All square for Witham as they share a point with Hornchurch

Ryman League division north

Witham Town and AFC Hornchurch shared a point in a game of two halves as both sides enjoyed 45 minutes of dominance apiece.

In the opening 45 minutes, it was the hosts who were on the front foot while Witham struggled to stage much in the way of an attacking threat and that was flipped over for the second 45.

The scoring reflected that as well, as a 1-0 half-time lead for the Urchins was overturned after the break as Usman Adeniji levelled things up, but neither was able to force a winner.

Hornchurch came into the game on the back of a ten-game unbeaten run in the league, while Witham were searching for form after taking just two points from their previous four division north outings.

That form was evident through much of the first half as the hosts looked more composed going forward.

There was early threat from the Urchins as Abs Thompson went on a mazy run through two or three Witham challenges before laying the ball off to Jed Chouman, but he was unable to capitalise as his shot lacked any power.

It was a signal of intent from the hosts, though, and Witham found themselves being harried in the opening stages, with Thompson being the chief tormentor down Hornchurch’s right flank.

Witham did find their feet, though, and had periods of applying pressure of their own, but the respective defences stayed on top.

That was until the 18th minute when more good work from Thompson brought a corner for the hosts.

Although Witham keeper Sam Soutar made an outstanding point-blank save from an initial header, Ross Wall was first to react to the loose ball and slammed it into the roof of the net to put the Urchins ahead.

They almost went two ahead soon after when left-back Jandir Da Cruz cut the visitors’ defence open and surged towards goal, but his final shot was well off-target.

Having fallen behind, Witham found it difficult to make too many inroads as passes failed to find their intended targets on too many occasions and that allowed Hornchurch to keep their visitors pressed back.

They were unable to turn that dominance into a two-goal lead though, and the half ended with just the single goal between the teams.

Witham had finished the opening 45 minutes in a more positive manner, though, forcing a number of late corners and they looked to resume that after the break.

In the opening minutes of the half, the ball was worked out wide to Luke Mallett, who put a beautifully-weighted cross into the middle, but the onrushing Usman Adeniji was just unable to make contact.

It was now the Hornchurch defence’s turn to be on the back foot as they were unable to hold any meaningful type of possession to get out of their own half.

The dominance of Witham was eventually turned into a goal in the 59th minute when a flowing move saw Ryan Charles get in behind the hosts’ back line and pull a lovely ball back to where Adeniji was waiting to drill it into the net.

It was no less than Witham deserved and they felt aggrieved to not be given a chance to take the lead soon after as what appeared a blatant handball by a home defender Alex Bentley in the box went unpunished.

Hornchurch were stung by the turnaround in fortunes and made changes but while they were able to press forward more, they were unable to work Witham keeper Soutar enough.

In the end, neither side was able to find the killer touch that would get them a winning goal and both had to be satisfied with a point.

Wtham Town: Sam Soutar, Luke Mallett, Alex Anderson, John Watson (Kofi Gyebi 70), Lance Akins, Damien Green, Nathan Koranteng (Lewis Payne 87), Michael Osei, Scott Kemp (Tim Monsheju 81), Usman Adeniji, Ryan Charles.

Subs not used: Tyler Hayes, James Regis.

Referee: James Simpson.