The referee seemed to listen too much to the shouts of the opposition and started the fun by sending off Richard Oxby in the 32ndminute. At this time ‘Side were already trailing 1-0 thanks to a poor goal conceded from a corner. Bizarrely before that on 4 minutes ‘Side saw a goal disallowed
Thankfully we went into half-time level when Calvin Poku got on the end of a brilliant cross to make it 1-1. It was the forward’s third goal in three games, his fourth in under a month and his sixth goal of the season.
Despite both side’s having chances in the second-half, Chatham took the lead when Kieron McCann followed-up a missed penalty for the visitors after Chris Clark’s initial save. If that wasn’t bad enough for ‘Side, the already substituted Brian Suchely was bizarrely sent off whilst sitting on the bench.
However if we have nothing else we have a fantastic spirit amongst the boys. They kept going and deep into injury-time Matt Gulfer swung in a fantastic corner which Joe Ellul bundled over the line to send the team, our bench and our supporters into raptures of delight. It was no more than the boys deserved for a gallant battling display.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
1. | VCD Athletic | 46 | 99 |
2. | Witham Town | 46 | 98 |
3. | Heybridge Swifts | 46 | 93 |
4. | Harlow Town | 46 | 91 |
5. | Needham Market | 46 | 87 |
6. | Thurrock | 46 | 87 |
7. | Dereham Town | 46 | 77 |