Fourth played fifth as CBC hosted Rayleigh Baptist in an important mid table battle this weekend, and once again they showed weren’t just here to make up the numbers this season. Only two changes were made to the starting line up from opening day’s 4-2 away victory at the Rayleigh ground (or should I say slope!) – Tom Spurgeon started ahead of invisible man Sean Willis and Adam Smith got the nod ahead of hypochondriac sniffler Michael Rowlands – as Central continued with the successful 3-5-2 that has won them 3 out of 5 games so far this year.
Rayleigh pressed early on in the game, attempting to keep the ball down and take advantage of their skilled strikers and nippy wingers. However, they did not account for the emerging centreback triumvirate of Adam Smith, Chris Nash and Andrew Rowlands, who have formed the 2nd stingiest defence in the league behind 1st place CGC. The trio, combined with ever-improving goalkeeper David Rowlands, have let in just 11 goals to date; stark contrast to the 24 conceded by this point last year. However, Rayleigh pushed harder looking for that deflating opening goal and to capitalize on CBC’s lacklustre start, only it was Central that drew first blood. A defensive clearance fell straight to right wing back Josh Hills who found a red-hot Neil Parrish streaking clear of a stagnant Rayleigh backline. Once he had the goal in sight, the finish was never in doubt – as Central wheeled away celebrating another successful counterattacking goal. This was quickly doubled as Rayleigh had no answer for the attacking flair of Neil, Jamie and Tim, who moved the ball quickly between them and explored the huge spaces left by a messy defensive line to find a cutting Neil again for an easy finish.
Black and White Heads dropped from then on, Rayleigh defenders pointed fingers and blamed each other, while Central remained calm and turned the screw; Tom Spurgeon and Duncan Harris putting in huge amounts of work to control the 2 danger men identified by super-scout-cum-midfield-dynamo Phil Twite the week before. This hard work paid off, as the Parrish connection reignited again – this time Jamie finding Neil with a long ball, who then punished the slow Rayleigh centre-backs with a mazy dribble and typical tidy finish. Celebrations were cut short however, as only a few minutes later Duncan Harris was stretchered off with a suspected flare up of his previous chronic knee issues, much to the dismay of his team-mates. Get well soon Dunc, here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.
Central added another late on in the first half, good teamwork and movement off the ball finding Neil free 1-on-1 for the fourth time in the game, and given the form he’s in at the moment the end result was never in doubt. That’s 13 goals for the season now, 8 in 2 games, although rumours that his latest form is directly related to quitting smoking are greatly exaggerated!
Central were comfortable going into the halftime break, and came out with the same fire in the second half. The away side mixed up their formations and personal, but to no avail as solidity and hard work on both the flanks (particularly Josh’s Glennie and Hills) and tireless work from replacement Phil Twite helped blunt any Rayleigh sharpness. Chances were few and far between, CBC showing great professionalism to remain strong and consistent despite being a few goals to the good, as the game slowly came to an end. A clean sheet and 4 goals puts the Central boys just 3 points off top spot, with a game in hand against the 2nd and 3rd place teams. Another huge result in a big season so far, and the Goal Difference of +10 is testament to the effort put in on both ends of the field – keep it up boys!
