Basildon took the game to the Manor early in the game, showing great movement in the middle of the park. The Manor looked strong and did not look like conceding. The Manor's main threat come from the right hand side, Armstrong pulling wide gave the Manor it's sharp, however, Armstrong constantly being pushed off the ball failed to penetrate deep enough to gain any advantage. Lee Whitelock and James Morris fortunately for the Manor were on their game.

Forde and Felice upfront seemed desperate to find an opening. The Bee's continued to battle for every ball and caused the Manor problems and came close with 26 minutes gone when a super through ball into the path of a striker looked certain of beating The Manor Keeper Steve Richards as he come racing out off his line only to be blocked. Richards was called into action again a few minutes later when the ball sent down the right saw a great cross on to the foot of a Bee's player Richards having to dive full stretch pushed the ball wide of the post.

The Manor reacting quickly sent a counter attack Morris to Dockerty looping a ball into the path of Smith who put a pin point pass to Forde and saw his shot just wide of the post. On the stroke of half time the Bee's last attack was met by some poor defending by the Manor and it was 1-0 to the Bee's before the break.

The second half saw Hanniff on for the injured Ahmed. Straight from the kick-off the ball sent back to Whitelock who put a fabulous ball over the top of the Basildon defenders perfectly timed by Forde and with a Bee's defending pulling at his shirt still managed to keep he's composure to chip the keeper to make it 1-1 after 46 minutes. That sparked a Manor onslaught who hit the Bee's from both sides of the Park. Hanniff twisting and turning the Bee's defence was causing them all sorts of problems and laying some fabulous balls to the running wing back Grant Smith. Against the run of play the Bee's clearing their lines sent a desperate ball up front, The Manor defence again caught out of position allowed the Bee's their second of the game 2-1 to Basildon. 78 minutes gone and Young Steve Whitelock on for Armstrong, gave the Manor a bit more width, Steve Whitelock given a free roll by the Manor bench meant that the Manor used a three pronged attack with Whitelock, Forde and Felice up front.

From here on it was all Manor, however failed to take their opportunities after 8 attempts on goal and 6 of them on target. All in all a disappointing day for the Braves who were hungry for revenge after last year losing 7-0 in the same fixture. The Manor were unlucky not to have came away without at least a point today. The Basildon players seemed relieved when the final whistle went on the stroke of 90 minutes with the referee not allowing any injury time??

The Manor can take away some positives from the game, new boy Docherty playing for the first time for the Manor looked strong, Mitchell The Manor Capt looked in control. Richards made some tremendous saves and is giving The Manor Manager a few headaches to decide who takes the number 1 shirt Prince or Richards? Lee Whitelock looks like he is back to his best however must stop the silly yellow cards! Grant Smith seems to have found his place in the Manor team and is one of the first names on the team sheet. Tony Mash nicknamed Mr 100% is fast becoming Mr consistent great battler and leads by example. Forde scoring again now has 8 goals from 8 games and is now in the top 3 marksmen in the ESL this season and James Morris Manor Man of the Match looked commanding plus made some great surging runs and was unshakable off the ball.

Next game is at home to Concord Rangers in the Essex Senior League Cup Kick off 19:45 on Tuesday 14th September.

Manor MOM : James Morris- Dominated the Left hand side

Manor Scorers - Forde

Team:: Richards, Ahmed, Mitchell, Marsh, Smith, Dockerty, Whitelock, Armstrong, Morris, Forde, Felice. Subs, S. Whitelock (78), Prince, Fulbrook, Hanniff (45).