Erith & Belvedere 1-2 Aveley - Our main aim is to stay up, says Chris Cosgrove

ERITH & BELVEDERE  1-2  AVELEY
Ryman League Division One North
Sunday 3^rd November 2013
Stephen McCartney reports from Park View Road

ERITH & BELVEDERE manager Chris Cosgrove believes a total of 46 points will maintain the club’s Ryman League Division One North status at the end of the season.

The Deres remain in the bottom seven in their inaugural season in the Ryman League with seventeen points from fourteen games after Aveley came away from Park View Road with a deserved 2-1 victory to climb up six places to fourth-place in the table.

Erith & Belvedere’s left-sided midfielder Ryan Flack was guilty of the miss of the season inside the opening three minutes and the home side were punished by an impressive Aveley side.

The Millers’ deservedly won the game courtesy of two quality second half strikes from man-of-the-match Rashid Kamara and Junior Appiah.

Erith & Belvedere scored a consolation with virtually the last kick of the game when skipper James Lawrence scored his fifth goal of the season, all of which have come from the penalty spot.

“Well, I thought first half we played well. We done well in the first half,” said Cosgrove.

“We got back into the game in the last quarter-of-an-hour. We got back in the game and slightly had a good go but we turned off for half-an-hour and at this level, unfortunately, you can’t turn off for half-an-hour.

“We had two wide men out there and we didn’t use them.  We switched off for half-an-hour and I told the boys you can’t do that at this level.

“At the moment, I’m a bit frustrated because I feel like we could have done better. We could have got something out of the game.”

Cosgrove kept faith with the same starting eleven that won their last game - 2-0 away to Waltham Forest eight days ago.

And Flack fell down on his knees holding his head in his hands in despair when he was guilty for an embarrassing miss, which could have changed the outcome of the game.

Striker Marcus Cassius shrugged off Aveley central defender Ryan O’Rawe on the corner of the penalty area and played the ball across an open goal for Flack to bury, but the former Welling United midfielder smashed his left-footed shot high over an OPEN goal from six-yards.

“Well that goes in, it could be a different story, couldn’t it?” said Cosgrove.

“It’s a goal! We hope to score that nine times out of ten. You expect him to score it. He scored last week. 

“He’s a young lad. He’ll learn by it. He just lost a bit of composure and put it over the bar but these things happen. At the highest level you miss chances like that but if that goes it in could have been a different game but if’s and buts, you know.

“He’s a young lad, he’ll learn by it and hopefully next time when he gets a chance like that, he’ll put it away.”

Lawrence won possession for his side with a strong but fair sliding challenge and poked the ball through to right-winger George Savage who skipped past the challenge of Aveley left-back Teddy Nesbitt but his low centre was poked harmlessly wide by a Cassius, who was under pressure, at the near post, inside the six-yard box.

Erith & Belvedere striker Luke Tanner powered a deflected shot towards goal from eighteen-yards, which brought a comfortable save from Aveley goalkeeper Jack Giddens.

Aveley played some lovely football at times and a slick passing move involving Petrit Elbi and Appiah set up a chance for Kamara, but he rolled his left-footed shot on the turn well wide of the far post from 20-yards.

Striker Ada Yusuff and Kamara then linked up well but Appiah failed to get the ball from out underneath his feet and his shot trickled through to Ashley Bourne, who dived low to his right to make a comfortable save.

Central defender George Benner – the sole survivor of last season’s Kent League double winning team – cracked a first time drive from 25-yards with his right-foot which was straight at the visiting keeper.

But Aveley’s best chance of the first half arrived in the 28^th minute.

Appiah made progress down the right channel before whipping in a deep cross with his left-foot and the unmarked Yusuff powered his header straight at Bourne.

Erith & Belvedere almost replicated the same thing within two minutes when left-back Louis Sprosen whipped in a free-kick towards the far post where central defender Aiden Sherlock ghosted in and headed straight at Giddens from four-yards.

Cosgrove added: “He’s one of the best headers of the ball in the team. It fell to the right person but it just didn’t go in. 

“We had our chances in the first half. We matched them but we didn’t take our chances.  At this level it’s all about taking our chances and we didn’t take them today.”

Nesbitt then whipped in a free-kick into the Deres’ penalty area but central defender Jay Leader made space in the box and rose to glance his header harmlessly wide of the far post.

Kamara picked up the ball and swept the ball out wide to Appiah, who played the ball inside to Yusuff, who stroked his deflected shot across keeper Bourne, who made a comfortable low save to his right.

