Redbridge win Oakside Goal Fest

The Motormen hosted Maldon & Tiptree at the Oakside as the two sides met for the first time in just over 8 years.

The visitors forced an early corner and George Martin in the Redbridge goal who was replacing the injured Connor Wheatley was on hand to turn behind a shot from Louie Remi.

The first attack for the home side saw Bradley Bennett spread the ball out wide to Soumen Nandi who as often is the case likes to cut inside and attempt the curling effort, this time however the effort was wide of the upright.

A fortunate escape for Martin as a poor clearance fell straight to George Smith who was in on goal however the keeper redeemed himself coming out quickly to deny the big striker.

Two half chances then followed for Redbridge , Solomon Ogunwomoju crossed finding Abs Thompson in the middle , he took a wild swing at the ball but missed his connection. The ball eventually made it's way back into the box finding Ogunwomoju who headed wide unmarked
in the penalty area.

It has been a fairly even start however it was Redbridge who broke the deadlock, Luca Collins came out of goal to punch clear but he never got enough purchase on the clearance and it fell kindly to Ogunwomoju who headed the ball back into the empty net.

On the counter attack Redbridge had a chance to double their advantage , James Barlow broke down the left but overrun it and t he ball allowing a defender to come back and make the challenge.

Soon after however Maldon got themselves back on level terms, from a corner the ball was only partially cleared dropping on the edge of the area to Smith who connected sweetly with a volley leaving Martin no chance.

Within two minutes and the game had turned on it's head, once again the home side were guilty of not clearing the danger quickly enough and Andre Hasanally picked up the loose ball and was given far too much time and space to fire past Martin into the corner of the goal.

The action continued as Soumen Nandi was then put through with just the keeper to beat however he stood his ground and ended up making a good save pushing the ball out for a corner kick.

They were not to be denied as soon after the equaliser did arrive, Barlow on hand from close range to grab his second goal of the week.

With half time approaching there was no let up in the scoring as Maldon once again went back ahead, Smith with his back to goal quickly spun around before turning Henry Day one way then another before firing home his second of the afternoon which proved to be the final action of a packed first 45 minutes.

Smith was unable to return to the field for the second period as was replaced through injury replaced by Shane Temple and even though they missed their main focal point they continued to pressure the Redbridge back line.

They however were unable to make any possession count and Redbridge took advantage forcing themselves back into the match as they scored another goal.

Bennett put over a lovely crossfield pass finding the head of Joe Elliott who headed goalward but the ball just missed the far post however it was turned back across goal finding Kobe Yeboah who drilled the ball through a crowded penalty box into the back of the net.

The game started to become a little niggly with some late challenges starting to take place as Maldon came closest to grabbing a seventh goal of the day when the ball was fired past Martin however fortunately there were Redbridge defenders back on the line to clear the danger.

With the match heading into added time it looked like a draw would be the final outcome especially after a good chance went begging for Ogunwomoju who saw his shot deflected wide after good work by Thompson.

But persistence from Redbridge finally paid off as Jack Chawner scored a goal worthy of winning any game as he cut inside a defender before seeing his shot from distance nestle into the far corner past the dive of Collins to win in at the death and with is saw joyous cheers from the bench and stands.

report by Adam Silver