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| Entrance to the ground |
A week after the excitiment of Thurrock we decided to return to the area and take in the delights of their smaller neighbours, East Thurrock. Smaller in terms of league standing and history they may be but East Thurrock are having a good season and pushing Needham Market all the way in the chase for the Ryman Division 1 North title.
We arrived at the ground on probably one of the windiest match days ever seen at Rookery Hill, my claim backed up by my wonderful photograph of a corner flag. With the wind blowing from one end of the pitch to the other, it was clearly going to be a difficult game to be a part of and the conditions would surely prevent any decent football from being played. Based on previous experiences of attending football at this level, teams tend to play the long ball with little free-flowing football on the ground, and if that was to be the case again today then we would really be in for a torrid time.  |
| Just look at that wind! |
The stadium announcer seemed to be of the same opinion as us as his less than enthusiastic introduction of the two teams rang out around the ground. Either he really didn't want the job or East Thurrock had intentionally hired the man with the most boring voice in Essex to keep the small crowd there in the loop as to who was playing on each team. Even the announcement of Connie's 80th birthday couldn't raise any further excitement from the man's voice. With his droll tones combined with the fierce wind we couldn't really make out most of the players that were selected so would have to opt for giving the most influential players nicknames of our own as a means of differenciating them from each other. One player that we did realise was missing was East Thurrock top scorer Kris Newby. Seeing as he has grabbed the majority of the home sides goals this season, we felt this could be another sign of a difficult match to come
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| The young mascot gets to warm up with the players |
Still, we were still in one piece as the game got underway and within minutes the long ball tactic was clearly being deployed by both teams despite the blustery conditions, as both goalkeepers got an early touch of the ball. The first half in its entirety was indeed a very dull affair with the only player of note that seemed to be trying to make an impact on the game with some well thought out passes was East Thurrock right-back Ryan Sammons. His desire to always want the ball and efforts to play his passes into attacking areas of the pitch were not really matched by any of his team-mates. To try and find ways to keep ourselves entertained we took to watching how many boats went past the ground along the Thames in the far distance. It couldn't have been a busy shipping day though as we sadly only counted one. So we turned our attention to trying to count the attendance, neither of us could see more than 100 but there must have been people hiding as the offical attendance would later be announced as 122 (2 more than expected!). In fact it wasn't actually announced, it wasn't even posted on the website, it took an email to the club from Bob a few days after the game to confirm the figure, but to their credit they did get back to us and told us to let them know if we needed any other information.
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| Boat passing in distance the highlight of the first half |
A first half with no clear cut chances combined with the miserable stadium announcer at half time, didn't really fill us with much faith for the second half. But things did pick up a little after the break and with East Thurrock with their backs to the wind and attacking the end where we were situated, we were treated to a slightly more entertaining game. The home sides strikers started to link up well, with one of them constantly holding the ball up well with his chest and getting his team-mate with the brightly coloured boots into the game more. In fact 'Chesty' and 'Yellow Boots' were starting to cause trouble for the Waltham defence and the breakthrough didn't take long in coming after the restart as on 51mins they took a scruffy lead, with the announcer confirming Max Cornhill as the goalscorer. 'Ol' yellow boots was soon taken off though but replaced by 'Green Boots' as the pressure kept coming. The small crowd of youths that were making up the majority of the vocal support became ever more excited and annoying as East Thurrock forced a penalty and the opportunity of a two goal cushion after about 70 minutes. Joe Keith calmly took responsibility and dispatched the ball past the Abbey keeper but not before the hilarious scene of both him and the referee attempting to get the ball to sit still on the spot for long enough for Keith to complete his run up. Shouts from the sideline for the referee to put his finger on the ball brought back memories from playground football, but at one point it did seem as though there may not be an alternative as the ball just wouldn't stick.
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| Keith struggles to keep the ball on the spot |
Perhaps East Thurrock got a touch complacent after that as to their credit Waltham Abbey never gave up and halved the deficit on the counter attack despite the near impossible wind that was by now even making it difficult for the goalkeeper to clear his lines without the ball coming floating back towards him.
But East Thurrock held on for a 2-1 win and even had another chance or two of their own, with one effort cleared off the line in the closing stages.
Parking: Free (There was a car park but we were not sure if it was for the ground or the inhabitants of nearby caravans, so to avoid the risk of any confrontations we parked at a nearby pub instead)
Ticket: £8
Programme: £1
Score: 2-1
Attendance: 122
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