FC Clacton bounced back from Saturday’s disappointing 5-2 defeat at Haverhill to earn a vital three points with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over visiting CRC at the Rush Green Bowl. 

It was the first league action at the Bowl in over three weeks and the side had a slightly fresh look about it with two debutants named in the 16 alongside the returning Matt Waters.  In a game of limited chances, goalkeeper Ed Wootten had a fairly comfortable first start for the Seasiders, impressively saving Luke Allen’s injury time penalty only to see the same player tuck home the rebound; whilst new signing Andy Lloyd made a late substitute appearance alongside the returning Waters, the latter of whom rounded off the scoring for the home side late on.

The opening exchanges saw the occasional half chance for either side, with the ball spending almost as much time in the air as it did on the ground, before the first significant action of the match arrived in the 14^th minute.  Visiting custodian Ryan Dunn did well to control an extremely awkward backpass with his chest, however the ball bounced in front of him and as Karl Andrade nipped in to attempt to take the loose ball around the keeper, Dunn brought him to the ground and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot.  Skipper Kevin Coyle stepped up to confidently smash home the spot kick and give Clacton the lead.

Andrade was involved again two minutes later in an incident in which some amongst the home crowd felt the visitors were lucky not to be reduced to ten men.  A long ball forward from the back was met in an advanced position by the Clacton forward, who took a touch before being tripped by Macauleigh Richards.  The referee however was clearly of the opinion that Richards was not the last man and he only produced a yellow card by way of punishment;  It would only prove to be a temporary reprieve however, as Richards would eventually receive his marching orders in the 79^th minute after a late tackle on Joe Martin.

The home side did little to trouble the visitors defence for the remainder of the half, and it was ten minutes before half time when CRC registered their best chance of the first half, Luke Allen ran with the ball from just inside the Clacton half before unleashing a 25 yard effort that went just wide of Wootten’s post.

The visitors started the second half brightly and just a minute in a dangerous run into the box by Ryan Ingrey almost saw them level the scores, but the Clacton defence just about managed to clear the danger.

The visiting defence struggled to cope with Dan Smith’s long throws into the box all evening, and the first opportunity created as a result of these throw-ins resulted in the home side extending their lead ten minutes into the second half.  Smith’s throw was flicked goalwards by Joe Martin, and as the keeper fumbled, James Dunkley was able to nip in and put the ball home to make it 2-0.

Lee Peacock had 2 chances later on in the half to further extend Clacton’s lead as Smith’s throw-ins caused further chaos, before substitute Matt Waters finally did make the game safe for the home side in the 89^th minute.  Following good work on the right by fellow substitute Lee Barrett, the ball arrived in the box at the feet of Walters, who confidently dispatched a shot across Dunn and into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

There was still time for Allen to net that late consolation for the visitors deep into injury time after a penalty was awarded following a foul by Lee Barrett, but by then the points had already been sealed on an encouraging night for all concerned with the home side.