Maldon and Tiptree vs Aveley

Maldon & Tiptree FC vs Aveley FC

 

Maldon & Tiptree

The Millers

Sat 6th October 2018
Wallace Binder Ground

Maldon & Tiptree FC - History 

   
Maldon Town Football Club was established in August 1946 as part of the Maldon Social and Athletic Club. The club initially joined Division Two of the Chelmsford & Mid-Essex League. Although they transferred to the North Essex League the following season, the club returned to the Chelmsford & Mid-Essex League in 1949. They were Premier Division champions in 1949–50, retaining the title the following season, as well as winning the League Cup. The club then joined the Essex & Suffolk Border League for the 1951–52 season, finishing as runners-up in the Premier Division and losing the League Cup final. They were Premier Division runners-up again in 1955–56 and 1959–60.
  

In 1964–65 Maldon won the League Cup and the following season they were Premier Division champions. The club then moved up to the Eastern Counties League. They finished in the bottom half of the Eastern Counties League every season until leaving to join the Essex Senior League in 1972. The club won the Essex Senior League in the 1984–85 on goal difference. In 1996 they re-joined the Eastern Counties League, becoming members of Division One. In the 1997–98 season the club were runners-up and were promoted to the Premier Division.
  

Maldon reached the semi-finals of the FA Vase in 2002–03, losing 3–0 on aggregate to AFC Sudbury, with the home leg attracting a record Wallace Binder Ground crowd of 1,163. The 2003–04 season saw the club finish as runners-up in the Premier Division, earning promotion to the Eastern Division of the Southern League. A third-place finish the following season led to them qualifying for the promotion play-offs; after beating Barking & East Ham United 3–2 on penalties in the semi-finals, they defeated Uxbridge in the final by the same score line and were promoted to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League. However, the club's first season in the division saw them finish in the bottom three, resulting in relegation to Division One North. Although they finished fourth in Division One North in 2006–07, they were ineligible for promotion and not allowed to take part in the play-offs.

In September 2009, Maldon Town were taken over by Tiptree United chairman Ed Garty, with both clubs playing at Maldon's ground. It was announced in April 2010 that Maldon Town would be rebranded as Maldon & Tiptree Football Club, with Tiptree United withdrawing from the Essex Senior League; a new blue and red striped kit was revealed ahead of the 2010–11 season. In 2012–13 they were runners-up in Division One North; in the subsequent play-offs the club defeated Aveley 3–1 in the semi-finals before losing 4–1 on penalties to Thamesmead Town in the final after the match had ended 2–2. They were Division One North runners-up again in 2016–17, beating Haringey Borough 5–4 in the play-off semi-finals and then losing 1–0 to Thurrock in the final.
  

Journey

  
The 30 mile trip took 45 minutes by car up the A13 and A130 and we arrived in the area exactly as planned at 2pm, however, the Satnav inexplicably led us to the local refuse centre, hopefully this isn’t indicative of the quality of the football this afternoon. We reset the device and it then allowed us to backtrack to find the entrance to the ground. The car park was very full but we managed to squeeze the car into a small space before setting off in the rain to find the entrance to the stadium.
  

Tickets

  
Admission was £10 for adults and £5 for Sam and we were admitted via a side gate rather than struggle through the turnstile with the multiple bags containing Sam’s drinks and snacks, the Aveley FC flags and our large winter coats. We then made our way round to the clubhouse.

A nice gentleman outside the clubhouse sold us a programme and a strip of raffle tickets – prizes appeared to be a fruit basket containing a selection of Tiptree jams and a bottle of wine.
  

Programme

  
The programme was priced at £1 and was a 16 page full colour booklet printed on thick glossy paper. It included just 3 pages of adverts, a managers column, histories of both clubs, squad details for the Jammers and the usual stats and fixture details.

 

Pin Badge 

For those of you who have been reading the blogs this season you’ll know of Sam’s quest to collect a pin badge from all of the teams we visit. The Jammers don’t have a club shop so we asked around and went on a magical mystery tour of the ground on our quest. The staff at the snack bar said to try the board room, the chap in the board room said we could buy one behind the bar but the lady there said they don’t stock them. The chairman’s daughter said that she thought they had some somewhere but we finally gave up as we were getting soaked in the persistent drizzle.
 

