Contrary to a glaring mistake made this reporter last week, this weekend saw the league version of the Church District Cup Semifinal due to played this upcoming weekend. A Central side missing top scorer Neil Parrish (14 goals) took on 7th placed Baddow Parish who, whilst showing improvement all over the pitch this season, still are yet to convert their recent form into a cold, hard points. The returns of perennial pest Josh Glennie and midfield playmaker Jamie Parrish (8 assists) gave the Central boys a boost going into the game, having drawn against a mediocre Bethel side the week before.
From the kick off to the halftime whistle, Central never really got going in the first half. A young Baddow team ran themselves into the ground early on, making big tackles all over the park and stringing several key passes together deep in the CBC half. Strong work from Andrew Rowlands and Chris Nash combined with a bright debut at centre back for Josh Glennie kept out the initial Baddow press, but they were powerless to stop an ambitious shot from looping into the top corner off a David Rowlands hand. This was swiftly followed up by a great header across goal from a climbing Baddow midfielder to send CBC 2-0 down with over 65 minutes of football left to play. This lethal 1-2 punch left the boys in red dismayed but not out, as Tom Spurgeon and Jamie Parrish got themselves on the ball and started instigating from the middle of the park. Soon enough, the passes started connecting and the movement looked sharper as CBC gradually played themselves back into the game. Parrish-replacement up front Gerald came close on a number of chances, but just as CBC were looking to capitalize on their growing confidence, the whistle blew for halftime.
HT: Baddow Parish 2 – 0 Central Baptist Church
The second half started much in the same way as the first, as the young but overly eager Baddow team benefited from the break and came out running hard. Luke Baker and Phil Twite battled valiantly throughout the first half, and looked to be containing the pacey outside threats of Baddow, when suddenly the ball found itself in the back of the Baptist’s net from a tame shot from outside the box. 3-0 down, a lesser team may have capitulated and shipped 5 or 6, but not CBC. As the second half wore on, the superior fitness of the Central Baptist side allowed them to run hard against tired legs. Soon enough, the pressure brought results, as Ed Montgomery turned into a fox-in-the-box to put away a loose ball and give CBC hope. The fans went wild, and this elation was only doubled when a roving Chris Nash latched onto a long free kick from Jamie Parrish to flick home the second, making a Central comeback a real possibility. Relentless pressure ensued as Central parked inside the Baddow half for the entire last 10 minutes, eager to snatch a draw and keep their Champions League aspirations alive. Sure enough, it was last week’s MOTM Tim Acton that popped up at the far post to poke home and send the legions of CBC fans into raptures as the referee blew for full time. An equalizer with the last kick of the game, what a result and what character shown in the fight back!
While the result was inherently disappointing, a lot of valuable lessons can be learnt ahead of the big semifinal next week. It appears that Baddow (while young) suffer from a lack of fitness towards the end of halves, and suffer from overconfidence in midfield – preferring to dribble instead of pass. They also seem inherently weak at the back, with many defenders getting in each other’s way and showing a general confusion when marking (apparent on all 3 goals). The best way to counteract this is to keep the ball right from the start and make them follow us around the pitch, and to press hard and physically when we lose it. That way, the early threat of conceding will be diminished (due to the ball being in our possession), whilst simultaneously wearing them down from a fitness standpoint. By closing hard and fast, you expose their overconfidence in their dribbling ability, forcing them to pick a pass in order to get out of trouble instead of having time and space to exploit openings. I like our chances this weekend boys, and I want my first CBC medal!
