Maldon & Tiptree 2-2 Thamesmead Town - When we're up against it we come out fighting, says McMahon

MALDON & TIPTREE  2-2  THAMESMEAD TOWN
(after extra time – Thamesmead Town win 4-1 on penalties)
Ryman League Division One North Play-Off Final
Sunday 5^th May 2013
Stephen McCartney reports from Park Drive

THAMESMEAD TOWN boss Keith McMahon hailed his players’ fighting spirit after they grabbed promotion to the Ryman Premier League following a dramatic climax to the season.

Maldon & Tiptree finished runners-up to promoted champions Grays Athletic on 89 points and went the entire league campaign unbeaten at home. Thamesmead Town finished one place and one point fewer than their Essex opponents.

But Terry Spillane’s side ripped Thamesmead Town apart during the opening half-an-hour and they raced into a deserved 2-0 lead inside the opening thirteen minutes, courtesy of experienced campaigners Ollie Barquez and Lee Boylan.

The turning point, however, came when Maldon & Tiptree missed a sitter to make it 3-0 – a miss that they were later to rue as Thamesmead Town showed their trademark fighting spirit to come back.

Striker Stuart Zanone walloped in his 47^th goal of the season (26 for Thamesmead, 21 for Kent League side Rochester United) to restore faith on the half-hour mark, before Chris Edwards held his nerve to score from the spot nine minutes later.

Despite their efforts, neither side could force a winner and both club’s season’s boiled down to the taking of seven penalty kicks.

Thamesmead Town held their nerve from the spot with James Donovan, Baff Addae, substitute Tyrus Gordon and Edwards scoring.

Maldon & Tiptree’s three spot-kicks were taken by their three substitutes. Jamie Guy scored, but Thamesmead Town’s Essex-based keeper Rob Budd, 29, denied Kevin McLeod and Ben Bowditch to win promotion by winning 4-1 on penalties.

McMahon, who has guided the club to their highest level after only five years since leading them out of the Kent League, was proud of his troops at the final whistle.

“It’s unbelievable!  How we’ve won the game and got through?” he said.

“I think the finale sums us up!  We were up against it today. We knew we was going to come here and have a battle against a good side.  Maldon are a very good side. We were missing our skipper Lewis Tozer. We knew that was going to be a big dent.

“But to be 2-0 down in the first 13 minutes, not even looking like a side we was, it’s hard.

“Stuart’s got a goal out of nothing and got us back into the game and once we’ve got one we are that sort of side that don’t give up. 

“We had some tired legs at the end and we just battled and battled and took it to penalties and once you’re there we’re a team that sticks together and it sums our season up!

“It’s unbelievable! It’s hard to put into words. It hasn’t sunk in yet. God knows what we’re going to do now (that we’re in the Ryman Premier League) to be honest with you!”

Maldon & Tiptree won themselves a free-kick in a dangerous position with only 96 seconds on the clock, but left-back Jack Cawley failed to take advantage, curling his left-footed free-kick over the crossbar from just outside the corner of the box.

The impressive James Robinson, a 25-goal striker, was causing Thamesemead massive headaches with his excellent movement of the ball during a dominant opening half-an-hour.

Robinson played a one-two with his strike partner Joe Gardner and was played in behind the Thamesmead defence with a clever reverse pass, but Budd dived full length low to his right to stick out his outstretched right arm to prevent the ball flashing across him to find the bottom far corner.

But it wasn’t long before Maldon & Tiptree deservedly opened the scoring inside eight minutes.

Cawley’s quickly taken throw was played into Robinson’s feet and the talented striker turned Richard Butler (who took the place of suspended skipper Lewis Tozer) before whipping in a low cross across the face of goal for Berquez to steer a low right-footed volley into the empty net from six-yards.

McMahon said: “Maldon played very well. They’ve got a lot of quality and we struggled to pass the ball today I thought in areas.  We’re normally a very-organised side and for the first 15 minutes we never looked anything like us!  We had no shape, we weren’t winning any balls. They were passing it around us. It looked like we would get hammered at one point!”

Reflecting on the opening goal, McMahon added: “Ollie’s got a lot of quality, but I think we’re disappointed with the way that we defended the first one. 