Aveley squandered another excellent chance in the 40^th minute when Nesbitt cut the ball back to Brian Okwera, who whipped in a cross towards the far post where Appiah headed the ball back across goal and the unmarked Yusuff rose to plant his header over from four-yards.

And a long clearance out of defence from Sherlock wasn’t tucked home by Flack, whose right-footed shot lacked power and allowed Giddens to make a comfortable low save to his left.

Cosgrove has been criticised in some quarters for getting rid of co-manager Martin Ford on 7 October.

And when asked what he told his players during the half-time interval, Cosgrove said admitted the players ignored his requests.

He said: “It was basically, it was talking about getting our wide men in the game. We thought we had beaten them out wide. We could have got at their full-backs and got the crosses in and create the chances, play off the forwards and come back and get wide, but we seemed to get bogged down a bit.

“I wanted to push the line up higher but we got bogged down a bit. We pushed the line and we done everything the opposite we talked about and it took us up until the last fifteen minutes, when we started doing the things I wanted them to do at the beginning.”

Erith & Belvedere created the first chance of the second half but Cassius squandered it from 20-yards, blasting a right-footed effort high over the bar and into the trees in Danson Park.

But Aveley opened the scoring in the 51^st minute through Kamara’s quality finish from 22-yards.

Skipper Elbi played a clever free-kick which he played along the deck to Nesbitt, in space down the left channel, who cut the ball back across to the unmarked Kamara, who curled his right-footed shot into the top right-hand corner, after  the ball caressed the bottom of the crossbar.

“Brilliant finish. He was a good player, it was a brilliant finish,” said former Greenwich Borough manager Cosgrove.

“I think it started by us giving the ball away and hats off to the boy. He scored a really good goal. He turned and hit it into the top corner, off the crossbar. No keeper’s going to save that are they? It was a good finish.

“I felt we sat off him a bit though.  We could got more in his face and we shouldn’t have given the ball away at the beginning really.”

Bourne, who is Erith & Belvedere’s fifth goalkeeper of the season, produced two fine saves to keep his side in the game.

Nesbitt’s outswinging corner from the right found Ibrahim Mansaray unmarked on the edge of the penalty area and his volley bounced in front of the diving Bourne, who did well to push the ball away when diving to his right.

Yusuff’s right-footed curler then deflected off Benner and Bourne pulled off another fine save, diving to his right to push the shot around the post for another corner.

Cosgrove was full of praise for the keeper, who was released by Gillingham in 2012.

He said: “He’s an excellent keeper. He got man-of-the-match last week and he’s a good, young lad.  Hopefully it will be the last keeper we’ll be signing. He’s keen.  He’s happy to stay. We’ve had a few problems with other keepers but he’s a good keeper and he’s a good signing.”

Sherlock missed his second chance in front of goal just past the hour mark when he headed down and wide after George Savage floated a deep corner in from the right.

Aveley created another chance when Yusuff’s cross from the right was cleared away by Sherlock and Mansaray sent his right-footed shot sailing over the crossbar.

Lawrence gave the ball away to Aveley’s skipper Elbi, who took the ball on before dragging his right-footed angled drive across Bourne and past the far post.

But keeper Bourne gifted Aveley a second goal in the 67^th minute.

Bourne came out of his penalty area to clear the ball out towards his left-hand touchline.

But left-back Sprossen wasn’t alive to the danger and allowed Appiah to take a touch, look up, and send a right-footed chip high over the stranded goalkeeper from 40-yards and watched the ball dip into the centre of an empty goal.

Cosgrove said: “Maybe another occasion – he’s a very good keeper – maybe the keeper would have cleared his lines but unfortunately it’s fell to their player and he’s scored a good goal.  He took good composure and he’s scored a goal but maybe the ball should have been out of play and when he’s kicked it, it’s gone straight to his feet.”

Aveley substitute Shane Oakley went agonisingly close to scoring with only his second touch, only 48 seconds after entering the pitch.

Substitute Derek Duncan played the ball to the unmarked Oakley, who took a touch before stroking his left-footed shot across goal and narrowly wide of the far post.

The home fans had to wait until the final ten minutes before their side upped the tempo and their urgency.

Cosgrove threw on two substitutes and changed his formation from 4-4-2 to 4-2-4 and put Aveley back on the back foot.

Substitute Richard Monan cracked a left-footed drive from 22-yards, which forced Giddens to raise a strong left hand to push the ball onto the top of the crossbar and out for a corner in the last seven minutes.

“Give Monan his due, Monan came on and I think Monan done very well,” said Cosgrove.

“I told him to be the link, to link up the wingers and the forwards and he linked up very well.

