

The goal buoyed the away side and moments later then doubled their lead. The impressive Andiyapan was afforded too much time and space from a short corner and the centre midfielder brilliantly curled the ball into the top corner from twenty-five yards. 

Tireless

The tireless Brown almost reduced the arrears with a powerful run but his shot lacked the power to beat Todd. Osei-Kaffour then went even closer after being released by Kye Calvey’s pass. The Manor wideman evaded two challenges but his shot was superbly palmed around the post by Todd.

As the half ended, the home side continued to probe away and were rewarded for their efforts with a well worked goal. Wenayeto and Brown swapped passes on the right before the former slipped in Osei-Kaffour who nonchalantly lofted the ball over Todd for his first district goal.

St. Albans started the second period much the better side and only some wayward finishing prevented them from extending their lead. Owen Duggan was twice called into action to thwart Beeson and Galvez before Junior Ngala produced a well timed tackle to deny Jamie Simmons.

The missed chances meant that Barking remained in the game and Titas Sveikauskas almost conjured up an equaliser but his effort was inches too high.

Glorious

At the other end, Beeson missed a glorious opportunity to kill the game, somehow missing the target when he found himself inches from an open goal.

Almost instantly Barking swept up the other end and drew level via Brown’s sweet strike. Sveikauskas showed great skill on the right wing and his inviting centre fell nicely for Brown, who smashed the ball home from the edge of the area.

However, parity didn’t last long as St. Albans went back in front. Some hesitant defending allowed Simmons time and space and he coolly slotted the ball past Duggan.

Barking could have laid down at this point but summoned up one last effort and almost grabbed a share of the spoils with the last action of the game. Calvey’s in-swinging free kick was headed inches wide by Brown at the back post.

Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives to take forward and the team will be looking to get their first win next week when they travel to Chelmsford & Mid Essex for their next representative fixture.

Barking & Dagenham: A Young, A Towse, J Atoki, T Sveikauskas, O Duggan, E Wenayeto, K Pougoue, J. Modza Smith, C Gavin, K Calvy, H Brown, D Osei-Kuffour, J Ngala