Match report from Tom Cunningham

Saturday's game saw Hullbridge suffer defeat at the hands of Maldon & Tiptree FC in what was a tense and tight affair.

The game began with Maldon setting the tone in the early stages and it wasn’t long until Greene, in goal for the home side, was tested with an edge of the box strike when a training ground corner routine from Maldon almost paid off. As we approached the 20 minute mark, it was clear that the Hullbridge tactic was to sit back and form a solid defensive shape in hope of slowing down the Maldon attacking threat and in fairness to Darren Manning and his players, their tactic was working, Maldon were struggling to break down the blockade of the Hullbridge defence.
However, the first half was not without its chances and the Hullbridge back four were tested on many occasions, particularly from set-pieces with the now league leaders registering several corners in the first half. Although this was a test that Hullbridge, once again, passed with flying colours. Later in the half, the Hullbridge defensive resolve almost paid off when Sotoyinbo tested the Maldon keeper McNamara, but the keeper tipped Sotoyinbo's strike over the bar, then minutes later Okunja threaded through a defence-splitting pass to the on running Sotoyinbo who saw his low 1 on 1 effort well saved by McNamara in the Maldon goal.
As the half came to an end, Darren Manning would have been pleased with his side after a resolute first 45 minutes against the now league leaders, Maldon & Tiptree.

The second half began in a similar fashion to how the previous half ended, scrappy yet fast-paced. Alas, it wasn’t long before the game fell into the same pattern of defence vs attack with Hullbridge looking to break on the counter. Although, it was Maldon who came close to a counter-attacking goal in a 3 vs 2 situation, though they failed to pick the right pass, resulting in the move breaking down in disappointing fashion and this was very nearly the story of the match for Maldon who were in dire need of a goal and it wasn’t much longer before they got it.
The goal came with 12 minutes to go when Charlee Hughes beat the offside trap to find himself 1 on 1 with Greene before slotting the ball home to give Maldon the 1-0 lead.
Moreover, with the game nearing its end, Hullbridge attempted to get a much-deserved point. But the chance never really came for the home side as they suffered another disappointing defeat despite a great defensive performance.

Photos from Neil Hunwicks (ABridgeTooFar16) and Paul Baxter (@pmbaxterphotog)

Some match highlights: https://twitter.com/ABridgeTooFar16/status/1203700857562443776

Charlee Hughes goal: https://twitter.com/ABridgeTooFar16/status/1203412401946865664
https://twitter.com/ABridgeTooFar16/status/1203363852592844800