A trip to the seaside on a cold December day is far from ideal, but two absolute cracking goals from in form Ricky Defreitas made sure the east end boys from Eton Manor went home with all three points.

Manor, playing in their all red away strip looked the more composed of the two sides from the off, some neat football on a surprisingly good surface was more of an advantage to the visitors as they pushed for an early breakthrough. Lenny Nicholls had the best chance of the half when a loose ball fell just right and he smashed a fine first time volley towards goal, only to be foiled by a great save from the home keeper.

At the other end the centre back pairing of Chris Barratt and skipper Steve Reading just seems to be getting better with every game, these two made sure that the home sides strikers never gave keeper Carl Prince too much trouble, but on the odd occasion Prince was brought into action he was more that capable of dealing with the situation.

The visitors were looking the more likely to make the breakthrough and went close with strikes from Nicholls, Defreitas, Tarten & Wallace. Then came the move of the half as Connolly found Reading his delightful chip set Wallace free on the right and as he raced in on goal and drew the defenders to him, he squared the ball to Nicholls and with the goal at his mercy lost his footing at the vital moment, 0-0 at the break and all to play for.

The second half started at a frantic pace as both side looked to take the game to each other, Carl Prince was called into action as a succession of Southend corners came to nothing, thanks to his awareness in and around his 6 yd box. The visitors were gradually creeping back into the game and with Lee Smith and Charlie Tarten starting to win the midfield battle the second half looked to be heading the way of the first with the home side on the back foot, and when Glen Connolly found a way through the middle of the park he unleashed a cracking shot from 35yds that only just flew over the bar, plenty of action now and mostly in the home sides half as again efforts from Nicholls, Defreitas, Barratt and Wallace go agoniszingly close.

The visitors make a double substitution as Smith and Tarten come off and Jamie Warren, and Tony Guri take the field, the latter of the two making his debut for the club. Lenny Nicholls now dropping into the middle of the park alongside Jamie Warren as these two take over from Smith and Tarten and keep the Manor ticking over in vital areas. Almost immediately this takes effect as Warren wins a loose ball in the middle and lays it into the path of Reading, he sees Defreitas making his run and sent an exquisite ball over the home sides defence for Defreitas to run on to, he duly obliges and races clear of the defenders and hits a low crisp drive into the bottom corner of the net with the keeper watching. 1-0 to the Eton Manor and it was no more than they deserved.

Not content with this the visitors were on the attack again and it was that man Lenny Nicholls who again went close, Nicholls was causing all sorts of problems for the home side with his tenacious style of play and never say die attitude and when he laid a ball to Tony Guri just inside the home sides half another Eton Manor attack was on the cards, Guri sent Wallace away down the right with a perfectly timed pass, he beat the oncoming defender and hit a square ball to Defreitas, Defreitas with his back to goal some how managed to lose his marker, turn and fire in a low drive past the diving keeper and into the bottom corner of the net from 18yds, 2-0 and game over.

With 10 mins left the visitors still had time for two more efforts as both Nicholls and Guri saw their shots just fly past the post. So a well deserved three points today for the Manor, who are now unbeaten in their last five games, and who are playing like a formidable unit from the back to the front. Ricky Defreitas is playing his best football since joining the club and with strike partner & Man of The Match Lenny Nicholls nearing full fitness, these two are beginning to cause problems for all the oppositions defenders.

Manor Man of the Match

Lenny Nicholls

Manor Team: Prince, Barratt, Reading (Capt), Marsh, Tarten, Smith, Wallace, Nicholls, Hunt, Defreitas, Connolly. Subs: Richards, Lewis, Jenkins,Guri, Warren.

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