Silver Jubilee Park, Kingsbury
Spartan South Midland League Division One
Admission: £4.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 87
Match Rating: 3
With steady rain arriving in south east England this morning, falling on already sodden soil, and with a poor forecast for the afternoon, I decided to take the safe option today and head for a plastic pitch.
Silver Jubilee Park is about a 25 minute walk from Hendon rail station. Spectators enter from above one corner, stretching out along the length from here are the changing rooms, an old fashioned but housing a hall and bar, whilst in front of this is covered seating. It offers a slightly elevated view of the action, but there are lots of pillars obstructing one’s view from here. The ground has quite a nice setting, with a hedge covering the perimeter fence, and the rest of Silver Jubilee Park stretching above the ground in the distance. A stand covering a few terrace steps is positioned above one of the goals and probably provides the best view of all. It's a basic ground currently, although there are plans to upgrade facilities as Isthmian League outfit Hendon move into the ground full time from next season. The programme was decent for the level of football, providing the essential stats and facts.
Edgware Town have had a great start to their second season since reforming in 2014. They top the table with 12 wins from their first 13 league, losing the other, although Crawley Green, in second place on goal difference, have an even better record, a 100% record having played one less game. So, surely a tough game for Brimsdown today, who themselves were formed recently, in 2013, after Brimsdown Rovers were swallowed up by Enfield 1893. They came into this game in ninth place, with five wins and seven defeats from their 12 games. They have been going through a difficult time recently though, having lost their manager and most of their players, and lost 8-0 at Crawley Green in their last league fixture ten days ago.
After a minute’s silence before kick-off ahead of the terrorist attacks in Paris yesterday evening, heavy drizzle continued to fall throughout the first half. Edgware took the lead on 5 minutes when Jay Molloy drilled the ball home. Fortune favoured them for their second when Molloy's initial shot was saved by the keeper but the ball rebounded back off Molloy and into the net. Indeed, Brimsdown could consider themselves a little unfortunate to be two goals down and looked more than capable of getting back into the game. However they were truly blown away after the half hour mark. First, on 31 minutes, Butt crossed low to the far post for Abdul Mansaray to tap home at the far post, and then three minutes later, Butt converted a penalty low to the right. Two minutes later and Mansaray scored Edgware's fifth, getting on the end of a diagonal ball forward before shooting low across the keeper and into the far corner. On 38 minutes, Edgware made it six, Mansaray claiming his hat-trick with a powerful drive under the keeper, and within a minute, Jack Smith made it seven with a shot from wide with the keeper out of position. With the last kick of the half, Edgware scored their eighth when Molloy took the ball around the keeper before tapping into the net to claim his hat-trick.
One really feared for Brimsdown at this stage, as they looked odds on to beat the twelve goals they scored on the opening day of the season, all the more so as the second half was delayed by five minutes whilst Brimsdown's substitute corner got ready. But as the rain finally relented, Brimsdown deserve enormous credit for a vastly improved, battling performance despite already being on wrong the end of a thumping. After coming close a couple of times, they scored the goal of the game on 55 minutes with a fabulous angled shot from the edge of the area into the far top corner. Gradually Edgware did wake up from their slumber midway through the second half and after coming very close to scoring three times, they finally did score their ninth goal on 76 minutes when Smith drove low into the far corner despite the keeper’s outstretched boot getting a faint touch on the ball. Despite a couple more good chances, Edgware couldn’t score one more goal to reach double figures, and instead Brimsdown scored another consolation when they scored from the penalty spot via the inside of the left hand post. And so Brimsdown actually won the second half 1-2, which they deserved to do with a much improved performance backed up by some very good goalkeeping as well. Indeed, they could even had reduced the arrears further.
For me personally, this has been an incredible run of games in the last week, watching 30 goals fly in in just three games. No doubt I will be reminiscing about these days when I no doubt go through a spell later in the season feeling fortunate to see even one goal in a game....
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