Jammers given dose of reality by Brentwood, as Maldon & Tiptree FC rues missed chances
By Ben Shahrabi
6th Mar 2023 | Football
Maldon & Tiptree were again left to rue missed chances as Brentwood Town ran out 2-0 winners at Park Drive on Saturday (March 4).
BRENTWOOD TOWN 2, MALDON & TIPTREE 0
Jammers' boss, Peter Taylor made four changes from the side that were frustrated by Great Wakering last time out, with Toib Adeyemi dropping to the bench and Sam Coombes, Lewis Jaggs (unavailable) and George Smith (injured) also missing for the home side and being replaced by the returning Micheal Finneran and Joe Turpin as well as Jake Giddings and Ronnie Bates who stepped up from the bench.
There was nearly a dream start for the Jammers when Harry Phillips forced visiting goalkeeper, Melvin Minter into a smart diving save with just seconds of the game gone.
That dream soon turned into a nightmare on eight minutes as Brentwood took the lead. A free kick on the Maldon left was missed by everyone except Solomon Ogunwomoju who found himself unmarked and with the simple task of tapping home the opening goal from a yard out.
Three minutes later and it was nearly 2 when Ogunwomoju cut in from the Jammers' right and put the ball on a plate for Flavio Jumo but, inexplicably, he skied the ball over from a couple of yards out.
On 15 minutes, that same combination for Brentwood bore fruit when Ogunwomoju beat the offside trap and squared for Jumo who this time accepted the gift and rolled home Brentwood's second of the day.
To say it was one way traffic was an understatement and on 25 minutes, ex Jammer, Bryan Ifeanyi got to the byline and cut the ball back across the box which was just about cleared away.
Just before the half hour mark, there were finally some Jammers signs of life when some nice play between Billy Willis and Ronnie Bates allowed Terrel Egbri to cross the ball in from the right. He found a waiting Jamahl Godward but he put his header just wide.
Maldon were starting to find their feet and moments later, more good interplay- this time from Giddings and Egbri allowed the latter to cross in again, he found Bates but he could only toe poke into Minter's hands.
Two minutes later, Bates had another chance when a Willis cross found his head but he could only glance the ball just wide.
With five minutes left of the first half, Maldon's defensive frailties were nearly exposed again when Ifeanyi waltzed through the back line but was thwarted by a fine save by the feet of Tommy Dixon-Hodge with the rebound smashed away by Peter Mokwenye.
HALF TIME: BRENTWOOD TOWN 2, MALDON & TIPTREE 0
Half time came and, in truth, Maldon could have no complaints about trailing 2-0.
The second half took a while to get going, but on the hour mark, Phillips had the first chance of note, shooting straight at Minter.
A minute later and that man again, Dixon-Hodge kept the game alive for Maldon with a sensational one-handed save to deny Connor Hogan.
Straight down the other end and Minter fancied getting in on the Save of Season action with a wonderful tip over the bar to deny Egbri from long range.
Brentwood nearly had a 3rd when Andrew Freeman headed wide. Andrew was indeed a Freeman, but he couldn't take advantage and the score remained 2-0.
Maldon did manage to find the back of the net with 15 minutes to play when Bates put Phillips in who finished with aplomb, but the joy was cut short by the assistant's flag.
The game as a contest was done, but there was time for Adeyemi, who'd been thrown up front as a makeshift forward, muscled his defender off the ball, but his shot was straight at Minter.
The referee's whistle brought a disappointing afternoon to an end - the result leaving the Jammers still 10 points clear of the bottom four, ahead of a trip up the A12 next Saturday to face playoff chasing Stowmarket Town.
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