It was a local derby with a difference as Woodford Town entertained Barkingside in the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy on Wednesday evening. The twist being it was played 19 miles outside of The London Borough of Redbridge at Harlow Town where Woodford Town are ground sharing for this season - they hope to move to their new home at Ashton Playing Fields in 2017 which is brilliant new for local football.
Woodford had made a decent start to their 2018/19 campaign winning 4-1 (v Leyton Athletic), 5-0 (v St Margaretsbury) before losing to Sawbridgeworth Town (1-0) prior to this game. They were also backed by a number of fans including some Harlow Town fans who sang and made noise throughout the game with songs such as 'your the worst side of the 275' in a nod to the 275 London bus route which runs from St James Street Station in Walthamstow via Woodford and terminates at Barkingside Tesco.
'Side came into the game without a goal with three 0-0 results in the league coupled with a 0-0 and 0-3 FA Cup results against Leyton Athletic and in the opening moments of the match they would of been cursing their luck as Matheus Santos blazed way over the bar when having a chance for a clear shot on goal from the edge of the box.
Both sides played some good football with Woodford taking the lead just after Barkingside's luck wasn't in again when they had rattled the cross bar from a close range header. Woodford were awarded a hotly debated penalty kick just prior to the half time break when Temi Babalola had adjudged to have been fouled by Kofi Billzy.
The game changed just at the beginning of the second half when Woodford's central defender Jack Grosvenor was sent off after he tripped/made contact with Ryan Imbert who continued his run through on goal but had been impeded - Was there a defender who could of covered and the fact if it was a red card incident was also discussed by many of the fans watching.
The introduction of James Briggs by Barkingside, who sat just in front of their back four, and pinged some impressive passes forward through the rest of the game as Woodford sat further back than they had been and relied on their pace on the counter attack.
It was then a little piece of Barkingside FC history was made in the 60th minute of the game when Euan Taylor-Reid hit the back of the net after Alex Reed had parried Garjay Thompson's shot - Taylor-Reid nervously checked that the Assistant Referee hadn't flagged for offside as he ran to celebrate with his team mates - from the replay you can see he is clearly onside. It had taken 'Side 510 minutes of football to score in the 2018/19 season!
Both sides had chances to win the game in normal time with the impressive Ola Ogunwamide going close for the home side but the game ended 1-1 and went to the drama of kicks from the penalty mark.
Nine perfect penalty kicks later it was Woodford who missed the 10th and last kick to hand Barkingside a memorable victory and seal their passage to the next round of the competition.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Barkingside host Southend Manor in a league fixture at Cricklefields on Monday evening in their next game. Woodford Town host Walthamstow on Wednesday evening.
On this showing I think both sides will do well in the Essex Senior League this season. Dee Safer with his assistant's Neil Day and Ross Weare have a good exciting young side at Woodford Town with former Clapton FC boss Michael Walther building a good side at Barkingside also - They obviously miss last season's top scorer Roddy Lemba (who scored their last goal prior to Taylor-Reid's notching) who joined Bostik League side Romford in pre-season.
Good Luck to both sides for the rest of the season.
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