By Dan Thurogood

 

Bowers & Pitsea extended their lead at the top of the Essex Senior League after a 3-1 victory over Barking at the Len Salmon Stadium.

Goals from Chris Bryan and Tom Hine set them on their way in the first-half before Bryan added his second and Bowers third in the second half.

After an even opening 20 minutes, Bowers took the lead when Bryan latched onto a poor back pass by defender Billy Rix, chipping over Barking goalkeeper Jason Willis who had dived low to try to smother the ball.

Hine added a second just before the break, as a cross from the right by defender Scott Pethers was turned in first time by Hine. His scissor kick from the floor was too much for Willis and, although he got a hand to it, he could not stop the ball nestling in the bottom corner.

Early in the second half, a serious facial injury to Frank Everett stopped play for 10 minutes after he was accidentally sandwiched between his own goalkeeper and an opposition midfielder in a 50-50 challenge.

And Bowers were momentarily slow to respond, with Wale Doedoyin pulling one back for the visitors with 20 minutes remaining, latching onto Jay Taylor’s long ball and smashing past Dylan Skinner at his near post.

But Bryan added a second in the final ten minutes to seal the points.

And manager Rob Small said the third goal came at a crucial time.

“The third goal was crucial,” he said. “I’m proud of the lads who all dug in really well to get us over the line. Especially after the injury to Frank, it stuttered our momentum. I thought our performance in general was quite an ugly one but we’ve managed to seal a big win.”

Hullbridge Sports drew 0-0 with London Bari although the match was hardly without incident.

Four red cards, an early dismissal for goalkeeper Harry Aldridge and a later one for Charlie Little saw them Sports up against it. Although Bari also saw two men sent off.

Striker Jimmy Cox spent 80 minutes in between the sticks and performed admirably as Sports failed to break down Bari.