Barking FC ran out 4-0 winners against Hullbridge Sports.
A goalless first half in windy conditions didn’t deter the home side who secured the points thanks to a hattrick from Sam Edwards and a third of the season for Lekan Osideko.
Barking lost the toss and were playing against the wind in the first half but did their best in extremely gusty conditions and forced Ciaran Gordon-Stearn into the first save of note after five minutes as Chaka Barnett latched onto a long ball and attempted to beat Gordon-Stearn at his near post but the effort was palmed away.
The rest of the first half followed a pattern for the most part, Barking doing well defensively but struggling to clear the ball as the ball simply went backwards in the strong winds. The Blues managed to gain some momentum as the first half neared its end, firstly Tyreece Robertson saw his shot creep wide before Blues went close twice in injury time with Alfie Attrill’s header going just over the bar from Sam Edwards’ free kick. Edwards himself won the ball back in a high press from the resultant goal kick and managed to feed Barnett through on goal but his effort was wide of the post.
It took just five minutes of the second half for Barking to take the lead as Barnett was inexplicably hacked down just inside the box despite not being in a particularly dangerous position.
Sam Edwards stepped up to take the gilt-edged opportunity, and powered the ball past Gordon-Stearn to give Barking the lead and hopefully end their penalty woes.
Barking kept up the pressure and should have doubled their lead ten minutes later as Ramiah Mills found himself through on goal, he attempted to beat Gordon-Stearn at his near post but his effort was just wide of the target.
Halfway through the second half saw Attrill try and score his second excellent half volley in a week, but this time his impressive effort was just tipped over the bar by the Hullbridge stopper.
Hullbridge’s inability to pass through the press was evident again after 70 minutes as they passed the ball out of play for a Barking throw in, Mills stepped up for his traditional long throw which was flicked onto the far post by Arthur Jeans where it found Sam Edwards who steered the ball home for his and Barking’s second.
Finn Rushton was forced into his first action for the Blues at the 80 minute mark as he made a powerful save from a narrow angle.
Barking scored a deserved third four minutes later as substitute Kegan Caull, on his debut, broke past the Hullbridge defensive line to be on goal before unselfishly squaring the ball to Lekan Osideko who gratefully tapped the ball into an empty net.
An excellent second half performance was wrapped up two minutes into injury time as Hullbridge awarded Sam Edwards the freedom of Mayesbrook Park from about 25 yards out and he was more than happy to take advantage as he launched a piledriver of a shot which smacked into the net for his hattrick – three goals for him and three points for the Blues.
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