After a magnificent 4-2 opening day performance, 2ndplace Central took to the road to face last year’s runners up Billericay Baptist hoping to continue their good form. Boosted by the return of 2012/2013 Player of the Year Tom Spurgeon, midfield dynamo Phil Twite and buccaneering right back Ed Montgomery – CBC came into the game stronger, sleeker and ready to score goals.
However, pitch relocation issues forced a mad dash across Chelmsford 30 mins prior to kick off – doing away with the team’s pre match preparation. This showed early on as Central started slowly, battling hard in midfield but falling short when distributing into the final third. They were punished after a mysterious UFO/attractive female/dog/cat/fairy/dragon/whatever distracted centre back Chris Nash from clearing, allowing a hoof upfield to fall straight to a Billericay striker – who finished with aplomb. This turned into a double blow shortly after, when creative midfield force Jamie Parrish had to be replaced after re-aggravating a quad injury from the first week’s game. Central fought their way back into the game through great creative work from Tim Acton and Neil Parrish, but were unfortunate to concede again after keeper Josh Hills got his fingertips to a towering header from a sizeable Billericay defender. Frustrations boiled over on the stroke of halftime as Neil Parrish picked up the first yellow card of the season for (politely of course) reminding the referee that you can’t be offside if you have 3 massive central defenders stood directly in front of you. Oh well.
Halftime: Billericay Baptist 2 – 0 Central Baptist
2 goals down and the game seemingly in the hands of Billericay, CBC came out in the second half with a new impetus and drive, shown through a midfield trio of Sean Willis, Phil Twite and Chris Dethridge (playing his first game this season). The passing seemed crisper, and Central looked a threat. However, just like the first half, as soon as CBC looked to be closing in on that all important goal to narrow the gap, Billericay scored a wonderful freekick from just outside the box to break CBC hearts. This was quickly doubled up as a weary defence failed to pick up a late arriving midfielder to bag a tap in. With the game out of reach, Central showed great character and gumption to keep pressing for a goal, and were rewarded when a characteristic pinpoint cross from Sean Willis was met by a leaping Tim Acton to grab the Reds a consolation.
Fulltime: Billericay Baptist 4 – 1 Central Baptist
Overall, the game was hard fought, and given the difficulties suffered pre-game and the first game back for many first team stalwarts – the result could have been much different. Billericay (even though they scored 4) did not appear to regularly worry the Central back line, and many bystanders commented that the scoreline was flattering to the home team. One thing is for sure, this Central outfit is already showing a marked improvement over last season’s performances, and it’s only a matter of time before the hard work and commitment given from the squad starts to pay off in sustained success week in week out.
