25thjuly03

Ellery returns to Slade Green
Basildon United 2-2 Slade Green

Slade Green twice came from behind to share the spoils against a physical Basildon United outfit at Gardiners Lane on Thursday night, writes Robert Smith.
 
The opening 45 minutes saw little between the two sides, but it was the Essex club who drew first blood taking a 32nd minute lead.
 
Slade Green seemed to step up the pace after the break and after Dean Bowey had uncharacteristically fired over an open goal from Phil Collier's deft through ball, the visitors drew level nine minutes into the second half, following a misplaced back-pass.  Bowey latched onto the loose ball and with razor sharp vision, elegantly lofted the ball into the heart of the net and grabbed his third goal in the space of two days.
 
The game saw Micky Ellery included in the Slade Green line up.  Ellery was Green's top goalscorer during the 1999-2000 campaign under former manager Steve Wait.  He almost found the net, but his shot was blocked by the goalkeepers legs
having been set up by Marcos Perona.
 
Moments later, Sam Prett played in Pedro Knight, who having skipper round two players saw his shot drift wide.
 
Despite their second half superiority Green looked set for defeat as Basildon edged ahead once again with five minutes left on the clock, but within two minutes Green hit back when Tony Gallagher towered above the Basildon defence to
head home from Perona's free kick.