Essex Alliance League

Senior Division

Saturday 20th November 2021

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.10

F.C. Baresi 1 Chadwell Heath Spartans 2, attendance 13

17’ 0-1

35’ 1-1

48’ 1-2

@ Britannia Playing Fields

Academy Way

off Billet Road

Walthamstow

London

E17 5BF

No Admission or Programme.

This season the Essex Alliance has gained Step 7 status. Although I have done a few grounds of clubs that play in it, this was the first time I had actually seen a match in this league and with this being 6th versus 1st in the Senior Division, which is the top level (the Premier Division being the second level), then it seemed as good a place as any to start at. It wasnt the greatest first impression though, as just like this morning’s match, it kicked off late, but for no apparent reason.

The pitch is the middle of three pitches, in what is a large playing field, with their U23’s playing on the pitch nearest the changing rooms. The car park is small and with two games taking place simultaneously, finding a space is impossible. Parking restrictions in the surrounding area mean you can’t park between 0800 and 1830, unless you have a permit, so I parked at Sainsbury’s, on the other side of the A406 North Circular, where you can park free for 3 hours, with the walk back to the ground taking twelve or thirteen minutes.

The standard of play was decent, but the game as a package was more what I would expect at Sunday League football. The home team should have concentrated more on the football side of things, but seemed to want to turn it into a physical contest and both teams argued every single decision made by the match officials, where every other word was an expletive. Even the home ‘bench’ stood a yard or two onto the pitch most of the time.

Chadwell Heath went ahead when a corner was headed in at the far post, but Baresi levelled it up ten minutes before halftime, a cross chested down and finished left footed into the bottom corner of the net. The visitors got the winner three minutes into the second half, when the home ‘keeper totally misjudged a 30 yarder that looked a straight forward save. He jumped too early, coming down as the ball got to him, so only got his fingertips to it and the ball ended up crossing the line before he could recover it.

There had already been a mass brawl on the other pitch. Not to be outdone, the same thing happened here, just as we went into stoppage time. It was sparked by a player kicking out in an off the ball incident and ended up with the visitors having a man sent off. It could easily have ended with the game being abandoned.