Erith & Belvedere 0-4 AFC Sudbury - I will never resign, insists struggling boss Chris Cosgrove

ERITH & BELVEDERE  0-4  AFC SUDBURY
Ryman League Division One North
Saturday 15^th February 2014
Stephen McCartney reports from Park View Road

ERITH & BELVEDERE manager Chris Cosgrove insists he will not resign after another heavy defeat leaves the club in relegation trouble.

It appears that sacking Martin Ford on 7 December 2013 has been a big mistake because since Cosgrove has taken sole charge of the team the Deres have suffered fourteen defeats in sixteen league and cup games.

AFC Sudbury climbed up a couple of places into ninth-place in the Ryman League Division One North table after a comfortable 4-0 victory at Park View Road.

But Erith & Belvedere remain rooted in the bottom three with eighteen points from 27 games, four points adrift of Barkingside.

AFC Sudbury changed Cosgrove’s half-time team-talk when central defender Ryan Henshaw headed home at the far post seconds before half-time, before Erith & Belvedere once again capitulated late on.

Substitute Steve Spriggs slotted home a second with five minutes remaining, before target-man James Barker capped off a fine display with a goal, before Henshaw scored with his second header of the game at the death.

Erith & Belvedere have leaked 72 league goals this season and alarmingly 11 of them have come in the 90^th minute.

The Deres suffered an embarrassing 10-1 defeat away to Thurrock on Thursday night, but they put in a resilient performance during the first half, restricting Sudbury to one goal.

“We stayed in the game until the 80^th minute against a decent side,” said Cosgrove afterwards.

“We had a couple of chances at 1-0 down. Ryan Flack done really well to get a chance on goal, unluckily he didn’t take it. 

“Mo Conteh had one flying to the top corner, the keeper saved it well. We had a ball fly across the area, no one got on the end of it.

“We had three good chances at 1-0 down. If we took one of them, maybe it could have been, you know, got something out of it, but (we played) a good Sudbury side, very tough, unbeaten in 12.

“I feel for 80 minutes we put on a good show. We stayed in the game.”

Sudbury skipper Sam Clarke played the ball out to Matt Daniels on the overlap and a cross from the right wing-back was met by Baker’s looping header, which bounced wide from six-yards after only 90 seconds.

The Suffolk side were relying on Baker’s height for most of the match by pumping long ball after long ball towards the number 9.

Cosgrove added: “That’s their game.  The nine’s a good player. They play their game and they play it well. They used their tactics, that’s their choice and they play it well.”

Sadly for the home fans, Cosgrove’s tactics of hitting high balls to a tall Sudbury back line ensured the ball kept coming back and Sudbury continued to press time after time and should have won by four.

Jack Cawley – who hurled eight long throws into the Erith & Belvedere penalty area – set up a chance through this method but after Ryan Horne’s shot was blocked, Baker stroked a low deflected shot past the far post from 12-yards.

Horne swung in the resulting corner from the right and Henshaw issued the home side a warning when he ghosted in to plant his header across goal and narrowly over the bar from six-yards.

Erith & Belvedere’s first chance of the first half arrived in the 21^st minute.

Left-sided midfielder Luis Rozan swung in a free-kick with his left-foot from the right and visiting keeper Alex Archer watched the ball drop down from the blue sky to use his right hand to push the ball over his crossbar.

Ryan Flack picked the ball up inside the Sudbury half and ran forward but stroked his left-footed drive past the far post from 25-yards.

Sudbury central defender Scott Mitchell clipped another long ball into the Erith & Belvedere penalty area and the ball seemed destined to bounce out of play. 

However, striker Ben Thompson did well to chase a lost cause and kept the ball in play before having time and acres of space to cut inside to stroke a right-footed angled drive from ten-yards, which forced Bourne into making a low save to his right at his near post.

Poor defending on the by-line by Erith & Belvedere right-back Danny Dolan gifted possession to Baker, who cut along the line before rolling the ball back for Thompson to flick his shot across goal and just past the foot of the far post.

But AFC Sudbury broke Erith & Belvedere’s resilience with a goal right on half-time.

Horne whipped in a corner from the right which was cleared back to him and a one-two was exchanged with Ollie Hughes for Horne to whip in a cross towards the far post, which sailed over Bourne and Henshaw was left unmarked to send his diving header into the bottom left-hand corner from six-yards.

Cosgrove said: “Bad timing as you say.  We was in the game in the first half. We matched them.  Our tactics were right, everything worked and turned off in the last minute, last seconds and we got paid for it and that changed the half completely.

“We’ve gone from a positive talk at half-time to negative, but stuff happens. You have to take it on the chin.  We didn’t fold. We kept going and we had three chances in the second half.”

AFC Sudbury created their first chance of the second half inside six minutes when Michael Shinn pumped a high ball onto Thompson’s head and his knock down was met by Mitchell’s left-footed volley, which sailed harmlessly over.

