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You are in: Home >> Media Centre >> All News Old Loughts 1 v Men's 1st XI
 Chelmsford visited 2nd in the table Old Loughts on Sunday on their ‘Presidents Day’ in front of a large crowd which created a lively atmosphere. Chelmsford also had a large following as the ladies who beat Old Lought’s ladies 1-0 earlier that day stayed to support along with a number of other dedicated supporters. Chelmsford needed at least a result to stand a chance of staying in the league. The game started off at a frantic pace with a large number of turnovers to begin with. Old Lought’s intent and tactics were clear as they were hitting balls into the ‘d’ looking for deflections. On the third attempt (still in the first minute) this was successful when an Old Lought’s forward deflected in at the back post unmarked. Not the start Chelmsford had hoped for. Chelmsford then composed themselves and looked to get back into the game. Willy ‘birthday boy’ Hales was given the task to mark ex GB international Darren Cheesman and was on top of him from the off making a number of superb reverse stick tackles and occasionally deciding to let Cheesman out of his pocket.  Chelmsford managed to keep the Old Loughts crowd quiet through quick sharp passing which was initiated at the back by Royce Waters and David Hunter and then orchestrated by Elliott Seleska who had a brilliant game distributing well and also pulling out a few tricks of his own. A number of opportunities were created through in particular a great piercing through ball from Seleska to Marc Pike who’s upright reverse shot was saved well by the Old Lought’s keeper. Luke Mepham also found a large amount of space down the right hand side and made a number of piercing drives but was unable to score the leveller. With Chelmsford having settled and the game looking even Old Lought’s began to get upset with each other and as tension increased an Old Lought’s player saw yellow for not retreating ‘5’ and breaking down play. With the initiative now on Chelmsford’s side things to a turn for the worse for the green and blues. An Old Lought’s attack down the left hand baseline saw an attempted reverse stick cross lob goalkeeper Jason Evans to make it 2-0. The scorer acknowledged the goal in a slightly apologetic fashion as it was clearly not intended, nevertheless it was a goal that put another nail into the coffin of Chelmsford survival hopes.  Immediately after Chelmsford seemed to lose concentration and Old Loughts scored their third goal from open play after a rebound was picked up from the pads of Jason Evans. With 2 minutes before half time Old Lought’s had an opportunity to make it 4-0 through a penalty stroke. The Old Lought’s player flicked the ball straight down the middle but over. Post match photographic evidence suggests that he had it covered has it been on target. At half time Chelmsford knew that despite luck again not being on their side that they were competing and putting up a fight against the high flyers. Regardless Chelmsford were going to battle and do all they can to perform well for all their supporters mostly themselves. In the first 15-20 minutes of the second half Old Loughts began to dominate as Chelmsford tried to push for a goal however this created gaps at the back giving the opposition an opportunity to exploit those gaps and score. They scored 3 in 15 minutes one in particular a powerful strike into the bottom left corner. In the last 10 minutes Chelmsford started to push further up the pitch and dominate possession for the first time in the game this led to a number of short corners. Chelmsford deservedly got off the mark in the 61st minute through a powerful Luke Mepham drag flick that went in off the inside of the left post giving the crowd something to cheer about.  Then the highlight of the game came in the last 5 when Adam ‘Emu’ Hunter came down the right hand side channel running through the Old Loughts defence like a knife through butter one player after another however his strike was inches wide of the goal for what would of been goal of the day. This was preceded by a warm applause from both supporters however WAG Anna Smith will be looking to help him with his shooting after so successfully coaching his deflecting abilities. With one game left against Bromley & Beckenham at home on Sunday the 28th (2pm start), Chelmsford are 5 points a drift from 9th place meaning they have been relegated. However, after today’s performance the team can ponder if they had of played like this the whole of the season they would not be in the situation they are in now regardless of the scoreline today. Photos are courtesy of Nick Robinson, more images are available through Nick's Flickr site. |
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