Essex boys close in on cup dream (From Echo)

Essex boys close in on cup dream

3:50pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in Sport By Paul Alton

SOUTH Essex footballers will be hoping to end the county’s 62 years of hurt when they go for FA County Youth Cup glory in April.

Billericay Town’s Jack Shepherd and Tom Vickers, Great Wakering’s Ben Sartain and Canvey Island’s Albert Levett were all part of the Essex U18 team which beat Wiltshire 4-0.

And Catholic United’s George Watts was an unused substitute for the semi-final victory at Billericay’s New Lodge home.

It is 62 years since Essex last won the competition, when they defeated Middlesex 4-3 on aggregate, and they will face either West Riding or Somerset on home soil in the final on Saturday, April 28.

“The pitch did not help and the game was quite scruffy but the important thing was getting the win,” said central midfielder Sartain.

“Now we hope we can go on and win the final and I’m hoping to get a start in that match.

“I think everyone was confident going into the match but we knew it would not be an easy game, but it turned out that our quarter-final against Middlesex was harder.

“Getting the first goal settled us down and we were able to build on that in the second half,” added Sartain, who has played for Wakering’s first team in Ryman One North this season.

A brace from Redbridge’s Dan Jones either side of half time put Essex in control before late strikes from Brentwood Town’s Jacob Dingli and Sartain wrapped up the victory.

But an Essex win was far from certain in the first half as Wiltshire enjoyed the better of the play.

Both sides had early chances to take the lead, with Wiltshire’s Joe Shepherd and Levett having fierce shots blocked.

But Essex had a purple patch which culminated in Jones giving the hosts the lead from a Levett through-ball after 29 minutes.

Essex dominated after the break and doubled their advantage on 67 minutes when Jake Johns handled in the penalty area. Goalkeeper Robert Brown saved Jones’ spot-kick but the England Schools player fired in the rebound.

The visitors’ best chance of the afternoon saw Josh Morse’s long-range free kick strike the crossbar before being scrambled clear, but Essex put the game beyond doubt with a third on 77 minutes when Jones cut the ball back and crossed for substitute Dingli to head into the far corner.

The tie was sealed three minutes from time as Levett slid the ball into the path of Sartain to side-foot a shot into the bottom corner, although there remained time for Callum Ibe to almost make it five for the hosts when his low effort was hacked off the goal line.

Essex: Tom Pitman (Brentwood Town), Jack Shepherd (Billericay Town), Dan Walshe (Thurrock), Tom Vickers (Billericay Town), Nathan Bertram-Cooper (Redbridge), Tom Richardson (Manford Way) (Jamal Allen [Redbridge], 81), Ben Sartain (Great Wakering Rovers), Albert Levett (Canvey Island), Chris Harris (Heybridge Swifts) (Jacob Dingli [Brentwood Town], 74), Robbie Norris (Redbridge), Dan Jones (Redbridge) (Callum Ibe [Redbridge], 86). Unused Substitutes: David Miller (Brentwood Town), George Watts (Catholic United).