Chris Warwick UPDATE

Seeing as LBFC don't have a game this weekend, Dean has kindly given Warwick the weekend off to go and represent Europe in the Ryder Cup. Everyone at LBFC wishes him the best of luck for the tournament.

Injury Update 28/9/10

Daron Eills, following the heavy tackled he received on his ankle at the weekend, will be in cast until October 28^th. This is a big blow to Little Baddow FC as Daron is a key player and very consistant performer. He is likely to be out of action for a minimum of 6 weeks. I'm sure we all wish Daron a speedy recovery.  On the plus side Chris Melling is recovering well from the hamstring injury he received against Margaretting. Chris is expected to be fit for Little Baddows next game on the 10^th October against Broomfield Reserves.  

Little Baddow v M & G

Date: 26/9/10

Location: Melbourne Park

Score: 6 -3

Little Baddow welcomed M & G to Melbourne Park on what was a cold and windy day. M & G were previously in division one of the Invitation league so were a bit of an unknown quantity. Little Baddow were looking for a strong performance following a good win at Margaretting the previous week. Due to the blustery conditions,  the game plan was to keep the ball on the floor as much as possible. However,  Little Baddow started slowly and seemed off the pace. For the first half hour the ball was continually given away cheaply and we failed to string more than three passes together. M & G took the lead from a shot that on any other day Dave Smith would have saved but unfortunately it seemed to slip through his hands. Dave made up for this moments later with a fine full stretch save which he tipped around the post, a shot which looked destined for the back of the net. With 15 minutes remaining of the first half Little Baddow managed to gain some composure when in possession of the ball, when we move the ball quickly and pick the right passes we are very hard to stop. Following some good work down the right side of midfield, Luke Hornsley managed to get on the end of a cross, finishing high into the net and putting Little Baddow level. Shortly after this Luke was put through on goal, finding himself one on one with the goal keeper. He very rarely misses such chances and with a firm strike he put Little Baddow 2-1 ahead just before half time. The second half started very much the same as it finished for Little Baddow. We were keeping possession well and the movement was good, when we lost the ball we were keen to win it back quickly and put M & G under pressure. However, against the run of play 15 minutes into the second half the ball fell loose to their centre midfielder around 25 yards out. No one closed him down and he fired into the back of the net. Little Baddow continued to control much of the second half and regained the lead with two further strikes from Luke putting us 4-2 up. Darren Sawyer was now playing left wing as Daron Eills was on the receiving end of a pretty heavy tackle leaving him with a chipped ankle bone and damaged tendons. A further two more substitutions were made with Luke and Chris Warwick coming off for Nick Hemsley and Charlie Sharp. Charlie was soon on the score sheet, showing good movement to get away from his marker he latched onto a cross which flashed past the M and G keeper. M & G then scored another goal making the score 5-3, their striker unmarked at the far post. The final goal, coming from James Taylor, was a fine reward for all of his hard work and endless running in the centre of midfield. The final score was 6-3 to Little Baddow, leaving us top of the league on goal difference. A very good start to the season, maximum points from the first four games. Given the players that we have at our disposal I know we can play so much better than we currently are. In certain areas of the pitch the ball needs to be released earlier and the simple option used. This is something everyone needs to think about.

Dean Miller

Margaretting S&S Club v Little Baddow

Date: 19/9/10
Location: Margaretting
Result: 1-7
    
Little Baddow travelled to Margaretting after two straight wins but after poor performances in both games, especially when taking into consideration the potential of the team. LBFC were also without their manager Dean 'Avram Grant' Miller who was official observing Yom Kippur, as well as Dan 'Tal Ben Haim' Frost who was doing the same and Dave Smith, who is also Jewish. However, with Smeeton undertaking the role of caretaker manager, we were hopeful that we could get a decent result. Yet the home team had a surprisingly hopeful start when, after a mixed opening few minutes, Margaretting went 1-0 up thanks to a controversial penalty being given and subsequently slotted away against covering goalkeeper Darren Sawyer. This seemed to invigorate LBFC though and they soon equalised through a Chris Warwick deflected shot. Burty then managed to put two goals past the less-than-agile Margaretting keeper in quick sucession, the second being a beauty of a strike. 
        
