Groundhoppers report from Bees v Barkingside

[Basil-Don]

Rhodesy sent me this,not sure who the groundhopper is but he owes the club 20p as Budweiser is £2-80 not £2-60 which he apparentely paid.

 

 

Essex Senior League

Basildon United 1(1)-(2)3 Barkingside

The Hive, Gardiners Close, Basildon, Essex

Attendance: 28

Admission: £5. Didn't purchase programme

Also purchased: Bottle of Budweiser £2.60

 

...So off to my second game, and I paid the price for leaving nearly ten minutes late from Southend Manor. In fairness I was only 3 mins late, but it took five minutes to find somewhere to park, so I arrived in my seat at 3:08.

 

Sad to see the ground still rotting away and looking an untidy mess. Parts of the wooden floor of the seated stand structure were caving in, and the seats were rusting badly. In the two small terrace areas either side of the stand, there was some kind of mobile scaffolding blocking half of each area as well, though not sure what that was for. On the other hand, with the land having been part of a large CPO by the council for some 20 years now, is there any incentive/point to do it up, as one day the big plans for this part of town will come to fruition.

 

Life continues to be tough on and off the pitch for the Bees, not helped by a newly appointed manager, who was on the brink of losing his job within just a few weeks of starting. With issues now resolved, they'll hope the ex Bowers & Pitsea Reserve manager can stop the rot and try and get Basildon into the top half of the table. Barkingside had a nightmare second half of the season last time out, losing 14 games on the trot, and from memory in the end it was 15 out of their last 16! Unchartered territory for a club used to being near the other end of the league table. They were hoping normal service would resume for 2011/2, but they needed a win here to answer some doubters.

 

In my late arrival, Basildon had taken a surprise lead. However, it was already clear that the away team were dominating proceedings, regularly threatening to hit back. On 20 minutes a Barkingside player broke clear, but shot over when it seemed easier to score. Seven minutes later and the Bees somehow survived a goalmouth scramble, hacking the ball to safety. The pressure continued to build, and on 34 minutes a dipping Barkingside shot on the edge of the box saw the keeper do well to turn around the post. The goalie had to be at his best again moments later, when a flick back saw a header turned away at point blank range. However, from the resulting corner, the centre back stole in for a free header to level the scores.

Basildon didn't lie down though, and straight from the restart, some poor Barkingside defending allowed a Bees player to break clear, but with just the keeper to beat he blazed it over. The home side were made to pay on 40 minutes, initially after two Basildon defender got in the way of each other when dealing with a ball forward, which deflected off them for a corner. And straight from the corner, a shot from fifteen yards ghosted its way in, with the help of a defender for an own goal. Basildon should've equalised before half time when another piece of poor defending saw another Bees player clean through, but he shot badly wide.

 

At the start of the second half, Barkingside cranked up the pressure, looking for clear daylight between themselves and the hosts, and within eight minutes, they got their reward. A great goal it was too, after some neat intricate passing eventually found its way to someone six yards out, who struck it across the keeper and into the net. After a drab twenty minutes or so, the game picked up again. Basildon nearly got back in it, when a striker met a ball delivered from the right, but his shot was well kept out. Moments later a ball forward bounced over a couple of Barkingside defenders in the box, into the path of a Bees player, but the keeper kept it out with his legs. Barkingside's defending was generally pretty decent, or to describe better, commited, with numerous blocks, and hunger to keep going for the ball. They nearly added a fourth on 78 minutes when a ball was played across the by-line from the left, palmed away by the keeper, but there was nobody from Barkingside to follow up.

Barkingside were now starting to run down the clock and succeeded. However just before the end we had a very nasty moment, when a Barkingside player went in bravely to hold onto possession, only to fall to the floor. At this point the fiery Basildon no.10 took aim to kick him in the head, right in front of us all. There followed a mass brawl, with Barkingside players enraged by no.10's actions, who himself still appeared full of steam. After consulting with the linesman, the ref unsurprisingly got the red card out. A shameful act, and even his fellow players didn't appear to be in a forgiving mood.

 

In the end though, a comfortable victory for the home side. Basildon still look a long way from being a decent side, but they have a bit more pace about them, so as the season goes on, there might be hopes of climbing the table. Not a vintage Barkingside performance, but they were still comfortable winners, though will have to improve if they are to get results against the bigger clubs in this division.

 

A few extras. In the first half, a supporter decided 'the trees in the background needed a drink....', right in front of us all. There were also quite a few Barkingside fans in the small crowd, which doesn't say much for Basildon. Among the away supporters were 2-3 very noisy young girls, passionate about their club. And finally, one of the Basildon players subbed in the second half went into the dressing room, got changed, and sat with us in the stand. Very noble, considering his side were on the end of another defeat.

 

 

 

[Basil-Don]

by the way the scaffolding was a stage for todays charity match at the ground,can i give a big thank you to Referee Gary Waplington and his two assistants who very kindly officiated at todays match for free.

[WTF]

by the way the scaffolding was a stage for todays charity match at the ground,can i give a big thank you to Referee Gary Waplington and his two assistants who very kindly officiated at todays match for free.

 

 

Hi RIch, who was "the fiery Basildon no.10" who got sent off? I know Chrissy Lewis has joined the Smallsy revolution so not him...

 

Thought you had Baggsy and Anton up top this year?

[Basil-Don]

Anton Dwyer was red carded.

[WTF]

Anton Dwyer was red carded.

 

 

Wow, that's gotta be a first, Anton red carded. Someone must've seriously wound him up...