Essex Senior Cup

Concord Rangers 5, Waltham Abbey 0

TONY Stokes made a goal-scoring return from injury as Concord warmed-up for their big FA Cup date with Barnet by smashing Waltham Abbey in the county cup.

The former West Ham striker  scored his side’s third shortly after half time and went off after 60 minutes on his return from three months out injured.

He will now be hoping he has played himself into contention for Saturday’s big day out at Edgar Davids’ Bees.

It was the perfect way for Concord to get Saturday’s 5-0 league defeat at Weston out of their system, and they took a 20th-minute lead after some enterprising play from Reece Harris down the left.

The winger whipped in a lovely ball which was smuggled away for a corner, and from Sam Collins’ resulting delivery, Steve King arrived late to head powerfully down and in.

But the central defender almost undid his good work straight away when his slip gave James Peagram a sight of the Concord goal, but he curled wide.

The Abbotts went even closer five minutes before the interval when Collins gave the ball away in midfield and Peagram broke into the box and forced Jamie Butler into a save.

Concord had a sloppy finish to the half but doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time from another Collins corner, this time it was Jack Lampe who climbed unchallenged to head home.

Stokes joked with the crowd that he needed an “oxygen tank” at the start of the second half but he made a mockery of that claim minutes later when he picked out the top corner for a comeback goal.

That paved the way for two more goals in as many minutes as Easterford got on the scoresheet by helping himself to yet another free header from a Collins corner.

And almost from the restart it became five as Stokes stabbed an effort against the post and Reece Vanderhyde followed up to stroke the ball into the dejected Abbotts’ unguarded net.

Concord: Butler, Hamilton (White 61), Lee, Collins, King (Glozier 45), Easterford, Vanderhyde, Lampe, Harris, Cawley, Stokes (Gordon 61).

Waltham Abbey: Palmer, Bedford, Barnes, Attoro, West, Daveney, Scott, Pearman, Bruno, J Peagram, B Peagram (Russell 25).

MoM: Sam Collins (Concord).