- Wood (5')
- Pollock (42')
Cheshunt 1 Tommy Wood 5’
Billericay Town 1 Aron Pollock 42”
Attendance 378
The Ambers took the match to visitors Billericay early on and were rewarded when a central free kick was headed on by captain Jack Thomas & fit again striker Tommy Wood was on hand to slot home from close range after just 5 minutes.
The home side could have gone two up on several occasions, a Nathaniel Orafu run & shot slid just past the post, and low crosses from Dernell Wynter turned the visiting defence on a regular basis. Billericay experience from captain Matt Johnson & attacker Frankie Merriefield settled the visitors ship & they grew into the game, Jack Paxman in particular very busy in the middle. The visitors forced several corners late in the first half & one, from a great Sami Nabbad save was initially cleared but as the ball got pinged straight back into the Cheshunt box, Aron Pollock had the run on everyone & planted a firm header beyond the keeper’s reach
Lion Bello making his debut on Cheshunt’s left flank was kept busy by the runs of De-Carrey Sheriff, and linked up well with Sam Granville inside him. On the other side of the pitch man of the match Lordon Akolbire was both a constant threat going forward with his pace & so often the man breaking up the Billericay advances into the Cheshunt half of the pitch.
Half Time 1-1.
Cheshunt began the second half as they had the first, Orafu stole the ball in midfield advanced forward to set up an early Amber attack & Tommy Wood’s downward header was well saved low to his right by Donkin in the Town goal, as was a Dernell Wynter close range effort after slick passing undid the away defence.
The second half didn’t flow as well as the first had as the defences started to get the better of the exchanges, and the referee’s whistle was a constant reminder of no quarter being given. Cheshunt played high & Billericay were regularly flagged for offside as their front men either went to soon or were slow to retreat, whereas Billericay captain Johnson dropped his defence deeper into his own box to read the game, playing the Amber advances on side, but able to marshall the players around him effectively . Both sides had chances in the last minutes, Jalloh fired over for Billericay, and another powerful header from Raul Da Silva was well saved on the ninety minute mark to keep the scores level.
An entertaining match from two well balanced sides where both defences just about held the upper hand. Billericay’s third 1-1 draw in a row continues their unbeaten start to the season, while the Ambers might feel they had the chances to win the match they will be pleased with the point taken from an opponent widely tipped to be in the play offs this season.