We went in 3-1 up at half time, and with the incline in our favour second half, we were confident we could secure victory early on. And we did. Little Baddow's passing and movement was far too much for Margaretting as their heads dropped and the LBFC players got more and more confident. Victory came in the shape of goals from Tom Wreathall, a sublime lob from Charlie Sharp and a brace from Luke Hornsley, the second of which was particularly hard to take for the ageing Margaretting defence who presumed play had been stopped after Chris Melling went down injured and James Taylor appeared to kick the ball out of play. However, ever the opportunist that he is, Hornsley decided to carry on and stopped the ball from leaving the pitch and ran direct to goal, cooly slotting the ball past the confused keeper. The score finished at 7-1 but it could easily have been even more. It was most probably Little Baddow's best performance of the season so far, but arguably against the weakest opposition. Still, three more points on the board and a lot of positives to take from the victory.


Spencer

NEW TRAINING TIMES

Training will now be on a Thursday starting at 7 and finishing at 8. I would like everyone to try and get there for 6-45 so we can get stretching and a couple of laps of the pitch out of the way before and we can start training at 7.

The address for Bramston Sports Ground is Spinks Lane, Witham, CM8 1EP

Dean Miller

Goldhanger Argyle v Little Baddow

Date: 12/9/10

Location: Promenade Park, Maldon

Result: 1-2

Little Baddow travelled to Maldon Prom knowing the game against Goldhanger was going to be a tough contest. The game was faily even for the first 10 minutes. After 15 minutes of play Goldhanger were awarded a free kick around 25 yards out. The Goldhanger Argyle player placed a shot into the corner of the net giving them an early lead. Once Goldhanger took the lead they dominated for large periods. Little Baddow were finding it difficult to keep the ball due to Goldhangers' players closing us down quickly and not giving us time on the ball. During the first half despite the neat passing play from Goldhanger they failed to create any clear cut chances. However they should have been awarded a penalty due to a late tackle on there forward in the box, but to everyones disbeleive it wasn't given. A lucky escape for Baddow.

The second half started in a similar fashion to the first. Little Baddow failing to retain the ball and Goldhanger dominating possession. On 20 minutes Baddow made a substitution. Richard Hands coming on for Tom Wreathall. Rich went to right back, with Billy going to centre half, Dan Frost centre mid and Daron Eills moving over to the right wing. Little Baddow found themselves getting back into the match, playing some nice football and putting the Goldhanger defence under pressure. Dan Frost bringing some calmness to the midfield and not giving the ball away cheaply. Daron and Rich were working well down the right with James Taylor giving the defence the protection it needed. With 15 minutes remaining Luke 'Horny' Hornsley was brought down in the penalty area by the Goldhanger keeper, the referee awarding Baddow a penalty which Luke calmy put away. Game on, Baddow now seemed to be working that extra bit harder knowing that we could possibly snatch an unlikely win. 10 minutes to go and Daron picked the ball up just inside the Goldhanger half, Rich Hands bombed on past him, Daron played the ball into Rich's path who then got to the by line delivered an inviting cross that Luke duly guided into the back of the net. Goldhanger piled on the pressure, Dave Smith making some stunning saves and the defence putting in some last ditch tackles to keep Goldhanger out. When the final whisle went Baddow knew this was a massive win that maybe we didn't deserve. We all know we must improve, im sure as the season goes on the standard of our football will get better. (This is something that must happen). We may not get so lucky next time. Well done though lads another 3 points and another game unbeaten.
By Dean  Miller

Little Baddow squad to face Goldhanger Argyle.

Dave Smith, Rich Hands, Billy Bolton, Dan Frost, Spencer Carmichael-Brown, Dan Carr, Adrian Daly, Daron Eills, Chris Melling, Chris Warwick, James Taylor, Tom Wreathall, Nick Hemsley, Paul Smeeton, Charlie Sharp, Luke Hornsley.


