Wealdstone 0 – 2 East Thurrock Utd
Wealdstone
0 - 2
East Thurrock UnitedWith a couple of new faces in the starting line up and one more on the bench Stones fans expected a decent performance and result against mid table allies East Thurrock, but it wasn’t to be.
It took Stones a little while to find their feet but the two new signings that started – Meddie Nsubuga and Darryl Cox gave Stones their first chance with Cox shooting just wide.
The half was fairly even with Thurrock perhaps having a little more possession while Wealdstone created three or four chances – though none fell to Richard Jolly – but on 40 minutes a misjudgment gave East Thurrock the lead.
A long clearance from Hardingham in the ETU goal was falling towards Dave Ryan who let it bounce over him for Ling to collect but he was too far out and as the keeper ran out to try and collect, Tony Boot nipped in behind Ryan and cooly chipped Ling from the edge of the box.
The second half started in similar vein to the first, but another mistake after 51 minutes allowed the visitors to double the lead when Norman under hit a back pass. This time West was on hand to beat the keeper to the ball and slot home.
As Thurrock began to dominate, Stones brought on new signing White and Beckford for Norman and Adolphe and stemmed the flow. Stones then began to create better chances and Jolly had three in quick succession – a through ball from Keepence resulted in a snap shot high over the bar, a cross from Burrell in a shot that cannoned of the crossbar and the third effort saved by Hardingham.
Stones changed the shape and continued to press but without success while at the other end, Lee Burns (who had an excellent game throughout) broke away and saw his shot beat Ling only to hit the inside of the post and rebound across the goal.
On 74 minutes, West was dismissed for a challenge on Harding who was stretchered off with a foot injury and it is hoped that it’s not too serious. Stones continued to press on but were unable to claw back the goals, and the match ended with a 2-0 win for East Thurrock United.
Wealdstone: Russell Ling, Dean Harding (s74 Lee Holland) , Meddie Nsubuga, Dave Norman (65 Ross White), Dave Ryan, Andy Keepence, Lee Chappell. Paul Adolphe (s65 Jermaine Beckford), Darryl Cox, Richard Jolly, Gary Burrell. Subs not used: Carl Ashton, Liam Baptiste.