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East Thurrock United 1-1 Chelmsford City, Tuesday 13th March 2007, Rookery Hill, Kick-Off 7:45pm, Ryman League Premier Division.
Lee Boylan timed his fourth goal in three games to perfection, netting two minutes from time to rescue a point from a difficult encounter at Rookery Hill. The prolific marksman found the net late in the game as the Rocks tried all in their power to protect the 23rd-minute lead they gained through a Danny Gabriel penalty in their bid to avoid relegation. With so many ex-City players in their side, East Thurrock were always going to provide stern opposition for Jeff King's team in a venue Chelmsford have always found difficult to visit. Defender Wes Faulkner, midfielder Lee Williams and forward Danny Hazelden were fielded by United Manager Lee Patterson, meaning a spine of former Clarets ran right through his team on a bumpy and unwelcoming surface. City's starting eleven was altered up front as in-form striker Kezie Ibe made way for Jason Hallett in a squad rotation manoeuvre but the rest of the team was largely unchanged save for the return to centre back of Steve Ward who recovered from illness to take Bryan Glover's shirt. Boylan tried his luck within the first sixty seconds by executing an ambitious effort without success and in the 5th minute Chelmsford continued to attack when a deep cross from the left picked-out Hallett whose header dropped a yard over the crossbar. However, the hosts provided a threat of their own through pacey wide-man Shaun Batt and he raced away moments later only to fire wide. To complete a frenetic opening, a quick Clarets break resulted in Spencer Knight rocketing a left-footer across the face of goal and Boylan also collected a deep ball and prodded goalwards at full stretch at the second attempt, his shot ending-up too high. The 18th minute brought about an East Thurrock penalty appeal which was waved away though they did obtain a spot-kick five minutes later when Batt was tripped in the area. Gabriel then stepped-up to slam the ball into the centre of the roof of the net to hand his team a surprise lead. Chelmsford's response around the half hour mark was for Ricky Holmes to square inside to Hallett who in turn hammered at goalkeeper Jamie Riley from the edge of the area and Stuart Ainsley also saw a free-kick palmed over by the East Thurrock custodian with Ben Chenery heading agonisingly wide from the resulting corner. Ainsley then had another attempt in the 41st minute, producing an opportunist half-volley from distance that forced Riley into a diving save. This preceded a further Boylan strike a minute prior to the interval which was well executed from a slight angle but nestled onto the top of the net. Following the half-time break City seemed fairly incapable of recovering the small deficit and didn't register a shot in anger until the 72nd minute where Boylan got through on goal but had the ball touched away from him when about to pull the trigger. This did, however, alter the pattern of play more in the favour of King's team and the last ten minutes were nervy for the home side who were content to swallow-up time at every opportunity. With City going forward in numbers they were naturally susceptible at the back and Ashley Harrison in goal was called upon on 78 minutes to make a decent low save from substitute Matt Batt and once again he applied himself with an important block three minutes from time to deny namesake Shaun Batt as the last line of defence in what would prove to be a crucial intervention. That's because the 88th minute saw Boylan strike low into the net on the run from around fifteen yards to send the large travelling contingent crazy with relief as they saw their team extend their unbeaten run to six games with an important schedule of fixtures coming-up. City: 1 Ashley Harrison East Thurrock United: Jamie Riley, Lee Burns, Wes Faulkner, Kevin Mully, Bradley Stevens, Scott Curley, Lee Williams, Max Cornhill, Danny Hayzelden, Danny Gabriel, Shaun Batt. Subs: Matt Batt, Danny Harris, Steve Harrison, Stuart Williams, Lee Patterson. Bookings: None. Referee: Warren Atkin. Assistant Referees: Daniel Wyatt and Anthony Rawlings. Attendance: 418. City Man of the Match: Ashley Harrison. |
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By
Chris Evans
(Picture by Matt Bradshaw)
