Match Report, Ilford v Coggeshall Town, 16thApril 2024.
Essex Senior League, Premier Division.

Coggeshall attacked from the off and should have had a penalty in the first minute when Nathan Dennis was brought down in the penalty area, but the referee ignored the appeals.  Ilford nearly took the lead in the eleventh minute as Daniel Izekor’s shot struck the inside of the post and rebounded straight into Dev Bhamra’s arms. Bhamra saved at the feet of Izekor and a shot 20 yards out by Amari Davis-Stephenson struck the post and was cleared by the Coggeshall’s defence.  Reggie Gregory sent over a great cross, but the Ilford defence dealt with it and a distance shot from Roy Stevens was just wide of the target.  Tayo Adedejo tried to get to an Ilford back pass, but the Ilford keeper, Wilkinson Boatengmanaged to clear safely and a long ball from Gregory to Adedejo had Boateng clearing from well outside the penalty box.  Dennis struck the crossbar from eighteen yards then Stevens put a free kick from Harry Lloyd wide.  Ilford put the pressure on as Coggeshall were trying to play out from the back and Mohamed Habib put a cross from Joel Appiah wide, while the Ilford defence cleared a Coggeshall cross.

Half time: Ilford 0 Coggeshall Town 0

The second half was only two minutes old when Dennis was tackled in the Ilford half by Michael Adu, who then made a short pass to Emmanuel Wazola, who in turn found Appiah in the centre circle, despite Stevens’s effort to block his pass to Davis-Stephenson who beat the diving Bhamra to score.  Adu was shown the yellow card for a foul on Gregory, who then took the freekick himself and saw Jack Wilson’s header go narrowly wide.  Bhamra came well out of his area to break up an Ilford attack then Adedejo was tackled just as he was about to shoot, after receiving a cross from Dennis.  A yellow card was shown to Izekorfor a bad tackle on Lloyd, which some referees would have shown the red card.  Davis-Stevenson missed an open goal, putting the ball over the bar from six yards out.  With 65 minutes gone Coggeshall brought on Lewis Francis to replace Stevens.  Boateng saved a cross/shot from Ciaran Burke then Conor Tyrell blocked a dangerous cross as play went end to end.  Alfie Gilbey found Dennis, but his effort was blocked, then Ilford’s Wazola effort was nearer the corner flag than the goal.  On 75 minutes Coggeshall brought on Jack Hauser replacing Wilson, four minutes later exchanged Lloyd, and Adedejo for Arthur Massinghamand Finn Wilkes and Ilford swopped Habib for Gideon Ssonka.  From a corner, Burke missed a chance when it looked easier to score, although Adu clattered him, but the referee turned down any appeals for a penalty.  As the match entered stoppage time, Bhamra got the better of Wazola with a one on one and Ilford who broke quickly soon won a free kick for a foul on Dennis, but fortunately, their shot caused no damage.  In a final effort, a Coggeshall shot was cleared off the goal line with the keeper beaten.

To quote the Ilford Twitter feed, Coggeshall were certainly better than the table suggests.  Massive credit to Coggeshall who were excellent tonight.

Full time: Ilford 1 Coggeshall Town 0
Attendance 85

Coggeshall team:  
Dev Bhamra, James Pugsley, Ciaran Burke, Harry Lloyd (Arthur Massingham 79mins), Jack Wilson (Jack Hauser 65mins), Conor Tyrell, Reggie Gregory, Alfie Gilbey, Nathan Dennis, Tayo Adedejo (Finn Wilkes 79mins), Roy Stevens (Lewis Francis 65mins)