“We brought Buts (Butler) in for Tozer and he struggled for the first 15 minutes. I thought James Robinson’s movement was really good, he spun off him.  We knew we were lacking a bit of pace at the back there with them two, but I thought we’d be solid and cope aerially and their movement was decent and we didn’t pick him up.

“I still thought we could defend the cross but he’s got in front of our defender and he’s scored and it was a good goal from them.”

Thamesmead Town were shot to pieces when they allowed Maldon & Tiptree to double their lead just 257 seconds later.

Four green-shirted defenders allowed Gardner to pick the ball up some 30-yards from goal and dance into the penalty area where his low right-footed shot from sixteen-yards forced Budd into making a low parry to his right but Boylan was on hand to steer his right-footed shot into the empty net from 10-yards.

McMahon wasn’t pleased in the manner that his side were looking at a heavy defeat at the time.

He said: “Joe Gardner’s picked the ball up 20-30 yards out, he’s slipped past four, not even real challengers and he’s gone through and Rob’s made a good save.

“I actually thought he (Boylan) was offside when he scored but disappointed that he’s gone through our defence. No-one walks through us like that, without even a proper tackle.

“We was a bit shell-shocked. We looked maybe fazed and I thought the occasion looked a bit too big for us for the first 15-20 minutes.”

Thamesmead Town’s opening chance arrived in the 21^st minute when a clearance from resilient Maldon & Tiptree defender Glen Golby ricochet off Rob Carter and was caught by the grateful keeper Joe Wright.

Thamesmead Town should have been dead and buried only six minutes later when the Essex side missed a season defining moment.

A slick passing move involving Boylan and Robinson resulted in Boylan whipping in an excellent low cross from the right, which took Budd out of the game and Michael Toner ghosted in and missed his kick with the goal gaping.

Turning point? “Maybe, maybe, it could’ve been, yes!” came McMahon’s reply.

“For that 30 minutes spell we were getting pulled all over the place. We were very ragged, nothing like we were.  Maybe the occasion got to us at the beginning.   We looked very tired, the players’ looked dead on their feet and that weren’t at the end of the game.

“We did need something to give us a lift and maybe that miss done it?”

Thamesmead Town, however, grabbed hold of the life-line and crucially pulled a goal back with a quality strike on 30 minutes.

Carter, who was just inside the Maldon & Tiptree half, played a delightful diagonal through ball to release Zanone, who out-paced Toner before sprinting into the box before unleashing a powerfully-struck right-footed drive high into the roof of the net from 15-yards.

McMahon said: “I don’t think they’ll be happy leaving him one-on-one with his pace!

“We’ve been saying to him in training, he’s been playing with a knee injury today, and we said to him get the chance and strike because he’s got one hell of a hit and he’s just absolutely put his foot through it and he’s got us back into the game when we did look dead and buried, so it gave us a big lift.

“We just thought get in at half-time 2-1 and we’d take that how the first half had gone, but we managed to pop up and get an equaliser!”

Thamesmead Town received a huge slice of luck when referee Constantine Hatzidakis awarded them a soft penalty.

Danny Kerrigan played the ball into Addae’s feet and the Bromley-based referee signalled that Berquez had pulled the shirt of his opponent and pointed to the spot.

“It was a break we needed,” admitted McMahon.

“I’m quite a distance away. I didn’t see too much of it, if I’m honest with you!  One of their coaches thought it was a pen but I thought it might’ve been a bit soft.

“It’s quite funny the ref was giving quite a lot of those pushes in the first half and none of them in the second half, but we needed something.  In these play-off games and finals you need a bit of luck and you need something to go your way and we had it there and we took it.”

Edwards stepped up and sent Wright the wrong way with a right-footed penalty to keep Thamesmead’s promotion dream alive six minutes before the break.

McMahon added: “Chris has come in from Phoenix Sports and he’s been penalty taker for the last few games after Stuart missed a couple.  He’s held his nerve there and he’s also got the winning penalty for us.  He’s come up after playing Kent Invicta League football to a Ryman League play-off final and fair play to him. He’s got us the winner. We needed something to steady our nerves at half-time.”

Maldon & Tiptree created a couple of late first half chances.  Right-back Frank Everett whipped in a cross, which bounced off Donovan inside the box but Boylan lashed his right-footed shot over from fourteen-yards.

