Basildon Town 2, Benfleet 3

FRESH from their weekend FA Vase win at Brantham, Town suffered their first loss of the season in a five goal Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties league thriller against a very good Benfleet side at Rookery Hill on Wednesday (31 August).

Benfleet took the lead very early on when Basildon failed to clear their lines and led to Ben Foord drilling a shot beyond Matt Knight in the Basildon goal. The remainder of the half was very competitive and resulted in chances at both ends but no further goals.

The second half started in similar chance but it was Basildon who equalised when a long free kick from Ben Smith evaded everyone and ended up in the corner of the net. However, two minutes later Benfleet restored their lead when, following a corner, the ball fell to Billy Purdy who hit a piledriver that flew into the roof of the net.

Benfleet made it 3-1 on 75 minutes with a penalty from Henry Sims following a foul in the box. Town responded well and gained a penalty of their own when a Benfleet hand blocked a shot. Rhys Fatt duly converted to make it 2-3.

Town then piled on the pressure and had two more penalty claims but none given. The game ended with no further goals. Definitely a match for the neutral with chances at both ends from the first minute to the last.