We're Jammin'

A goal from Lee O'Leary and two from Eoin Casey see Scholars go to third place

A goal from Captain Lee O’Leary and two from Eoin Casey saw the Scholars extend their winning run to go into third place.

Maldon & Tiptree opened in fine style with some slick passing and bags of pace which was to be the hallmark of their play throughout the match.

But it was the pace and style of Sandro Costa that saw the first opportunity of the game but his shot was well saved by the visitors ‘keeper Chris Haigh.

A Michael Murray free kick found the head of Steve Brown in the area but once again Haigh dealt with the threat comfortably.

A succession of fouls on the left produced yet another free kick which Murray placed deftly onto the head of Bar Skipper Lee O’ Leary to put the Scholars in the lead after 20 minutes.

Maldon responded and just five minutes later a driving run by full back James Shepherd saw the ball played to Emmanuel Katundu but Berkeley Laurencin raced out to block his goal bound effort.

Approaching the half hour The Scholars doubled the lead as Eoin Casey, apparently going nowhere in the box, managed to turn from an acute wide angle and loop the ball into the net over a surprised Haigh.

Two nil down Maldon & Tiptree continued to play decent football and were almost rewarded when Ryan Clampin found himself in space but once again Berkeley Laurencin was more than equal to the task.

Bar concluded the scoring for the night as half time approached. A good ball from the lively Billy Adcock freed Eoin Casey who neatly ended his goal drought of almost 15 minutes with a fine finish to send Bar in to their half time cup of tea 3-0 up…

The second half started with two Maldon substitutes and continued with more passing play from the visitors but it was Bar who continued to have perhaps the better chances.

A free kick from the right brought a fine clearance from the dependable Steve Brown as Maldon looked to get back into the game.

At the other end Casey looked all set to claim his hat trick, running on to a fine ball from Murray but was denied by a last ditch tackle from Joshua Pollard.

Billy Adcock and Chris Doyle combined well on the right to cross for O’Leary in the box but the midfielder headed just over the crossbar.
Sean Grace almost made it four in time added on but saw the ball dribble past the post despite his desperate lunge.

A great performance from the Scholars against a good footballing side in a very entertaining game.