More excellent link-up play from the home side, this time from Danny Johnson and Berquez saw Boylan reach the by-line before chipping in a cross across the face of the goal and a stretching Robinson just couldn’t steer his volley in.

When asked what he said to his troops during the half-time break, McMahon said: “I was surprised you didn’t hear me!  I wasn’t particularly too happy.  I went mad! 

“We were giving them too much time, they were playing around us. We lost our shape and we was getting turned.  I thought we weren’t putting the whole effort in. We backed off.  I had a bit of a go and then on the other side I said we ain’t played well and we’re still in it and we ain’t going to get any worse!”

McMahon was forced to bring Kerrigan off through injury in the 54^th minute and substitute Danny Moore slotted in beside Donovan in the heart of defence, which put Butler into the heart of midfield.

This tactical switch had the desired effect as this stopped the home’s side’s supply line.

Maldon & Tiptree had to wait until 20 minutes for their first second half chance when Gardner played in Robinson, who took a touch onto his left-foot and his 20-yard drive was blocked by left-back Jay Porter, who threw his body on the line to ensure the ball curled wide of the far post.

A kick from Wright found Everett in space down the right and he clipped the ball to Boylan, whose cross from the right was headed out by Lea Dawson and the ball fell to Robinson, who blotted his copybook and cracked a right-footed hooked volley high over the bar when left unmarked 12-yards from goal.

Maldon & Tiptree should have done better following Robinson’s out-swinging corner from the left, which saw Cawley send his header down on to the hard surface and Budd caught the ball high above his head.

Both sides cracked speculative shots from 35-yards over the bar as the game neared the final ten minutes of normal time.

Budd’s long clearance was headed down by Maldon & Tiptree skipper Golby (whilst being challenged by Gordon) and Dawson hit a right-footed half-volley, which sailed over, before 48 seconds later, Toner’s speculative left-footed half-volley from similar distance sailed just wide of the far post.

However, Thamesmead Town almost grabbed an injury time winner.

Porter whipped in a left-footed corner from the right and Donovan rose at the far post and his looping header was headed off the line by Toner and Butler’s header was clawed away from underneath the crossbar by Wright’s outstretched arm.

McMahon said: “They know what sort of side we are, they know we don’t give up, especially the last minutes of a game.  We could have won it and we normally scored last minute goals.

“Last minute, we don’t stop.  We’re normally dangerous from set-plays and that was much one of our better deliveries today. We could’ve won it in normal time. If we would’ve we would’ve taken it. It would’ve been hard on them, even though it’s hard on them now (losing on penalties).  I don’t think they deserved to lose it in normal time.”

Thamesmead Town were clearly tiring as the game entered extra-time – but this remarkable side never know when they’re beaten!

McMahon said: “Going into extra-time, when you’re tired you just have to turn them and both teams looked very tired at the end. It’s a warm day and we just said just try to make them defend, try and keep the ball away from our goal and that’s what we done. We just tried to get rid of extra-time.”

A free-kick from Edwards was met by Gordon’s back-header from 12-yards which looped into Wright’s gloves early on.

Maldon & Tiptree squandered a decent opportunity Toner escaped handball shouts from close-by Thamesmead defenders and cracked his left-footed drive narrowly over from 20-yards after McLeod had cut a corner back to him from the left.

The home side ended the first period with Budd making a brilliant save to keep his side in the game.

Bowditch was given time and plenty of space to float over his cross from the right, which sailed over substitute right-back Cory Walters-Wright and McLeod’s downward header from eight-yards was pushed away by the goalkeeper, low to his right.

McLeod swung in the resulting corner towards the near post and Budd was in the right place to catch Guy’s header.

When asked about extra-time, McMahon said: “It was very hard.  We’re a team that give everything for me and you can see that and that’s why we’ve done well. It’s all about a team for us. We’re no individuals and they’ve battled, they’ve battled, battled and battled and you could see they were dead on their feet.  Maldon were a little bit tired as well.  It could’ve gone either way. I don’t think there was any clear cut chances in extra-time.”

Maldon & Tiptree created the first chance of the second period when Guy held the ball up down the left channel before cutting the ball back to supporting Cawley, who swung in a cross for McLeod to shoulder the ball wide of the post.

The home fans thought they had scored when Bowditch played the ball outside to Dark, who drilled a low right-footed drive across Budd and past the far post from 25-yards.

