Felixstowe & Walton United FC

FELIXSTOWE & WALTON UNITED  3 - 1  MALDON & TIPTREE

Seasiders home winning streak continues

The old cliché “the sign of a good team is that they win when not playing well” could be attributed to the Seasiders after a rather lacklustre game still produced a seventh successive home victory and extended their unbeaten start to the Isthmian North season. First half goals from Josh Hitter and Billy Holland were followed by a Joe Whight penalty midway through the second half before a late consolation for the visiting Maldon & Tiptree side that slumped to their eighth consecutive league defeat.

Felixstowe & Walton United made two changes to the starting eleven with Harry Knock and Lamell Howell in for Stuart Ainsley and Charlie Warren. A fantastic crowd of 460 was in attendance and the sight of the Seasiders U7’s loving their mascot duties warmed the hearts of those in the stands.

Maldon were quick to get involved in the game, no doubt keen to please their newly announced manager Adam Flint, they may have had a disastrous start to the season but their usual brand of passing football was still evident with pacy front men always looking to bomb forward, Ihionvien created space on two minutes for Parish to fire wide as they sought an early lead and forced several errors from the home side in the first five minutes. Despite the early worries, it was Felixstowe who created the best chance of the game on six minutes, Zak Brown brilliantly powering through the defence, nodding the ball past the onrushing keeper before seeing his goal bound effort cleared by two covering defenders. Brown again came close on ten minutes as the away defence struggled to contain his power and pace, he sliced through the last two men and with only the goalkeeper to beat his powerful shot was well saved by the brave Middlehurst. It was Groundhog Day minutes later as again Brown was denied by Middlehurst at point blank range when clean through on goal. Felixstowe may have been lacking slightly in their usual tempo but were still creating plenty of chances and on sixteen minutes they took a deserved lead, Callum Bennett sent over an absolute peach of a cross from far out wide right that curled round two defenders and found Josh Hitter perfectly placed and he nodded the ball brilliantly into the bottom left corner of the net. Maldon continued to look dangerous going forward but their decision making and execution in the final third was letting them down as they often failed to capitalise on their excellent build up play, when they did find themselves in the box, they could not trouble Robinson too much and on 29 minutes emphasised this with a poor shot that Callum saved and a shot high over the bar when in a great position from the rebound. Joe Whight volleyed over the bar on 33 minutes after being set free by Zak Brown but both sides continued to be wasteful in possession for the majority of the half until added on time when the home side scored a crucial second goal, Bennett won the ball and pulled it back from the byline into the box but the defender headed it just wide of his own goal as Harrison and Hitter lined up to score, from the resultant corner kick from Harrison, Billy Holland leapt highest at the back of the crowded area to power his header with precision into the bottom corner of the net.

A strange second half started with Maldon getting in a good position on the left but again allowing the cross to be cleared comfortably, Harvey Sayer at number three for the visitors was having a great game and time and time again he used his pace and clever feet to create space and opportunities but found his colleagues lacking in either confidence or desire to trouble a home defence that was looking as strong as ever. In midfield, Noel Aitkens was running the show for Felixstowe but they were struggling to hold possession for any length of time which led to a bit of a non-event half for the unbeaten Seasiders. George Clarke was introduced to the field just after the hour mark as he continued the comeback from his 20-month injury layoff, and he was immediately in the thick of the action, firstly getting free on the right on 64 minutes and seeing his shot well saved by Middlehurst, and then two minutes later breaking quickly to latch onto a ball over the top, he took the ball around the goalkeeper but was scythed down and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Joe Whight confidently stepped up and sent Middlehurst the wrong way to extend the home advantage. As the home crowd hoped to see Felixstowe go on and score another goal or two, it was the visitors instead who took control for the remainder of the second half. Jake Giddings reduced the deficit on 73 minutes, turning in the box and shinning a finish into the far corner. Maldon sensed a comeback and continued to press but time and time again were wasteful going forward, I guess the story of their season so far. Maldon’s best chance to pull another goal back came in the 92^nd minute with Forrest firing centimetres over the bar from 15 yards but Felixstowe had comfortably seen off any late comeback with a performance that may have lacked its usual intensity but still contained enough determination, endeavour and control to seal yet another home win, and the three points that sends them up to second in the table.

Seasiders Manager Stuart Boardley spoke after the game. “The game felt a bit slow at times, it was almost like a preseason match, quite a strange game and even chatting to the referee at half time, he felt a bit like that as well so it was a bit of a strange one, but it was a warm day and although we didn’t play particularly well, we got the win and that’s the sign of a good team. I think Maldon’s position in the league is a little bit false, they’ve got some good lads there like Harvey Sayer who was very good for Needham last year and have some good players so I don’t expect them to be down where they are for too long, it’s just a case of them getting their first result and they’ll get confidence from there, it was just good that we nipped any of that potential in the bud today and got the win. I don’t really look at league tables this early in the season, we just concentrate on ourselves and continually trying to drive the standards that see us win football matches on a Saturday, we’ve done that since we joined the club and that is our main focus”.

Report by Stuart Daynes

Photos by Stefan Peck

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