Jammers through to Darcy Cup final

Little Oakley FC v Maldon and Tiptree FC Tuesday 26 February 2018 Darcy Cup Semi Final

Maldon and Tiptree put out a much changed team from their usual starting line up and, although they took an early lead, they spent some time getting themselves playing well together with some misplaced passes and poor finishing giving Little Oakley, from the lower level Thurlow Nunn League, plenty of encouragement. The Jammers early goal came after just 10 minutes when Noah Chivers seized on a loose ball in the home penalty area and slotted home with a low shot into the corner. Maldon and Tiptree certainly had the majority of the first half play but rarely got through a resolute home defence and it was the home side that had the best scoring chance of the half when a home forward took advantage of some slack play in the visitors defence that saw him go clear to face an open goal but his shot drifted the wrong side of the post. Callum Coulter, the Jammers keeper, then pulled off a fine save to keep out a free kick from the edge of the penalty area as Little Oakley could be pleased with their first half performance in keeping the goals against down to just one. Jammers manager Wayne Brown sorted a few things out at halftime with the result that play in the second half was mainly confined to the Little Oakley half of the pitch where another early goal, this time after 48 minutes, helped to settle any fears of an upset. The goal came when Callum Jones got up well to put a glancing header into the net from a cross from the left. After this it came to a question of whether Little Oakley could hold out against incessant attacks from the visitors with the home goalkeeper and the woodwork coming to the rescue on a number of occasions. The home side held out manfully until late in the game when, on 88 minutes, Jammers substitute Dean Ager pounced on a rebound to smash the ball home from close range. So for Maldon and Tiptree it is on to the final and for Little Oakley full credit for their performance.

Final score Little Oakley FC 0 Maldon and Tiptree FC 3