By Dean Miller
 

Little Baddow v Old Chelmsfordians Reserves

Date – 05^th September 2010

Location – Melbourne Park

Result – 4-3

This game saw us welcome Old Chelmsfordians Reserves to Melbourne Park for our first game of the season. We just pipped OC’s to the division four title last season on goal difference so I knew this was going to be a close match. Little Baddow were out of the blocks quickly going into a two goal lead within the first ten minutes. Both goals coming from Luke Hornsley, however this seemed to inspire OC’s. They upped their game and had soon reduced the deficit to 2-1. Little Baddow seemed to switch off and looked disorganised at the back as OC’s piled on the pressure. This led to OC’s taking a 3-2 lead at half time. Little Baddow couldn’t come to terms with the free running midfielders of OC’s who were linking well with their lone striker upfront. No substitutions made at half time, although Tom Wreathall was moved upfront with Luke and Burty moved to the left wing. The second half started the same as the first half finished, Little Baddow playing some nice flowing football in small spells but couldn’t really create any clear cut chances. Old Chelmsfordians had plenty of chances to kill the game off with some easy chances being wasted. With around 30 minutes of the second half remaining,  Dan Carr was brought on for Chris Warwick. Dan Carr slotted in at centre back with Dan Frost moving into centre midfield. Dan made a good impact, winning a lot of balls in the air and cutting out the threat of OC’s lone striker. With around 15 minutes remaining Tom Wreathall found space in the OC’s penalty area and his powerful shot was parried by the OC’s keeper into Chris Melling’s path who passed the ball into the net. This seemed to give Baddow the boost they needed, and  with 8 minutes left on the clock Luke Hornsley wriggled free from his marker and guided a shot into the bottom corner of the net from 15 yards out, completing his hatrick. It was only then that Little Baddow seemed confident on the ball and were happy to knock it around and play keep ball to waste the remaining time left. Little Baddow finally won 4-3, there was great relief at the end of the game with many of us knowing we got lucky and maybe didn’t deserve to win the game. On the plus side its 3 points on the board. I am looking for a much improved performance next weekend against Goldhanger Argyle who will once again prove tough opposition. 

By Dean Miller

Little Baddow v Chelmer Village Athletic

Date – 29^th August 2010

Location – St Peters College

Result – 6-4

This was Little Baddow’s last pre-season game before the league season started on the 5^th September. I was looking for a strong performance so that we could go into the season with confidence, but this game turned out to be very topsy turvy affair. The pitch was not the best as the grass was quite long which affected our passing game. We were lucky to go one goal up via a penalty from Daron Eills. We were under a lot of pressure and this goal came against the run of play. Chelmer Village drew level shortly after this, Little Baddow then scored a further goal via Luke Hornsley to put Little Baddow into a 2-1 undeserved lead at the break. The second half was the same as the first, Chelmer Village drawing level then Little Baddow regaining the lead. The final score was 6-4 to Little Baddow. Luke Hornsley getting on the score sheet 5 times.

Overall an excellent pre-season for Little Baddow. All the friendlies were against higher league opposition, which was a good test on how far we had come. All the new signings performed well and made a good impact. We have got a fantastic squad and a good bunch of lads. I’m sure we can make a big impact on Division 3 this season.

By Dean Miller

Little Baddow v Great Baddow

Date – 15^th August 2010

Location – St Peters College

Result 1-1

Little Baddow went into the match against Great Baddow high on confidence following a great result against Pyramids the previous week. However, I knew we would be in for a tough match as Great Baddow are a well run club as well as being a good footballing team. The first half was very evenly matched, neither side really gaining the upper hand. It was a mistake by the Great Baddow defence that let Luke Hornsley in to round the goalkeeper and score his third goal in two games to put Little Baddow one nil up at half time. Great Baddow made several substitutions at half time. The second half remained at the same tempo as the first. As we got into the last 20 minutes of the second half the fresher legs of the Great Baddow players began to tell. They drew level with around 15 minutes remaining. The score remained the same at the final whistle. The Little Baddow defence dug deep to hold on the secure a well deserved draw with the game finishing 1-1.  

By Dean Miller

Pyramids vs Little Baddow FC

Date – 08^th August 2010

Location – Tiptree

Result – 1-6

Little Baddow went into their first pre-season friendly on the back of a months intense fitness training provided by Hugh Bullard. Little Baddow played Pyramids at the same time last pre-season, a game which we lost 3-0. Given the pre-season fitness training and new summer signings, I was quietly confident we could give Pyramids a good game. For the first 20 minutes the game was quite evenly matched. James Taylor was working hard in the centre of midfield breaking up the Pyramid attacks, whilst his centre midfield partner Luke Hornsley was nowhere to been seen due the first of many hangovers on a Sunday morning for Little Baddow FC. Luke and Burt were then swapped around, with Burt's creativity in the centre of midfield and Luke’s pace and skill upfront we started to make inroads into the Pyramids defence. The first half performance was excellent right the way through the team. Our high fitness levels and our ability to move the ball quickly took us into a two goal lead at half time.

The second half got under way and Pyramids come out strongly trying to find a way back into the game. Little Baddow stayed compact, defended well under the guidance of Dan Frost and started to gain full control of the match again. Four further goals in the second half sealed an excellent start to our pre-season. Pyramids got a late consolation goal from the penalty spot making the final score 6-1.

By Dean Miller

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