Wealdstone 2 – 2 Barking & East Ham United
Wealdstone2 - 2
A flying start from Barking never allowed Stones to settle on the ball, and Barking opened the scoring on 2 minutes when Ty Hercules was caught on the edge of the box. As Barking fired in a low cross and unmarked Regis running in, slotted the ball home, and for Stones, worse was to follow as Barking made the most of the early exchanges and pinned Wealdstone back in their own half.
On 11 minutes, what appeared to be a foul on Robin Tucker was not given and as the ball broke Billy Amarteifio hit a clearance which was blocked by a Barking forward. The ball broke to Read, who shot home over a stranded Andy Carter to give the visitors a 2 – 0 lead.
Stones slowly tried to claw their way back into the match but it was not until the half hour that they got on top of their visitors, the first effort, a Morgan header going wide.
Almost on half time, Stones were awarded a free kick. It was struck deep to the far post, where Dave Ryan rose and headed an excellent ball back across the penalty box to Mickie Swaysland who volleyed home from 12 yards to bring Stones back into the match.
The second half was a different story, as a revitalised Stones side, spurred on by excellent support really dominated the half, creating numerous chances which were saved, blocked and generally cleared, Barking limited to launching the ball upfield just to relieve the pressure. There were a number of chances created and Swaysland, Morgan and Ryan all saw shots cleared. Morgan too got his head to a corner – the fifth in quick succession – only to see an excellent save from the visiting keeper clear the ball away.
It seemed as though Stones would not get the equaliser as wherever they turned there were bodies in the way but they continued to dominate and in the 88th minute another cross was swung in, only parried by the goalkeeper to Morgan, some 16 yards out and his hard low shot brought about the equaliser Stones deserved.
Wealdstone: Andy Carter, Danny White( b55), Tyronne Hercules (s45 Rob Courtnage), Robin Tucker, Matt Carvell, Billy Amarteifio, Charlie Mapes (s71 Martin Carter), Jason Shaw (s78 Danny Tilbury), Mick Swaysland (44), Marvin Morgan (88) , Dave Ryan. Subs not used: David Godfrey, James Fisher