Erith & Belvedere 2 City 3
City returned to league action this weekend following their cup exploits over the last couple of weeks. Another roller coaster game, firstly saw City get themselves into a dominant position and then almost fritter away their one man and three goal advantage as the home side nearly staged a dramatic fightback.
First chance of the game fell to City on three minutes. A long throw from Macauley Murray somehow found it’s way to Michael Smissen who rather surprised by it’s arrival could only nod it over the bar from close range. E&B responded with a break that Grant Bagley snuffed out before on eight minutes, City took the lead.
A route one clearance from City keeper Connor Quinn landed in an acre of space in the home defence. Unfortunately for E&B, their keeper Sam Tanner couldn’t resist the temptation to sprint into it and watched helplessly as the ball bounced high over his head, leaving him hopelessly stranded. Smissen was on his toes though and he chased the ball down into the box, despite being forced wide, he fought off a couple of attempts to foul him and kept his composure to slide the ball home as the angle tightened to give the visitors the lead.
Erith responded with Allan Matthews firing a ball right across the City box that evaded both attackers and defenders, when the slightest touch by anyone may well have caused City a problem. They also won a couple of corners that the City defence dealt with comfortably and by and large they were keeping their hosts pretty much at arms length.
On twenty minutes, the lively Renford Tenyue almost got City’s second. Having got into the home box on the break, he outwitted everyone by curling in a delightful little shot which struck the base of the post, just as everyone was expecting a cross. The warning signs were there for E&B though as just a minute later City missed another chance. Another Tenyue cross should have been knocked goalwards by Wayon Anderson, but unfortunately for City, the striker missed his kick and the ball dribbled through to Jake Gess, who rather shocked to see it, could only lift an effort over the bar.
Nothing lost however as on twenty-two minutes City did double their lead as for the second time in the match, they benefited from some more generosity from their hosts. A very wayward pass from E&B just in front of their own area allowed Tenyue to intercept the ball with ease and power into the box. He muscled his way past a defender and getting to the bye-line, rolled the ball back for Smissen giving him the relatively straightforward job of making it 2-0 to City.
For the next twenty minutes or so the game went into a phase of tit-for-tat midfield play as both sides battled for possession in the centre parts of the pitch without either really creating anything of note apart from a shot over the bar from E&B’s Marcus Cassius.
With a minute of the first half to go, events took a livelier turn as E&B were reduced to ten men. Difficult to see what started it, but a crunching tackle by John Wilfort on Smissen, which left the City striker requiring treatment, was overlooked by the referee. As the play went on his attention was finally drawn to his flag-waving assistant. After a lengthy consultation, the referee showed Wilfort a red card apparently for an alleged elbow. As five minutes of added time were played out, Quinn had to be alert to save at the feet of Jamie Wood, but the whistle could not have come soon enough as one or two extremely unhappy home officials accompanied the referee and his assistants off the pitch.
Half time then and it’s 2-0 to City.
City started the second half on top and within minutes, Tenyue had already sent in two dangerous crosses, unrewarded. City pressed forward and another Tenyue run saw Gess nick the ball from him and chip it inches over the home bar from twenty yards. Murray and Anderson combined to set up Smissen for a third, but with the goal seemingly at his mercy, the ball was taken off his head at the vital moment by a quite superb piece of defending.
City were by and large keeping the home side at bay, making the most of their one-man advantage. It wasn’t until the fifty-fifth minute that E&B half threatened the City goal, as three shots in the same move were blocked by defenders who were doing their utmost to protect their keeper.
Anderson shot straight at Tanner for City, Joe Kennett glanced a Murray corner wide and Tenyue had a fierce shot beaten out by Tanner. Finally on seventy minutes, City got the third their dominance deserved. Jake Marsh chased a loss cause down to the left corner flag and tucked the ball inside for Smissen. The City captain could have had a go himself but instead rolled the ball on for Anderson who tucked a shot just inside the far post for 3-0 and surely game over.
This was not the case however as City suddenly seemed to abandon the play that had got them into a commanding lead and almost handed back the match to the hosts. Just four minutes after City’s third, Andy Constable grabbed a goal back for the home side, beating Quinn to a ball down the middle and prodding it home for 3-1. Although City weren’t quite rocking at that point, they should have put the game well out of reach. Firstly, Anderson’s cross was cut out by a defender, when he probably should have had a go at goal himself, then Smissen had a shot very well blocked by a combination of defender and keeper. Another chance then went begging as Tanner got down well to beat out a flying Gess header.
As the match entered the last ten minutes, it was game on for E&B. Quinn was forced into a smart low save from a snap shot and City right-back Michael Scott was the last defender pulling off a fantastic clearance as a second goal beckoned for the hosts. Even though City were wobbling under the renewed effort from their opponents, they still had chances to put the match to bed. Smissen shot wide and had another one hacked away by a defender and Gess couldn’t quite get on the end of a Stacey Davies cross.
Into stoppage time and it was 3-2 as Marcus Peronia fired home an E&B second. There were still an additional five minutes of added time for City to play out and the last action of the match saw Quinn having to sprint out to clear a dangerous through ball. City were clinging on a little at the end but held out for the victory.
Final score City 3 Erith and Belvedere 2.
City; Connor Quinn, Michael Scott, Sam Baker (Chris Elliott), Joe Kennett, Grant Bagley, Renford Tenyue, Macauley Murray, Jake Gess, Michael Smissen, Wayon Anderson (Scott Punton), Jake Marsh (Stacey Davies). Report to follow....