HORNCHURCH 3 BURY TOWN 0 - report

[Dagger03]

Saturday 05-December-2015

HORNCHURCH 3  BURY TOWN 0

 

HFC – Mott – Coyne – Bentley – May – Cooper – Goodacre – Luke – Styles © - Knight – Purcell – Joseph (Thompson 90+5)

Subs – McKenzie – Polu – Dove – Chouman

 

BT – O’Sullivan – Allen – Hall – Aitkens – De’Ath – Weavers © - Garrett (Hammett 69) – Nurse (Steed 64) – Hughes (Reed 82) – Ramadan – Canfer

Sub – Holland

 

Officials – Nick Cooper with Sean Wilbourn and Abigail Marriott

 

Scorers – Styles 25 – Purcell 31 – Purcell 34

Bookings – Styles 77 (H) – Weavers 84 (BT) (OFF - straight red)

Attendance 132

Duration 47.00 + 53.00

Weather -14 degrees, overcast, wind gusts up to 40 mph.

 

HORNCHURCH 3  BURY TOWN 0

 

Bury came to the Bridge with two records – undefeated away from home this season, and undefeated in a league match at the Bridge – they lost both records today in a match dominated by Hornchurch, but what was Hornchurch’s best home performance of the season was ruined by a dreadful challenge six minutes from time on Tobi Joseph.

 

Hornchurch kicked towards the windmill end in the first half, with the wind, gusting up to 40 mph, in their favour, and Bury rarely threatened, apart from a long throw early on, which led to a corner.

 

Hornchurch quickly gained control, and could have taken the lead when a long range shot from Alex Bentley came back off the post, and another attempt by George Purcell went wide.

 

With Paul Goodacre and Nathan Cooper dealing effectively with the occasional Bury sortie upfield, it was no surprise when Hornchurch went ahead. A Joey May free kick was turned out for a corner. May came across to take the kick from the right, and Elliot Styles, at the far post, backheaded the ball into the net. From then on, there was no doubt about who would win.

 

Visiting keeper Neil O’Sullivan saved well from Junior Luke, following good approach work by Joey May, and shots from David Knight and George Purcell went close.

 

On 31 minutes Hornchurch increased their lead, when Styles headed on and George Purcell took full advantage of a defensive mix up to take the ball around O’Sullivan, and then he calmly put the ball into the back of the net with his right foot.

 

Three minutes later we had a typical George Purcell left footed special, in a move that started when Tobi Joseph was fouled. May’s free kick led to a corner, O’Sullivan punched the ball away, and George Purcell promptly hammered it back and into the net.

 

It was almost four when Billy Coyne played the ball to David Knight, but his shot on the turn cleared the bar.

 

Tobi Joseph was in action at the other end, when he tackled Ollie Canfer who was homing in on goal, the resulting corner being comfortably cleared.

 

Cemal Ramadan twice had shooting opportunities, but on both occasions the ball was wide of the target, but Hornchurch quickly regained control, and the half ended with a good run by Junior Luke and a shot by Joey May that went close.

 

Shortly after half time Bury had their first real chance, with a free kick ten yards outside the area, which Connor Hall shaped to take, but he left it to Ramadan, who fired wide of the post.

 

Another Bury corner was cleared, before play swung back to the other end, where O’Sullivan dropped the ball and it was eventually scrambled clear, with both Knight and Purcell in close attendance.

 

With the strong wind now in their favour, Bury created chances of their own, the best being a long ball in from the left which Styles headed away for a corner. But most of their attacking moves ended with Cooper and Goodacre clearing, to give Sam Mott a relatively easy afternoon.

 

When Tevan Allen conceded a free kick midway inside the Bury half, May floated the ball into the goalmouth, where it was eventually scrambled away, and a good run by Knight ended in a corner, when his shot was deflected around the post.

 

Hornchurch were rarely threatened and almost increased their lead when Purcell caught O’Sullivan in possession, although the ball was eventually scrambled away to safety. Purcell was a constant threat and he again went close with a shot from outside the area, whilst a Knight run ended in a timely tackle by a defender.

 

With six minutes to go, Tobi Joseph was the victim of a very badly mistimed challenge, which resulted in a straight red for the Bury captain Phil Weavers, and there was a delay of ten minutes before Tobi was taken off on a stretcher.

 

The remainder of the match was played out in almost total silence, during which Hornchurch twice came close to scoring in the eight minutes of stoppage time.