Much against my better judgement I found myself trudging across London at lunchtime, heading for the Hotel ground, Thurrock, a shoe in for one of the slots in a footballing Dante's Inferno. With hindsight I should perhaps be grateful that ITV's scheduling prevented me from contemplating a trip to Sunderland, and after three weeks without live football even the best efforts of London Transport to disrupt my journey by closing half the District line couldn't put me off heading for the Thames estuary.
Thus after ninety minutes of travelling I arrived in Fishtank country, so called after the award winning film which so beautifully captured the untamed fragility of the area. The mix of industry and wilderness twixt station and ground summed up by the plastic bags fluttering on fences confining feral horses on scrubland. As the bus headed down the hill from Aveley on the long descent to the ground, it overtook that rarest of sights, a couple of young home town scarfers en route to the game, before dropping me off at the Hotel.
Of course these days you can go for a pre match pint inside the ground, when previously supporters would uncomfortably mix with guests in the Hotel bar, all surrounding a TV to watch Football Focus or Final Score.
Kick off necessitated the usual migration to the far end, our steps hastened by the onset of rain. Disappointing Thurrock seem to be ignoring the ground regulation that requires that supporters can access the entire perimeter by shoving a bin in the way of the bit that goes in front of the changing rooms. I wonder if that will be wheeled away when the grading inspectors are on site?
A quick sprint around the back meant the first task of the afternoon was slightly delayed, the headcount, always a source of entertainment when the official attendance is revealed. Three tallies produced an average of 88, just over half the official number.
By now the game had started to take shape, Maidenhead taking the initiative and pushing hard for the opening goal. In the tenth minute a Reece Tison-Lascaris shot was spilled by youthful goalkeeper David Hughes, with further hope that he might be the source of a goal when he repeated the juggling act from an Alex Wall shot following good work from Martel Powell and Manny Williams. However after this promising start the game got progressively worse resembling the scruffy state of the weatherbeaten pitch.
Forward moves from both sides were comfortably dealt with but in the key moment of the half Maidenhead goalkeeper Billy Lumley suffered a head injury whilst cutting out a Thurrock attack. Initially he was able to continue but as the half drew to a close, a second consultation with Max Bangura saw the physio indicate that he would have to come off. With watching Sam Beasant nursing a dislocated finger, there was no specialist stopper on the bench and so captain Mark Nisbet made his return from injury in rather an unexpected fashion, coming off the bench wearing a blue goalkeeper's shirt.
The cumulative stoppages meant eight minutes were added to the first forty five, Thurrock taking the lead in the seventh of these when an Ahmed Deen free kick flew in to the top corner, an effort that Lumley would have done well to tip over the bar.
Nisbet soon had a chance to prove his aptitude between the sticks after the break, scrambling away a close range effort with his legs, and as the half went on, a game at York Road where Purfleet fielded an outfield defender in goal for the whole ninety minutes came to mind. A game which Purfleet won. Indeed Maidenhead started to increase the pressure on the home side, winning the game's first two corners, heralding an equaliser which arrived in the sixty third minute.
The goal came from a move which saw Tison-Lascaris drive into the penalty area, losing the ball to a defensive challenge. It was picked up by Wall who produced the save of the game from Hughes only for the ball to run free again, this time to Williams who fired the ball into the empty net to level the score.
With Thurrock seeing perhaps their best opportunity to break end their season long winless run at home fading fast, they pushed hard to retake the lead, but Nisbet was equal to everything that got through the defence. The final stage of the game was played in a rain shower of biblical proportions and although the players stuck to their task there seemed little chance of a winner for either side, as shown when Magpie away regular Steve King left early to beat the traffic.
So mission accomplished in part with a point secured despite playing for over fifty minutes without a recognised goalkeeper. Without this mitigation though it would have been two points dropped against a Thurrock side who look to be using their reprieve from relegation as well as Maidenhead did six seasons ago.
Thus after ninety minutes of travelling I arrived in Fishtank country, so called after the award winning film which so beautifully captured the untamed fragility of the area. The mix of industry and wilderness twixt station and ground summed up by the plastic bags fluttering on fences confining feral horses on scrubland. As the bus headed down the hill from Aveley on the long descent to the ground, it overtook that rarest of sights, a couple of young home town scarfers en route to the game, before dropping me off at the Hotel.
Of course these days you can go for a pre match pint inside the ground, when previously supporters would uncomfortably mix with guests in the Hotel bar, all surrounding a TV to watch Football Focus or Final Score.
Kick off necessitated the usual migration to the far end, our steps hastened by the onset of rain. Disappointing Thurrock seem to be ignoring the ground regulation that requires that supporters can access the entire perimeter by shoving a bin in the way of the bit that goes in front of the changing rooms. I wonder if that will be wheeled away when the grading inspectors are on site?
By now the game had started to take shape, Maidenhead taking the initiative and pushing hard for the opening goal. In the tenth minute a Reece Tison-Lascaris shot was spilled by youthful goalkeeper David Hughes, with further hope that he might be the source of a goal when he repeated the juggling act from an Alex Wall shot following good work from Martel Powell and Manny Williams. However after this promising start the game got progressively worse resembling the scruffy state of the weatherbeaten pitch.
Forward moves from both sides were comfortably dealt with but in the key moment of the half Maidenhead goalkeeper Billy Lumley suffered a head injury whilst cutting out a Thurrock attack. Initially he was able to continue but as the half drew to a close, a second consultation with Max Bangura saw the physio indicate that he would have to come off. With watching Sam Beasant nursing a dislocated finger, there was no specialist stopper on the bench and so captain Mark Nisbet made his return from injury in rather an unexpected fashion, coming off the bench wearing a blue goalkeeper's shirt.
The cumulative stoppages meant eight minutes were added to the first forty five, Thurrock taking the lead in the seventh of these when an Ahmed Deen free kick flew in to the top corner, an effort that Lumley would have done well to tip over the bar.
Nisbet soon had a chance to prove his aptitude between the sticks after the break, scrambling away a close range effort with his legs, and as the half went on, a game at York Road where Purfleet fielded an outfield defender in goal for the whole ninety minutes came to mind. A game which Purfleet won. Indeed Maidenhead started to increase the pressure on the home side, winning the game's first two corners, heralding an equaliser which arrived in the sixty third minute.
The goal came from a move which saw Tison-Lascaris drive into the penalty area, losing the ball to a defensive challenge. It was picked up by Wall who produced the save of the game from Hughes only for the ball to run free again, this time to Williams who fired the ball into the empty net to level the score.
With Thurrock seeing perhaps their best opportunity to break end their season long winless run at home fading fast, they pushed hard to retake the lead, but Nisbet was equal to everything that got through the defence. The final stage of the game was played in a rain shower of biblical proportions and although the players stuck to their task there seemed little chance of a winner for either side, as shown when Magpie away regular Steve King left early to beat the traffic.
So mission accomplished in part with a point secured despite playing for over fifty minutes without a recognised goalkeeper. Without this mitigation though it would have been two points dropped against a Thurrock side who look to be using their reprieve from relegation as well as Maidenhead did six seasons ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment