Tilbury 2 Ware 1
22 October 2011
TWO goals in as many minutes from Alex Read shortly after half-time gave Tilbury a foothold in a game that, until the break, was going Ware’s way.
The visitors had Tilbury rattled when they took the lead on 10 minutes through Ryan Mattos, and they probably would have sealed the three points if Aime Blessing’s 48th minute shot hadn’t dribbled agonisingly wide of the far post.
But two defensive errors just before the hour mark allowed Read to steal in with a quickfire brace to put Tilbury on top of the league for the first time in recent memory and leave frustrated Ware eager as ever to clamber off the bottom.
For the second game in a row, Ryan Mattos was partnered up front by Tony Martin, who was playing his last game before serving a three-match ban for his dismissal at Romford.
Laurence Rispoli came back in on the right side of midfield, while skipper Ricci Crace was restored to the starting line-up in the centre of the park.
Dave Bastian’s enforced absence through injury coincided with the crucial return from the treatment room of centre-half Jack Friend, who marshalled the back line well alongside Vince Rispoli.
After a bright start, Ware took the lead on 10 minutes when Jack Friend headed the ball into the path of right-back Michael Elliott, whose well-placed ball forward found the onrushing Mattos. The striker went through one-on-one with keeper James Marrable and fired past him and into the net.
Mid-way through the first half, former Ware attacker Emiel Aiken played a give-and-go with Tilbury team-mate Tom Webb but fired wide at the near post from close range.
SKIPPER ON THE RUN: Ricci Crace surges forward (PIC: Phil Friend)
Six minutes before the break, a Tom Querry free kick proved a routine take for Marrable, while Vince Rispoli seized the ball in midfield in first half stoppage time and tried his luck from 35 yards, only to see his effort fly some way over the bar.
Tilbury came out seemingly hungrier in the second half and when Webb’s 35-yard free kick hit the bar on 47 minutes it proved to be a sign of things to come.
A minute after Webb’s chance, Laurence Rispoli found Aime Blessing with a cross-field ball, but the left winger’s shot trickled wide of the far post.
Ware keeper Rhys Madden was forced to tip away another Webb free kick after Ricci Crace was adjudged to have handled the ball, but the visiting custodian’s goal was breached shortly afterwards.
MOMENT OF MADDEN-NESS: Rhys Madden makes an excellent save to deny Tom Webb (No10) from a free kick (PIC: Phil Friend)
Read got the better of Vince Rispoli, before steering around Jack Friend, who was coming across to cover, and putting the ball into the net from an acute angle on 56 minutes.
Read doubled his tally two minutes later when he beat Madden with a free header following a cross from the left.
Ware were now up against a strong wind, which repelled any lofted balls from Madden’s goal kicks and various defenders’ clearances.
Prowling attacker Tony Martin couldn’t muster a shot as Ware forced a goalmouth scramble inside Tilbury’s area on 62 minutes, while Dan Johnson got himself into a shooting position at the edge of the box on a number of occasions but frequently carried the ball too far and allowed the Tilbury defenders to clear their lines.
Blessing was caught offside five minutes from time as Ware continued to search for an equaliser, while two minutes later at the other end, Madden made a spectacular right-handed save to keep out a shot from Sam West which had found its way through a crowded Ware area.
Ware: Rhys Madden, Michael Elliott, Tom Querry, Dan Johnson, Jack Friend, Vince Rispoli, Laurence Rispoli (sub: Danny Hayes, 68), Ricci Crace, Tony Martin, Ryan Mattos, Aime Blessing. Subs not used: Lewis Taylor, Antony Lane, James Winchester.
