Clapton CFC Men’s First Team narrowly missed out on the league title and the one automatic promotion spot, despite beating FC Romania 4-2 in front of a record club crowd at the Old Spotted Dog Ground.
Game 40 of 40. A dazzling spring day began with CCFC Men’s First Team in with an outside chance of winning the league title. True, CCFC needed a nine-goal swing in their favour and leaders Hutton to lose to lift the title. However, CCFC is a club that so often thrives on the unlikely, and hopes were high among a record home crowd of 1,712.
The day’s opponents, FC Romania, were looking for a reprieve of their own. Recently made homeless, the visitors were battling to avoid relegation and desperately in need of three points. The stakes were set for an entertaining afternoon.
Already assured of second place and a home draw in the play-offs, CCFC could play with the handbrake off, and things could hardly have started better. Fans in the Scaffold had barely had time to unfurl their tifo when James Briggs put in a trademark wicked delivery from a free kick. After a slight deflection off a Romania defender, forward Louis Brown was presented with the simplest of headers and duly nodded home. 1-0 CCFC with four minutes played; suddenly, a nine-goal swing didn’t seem quite so unlikely.
Unfortunately, those dreams were tempered quickly. Just two minutes later, Romania took advantage of a very high Clapton back line to break and Samir Sedaoui rifled the ball into the roof of Jack Francis’ net. A reminder, in case one was needed, that they too had something on the line. 1-1.
The game continued in the same frantic fashion, with CCFC trying to run the score up and Romania trying to exploit the inevitable gaps left by Clapton’s enterprising approach. However, the next real incident of note came in the seventeenth minute, with an injury to CCFC midfielder Julian Austin. After a questionable challenge from an FC Romania midfielder, Austin landed heavily and stayed down. Unable to continue, he was replaced like-for-like, with Pete Jamieson in his place.
Returning scholar Jake Wintour then went close with a shot which crashed into the side netting, fooling half the ground into thinking CCFC had retaken the lead. Unfortunately, it was FC Romania who’d do that four minutes later. What initially seemed like a fairly innocuous long ball upfield was dealt with uncharacteristically poorly by the CCFC defence. Nobody staked a claim on the ball as it bounced and bobbled around the area, allowing Romania’s Christ Sery to poke home. 1-2 to FC Romania and CCFC’s end-of-season party looked like petering out.
However, as we’ve seen so many times this season, add a little adversity and this group of players will react. With FC Romania down to ten, after a player was sin-binned for picking up the ball, Brown almost brought CCFC level immediately. A well-struck shot was cleared off the line, as FC Romania were forced into some real backs-to-the-wall defending.
Just before half-time, the pressure told. After some excellent work on the left, Fred Taylor cut inside and unleashed a strike that looked bound for the far corner. Romania’s keeper produced an excellent save, only to parry the ball. Wintour, who’d shown great anticipation to get there, slid in and tucked the ball under the keeper. 2-2 and Wintour’s second goal in two games.
After a clash of heads in the Romania box that saw both Fred Taylor and his opponent receiving treatment for several minutes, the half-time whistle sounded. CCFC no doubt left the pitch a little frustrated, having been the better side for most of the half, especially as the news filtered through that Hutton were drawing at Brimsdown.
The second half began with the good news that both players involved in the nasty clash of heads were able to continue. However, little happened in the first ten to fifteen minutes, beyond a flurry of yellow cards: one for Romania’s number six and one apiece for CCFC’s David Makisi and Charlie Fagan. Both teams, mindful of not being caught on the counter, began to cancel each other out.
Things briefly flickered into life on sixty minutes, when the ever dangerous Brown received the ball in the box. A two-handed shove in the back from a Romania defender sent him sprawling just as he shaped to shoot. It looked like a penalty but an unconvinced referee waved play on.
One of CCFC’s great strengths this season has been their substitutes, and manager Geoff Ocran’s willingness to use them to turn a game on its head. Off came Brown, Fagan and Joel Akuwudike for Andre Odeku, Ross Broadway and Flavien Stierlen. This was followed a few minutes later by Cameron Gordon’s introduction in place of Makisi.
The introduction of fresh legs injected some much-needed fizz into a second-half display that had gone a little flat. CCFC’s reward came in the eighty-sixth minute. A flick on from Odeku put Gordon through on the left of the area. The forward still had a lot to do, but his low shot on the angle squeezed under the keeper, who got something on it, and the ball dribbled over the line. 3-2 CCFC.
If that goal had an element of fortune to it, Gordon’s next one oozed pure class. The forward was found once again from a lovely through ball, this time from Tami Unuefa. Proving himself the calmest man in the Old Spotted Dog Ground, he rolled his foot over the ball, sat the goalkeeper down and tucked it into an empty net. 4-2 CCFC after an inspired few minutes from Gordon.
With that, the game meandered to a close with CCFC running out worthy winners. As the news came through that Hutton had triumphed at Brimsdown, there was a little disappointment that automatic promotion proved just tantalisingly out of reach, despite how unlikely it was. However, CCFC will take heart from having pushed a relentless Hutton all the way to the last day, as well as a good result that keeps the momentum going ahead of the home play-off semi-final next weekend.
Congratulations to Hutton, who were promoted as worthy champions of the Eastern Counties League Division One South and our commiserations to FC Romania, who finish second bottom and will be relegated unless they win a reprieve.
Next up, it’s the play-off semi-final against Lymore Gardens on Saturday (April 25) at the Old Spotted Dog Ground. League form counts for nothing but CCFC have a chance of ending the season with play-off glory. We’ll see you there.
Photos
