Late Heartbreak For Tooting At Billericay

Tooting will be wondering how they came away with nothing from Blunts Wall Road this afternoon after holding out for 98 minutes against high flying Billericay Town and for much of the time giving as good as they got in what was probably their strongest defensive performance of the season so far.

With Billericay sitting top of the table and Tooting down in 23rd place it was no surprise to see the home side look to take the initiative in the early stages of the first half. Whilst it was Billericay that applied most of the early pressure, the Tooting backline, re-enforced by the return of Callum McNaughton in the centre, held firm and on the odd occasion that Billericay did get through, Matte Pierson, the busier of the two ‘keepers, was on hand to make some excellent saves. It was by no means a one sided affair though and Tooting looked dangerous every time Danny Bassett on the left and Dan Clements down the right, were set free by Jordan Wilson and Chace O’Neill in midfield, to run at their full backs. In fact, it was Danny Bassett who probably had the best opportunity of the half when he broke through into the left hand side of the Billericay area on 36 minutes and found himself one on one with Alan Julian in the Billericay goal. As Bassett closed in on goal, the ‘keeper came out to narrow the angle and made a good save from the Tooting winger’s low struck side footed shot.

The second half started in a similar vein, with Tooting’s menace when they went forward, supplemented by the addition of the returning Mike Dixon who replaced Omar Folkes 10 minutes into the half. Again, it was probably Tooting who had the best scoring opportunity of the half, this time falling to Dan Clements. It came on the hour mark when Mike Dixon ran on to a ball out wide on the right. He beat his man and put in a low cross in which found Clements up in support just inside the penalty area. As he took the ball in his stride he ghosted past his defender, closed in on goal and shot but was off balance and falling back as he did so, resulting in him lifting his effort from 7 yards out, over the cross bar. Shortly afterwards the dynamics of the game changed when Jordan Wilson received a second yellow card of the game for a tackle on Jermaine Pennant out close to the touchline as he burst through to attack the Tooting back line. With central midfield in need of bolstering, wide man Dan Clements came off and was replaced by Dominic Morgan-Griffiths. Shortly afterwards Juevan Spencer replaced Billy Dunn, leaving Mike Dixon as the lone front man. However 10 minutes later the numbers were even again as Billericay centre back Rob Swaine received a straight red, being the last man as he pulled Mike Dixon back as the Tooting striker attempted to break clear from just inside the Town half

Tooting continued to absorb everything that Billericay could throw at them with Matte Pierson continuing to shine between the sticks for the Terrors who appeared to be on the way to earning a well deserved and unexpected point. However, as the game clock ticked past 98 minutes played, Billericay won themselves a corner out on their left hand side. A shot at goal and a deflection resulted in another corner on the opposite side. This time the ball was swung in towards the six yard box and with the Tooting defence for once in the game unable to clear their lines, the ball was finally forced over the line by Ricky Modeste to snatch the points for the hosts and break the hearts of the Tooting players and support.

Photo credit: Sam Conquest

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