We Are The Stags Online

The young Stags gained an impressive win over Billericay to take them through to a home tie against local rivals (we built the Brisbane Rd ground in the early 1900’s), in a match which was an excellent display of football from both sides.

The Stags took the lead after 57 seconds when Hector Mackie scored from close in after Daniel Charge had pulled a fine save from Billericay ‘keeper Ronnie Woster.

The Stags took the goal as a starting point and began to put pressure on the home side. Within the half hour they were two up when they sent a long ball out of defence which central defender Rob Swain failed to deal with Charge connected, rounded the ‘keeper and shot home.

Billericay were not going to lay down and began to pile on the pressure. For the last fifteen minutes of the half both Jason Willis and the defence played with poise and composure. Even when Billericay drew a goal back, they were still looking the better team.

The second half was like a chess match with both teams looking for the opening and it was the Stags who found it to go a further goal ahead. Ricky Modeste put a long ball into the penalty area which Mackie controlled and shot past Worster.

Billericay got what was really only a consolation goal in the 89^th minute, then after six minutes injury time, the final whistle took the young Stags through to the First Round for the first time in the history of Waltham Forest.

The Stags climbed to second place in the Division after Wes Thomas scored his 13 goal of the season after only 42 seconds. Once again, they had to defend stoutly for much of the match to gain a well deserved three points.
Uxbridge could have gone ahead straight from the kick off but ‘keeper Charlie Hasler was up to the danger. The ball came straight back out of defence to midfield then through Mass Jallow to Thomas who raced clear of the defence and slotted the ball under Uxbridge’s Ray Francis.
Within five minutes, the Stags could have gone further ahead when a throw in from the right side was headed back by Leon McKenzie, the ball went across the Uxbridge goalmouth but nobody was quick enough to slot the ball home. Then Fola Orilonishe joined the attack and almost set up a goal for McKenzie who was ready and waiting  for the ball with an open goal mouth in front of him.
On 17 minutes Uxbridge’s frustration almost boiled over when ‘keeper Francis almost let McKenzie round him and score, only the speed of the ball took it away from McKenzie’s boot.
Uxbridge began to push up and the long ball put Forest on the defence but the home side could make little of it. Only Forest’s poor passing out of defence made gave Uxbridge the majority of the possession.
Uxbridge’s first real chance came on 27 minutes when Paul Feeney found himself in a good position but he managed to shoot wide when it was probably easier to score. A few minutes later it was the Stags who could have drawn further ahead when they won a free kick on the edge of the Uxbridge penalty area: the short kick was taken to Jallow whose excellent shot was saved by Francis diving low to his right.
Next it was Orilonshe’s turn to cause Uxbridge trouble. Once again, on the break, McKenzie got the ball just in the Uxbridge half. He quickly saw the opportunity and floated the ball over to Orilonshe who would have scored had he been on target, his header went wide from 15 yards when Francis was way off his, line coming to meet the ball.
For the rest of the first half Uxbridge were on the attack but it was the Stags who looked the more dangerous on each attack.
The second half became an excellent defensive display from the Stags as Uxbridge rained in high ball after high ball and went through a stage of winning countless corners. But the half started with more than its fair share of controversy when, in the 48^th minute, Thomas was through on goal and was taken down by the last defender just outside the penalty area. For the third time in three matches, the referee “bottled” the decision and only gave a free kick with a yellow card.
It was not long before Thomas was elbowed in the face right in front of the Asst. Referee. He did not raise his flag but the referee decided the foul had been committed and gave a free kick. Perhaps violent conduct does not get a red card any more?
On the hour, Charlie Hasler came into his own when making a phenomenal stop from a Nichols free kick from just outside the area. From then on it was a story of some really excellent work by the whole defence with Brown and Ward commanding the penalty area. The Stags’ defence stood firm until the last ten minutes when Hasler made two more excellent saves.This was n excellent win under blitz conditions from a  Forest side always looking more dangerous and more likely to score again.

The first meeting of two clubs each with famous heritage, ended with the Stags going back to third in the table and marksman Wesley Thomas hitting four to become the division’s top scorer.
Ilford set out their stall early by sending long high balls into the Stags’ half of the ground but the home defence had the better of the falling ball on almost every occasion. The early gain from this was a free kick on the edge of the Stags’ area after ex- Stag, Declan Perkins, fell over on the edge of the penalty area. However, as with many of Ilford’s efforts in the match, the ball was sent high over Charlie Hasler’s crossbar.
The Stags immediately counter attacked and won a series of corners which Ilford’s defence had real trouble dealing with.
It took only 19 minutes before Thomas hit his first goal which settled the Stags into a probing routine that often left Ilford making last gasp tackles. Fola Orilinoshe won the ball in midfield and sprung Ilford’s off side trap with a deft ball bisecting the two central defenders, to find Thomas on the penalty spot to coolly stroke the ball into the goal.
From the restart, the Stags went on the attack and within five minutes had three good goal chances. On 25 mins, Thomas could have had the second goal when Darren Duporte sent another pass through the middle of the defence for Thomas to run on to. He outpaced the defence but was forced to the left of the goal with Ilford’s ‘keeper Richard Wray cutting down the angle.
As Ilford tried to force the ball into the Stags’ half of the field, they left gaping gaps at the back and even defender Didier Batunga joined the attack to have a shot which was not too far wide of the left upright.
The first half came to its conclusion with Ilford trying to get back on terms but they employed the same long ball out to the wings on too many occasions and the lack of variety became their undoing as the home defence became well versed in the tactic and were able to deal with any problem very effectively.
Ilford’s Dominic Harkins had the first chance of the second half when he found himself on the edge of the penalty area with only Hasler to beat but he dithered and  Stevens was across quickly to snuff out the danger.
Thomas’ second goal on 60 minutes after a ball out of defence found Richard Georgiou in space, he cut the ball back to Thomas who made no mistake planting the ball home.
The Stags were now full of confidence and using the space allowed on the wings and behind the Ilford back line, who were still pushing up looking for a goal.
Things could have turned nasty when Reilly and Batunga became entangled in the 62nd minute ending with Reilly pushing both hands into Batunga’s face in full view of referee Mr Morss. (After the match Mr Morss explained his leniency in not sending Reilly off. He felt he could have sent both players off but decided against it).
Ilford decided to go for broke and brought on the last two of their substitutions. This was to no avail. After 68 minutes Thomas scored his third when Leon Belton McKenzie (who’d been an excellent target man for the whole of the second half) raced after what seemed to be a lost ball down the right wing. From the goal line he sent the ball across the goal for Orilonishe to send it back across the ‘keeper for Thomas to easily head home.
Things turned from bad to worse for Ilford with the sending off of Reilly, who had been on the pitch only a matter of fifteen minutes before being cautioned, then abusing the referee after he’d been warned, to receive his second yellow. This took all the heart out of the visitors  this was soon evidenced when Harkins found himself on the Stags’ six yard box and could only hit the hoardings when scoring seemed easier even though Hasler had got to him and would, in all probability, have saved the shot had it been on target. Moments later, Hasler was again called into action to smother a shot from Perkins.
On 79 minutes Thomas and Orilonishe combined agai to get through the Ilford defence for Orilonishe to cut the ball back from the left of the penalty area for Thoms to score number 4.
Some mature defending and an extra-ordinary goalscorer more than made up for the previous week’s defeat.