Moore stuck out his right leg to cut out a potentially dangerous looking Maldon & Tiptree breakaway in the middle of the park before clipped the ball over the top of the defence and Zanone teed up a good chance for Gordon, whose right-footed curler was caught by Wright, his to his right beside his near post.

But a world-class save from Wright thwarted Thamesmead Town scoring the winner with the last kick of the game.

Edwards, who was playing Kent Invicta League football for Phoenix Sports earlier in the season, produced a moment of quality when he clipped his right-footed free-kick over the wall from 28-yards, which was sailing towards the top left-hand corner, but Wright dived full-length his to his right to stick out his right arm to push the ball around the post.

McMahon said: “Chrisy has hit a worldy!  He’s very good at set-plays and free-kicks and that’s why he’s in the side. It was a top quality save and then you sit there and think he’s made that save is he confident or is the luck going to go his way with the pens?”

McMahon explained what he said to his brave-hearted troops before the penalty shoot-out and why big central defender Donovan went up first.

“He was confident on Thursday night. He was sticking them in the top corner every time,” said McMahon.

“What you need and we spoke about it before the game. When you come to situations like that and we said this when Lewis Tozer’s been with us – you need your skipper to lead by example and he didn’t even doubt. He went up and he lead by example and we needed that and it gave all he youngsters a lift to go and take the rest.”

No pressure on the men in green with promotion at stake.

McMahon said:  “You’ve got to try and take the pressure of them.  I ask them who want the pens? We practice them every week. We practised them Thursday.  We ask who wants one and feels confident and then you make a decision if you think that player is the right man.

“There was eight or nine that said they’ll have one and Donners wanted to go first and we said just hit the target.  Buddy will save one. His penalty saves have been excellent. He’s saved the last two pens against us for us in the league and you know that he’ll pull one save off.

“There’s no pressure. If we lose on pens, we lose on pens. If you win, it’s obviously great!”

Donovan stepped up and sent Wright the wrong way with a right-footed penalty, and despite Budd hanging on the crossbar beforehand, he couldn’t prevent Guy sending him the wrong way with his right-footed penalty.

Addae stepped up and fired his right-footed spot-kick high into the top right hand corner, before the left-footed penalty kick curse struck again and McLeod’s effort produced an excellent save from Budd, who dived full length to his left to prevent the ball finding the far corner.

Gordon found the left-corner and took his shirt off to celebrate to annoy the home fans behind the goal, before Budd dived to his right to keep out Bowditch’s effort.

Edwards won it for Thamesmead, firing his right-footed penalty into the bottom right-hand corner, sparking wild celebrations from the men in green.

Reflecting on his side’s four penalties, McMahon said: “All good pens! All great pens! They hit the net.  It’s hard to practice pens, you just want people who are not scared. They want to be a hero. It doesn’t faze them and that’s why we picked those lads today.”

But McMahon was full of praise for Budd, who excelled on the club’s biggest ever game.

“I don’t know how many pens he’s saved now,” said the manager.

“Our goalkeeper’s always save pens!  Sam Mott saved loads for us last year, Rob’s saved loads this year. In penalty shoot-outs he’s been our star man for us. He’s always saved one or two. He normally takes a pen as well, but he actually said to me he didn’t fancy one. He’s playing through injury. You just hope ones near him and the first save was a very good save. The second one I thought wasn’t the best penalty but it’s still a great save and once you make one save and you take your pens first, the pressure was on them.”

Hero Budd admitted today made up for previous disappointment in a play-off final and hailed the team spirit at Bayliss Avenue.

The former Ilford keeper said: “The gaffa said at the start of the season, if we get in the play-offs that’s an achievement but we didn’t stop believing from Christmas afterwards when we were on our run that we can do anything but get promoted.

“Every single one of us, it’s a proper tight nit family. It’s been amazing!  I’ve had a bad time here as well but every single one of them has pulled me through it, but it’s a family. They’re a proper football club. It’s fantastic.”

Reflecting on the game, Budd said: “Not an ideal start, put it this way, but we’ve done it all year. We haven’t given up.  To come back from 2-0 down, we’ve been fantastic.”

And on the moment when he should have picked the ball out of his net for the third time, Budd said: “He missed the golden chance! He’ll probably be thinking about that one tonight. They got in so many times in the first 25 minutes they were cutting in behind us and pulling them back across. We got away with it and we came back into it.”