Horne swung in a hanging corner from the right which dipped down at the far post where Baker thumped his header over a crowd of players and Bourne pulled off a brilliant save to his right.

But Erith & Belvedere squandered an excellent chance to keep their survival hopes alive in the 53^rd minute.

Striker Flack was put through on goal by a pass that cut open the visitors’ defence but his initial shot was blocked low down by Archer, who also blocked Flack’s follow-up shot.

“Maybe if we were a winning, confident side he would take it but when you’re down the bottom sometimes confidence gets a bit low,” said Cosgrove.

“Nothing seems to go your way. You can’t buy luck at the moment. Everything can go wrong, seems to go wrong.”

Sudbury were to be denied a second goal only 71 seconds later when Hughes danced his way through the home side’s defence and was denied by a fine save by the advancing Bourne.

Thompson’s flicked pass put Hughes through on goal but despite a tight angle the Sudbury midfielder powered his shot past the diving keeper and past the near post.

Bourne was on song today - burying his Thursday Thurrock trauma - and he made another brilliant save in the 65^th minute.

Cawley’s long throw into the penalty area wasn’t cleared by the Erith & Belvedere defence and the ball came to Baker, who cracked a low right-footed shot on the turn towards the bottom far corner from ten-yards, which forced Bourne to dive low to his right to hold onto the ball.

Cosgrove said: “Ash does well. Ash doesn’t let us down. He always does his bit. I feel sorry for Ash sometimes. He does well. He does his bit. I can’t fault Ash. Great attitude, effort and ability.”

Sudbury would have mirrored Thurrock’s scoreline if Bourne was not in top form and another chance swiftly followed.

Mitchell pumped another long ball forward and Spriggs’ first time shot brought a fine reaction save from the Rochester-based stopper.

A mix-up between Laurence Collins and Reis Boyle gifted Payton Swatman another chance for Sudbury, but the substitute drove his right-footed shot across Bourne and past the far post.

Erith & Belvedere squandered their last chance of the game in the 73^rd minute when striker Mo Conteh cracked a powerful right-footed piledriver from 22-yards, which was beaten out by Archer high to his left.

“It was going in the top corner, the keeper done well to get it,” said Cosgrove.

“He made his own chance. He couldn’t have hit it no more sweeter and the keeper makes a good save.

“If something goes for us it goes in. They panic. Sudbury start panicking. They panic. We’re on top in the game, who knows, but it’s no good moaning about ifs and buts.”

But things started going downhill for Erith & Belvedere, as they let in three goals in the last five minutes.

The embarrassing way that they capitulated left one gobsmacked local manager saying that Erith & Belvedere’s players should donate their wages to a charity of their choice.

Sudbury doubled their lead with 39:27 on the clock when Hughes played a sublime through ball through the heart of the home side’s defence and Spriggs slotted his right-footed shot past Bourne to find the bottom right-hand corner from fifteen-yards – to show Flack exactly how it’s done.

“That’s exactly right,” replied Cosgrove.

“I don’t know the age of the boy, he’s come on as sub, he’s obviously an experienced player, he’s been playing in this league I should imagine for quite a while and he’s got the confidence (to score).

“One thing I should say about Ryan, he’s a young, 19-year-old lad who’s learning his trade in a high league and he’ll learn from it.  He’s a good player. He done well to get in the position.  He’s a young lad and he will learn from it. Maybe he’ll go on a run and he’ll them for fun.”

Bourne made another fine save to his right to prevent the unmarked Swatman scoring, before Sudbury made it 3-0 with 42:54 on the clock.

Shinn played the ball up to Baker who cracked a right-footed curler towards goal from 20-yards, which bounced off Jordan Clark and curled into the far corner past the diving keeper.

Cosgrove replied: “Deflected off someone’s back. I think off Jordan’s back.

“He (Baker) done well. He took a shot. If it doesn’t get deflected it goes down the keeper’s throat but when you’re in this position, it deflects (and goes in the net).

“But by then it doesn’t matter. If it’s 0-0 when that happened you can scream about it, but you know, good luck to him.”

Bourne capped off his inspirational performance when he made another brilliant diving save to push behind Baker’s left-footed curler from 30-yards, which was destined for the far corner.

But Sudbury wrapped up the game with a fourth goal with 49:19 on the clock.

Horne whipped in a corner from the right towards the far post where Henshaw rose to plant his header into the roof of the net from inside the six-yard box.

Cosgrove’s reply was short: “By then it was all over.”

Reflecting on his side’s limited chances at home – and credit must go to Welling United groundsman Barry Hobbins for his efforts in getting the game on – Cosgrove said: “We set out to keep it tight. We expected our chances to be limited but before the game if you’d said to me we would have three chances that we did at this level you’re not going to have a hat-full of chances in the position where we are in the league. We don’t expect handful of chances but when we do create them we have to try to take them.”

Erith & Belvedere have 19 league games left to play, with 10 more Saturday’s remaining.

