Ware 2-1 Thamesmead Town - Mead suffer late heartbreak on Ryman debut

WARE 2-1 THAMESMEAD TOWN
Ryman League Division One North
Saturday 16^th August 2008
Kevin White reports from Wodson Park

THAMESMEAD TOWN were unlucky not to come away with at least a point from their Ryman League debut match after a last-gasp defeat at Ware - in front of 176 fans at Wodson Park.

Mead went 1-0 down after just eleven minutes, after Lee Coburn failed to clear from the back. The ball deflected into the path of Jimmy Berry, who slotted the ball into an empty net.

Mead were forced to defend in a match bogged down in a midfield battle throughout the first half.

Some sloppy football inn the middle of the park hardly saw the Mead string a move together and they gave the ball away cheaply and playing with too much panic.

But their best chance of the half arrived after forty minutes. An excellent hanging cross from Richard Dimmock beat Hayward in the Ware goal. The ball fell to striker Rikki Cable, whose close range shot was blocked by Blower, which resulted in a collision, which required treatment for both players.

Thamesmead came out for the second half, looking a much better side, keeping possession, passing well and dominating the game.

The hard graft paid off on 67 minutes when Pedro Knight played a pinpoint ball from the middle of his own half to Scot Mulholland on the right wing. His lofted pass across the Ware defence reached the feet of Cable, who was free to hold the ball up on the edge of the area, beat one defender, then fired a rocket of a shot through the crowd into the back of the net.

Mead continued to dominate and look the quicker of the two teams, with Nick Smith, coming on for Peter Smith on the hour-mark, close to giving Thamesmead the lead on two occasions.

His first effort saw him charge forward and lob the advancing Hayward on the edge of the area, only for his shot to sail just too high after 81 minutes.

Then, two minutes later, saw him beat Hayward and the Ware defence but he was pushed out too wife and was left with a tight angle and shot wide.

However, title favourites Ware grabbed the winning goal, against the run of play, after 89 minutes.

A quick passing move from one end to the pitch to the other saw Mead fail to pick up the Ware forwards and Joe Stevens slotted the winner under goalkeeper Chris Conneally.

But Mead can hold their heads up after a commanding second half performance and must again show confidence in their first ever home Ryman League game on Wednesday night when they face Potters Bar Town.

Potters Bar opened their campaign with a 2-0 home defeat to Leyton, the side that finished rock-bottom of the Ryman Premier League last term.

Thamesmead Town: Conneally, Watts, Moore, Brown, Kearley, Coburn, Mulholland, Knight, Dimmock (Tarrant), Cable, P Smith (N Smith)