The Motormen travelled to Clapton’s temporary home ground of Aveley FC on a cold Wednesday evening.

They should have gone in front within the first 30 seconds when James Barlow put over a decent cross from the right finding Tony Martin however his shot was denied by the quick reactions of Valentine Obinna.

Clapton then came forward with Redbridge allowing them far too much space which Marion Gjini took advantage of by curling a shot past Larkins to open the scoring.

Redbridge reacted with a quick fire equaliser as Liam Burgess found the run of Daniel Gilchrist and he fired past Valentine Obinna in the Clapton goal.

Then within a minute the away side had changed the game on its head as the ball fell to Martin and he made no mistake to give his side the lead after just 7 minutes played.

Redbridge then proceeded to dominate the next 20 minutes playing some nice passing football but without any real end product.

Clapton did think they had levelled when Francesco Cicconi turned home ex Redbridge defender Jordan Cornelius cross however the official had his flag raised and the goal was chalked off.

That did give Clapton hope and they ended the half well with a series of attempts including a powerful drive from Gjini which Larkins pushed around a post however the Motormen went into the break leading.

As in the first half two quick fire goals changed the outcome of this match, this time for the home side as a corner was swung in finding the smallest man in the box Baseer Ishanzadeh who had the simple task of heading into the back of the net.

Then a minute later Luan Calegaro looked up and from range curled the ball past the despairing dive of Larkins.

Those goals had shocked their opponents and things got worse when debutant Abdel Abdulla was sent to the sin bin presumably for something he said to the referee . Redbridge then made changes as they looked to claw themselves back into the game however it had the opposite effect as Ishanzadeh scored a 4th for the hosts.

Larkins then had to be alert to tip over a Cicconi effort as the home side came forward at every opportunity finding space that was not there in the first half.

It was therefore no surprise when they got a 5th, Eamon Payne was disposed high up field allowing Clapton to break as Ishanzadeh went round Larkins and walked the ball over the line to grab his hat trick.

Redbridge were unable to muster one good shot of note during the 2nd half as Clapton broke again with only the post denying them a 6th before Larkins was called upon to make two fine stops to prevent the result from being ever larger.

The full time whistle then blew giving the home side a much deserved victory whilst Redbridge will need to pick themselves up and move onto a clash with bottom side Sawbridgeworth Town on Saturday.

report by Adam Silver