AKURANG SEALS CLIFF-HANGER

            Thurrock won the Essex senior cup final after a real battle against a gallant Aveley side.
 

            The first half was a fairly dull affair with neither side able to settle in windy and rainy conditions. Thurrock looked out of sorts in the first ten minutes and Jimmy McFarlane lost a couple of headers in a row. In the 12^th minute interchange between Bowes and Broom on the left hand side led to a cross by Broom which was only gathered by the keeper at the second attempt. It soon became clear that Jimmy McFarlane was struggling with an injury and he was replaced by Garry Howard after 15 minutes with Steve Heffer moving to centre half and John Purdie taking over as captain. Eight minutes after taking his place in the defence Heffer was booked for a late challenge on an Aveley attacker who was heading towards the goal. Five minutes before half time a shot by Heffer was blocked by a defender after a corner by Dave Collis. The half was only memorable for the excellent defending by Purdie and Heffer.

            The second half was a lot more exciting and certainly nail-biting for fans of both sides. A minute into the second half a horrendous slice by Collis led to a chance for Aveley but a tremendous recovery tackle by Purdie led to the ball running out for a corner kick.  Two minutes later Paul Linger had a shot tipped over the bar for a corner. The corner was taken by Collis and Akurang leapt only to see his header go wide of the post. A minute after this Akurang made space well but his shot ran well wide. The next twenty minutes was frantic but the only chance was a shot by TK, but it went straight at the keeper. The deadlock was broken after 70 minutes. Akurang opened his legs and gave the defence trouble and swung his cross over and found TK six yards out for the sort of chance he just does not miss. His 50^th goal for Thurrock in only his 72^nd game. A weight seemed to be lifted from Thurrock and they started to pass the ball around and Aveley didn’t seem to be able to get the ball. However, with 15 minutes to go Thurrock were lucky to still have eleven players still on the pitch. A crunching tackle by Heffer didn’t seem to get any of the ball but the referee failed to give a foul let alone a second booking. With just over five minutes to go Aveley broke through the Thurrock back line and Purdie fouled the forward outside the box. The referee, however, felt that it was in the box and gave a penalty. Purdie received a yellow card and with the forward clear was probably lucky to stay on the pitch in what was probably his only mistake all night. The penalty was so well struck it almost broke the net with Gothard having no chance. The game was on a knife edge the referee then booked Nicky Lowery for kicking the ball away, this was to have dire consequences later. A minute after this Broom was booked for clipping a forward who had cleverly spun him. With just three minutes left Aveley were down to ten men. Lowery was sent off for his second booking after leaving his foot in when Gothard took a low cross. Colin McBride then made two substitutions within quick succession. Martyn Lawrence and Kris Lee replacing Broom and Simon Martin. Kris Lee was straight into the action, shooting straight at the keeper after a cross from Collis. Two minutes into injury time Terry Bowes dealt a killer blow. A ball came into the box and was well held up by Lee. The ball ran to Bowes who stayed extremely composed, beat a defender and slotted the ball into the back of the net for his tenth strike of the season. A minute later Thurrock sealed the win. Aveley were over committed and the ball was spread out wide to TK who was about to go past a defender when he was brought down. TK was taken off the pitch and was unable to take the penalty which was well dispatched by Akurang for his 30^th goal of the season.

            The whistle blew soon after and the team was presented with the trophy in front of the watching press and fans.

Man of the match: John Purdie

Thurrock: Gothard, Collis, Broom (Lawrence 89), Purdie, McFarlane Capt. (Howard 15), Bowes, Linger, Akurang, Kandol, Martin (Lee 90)