“He had a good shot, he put a few good through balls through. Full credit to Richard. I thought Richard done well when he came on.  He maybe came on and maybe changed the game a little bit. He done everything we asked of him and he’s brought us back in to the game but it was a bit too late.”

Savage swung in the resulting corner from the right towards the back post but substitute striker Taylor Thomas directed his header agonisingly wide of the left-hand post with the goal at his mercy.

Cosgrove said: “We had a good last fifteen minutes. We pinned them back. We scored a goal. We had some very good chances in the last fifteen minutes.

“Taylor Thomas had a very good chance at the back post.  Cassius had a few good chances. The keeper made a world-class save, which he tipped it across the bar. Maybe if we done that from the first whistle we would have created a lot more from the first whistle of the second half. We would have created a lot more chances and maybe got something out of the game but football’s a funny game. When you get bogged down sometimes it’s hard to get out of it and that’s what happened to us.”

Sherlock squandered his third headed chance when he powered his header over the bar from ten-yards after Savage’s corner from the right.

Giddens got down low to his left to push Cassius’s right-footed angled drive around the post.

At the other end, Benner got back on the goal-line to clear Aveley substitute Jason Twum’s shot off the line after Bourne was beaten.

Erith & Belvedere scored a consolation with 48:19 on the second half clock after Cassius was brought down after some pin-ball inside the Aveley penalty area.

Lawrence stepped up and maintained his 100% record from the penalty spot, steering his right-footed penalty into the left-hand corner of the net, but it was too little too late for the Deres.

“Cosgrove said: “If we had scored the penalty five or six minutes earlier, maybe we could have put them under pressure. Maybe they might have panicked a bit. I thought they was for the last quarter-of-an-hour.

“Five penalties,” the manager said of Lawrence.  “He’s penalty shoot-out king. He don’t miss penalties. All five (goals) have been penalties. He’s mister reliable from the spot. He don’t miss a penalty. Good luck to the boy. He done well.”

Today’s Sunday fixture attracted the club’s largest crowd of the season when 110 watched the Deres’ seventh league defeat of the season.

Cosgrove takes his side to fellow strugglers Ware next Saturday, followed by a trip to Heybridge Swifts on Tuesday 12 November, before welcoming Witham Town to Park View Road on Sunday, 17 November.

More clubs should experiment with Friday night and Sunday afternoon football to bring in the crowds.

“I’m disappointed with a few things that went wrong,” admitted Cosgrove.

“We didn’t play to our potential first half hour of the half. That’s on the back of two good wins we’ve had in our last two league games.

“We’ve come in full of confidence and it just didn’t happen today.

“It’s a very hard league, very hard competitive league and you can’t afford to turn off for half-an-hour in games.  You’ve got to be on it for at least 90% of the game.”

Reflecting on the crowd, Cosgrove hopes for a better home performance from his side against Witham Town.

“It’s a good crowd. I’m pleased for the crowd. I would like to thank all the supporters for coming – their support is valuable at this level.  I thank them for coming. Hopefully next time when we have a Sunday game against Witham we might give them something to cheer about, but it’s not all doom and gloom.

“We’ve come in to this league and our main aim is to stay up and I think the chairman, all the committee, everyone and the management and the players just want to stay up.

“We believe a point a game will keep us up. We’ve got seventeen (points) from fourteen (games) which is above the standard we set ourselves but we ain’t doing too bad. 

“Aveley are a good team, they’re no mugs. They beat us 2-1 so it’s not the end of the world is it? We’ll just move on from here.”

Erith & Belvedere: Ashley Bourne, James Golding (Daniel Dolan 89), Louis Sprosen, Sam Gent, Aiden Sherlock, George Benner, Jamie Lawrence, Ryan Flack (Richard Monan 69), Luke Tanner (Taylor Thomas 69), Marcus Cassius, George Savage.
Subs: Aaron Jeffery, Joseph Ogunbiyi

Goal: Jamie Lawrence 90 (penalty)

Booked: Jamie Lawrence 33

Aveley: Jack Giddens, Danny Hopkins, Teddy Nesbitt, Jay Leader, Ryan O’Rawe, Ibrahim Manasary, Rashid Kamara (Derek Duncan 66), Brian Okwera, Ada Yusuff, Petrit Elbi (Shane Oakley 80), Junior Appiah (Jason Twum 76).
Subs: Sam Holloway, Aaron Gayle

Goals: Rashid Kamara 51, Junior Appiah 67

Booked: Ryan O’Rawe 29, Danny Hopkins 45, Petrit Elbi 75

Attendance: 110
Referee: Mr Nick Dunn (Deal)
Assistants: Mr Luigi Lungarella (Islington, London N1) & Mr Tony King (Romford, Essex)