Clapton CFC Men’s First Team were left to regret a string of missed chances including hitting the woodwork four times as they slipped to a 3–2 defeat away at Stansted.
The hosts made the brighter start and went ahead in the 9th minute, Harry Pittuck converting a cross before Jack Francis could close down the danger.
Clapton hit back and equalised midway through the half when Enzo Pina surged down the left and squared for Jeff Twumasi to finish neatly into the corner.
One minute later saw a potentially game-changing moment: Jake Wintour’s cross found Louis Brown, whose header thudded against the post and away.
Clapton seemed to have taken control of the game, but Stansted retook the lead on the break 33 minutes, when experienced striker Michael Mignot found himself in space to cut inside and place a shot into the corner.
Another ‘what if’ moment followed just before half-time when Brown’s lob landed on the top of the crossbar – then within a minute Stansted were 3-1 ahead. A free-kick on the edge of the box was rifled in by captain Joe Thomas.
A big turnaround was needed in the second and Clapton made a fair fist of it. James Briggs rattled the crossbar on 56 minutes with a second-half free-kick—the third time the visitors had struck the woodwork.
On 69 minutes, Briggsy got his goal after Tami Unuefa was brought down in the box. The penalty was calmly converted to reduce the deficit to 3–2.
With at least 20 minutes to grab an equaliser, Clapton pushed forwards but nothing quite fell. Fred Taylor saw a close-range effort blocked in a crowded box, while deep into stoppage time his header came back off the post but the ref called a foul anyway
Stansted held on to take the points and CCFC were left deflated after the highs of winning four games in a row. Geoff Ocran’s side will now look to bounce back next weekend at the Old Spotted Dog Ground against another high-flyer Newbury Forest.
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