Basildon 2s vs Havering 3s

Havering 3s travelled away to Basildon hoping for a big 3 points which would leapfrog them over their opponents. Having beaten the home team 3-1 in the reverse fixture, the team was hopeful going into the fixture in getting a positive result

The match started well for the visitors, with the front 3 doing good work in particular in holding the defense in their own half from a high press, resulting in the centre backs with little option other than trying to hit it hard upfield. From constant Havering pressure, a mesmerising run from Will Tang on the byline cut open the Basildon defence, with a well fed ball into Martin John for a reverse stick sweep into an open goal for Havering to open the scoring. Despite taking the lead however, the visitors sat back and invited pressure. This eventually led to a number of Basildon short corners which, whilst saved well by the Havering GK, did result in the home team equalising before the stroke of half-time

Although the visitors did regroup after the second half, with some fine play in moments, Havering were unable to find the initial dominance from their first half performance and never felt like they got out of second gear. It did feel like the 3s finally arose from their slumber, following another Basildon short corner and goal, although a number of short corners and attacks remained aimless. Toby John however was unfortunate to not score in the second half from inside the D after some fine play dribbling from deep

Basildon would have the last say unfortunately, scoring another short corner in the final 10 minutes of the match taking the wind out of Havering's sails

A frustrating match for the boys as they know their performance was under par compared to their usual results, but they remain positive as they go into next week's match against second bottom Witham knowing they can bounce back with a positive result

FT Basildon 2s 3-1 Havering 3s