Redbridge hosted unbeaten Stansted at the Oakside as they welcomed back goalkeeper George Martin who returned from injury.

Within four minutes the away side had scored, an early attack saw them force a corner which was whipped in finding the run of Paul Clayton who powered a header past Martin into the back of the net as the Redbridge defence switched off.

The home side then attacked through Abdishakur Farah who was knocked off the ball by the big Stansted centre half , he dusted himself off to take the free-kick but was unable to keep it on target.

The lively Sidney Morgan then picked the ball up after a defensive error at the back , he made himself some space however fired his shot just wide of the upright.

To their credit Redbridge heads never went down after conceding so early and they started to apply pressure on the Stansted defence , Timothy Ogunrinde going closest to an equaliser when his curling attempt was carried away by Jarvis Monk in goal.

Bradley Bennett then went on a strong run from within his own half leaving several opposing players in his wake before he eventually ran out of legs as the ball was cleared to safety.

Although Redbridge were looking strong they had to remain switched on at the back and were nearly made to pay for a lapse in concentration, Dean Hall was caught in possession by Ruben Kennedy who rounded Martin before cutting the ball back to Charles Opoku who seemed certain to score but Martin along with the help of a defender got back in time to deny Stansted a second goal.

Ogunrinde then saw a shot cannon against a Stansted defender which resulted in shouts of a penalty however the referee waved away any such appeals.

Another lucky escape for the home side when Bryn Thorpe did well down the right before crossing into Salako who somehow managed to blast over from close range when it surely would have been easier to score.

Into the second period and Redbridge knew with those missed Stansted opportunities and whilst the score remained at 1-0 they only needed one chance to get themselves back into the game.

They continued to have the lion share of possession but were finding it difficult to break down a firm and well organised Stansted back line, manager George Christou turned to the bench for inspiration making a double substitution as both Sonny Fish and Herman Mwanza entered the fray.

That chance almost had immediate rewards as a ball in from Robbie Norris found the diving James Barlow who tried to steer his headed into the far corner only to be denied by a superb strong arm from Monk who tipped the ball around the post.

The resulting corner was knocked just over as Craig Hall got in front of his marker but was unable to keep his header down.

It was all the home side now as they desperately went in search of the equaliser, Mwanza showed great skill to win the ball back before driving his way into the area and getting his shot in which dropped the wrong side of the post.

Fellow substitute Fish also tried his luck from range before a rare second half attack from Stansted saw a dangerous ball put over by Salako but unable to find anyone in a white shirt.

Mwanza again got himself into a good position but Monk not for the first time stood tall to deny the Motormen as the ball rolled away for a corner. The home side then turned to remaining substitute Josh Sykes in the final moments however he was involved in an unsavoury off the ball moment involving a melee of players which after the referee consulted with his assistant resulted in a straight red card for the Redbridge striker.

It was a sour end to an otherwise good match and Redbridge will feel they did enough on the day to warrant at least a point whilst Stansted celebrated knowing they had worked very hard to have come away with the victory.

report by Adam Silver