Ware 0 Redbridge 1
27 August 2011
WARE were left to rue a missed penalty in a disastrous first half that saw them reduced to nine men on Saturday.
In between the dismissals of Jon Stevenson and Danny Johnson for violent conduct, Ben Andreos blasted wide from the spot after the Motormen had taken a fortuitous early lead.
Ironically the hosts seemed to play with more fluidity in the second half when their abbreviated side more than held their own against a poor Redbridge outfit.
Two changes were made from the side that threw away three points against Waltham Abbey four days earlier, with Tom Querry starting on the left wing and new signing Jordan Bostock coming in at right back.
Redbridge had the better of the opening exchanges, with Ware defender Jon Stevenson forced to make a sliding tackle inside his own box to deny visiting attacker Dan Trenkel after 10 minutes.
However, as a result of the ball going out following Stevenson’s challenge, a short corner was taken and the ball was swung into the box by Billy Sendall. With no home defenders seemingly in the mood to clear the danger, Vincent Durrant powered the ball into the roof of the net to give the visitors the lead.
Seven minutes later at the other end of the field, a foul on Ben Andreos by Sendall resulted in Stevenson forcing a low save from Redbridge keeper James May with a fierce free kick from 25 yards.
After the resulting corner was taken, Stevenson stamped on defender Jamie Haywood and was shown a straight red card.
Soon after, Redbridge’s Ben Bradbury forced a save from Ware keeper Obey Murefu after turning inside Tom Querry, who had been moved back to the left side of defence to bring the rearguard quota back up to four following Stevenson’s dismissal.
PIC: Phil Friend
Ware were given a lifeline on 32 minutes when referee Wade Norcott pointed to the spot following a clear handball inside his own area by Durrant.
Andreos stepped up but blasted the penalty wide of the left-hand post.
Querry made a fantastic last-ditch tackle to deny Bradbury at the other end, but just as stoppage time had begun at the end of the first half, Ware’s manpower was further depleted.
After Lewis Dark had fouled Danny Johnson and conceded a free kick, the two players were involved in a spat which ended with Johnson being given a straight red card after he appeared to headbutt his opponent.
For the duration of the second half, the nine-man hosts worked hard to keep themselves in with a chance of stealing a point.
Ricci Crace in particular covered a substantial distance, flitting between a midfield role and the front line.
On the hour mark, Murefu made a fantastic save to push a Durrant shot over the bar from point blank range.
PIC: Phil Friend
On 81 minutes, Redbridge substitute Billy Hunt was fed by Mitchell Das, but Hunt dragged a weak shot wide.
Ware tried to mount a comeback in the closing stages with Jack Friend venturing forward, but the closest they came to drawing level was when Querry tried his luck with a left-footed half-volley after seeing the goalkeeper off his line, only to see his effort sail marginally wide of the far post.
Ware: Obey Murefu, Jordan Bostock (sub: Jimmy Martin, 56), Vince Rispoli, Ted Clark, Jon Stevenson, Jack Friend, Bradley Wilkinson (sub: Leigh Rose, 63), Danny Johnson, Ben Andreos (sub: Darrelle Russell, 75), Ricci Crace, Tom Querry. Subs not used: Michael Elliott, Bert Greenwood (GK).
