Clacton II 3 Saffron Walden 7

Division 8SE

Clacton II 3 Saffron Walden 7

Clacton felt hard done by after controversy reigned in their first loss at Vista Road against third placed Saffron Walden.

Clacton started the game in a positive vein, attacking hard and within five minutes Dan Pritchard won a free hit right in the corner of the field. A firm strike across the goalmouth allowed Rik Coleman to open the Clacton scoring and put the Seasiders in front.

However, it was downhill from here as Saffron Walden struck back twice before the break, the second taking a cruel deflection off a Clacton defender to put the visitors in front.

Clacton then suffered the first controversial decision of the match as Pritchard was asked to leave the field for fear that his socks clashed with the visiting team. This was soon resolved and Clacton returned to full strength.

The second half started poorly for the hosts. Russell Measor was the victim of a reckless challenge by a Saffron Walden defender, but it was Measor who was sin binned following the incident, leaving Clacton down to ten players. The visiting umpire refused to allow Measor back onto the field, and so Clacton played the remainder of the game with only ten players.

This soon took its toll as the visitors struck twice more in quick succession, both shots again taking heavy deflections. A glimmer of light followed as Coleman struck his second of the game and then had a third disallowed soon after. But the visitors came back again, when Keith Buxton was dubiously adjudged to have used his feet to defend the goal and a firm penalty flick extended the lead.

Sam Hodge was tireless in attack and struck the post on three occasions, before finally finding a way through late on.