Blues joint-boss believes fast start was vital to beating Sporting Bengal

Joint-manager Glen Golby believes an early goal calmed any nerves for Barking as they cruised to a 4-0 success over Sporting Bengal United in the Essex Senior League.

The Blues took the lead in the fifth minute through Ben O’Brien before Lamar Reynolds doubled their advantage 10 minutes later.

James Peagram netted in the 55th minute and added a second in time added on at the end of the second half to round out the scoring for the hosts.

And Golby feels the success was all down to the early strike from O’Brien which made their opponents chase the game from an early stage.

“We got off to a good start, the early goal seemed to relax us and forced Sporting Bengal to go for it,” said Golby.

“They were playing a high line which seemed to suit us too, with the pace of Lamar and James helping them to get in behind.”

Heading into the game, Bengal had developed something of a reputation as draw specialists having seen 13 of their previous 29 matches end level.

And Golby was delighted his team were able to get off to a flyer against a side who had been so resolute in recent weeks.

“It took a bit of the pressure off of us, but we had been in control in the opening exchanges and were dictating the tempo,” he added.

“We were getting a lot of joy with the third man running from midfield and it worked for us quite a lot.”

While Barking were prolific in front of goal, their defence held up well too to record their first clean sheet in three games and Golby was happy wit how his defence coped.

“Jay Taylor was brilliant at the back and Billy Rix, even though he was caught out a few times at the back, coped well with everything in the air.

“Even with the changes we made late on, we kept it tight at the back although we gave away possession cheaply because of our tired legs.”