A win. For some of the more recent members of the team, looking at you Ati, this was their first win in a Brentwood shirt and where better to it then at Old Loughts? This was a game involving the bottom two, but it felt like there was more quality on display then the lowly position of both teams would have you believe.

As the match started it was Loughts very much on the front foot. This could be a long afternoon I thought to myself as they pitched into our half for the first ten minutes or so of the game. But they created little of note but what they did was attack with numbers. In some cases it probably played into our hands as the D became so congested they had little to no space to operate in. As we got a small foothold in the game, Ati had won us our first of three short corners, they scored and it probably was no coincidence that it was one of the few occasions that they came forward with the weight of numbers they had previously this time nicking the ball in midfield and very simple passing saw the opportunity open up, Scott got something on the shot but it agonisingly slowly creeped across the line. Deserved on the balance of play but a sloppy goal to give away, given the number of opportunities we had to clear.

The balance of the game swung with the introduction of Rob Sanders. Now Rob is a wily experienced fox and I suspect he had been watching the game with keen interest whilst off and looking at where he could make the greatest impact when he came on. His introduction immediately gave the Loughts side something to think about. The ball was sticking, he was able to beat players but more importantly he lifted the performance of the youth players. Aiden in particular suddenly looked better with accurate passing to him and movement being rewarded. Rob drew in defenders and freed up space for others. With that we got a real foothold. We were back level when Rob took responsibility taking the ball deep in the Loughts half, working through into the D, creating space for the shot one on one with the keeper. Back at halfway I was thinking how he is going to finish, a subtle little dink into the corner was my bet. Good job I didn’t have time to handover money to my turf accountant as the reality was the total opposite. It was a shot of such ferocity that I feared for the keeper.

1-1. But we weren’t done just yet. We won our second short corner. Short corner number 1 broke down because the of bobbly pitch (also it took an absolute age for Loughts to et themselves sorted out and get masks onto the pitch – that also didn’t help matters). Getting the ball out smoothly was a bit of a nightmare so to ensure that it could be taken smoothly I had to dial down a little on the pace – stop giggling some of you might say there’s not enough pace to begin with – we are where we are. This time ball out, Rob works it back to me and no mistake, happy to see and hear the sound of ball on back board as I sweep it towards goal.
2-1 and we keep going. Get the next goal. I ask the umpire close to me how long left in the half, 4 minutes he says. We dominate those four minutes, up in there half and around their D. Ati and Aiden providing great width and the two Isaac’s Kelly and Minor popping up in the middle of the pitch keeping things moving and the Loughts defenders honest. Right at the end of the half we get a short – everyone up. This time the ball goes out to Rob, slips it to the right eventually and probably by more luck then judgment the ball ends back to me as I’d moved out from the baseline. Ball behind me but a swift strike and it squeezed just inside the post, “by the thickness of a gnat’s cock,” I was reliably informed by a watching spectator after the match. Can’t say I take such interest in such things to be honest but each to their own, I guess.

3-1 at halftime. The second half played out with no goals. But that doesn’t really do it justice. On our side we created a number of chances. On several occasions Sam Severn was close to getting on something having taken up excellent positions on the post when we were attacking. There was a degree of controversy when William McKay was through, a lovely run, one on one with the goalkeeper, he attempted to take it around him, he was clearly fouled and pushed off balance as he went around him. Pflick umps? However the umpire waved play on as we retained possession with Sam (I think) pick up the ball on the baseline in the D, but we were unable to force the ball home. You could see the umpire thinking about blowing, he was putting his hands into position. I can sort of see his point about playing on but no doubt we would have preferred him to blow. Aiden and both Isaac’s continued their excellent play and were constant presences in the middle of the park. Ati fought hard, Aiden was always looking to go forward, and James Warner also had some good moments showing up front.

Old Loughts had their moments as well. Scott had to be on guard, but they tended to shoot wide when on the strong side and reverse hits invariably flew high. We did well to ensure we forced a number of their shots from out wide. We were guilty in the closing stages, with fatigue I guess, of presenting them with easy possession and a couple of short corners that required defending, but we kept them out. They weren’t attacking with the numbers they had in the first half and as the game became invariably stretched they at times seemed to just play a six, zero, four formation particularly at the end. Colin was excellent in keeping the defence concentrated and Charlie Sanders again excellent. He took responsibility on so many occasions as the out ball and won his defensive battles all game.

In the end an excellent win. I remain convinced if the season started in the new year this academy side would be a mid-table operation. The Academy went in bottom of the league and emerged still bottom but level with Loughts on points and only behind them on goal difference. Loughts next week have the difficult trip to Old Southendians who have plenty to play for sitting in third but only one point off the top. We take on an Upminster team sitting happily lower mid-table, and we really did feel hard done by not getting at least a point when we faced them away. Can we avoid the bottom place – tune in next week to find out.

Team: Scott Parsons, Charlie Sanders, Colin Singleton, Gary MacDonnell, Aiden Pass, Chris Minor, James McKay, Isaac Minor, Ati Chingombe, Isaac Kelly, James McKay, Sam Severn, James Warner, Rob Sanders.

Man of the Match: Oh, this is awkward. The votes are in, and they have been counted and would you know it’s the scorer of two goals. Me.