Match Report

Crosskeys (Chadwell) 4 2 Landsdowne Rangers
 

Goals scored
Dean Weaving, Graham Rix

Man of the match
Paul Munyard

Team
Ben Tarrant, Paul Munyard, Dean Weaving, John Wilson, Dave Rix, Gavin Mayo, Chris Vieceli, Rob Marling,
Terry Bush, Tony Bush, Graham Rix

Subs
Jon Orme, Martin Burton, Dariusz Szymanski

Another Essex Cup game, and yet another away fixture. Fortress Holy Cross is fast becoming a distant memory.
This 1st Round Essex Cup game saw Landsdowne travel to Chadwell St. Mary, and not Chadwell Heath as previously advised by a member of the Board (Graham!!). This error however still does not explain Chris Vieceli making his way to Romford before realising he was lost… and you know full well you’re struggling to find your way when you have to depend on a phone call to John Wilson for directions! Eventually they hung up the phone on John and found their own way to the game!

Landsdowne remained unchanged for the second game in succession. Mark Hart, Danny Sarling, and Stuart Medcraft again missed the fixture through injury and illness, while Brian Butler and Neil Murphy were also absent. Crosskeys flew out of the traps in the first 5 minutes and looked a quality outfit. Landsdowne saw very little of the ball in the early exchanges and were struggling to settle. No passing and little movement, but Landsdowne were proving stubborn and difficult to break down. This was much to the frustration of the Crosskeys players, who were beginning to turn on each other even at that early stage. Much of the play was confined to the flanks, where Dean & Paul were showing early signs of what was to be a good day on the pitch for them both.

After a dodgy first 20 minutes, Landsdowne got themselves into the game with two good early chances. Crosskeys only managed to half-clear a Landsdowne free-kick as far as Rob on the edge of the box, who hit a low effort to the bottom corner. This was the first sign of what was to be a horrific half for the Crosskeys keeper, when he managed to palm the shot straight out to Tony. Tony was unlucky to see his effort kept out, whilst Graham was also denied with his follow-up. Good play between Graham and Chris followed, where Chris was released one-on-one only to see the keeper make a decent challenge as the attempted chip was made. Failure to make their efforts count would soon see Landsdowne fall behind. Crosskeys won a good back post header which came off the woodwork and was dispatched into the net to make it 1-0. Landsdowne hit back almost immediately through Dean Weaving. I almost can’t bring myself to describe it, given that he’ll be talking us through it for the rest of the year!! Dean saw his good run and subsequent shot spilled by the Crosskeys keeper and he was the first to react, running on and smashing home the equaliser. The goal celebrations between Dean and Gorilla can only be described as gruesome foreplay!!

Dean again figured in Landsdowne’s second goal, whereby he hit a hopeful punt from the halfway line in the direction of Basildon’s own war hero, Tony Bush. Fortunately the ball flew about 20 yards past Tony and took the keeper by surprise with a wicked bounce, hitting the woodwork and falling to Graham Rix. Surprisingly, Graham made no mistake from 6 yards to put the away side 2-1 up at half-time. Landsdowne continued to look stubborn, strong and good value for their lead deep into the second half. Crosskeys had changed their keeper at half-time, while the referee began to make a noticeable contribution to the game with a few decisions which appeared to be for the benefit of the (imaginary) Sky cameras. Strange bookings for seemingly weak infringements were an unwelcome feature in the second half of a well-played out and clean fixture. As comfortable as Landsdowne appeared, they were soon pegged back to 2-2 after Ben was unlucky with a long-range effort which crept in, skipping up off of the wet turf as it rolled into the net. Crosskeys then begun to stretch the Landsdowne side as they searched for a winner, eventually killing the game with two set-piece efforts. The first effort was drilled in and kept out by Ben with a good save, though it unfortunately fell to a Crosskeys player who hammered it home, making it 3-2. Their fourth followed straight away from a direct free-kick which was exquisitely curled into the top corner at pace. It was a fantastic effort from the Crosskeys player to kill off Landsdowne hopes at 4-2.

The game ended on a sour note, with Dave Rix dismissed for a second bookable offence after mentioning to the referee “that’s got to be a yellow, hasn’t it?” as he booked a Crosskeys midfielder for using Jon Orme for a leg-up.
A little common-sense wouldn’t have gone a miss with only two minutes left on the clock, but this wasn’t to be.
The first booking was admittedly deserved, but the second was harsh. Dave not only now faces a suspension, but also the chilling prospect of a battering with the rolling pin when he gets home and a night on the naughty-step!
No toys, no cartoons, no sweets and no games – our thoughts are with Dave this evening. Landsdowne played out the remaining two minutes in an ingenious 3-3-3 formation, pushing forward in the hope of an equaliser. Though the game finished in a 4-2 defeat, Landsdowne had every right to feel a little hard-done by as they deserved something from the game. They had put in a strong performance and continued to push their game in the right direction after a sticky pre-season and early league results. Both full-backs in particular were outstanding and ran each other close for the "Man of the Match" award, while John Wilson managed to put in a solid display despite suffering an ankle injury in the warm-up.

Unlucky lads – keep your heads up and I’m sure our first league win of the season won’t be far away!