Food
    

Whilst I was searching for a badge Jean visited the snack bar and purchased a portion of rustic looking chips with the peel still on and disposable cups of tea and hot chocolate – total cost £5. The quality was very good.

Bar & Clubhouse

Snack Bar & Entrance to Clubhouse

As it was still raining we opted to consume our beverages inside the clubhouse which was actually inside the ground, unlike most of the other grounds we’ve visited this season. A nice spacious bar area with half a dozen or so tables made a comfortable place to sit while Sam finished his chips which he gave the thumbs up.

Toilets

  

The gents toilet opposite the snack bar consisted of a hut which had no windows or lighting so I had to stand with the main door open to allow Sam to use the cubicle as he wouldn’t enter in the pitch dark – I assume there are toilets in the bar but didn’t look as it was getting too close to kick-off

Travelling Support

  

I guess it was the weather, but the number of away fans was nowhere near the level of previous games this season – I counted about 20. Total attendance was 126.

Covered Seating

Millers Fans Behind The Goal

There were three covered stands in the ground. The first was situated on the clubhouse side of the pitch and was along the left hand side. The second was on the opposite side at the halfway line and the third was behind the left hand goal – it was to this one that we made our way given the weather conditions and the absence of any of the ‘Sons Of Aveley’ to put up the flags. I took the decision to hang them in the back of the stand to prevent them getting wet. When we kicked off the Millers were attacking the goal at the far end but at least we’ll be in the right place for the second half. With no covered stand at the other end we will stay here for the whole game.

Millers Squad Warming Up

Millers Line Up:

1. D.Hughes
2. S.Sampayo
3. S.Cross
4. S.Mvemba
5. H.Gibbs
6. J.Love
7. G.Doyle
8. C.Witherspoon
9. T.Richardson
10. A.Freeman
11. A.Akrofi
Subs : M.Milner, F.Gard, S.Ngandu, A.Teniola, C.Bourne

  

Kick-Off

  

4 – Corner for the Millers, cleared by Roast

10 – Sykes gets in behind our defence but shoots high over the bar

16 – A free header for Roast from a Jammers free kick goes harmlessly over – Maldon having most of the play so far

19 – PENALTY to the Millers – Rambo surges into the area and has his legs taken away

19 – GOAL!!!  - Alex Akrofi dispatches the penalty to put Aveley one up

26 – Tom Richardson just fails to get enough on a Doyle corner

27 – Akrofi goes on a run but lifts his shot over the bar

28 – Hughesy to the rescue as he gets his fingers to a Sykes header and pushes it around the post

37 – Andy Freeman’s free kick just needs a touch to go 2-0 up but no one close enough to convert it

45 – A flurry of corners for the Millers eventually comes to nothing

Half-Time – Maldon & Tiptree 0-1 Aveley FC

47 – Foul on Akrofi but Richardson’s free kick id deflected wide

50 – Another good save from David Hughes to foil Millar

56 – Richardson puts a tempting ball across the face of goal but Mvemba can only put it over when it looked easier to score

68 – Richardson with another chance that is deflected wide

77 – SUB – Freddie Gard replaces Sam Mvemba

80 – Freddie Gard’s shot goes a whisker wide

82 – Richardson’s shot is saved on the line by the Jammer’s keeper

84 – SUB – Andy Freeman is replaced by Chris Bourne

87 – SUB – Goal scorer Akrofi is replaced by Shad

89 – Chris Bourne clears a Roast header of the line

Full Time – Maldon & Tiptree 0-1 Aveley FC – We finally break the Jammers curse with a first league away win in 7 attempts.

After a full round of high fives with the players behind the goal and taking down the flags we made our way back to the car park and made an uneventful drive home.

Next up the Millers take on Cheshunt in the Velocity Trophy at Parkside on Monday evening sponsored by ‘Living The Dream’