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Billericay - an alternative report by Runwell


Dagger03

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I have not altered this report in any way, but would note that Junior Luke was not on the team sheet.

 

 

Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division

Billericay Town 0(0)-(0)1 AFC Hornchurch

New Lodge, Blunts Wall Road, Billericay, Essex

Attendance: 1,102

Admission: £9.50. Programme £2 - 'Town Crier' was in full b/w today, possibly because they were soon to run out. Was a double addition prog ahead of the Harrow home game NYE. 44 pages inc. good piece from Programme Editor and detailed piece from the chairman about player 'loyalty' and an appeal to locals. Also other stats, plus Christmas pic quiz. Also still some bad blood about 'Concordgate' by the sounds of it!

 

Also purchased: Burger and chips £3.50

 

A very big crowd at New Lodge this afternoon, with at least a three figure number making the trip from Hornchurch despite problems with public transport today. It was a crowd level I was used to seeing at New Lodge some years back on a more regular basis, and I hope more come back again after today, despite the spectacle not being the greatest. The game was an hour early, though the gloomy skies still meant floodlights were necessary for most of the game.

 

Plenty was at stake here, with Billericay now only joint top with Lowestoft, and the Suffolk side would have two games in hand after this match. AFC Hornchurch were very close behind, dropping behind Lewes yesterday to fourth, but only four points off today's opponents with a game in hand heading into this game. Still, I'm sure if you'd have asked both sides if they'd be 1st and 4th after Boxing Day, they'd have bitten your arm off, especially 'Ricay with multiple injuries, player fallouts and terrible off-field issues like that of Nicky Morgan.

 

Billericay had the first real opportunity on three minutes, when one of Junior Luke's notoriously long throws caused some confusion in the Urchins defence, but the ball was stabbed into the side netting. It was the visitors however who seemed to be the better side after that, and on ten minutes had a corner which was cleared out to the edge of the box, though the shot that came in was saved by Blues goalie Dale Brightly recently signed from Concord. I thought throughout the game the young referee seemed to show his inexperience in games like this, constantly blowing up and dishing cards out, and harsh on both teams, particularly Billericay.

Although Hornchurch still looked the better side, Craig Edwards's (aka Emperor Ming) Billericay continued to create a few chances. On seventeen minutes a corner led to a headed scramble before the ball ended up just over the bar, then seven minutes later a Ricay shot outside the box was saved by Joe Woolley who just got to the rebound. Another chance fell on 36 minutes after some away pressure for Blues when Woolley failed to adequately punch clear, but the subsequent shot just went over the top. Moments later a chance for the Urchins when a free kick from the left evaded everyone at the far post, then a minute later a good Blues run saw the ball pulled back, but a scuffed shot went wide.

 

Things seemed slightly less scrappy in the second half, but still the same result with Hornchurch perhaps even more on top. Having said that, they almost fell behind within two minutes of the restart, when Town's Emeka Onwubiko received the ball in the dee, but snatched his shot over when he appeared to have time for another touch. Moments later though, the best chance of the game came when Jonathan Hunt's free kick for Hornchurch hit the near post, and the rebound got caught under an Urchin player's feet six yards out before being scrambled clear. The game was better and more open at this point, but Billericay seemed unable to string any decent move together, while Hornchurch remained a threat. And on the hour mark they got what would be the deciding goal, and as I thought at half time, one goal would decide this. An Urchin managed to elude the defence, and a rather exposed Brightly kept out the initial effort from an angle, then the rebound was seemingly handled at point blank range on the line, though ex Crystal Palace man Tommy Black finally bundled it in to spare a red card for a Ricay lad but put the away side in front.

Billericay tried to get back into the game but lacked anything creative, not helped by the increasingly irritating performance from the ref. The introduction of young Harrison chatting did give them a little spark though, as Hornchurch started to appear intent on hanging on to what they had. Blues' best chance came on 78 minutes when a corner was headed goalwards by skipper Rob Swaine, but Woolley pulled off an excellent save, and it was just about hacked virtually off the goaline. Then the following corner was headed just over the top. A rare Urchins attack on 82 minutes saw a shot go into the side netting, then going into stoppage time Brightly pulled off a good point blank save to keep his side in it. Billericay tried to rescue a point in added time, and a ball into the Hornchurch box was hooked just over by Onwubiko, before near the end a Ricay shot might possibly have struck an Urchins arm in the box, but nowt was given, and that was that.

 

Billericay's unbeaten home record comes to an end then, and even some of the fans I spoke to had few complaints about the result, as a rather depleted Blues never really got going, and the Urchins fully deserved the three points to open up the title race. A shame it wasn't the greatest of spectacles - although there was good banter between the two sets of supporters, with both sides desperate not to lose, but away supporters won't mind that one bit. I shall be at Bridge Avenue for the Lowestoft game on Bank Holiday Monday, which could go a long way to deciding the title race...

 

Hello to BrentwoodPhil who I saw in the lower seated area, and to the Blues fan I was chatting to as well.

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