There’s an old adage in football that says it doesn’t matter how a goal is scored because they all count. Calvin Poku took that to the extreme on Friday evening as his goal settled a tight local derby and made sure the points went Redbridge’s way. The Motormen’s talisman was able to turn the ball into the net after a clearance crashed into his body and then cannoned into the net.

The visitors started the game brightly as Brian Moses tried an overhead kick early in the first half and then had a mazy run ended by the bravery of Will Hunt in the Barkingside goal. His counterpart,

Lewis Greene also had to chase down a ball over the top that Joe Newbold was looking to latch onto. However after these brief attacking forays the game then got bogged down in midfield and there were very few clear cut chances created for the rest of the half. Moses did clip the cross bar with a shot after he had powered his way past the Barkingside defence and Poku thumped a shot just wide just before the break.

The Motormen started the second half in attack mode and won an early corner when Hunt tipped a Moses shot around the post. The resulting corner wasn’t dealt with effectively by the Side defence and eventually made its way to Shaun Harris, who headed the Motormen into a 48th minute lead.

Hunt then kept Barkingside in it when he had to pull off a good save to keep out Moses who had burst past the Side defence before unleashing a shot.

The hosts were back on level terms in the 66th minute when Tony Cookey beat the Motormen’s offside trap, homed in on goal and then centred to Michael Ogboin who finished the job off by rolling it home.

Had Gareth Jones been able to get a through ball under control it may have lead to aglorious Barkingside opportunity as he was unmarked and in space, but his first touch took the ball away from him and it was soon cleared. At the other end Courtney Homans also rushed a shot that ended high over the bar.

Then in the 84th minute came Poku’s fortuitous winning goal. Barkingside were trying to clear the ball out of their area, but in doing so inadvertently fired a clearance straight into Poku’s torso and the ricochet flew past Hunt and into the net. It’s hard to know if Poku knew anything about it, but the fact is that his goal, intended or otherwise, decided the affair earning the Motormen three points and bragging rights over their local rivals.

Report by Scott Lanza