Upminster Mens 3rd team returned to winning ways on Saturday against Southend Mens 2nd team in what was a billed as a crucial 6 pointer with both teams struggling at the wrong end of table.
Upminster came flying out and scored in the opening 5 minutes when Joe Hill finished off a well worked PC. The home team continued to press high and scored again when Ryan Hodges ball into the ‘D’ was deflected by Martin Nutt past the Southend goalkeeper. Upminster were in total control and should have added to their total but failed to convert further chances that came their way.
At half-time, Upminster knew that if they kept up the intensity set from MOTM Tom Hilson, this would restrict any sort of Southend comeback. Straight from the break, Luke Scrivener nearly added to the U’s score when his shot went in but was correctly ruled out for not being inside the ‘D’. Then Southend broke and a ball speculatively hit into the Upminster ‘D’ hit DOTM Matt Malby’s foot and looped over the U’s goalkeeper into the net. Southend then pushed forward in search for an equaliser and forced numerous PCs. Finally the home side knew that they were in a real battle! Thankfully, Hodges restored the U’s 2 goal lead when finishing off a PC from what seemed to be an impossible angle.
Upminster were back in control and pushed forward in search for the 4th goal to kill off the game. But it was Southend who nicked another goal back when a slight mix up between the U’s defender and goalkeeper allowed the Southend forward to get in between them to lift the ball into the net.
A nervous final 10 minutes seem to take forever to come to an end but eventually the whistle blew and Upminster had taken a deserved 3 points. Upminster travel to the Queen Elizabeth Park to take on Wapping Mens 7th team and look to build some momentum for the final 4 games of the season.
MOTM – Tom Hilson
DOTM – Matt Malby