Budd praised his opposite number Wright for his brilliant save at the end of normal time.

He said: “Joe’s done well there. From where I was watching it looked like it was in. I thought it was in. It was a fantastic save.”

Reflecting on his own penalty heroics, he admitted he redeemed himself for Thamesmead’s penalty shoot-out exit at Dulwich Hamlet in the Ryman League Cup.

He said: “Up until Dulwich in the semi-finals in the League Cup I had a record over the last ten years of every penalty shoot-out I’ve been in I’ve saved at least two penalties and it all went pear shaped in the Dulwich game because I never saved a single one so I had to redeem myself today. 

“It’s my first promotion. I’ve been here once before with Redbridge. We lost to Canvey, my home club, so that was gutting and that was on penalties as well, so we’ve come back and I’ve done it so this is up there.  It’s as good as it gets really.”

Thamesmead Town deserve their promotion! Simply for all their off-the-field problems during the course of the season and today proves that team spirit and togetherness can bring you success.

McMahon said: “We’ve been through hell and I’ve just said to the lads our promotion wasn’t about just today. It’s about the whole of our season and we’re a team that fight and give everything for each other.  We work on a very small budget, worked in awful circumstances this year.

“The only thing we do when we’re up against it we come out fighting and we’ve shown that today. We was up against it and we’ve just come out and done the best we can.

“It hasn’t sunk in that we’re there. God knows what we’re going to do. It’s a great day today. It’s just about savouring the moment.

“I’ve said to the lads we’ve got to enjoy it. To be a Ryman Premier League manager is what I wanted. It’s what we all set out to do.  We’ll just do our best now. I don’t really know (how we’ll cope).

“I can’t believe what the club’s achieved in such a short period of time. We’ve been in the Ryman League five seasons and we’ve been promoted. There’s teams that have been there for years. It just goes to show money doesn’t get you everything. Team spirit does hell of a lot. We’re in for each other. If we do something special we’re there together.  We stick together as a club and it rubs off on all of us. 

“The whole club deserves this. I’m so pleased for the committee. They worked so hard for the last three or four years and they deserve every bit of happiness they get and that’s for them.”

McMahon showed a touch of class during the post-match interview and admitted how tough it was for his opposite number to lose in such heartbreaking circumstances.

“You’ve seen me at the end of the game and I didn’t jump on the pitch and celebrate the penalties – I said unlucky to Terry.

“88 points (one less than Maldon & Tiptree) normally gets you promoted in most leagues. I think it would’ve won us the Ryman South I think, so I feel sorry for them, especially with the way they played first half.

“They’re a good side, they do things properly, very gracious in defeat as we should be in winning and I wish them all the best for next year. I feel for them.  Obviously as ecstatic I am, but I’m a football person and I’ve always said, you’ve got to be a good loser to be a good winner and you’ve also got to win gracefully and respect others.”

Maldon & Tiptree: Joe Wright, Frank Everett, Jack Cawley, Ollie Berquez (Ben Bowditch 84), Glen Golby, Michael Toner, James Robinson (Kevin McLeod 77), Lewis Dark, Joe Gardner, Lee Boylan (Jamie Guy 88), Danny Johnson.
Subs: John Glowacki, Jason Willis

Goals: Ollie Berquez 8, Lee Boylan 13

Booked: Joe Gardner 53, Lewis Dark 85

Thamesmead Town: Rob Budd, Chris Edwards, Jay Porter, Danny Kerrigan (Danny Moore 54), Richard Butler, James Donovan, Sean Roberts (Cory Walters-Wright 71), Lea Dawson, Stuart Zanone, Rob Carter (Tyrus Gordon 74), Baff Addae.
Subs: Richard Stevens, Ashley Probets

Goals: Stuart Zanone 30, Chris Edwards 39 (pen)

Booked: Danny Kerrigan 30, Lea Dawson 53, Jay Porter 57, Chris Edwards 98, Tyrus Gordon 115

Attendance: 324
Referee: Mr Constantine Hatzidakis (Bromley)
Assistants: Mr Elliott Heward (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) & Mr Alex Gray (Westminster, London SW1)
Fourth Official: Mr Matt Foley (Palmers Green, London N13)