“How do we stay up? Beat Barkingside twice and that puts them above Barkingside, then it’s all good. Beat Ware twice and beat Waltham Forest.”

Those three teams are in the bottom four of the league table.

“Five cup finals that we’re capable of winning,” added Cosgrove.

“Barkingside are in the same position as us. Our current form we’re probably a point behind Barkingside. They’re the team directly above us. That’s the plusses. We believe that we can go and beat Barkingside twice.  We’ve got to believe that and if we do that then all off a sudden we’re two points above them.”

When asked whether those five wins will avoid relegation, Cosgrove replied: “I probably say five and maybe another one along the way somewhere. If we win half-a-dozen games, considering the form of the teams around us aren’t setting the world on file, like we ain’t, maybe six wins could be enough.”

Erith & Belvedere have won 5 league games in 27 league games and winning five more seems a tall order.

Cosgrove must swallow his pride and install Martin Ford (and his son Joe) as part of the management team because he is clearly struggling to cope with the tactical side of Ryman League football.

When asked whether he would return to Park View Road, Martin Ford replied: “Yes 100%. I have unfinished business there and it hurts me to see a club as big as Erith & Belvedere in their current situation.”

Cosgrove admits that leaking fourteen goals in two games is not good enough.

“It’s terrible. It’s not good at all, no. It’s not good at all but you’ve got to take Thursday as a one-off,” he said.

“But talking about today’s game, I don’t think the score tells the story.  1-0 down after 80 minutes, before that fifteen minutes before that we’re probably having our best spell of the game, three good chances.

“As I say Thursday was a complete nightmare, no excuses. It happened but I feel the players showed their unity. The response they gave today for the first 80 minutes, they kept in the game for 80 minutes and if we took our chances we could have got something out of it.”

But Cosgrove insists he is not going to jack it in.

“In life I’m a fighter. I will battle and I will fight to the end,” he insisted.

“You’ve got to show character and you’ve got to keep believing and believe one good result, one win will turn into two or three.

“I’m a fighter in life. The easy thing for me to do is walk away. That’s the easy thing to do but I won’t do that. I want to fight for as long as I know the players are with me and want to play for me, which I think they showed today in the first 80 minutes they are. I will fight to the end until the chairman tells me otherwise.”

When asked about the worst case scenario – relegation – Cosgrove replied:
“You think of the worst case scenario. I’m not stupid.  It’s possible, but all I can do and the players can do is do their best to avoid it.

“I could say hand on heart at the end of the year I’ve tried my best and I’ve tried my hardest and that’s all I can do. 

“Unfortunately I can’t kick a ball. I can’t go out there and kick a ball. All I can do is my preparation has been the best I can. I’ve organised the team the best I can. I’ve motivated them the best I can.

“If my best ain’t good enough at the end of the day, so be it. I’ve given my 100% best, that’s all I can say.  I’m here every game giving my best. I do everything I can to the best of my ability and if that’s not good enough I’ll look them in the eye and say I’ve done my best and we’ve come up short and that’s all I can do.

“The chairman has told me to keep us up. It’s a very good board here. You can’t fault the board. The board’s a great board. They put a lot of work into it. They work hard and they want to stay up but I’ve took on board what they say. They want to stay up. That’s what I want. All I can say to the board is I’ll do my best.

“I’ll do my utmost best that I’ll be here and I will fight to the very end and I will be fighting. I will never walk away. I will never resign that’s not the sort of character I am.  I will be fighting until the last day of the season and hopefully we can get a bit of luck and a bit of good fortune.

“I hope the chairman believes in me and gives me a chance to try.  The chairman does a great job here. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes. The committee does a great job and they deserve to stay up with the work that they do. I’ll do my best.”

Erith & Belvedere: Ashley Bourne, Danny Dolan (Ryan Palmer 66), Laurence Collins, Paul Springett, Reis Boyle, Jordan Clark, George Savage, Jamie Miller (Luke Tanner 71), Ryan Flack, Mo Conteh, Luis Rozan (Taylor Thomas 58).
Subs: Nelson Senkatuka, Felix Ogeah-Andrews

Booked: Jamie Miller 32, Paul Springett 68, Ryan Palmer 80, Taylor Thomas 90

AFC Sudbury: Alex Archer, Matt Daniels (Payton Swatman 44), Jack Cawley, Michael Shinn, Ryan Hensman, Scott Mitchell, Ryan Horne, Sam Clarke, James Barker, Ben Thomas (Steve Spriggs 63), Ollie Hughes (James Akintwee 86).
Subs: Josh Carus, Jamie Forshaw

Goals: Ryan Henshaw 45, 90, Steve Spriggs 85, James Barker 87

Booked: Ryan Horne 18, Ben Thompson 62, Scott Mitchell 90

Attendance: 85
Referee: Mr Peter Killip (West Norwood, London SE27)
Assistants: Mr Pasquale Acierno (Winchmore Hill, London N21) & Mr Terence Barnes (Enfield, Middlesex)