Maldon & Tiptree 0, Great Wakering Rovers 3

The wait for a first Isthmian North point goes on for the Jammers who were to rue a mad five minutes in the first half of today's (Saturday, 1 October) clash with near neighbours Great Wakering.

Both teams were languishing at the wrong end of the table going into the match, with Rovers having accrued just four points from their previous seven matches.

Maldon kicked off playing against a strong wind and the early stages didn't produce much football to talk about. On seven minutes a defensive error by Maldon left Wakering forward Eusebio Da Silva with a clean run on goal and he netted a one-on-one chance past Tom Middlehurst in the Jammers' goal.

The half didn't produce too many chances for either team. Harvey Sayer fired a free kick just over (pictured above by Scott Mitchell), with some of the crowd thinking it had gone in and Lance Akins headed from a corner just over the Wakering goal. For Wakering, Da Silva was close to netting from a cross but the ball was just out of his reach.

The game seemed to be heading for half time with all to play for and when Maldon would have the wind at their backs.

Maldon then had five minutes that they will want to forget when on 41 minutes a misshit corner was missed by the Maldon defence and Perry Dunn netted for Wakering. On 45 minutes with little danger in sight, Nathan Brown fouled Alex Hernandez as he ran away from goal and Wakering were awarded a clear penalty. The penalty summed up Maldon's day as Hernandaz side foot shot seemed to go under the diving Middlehurst and somehow cross over the goal line. The goal effectively killed off the game.

The second half was largely dominated by The Jammers as they pushed forward but they failed to create many clear chances.  

Brad Ihionvien played a one-two in the box before firing a shot over the Wakering crossbar. Ihionvien and Kamani McFarlane both fired in shots from the edge of the box which were well saved by Wakering keeper, Harry Fairs.

The best chance of the half though fell to Wakering centre forward Da Silva who bundled his way into the Maldon box before firing off a shot that hit the post.

Maldon are next in action against Felixstowe in an away league game on Saturday, 8 March.