Kelvedon Hatch welcomed Manford Way to School Road on a warm, bright and with hardly any wind Saturday afternoon, ideal playing conditions.

The Hatch got into their stride straight from the kick off and on 2 mins Darren Brown won the ball in midfield, passed to James Burt on the left wing, his cross was headed home by Greig Taylor, 1-0. On 4 mins a corner by Garry Smith found Dan Demetriou in their crowded six yard box for a simple tap in, 2-0. Hatch were on fire and on 7 mins Kevin Marsden played a one two with Brown and then crossed the ball back into their area and Demetriou was on hand to slot home giving their keeper no chance, 3-0. Hatch seemed to tack their foot off the accelerator and allowed Manford back into the game. On 18 mins Danny Fenn, the Hatch keeper, made a good one handed save out to safety after a cross from the left. On 19 mins Demetriou shot high over the bar after some pin point passing from defence to attack. On 22 mins Fenn was in action again saving well from another cross from the left. On 27 mins a Nick Pegg short corner was passed back to him and his cross was dropped by their keeper but cleared to safety by a defender. 10 mins went by with stale mate in midfield. On 38 mins a great through ball from Brown to Demetriou ended with their keeper heading clear from outside the box. On the stroke of half time Manford way played some neat football down the left to score, 3-1. In injury time a defensive error down the Hatch right allowed Manford to cross into the box only for the forward to shoot wide.

The second half got under way and both sides went looking for more goals as play went from end to end. On 52 mins Taylor passed to Marsden in space his volley hit the bar and away to safety. On 56 mins Burt completely outpaced the Manford defence and he passed to Taylor who brought a good save out from their keeper. On 57 mins a Pegg corner was cleared of the line by a defender. On 58 mins Burt and Taylor combined again with Taylor slotting home under the body of their advancing keeper, 4-1. On 59 mins Chris Wolff replaced Nick Pegg. On 62 mins after some good individual skills by their centre forward Manford scored, 4-2. On 69 mins Taylor found space down the right, his cross into the box was dummied by Demetriou through to Wolff, who miss kicked the ball that found Burt in space who scored from a very acute angle, 5-2. On 71 mins Craig Cripps replaced Greig Taylor. On 73 mins a Smith corner was headed clear but found Steve Merrick whose first time shot was headed off the goal line. On 74 mins Chris Neville’s header thundered against the bar and away to safety, On 79 mins Sam Raven replaced Kevin Marsden. On 85 mins Fenn punched clear a Manford free kick from the right. On 86 mins Raven and Burt combined well to give Cripps a chance but his shot went over the bar. On 90 mins Steve Merrick was guilty of a late tackle on their centre forward, penalty awarded, slammed home giving the Hatch keeper no chance, 5-3. In time added on Fenn denied Manford another goal, with a great save from a free kick that looked destined for the back of the net.

The Hatch supporters had seen another good display of football by their team especially the first seven minutes.

Touchline