EAST LONDON III 2

CLACTON 4

East Men's League division three south-east

CLACTON secured the points thanks to a clinical return rate on all three of their short corners.

It keeps them in touch with the teams above as they continue their fight to stay in the division next season.

The Seasiders took the lead when Mat Timms followed up on a Nick Key short corner to lift the ball over the prone East London keeper.

A few minutes later, Shane Walker converted a neatly-worked short corner to double his side's lead.

Defensively, Clacton were solid, with Kieron Parkes, Sam Jenner, Denzil Donovan and Jon Wood sniffing out danger, with the home side reduced to sideways and backwards possession.

Ryan Nippress dominated the midfield and provided great service to the attacking runs of Stephen Moriarty and Rik Coleman.

The second half saw the Seasiders continue where they left off in the first, attacking with neat, flowing passes, and it was Coleman who slotted in the third corner goal of the game for his tenth of the season and a dizzy 3-0 lead.

The home side didn’t just roll over and found the back of the net for 3-1.

However, this just refocussed Clacton and they restored their three-goal advantage when captain Carl Parkes found Key, wandering up from sweeper, to fire the ball into the circle were Timms neatly deflected the pass to Walker for his second of the match and season.

The game wasn’t one-sided and Clacton keeper Jack Blackbourn made a number of great stops - the pick being a triple save with the score at 3-1.

His heroics clinched him the man-of-the-match award.

On Saturday, Clacton host Upminster at Vista Road.

Their opponents are just four points behind with a game in hand, so nothing but a win will do.