Brightlingsea Hold On To Claim Points

As the referee checked his watch and then blew his whistle to signal the end of this Ryman League North encounter you could sense the relief amongst the home supporters under the lights at Brightlingsea Regents North Road Ground.

Having endured the roller coaster ride of performances over the previous ten days the Brightlingsea faithful could well be forgiven for wondering which team would turn up against the visitors from North London. Haringey Borough themselves were desperate for a positive performance and result having won just once in five games.

James Webster made some changes ahead of this match with Josh Gould returning to partner skipper Matt Cripps at centre half and Shamido Pedulu replacing Jordan Blackwell whose loan period with the club had come to an end.

Both sides started the game tentatively perhaps the previous results and disappointments playing on minds.Possession changed frequently in the first ten minutes but it was the home side who started to look the brighter with Jake Turner and Connor Witherspoon beginning to take a real hold on the midfield,frustrating Haringey and breaking up any decent play the visitors could muster before looking to move the ball quickly forwards where Griggs,Pedulu and Richardson were willing runners.Haringey were struggling to find any momentum of their own being restricted to longer range efforts and half chances which were managed smartly by
Ollie Bowles in the Regent goal with a little help from the woodwork.

All that was needed to lift the tension at North Road and take some of the pressure from Webster and his team was a goal.
The breakthrough eventually came in the 23rd minute when Haringey play was again broken up and the ball was moved quickly to the right side of the field where Aaron Condon took it in his stride before cutting inside his marker and unleashing a shot past the diving Haringey keeper into the far corner.Another terrific strike from the in form striker who now has eight league goals and sits fourth in the league's scoring charts.

The second half continued in much the same way with Regent looking the livelier of the two sides and many of the Haringey attacks snuffed out by the ever reliable Cripps and Gould.A couple of fairly innocuous bookings,Jake Gould for Brightlingsea and O’Donoghue for Haringey led to the latter being substituted and replaced on 67 minutes by Jordan Edwards.This change by the Haringey Manager certainly had a big impact on the last twenty minutes or so as the young Borough forward was at the centre of his team's efforts to level the scores. Time again Haringey pushed forward and started creating more and more chances hitting the Brightlingsea woodwork again and again and failing to hit the target when they really should have.

Brightlingsea were defending for their lives and as the tension became palpable.James Webster replaced Tom Richardson with Phil Kelly to add fresh legs to chase and press the Haringey defenders and keep the ball in the visitors half. Adam Reakes came on for goalscorer Condon to assist in the rearguard action.Despite this late Haringey pressure it proved too little too late as the home side held on to claim the three points and a much needed clean sheet.

Report Written By Gavin Aplin