Maldon and Tiptree play out 2-2 draw with Waltham Abbey

A tough end of season run-in for the Jammers which sees them take on Pitching In Isthmian League division north promotion hopefuls in six of their last seven games began with a bang last week by beating table toppers Brentwood Town and Kevin Horlock's side followed it up with this draw.

There was a debut for Dylan Williams who signed from Bury Town while there was a reshuffle at the back due to Louie Arrowsmith’s injury, with Mo Amir coming in at right-back and Matt Yates switching to the left.

A game that was affected by windy conditions saw a Waltham Abbey shot seven minutes in fly straight into the arms of Elliot Justham.

The first chance of danger for either side fell the way of the Jammers.

Kai Brown whipped in a teasing ball, but it was just ahead of Kien Connolly.
Kymani Thomas had a couple of quick fire chances for the hosts, but blazed over on both occasions.

That seemed to jolt Abbey into life. Prince Domafriyie managed to get a shot away from a narrow angle that brought out the best in Justham to palm away.

Justham was called into action again moments later to push away a shot from distance following a well-worked Abbey counter attack.

Clearcut chances were proving hard to come by for Maldon, playing against the wind as well as a side who are still in with a mathematical shout of the title.

Despite that, the Jammers ended the half strongly. A well worked move that started with a great tackle by Amir saw Williams pick up the loose ball before moving it onto Millar.

He played a great pass down the line for Yates to latch onto and cross in that was cleared for a corner. 

The initial set-piece was cleared for another and ended with Jack Cawley smacking a volley just wide of the far post.

The second half burst into life when the hosts took the lead, ten minutes after the restart. 

A Nathan Koranteng corner was powered home courtesy of a Lewis Spence header.

Maldon responded well. Another inviting cross from Brown was just too far ahead of Chris Millar and again, Abbey survived a close call.

With just over 25 minutes to play, more good Maldon play led to their biggest chance of the match. 

Anthony Wordsworth’s cross in was met by Connolly who was six yards out, but his shot cracked off the underside of the bar.

The Jammers marksman picked himself and continued to battle away. He soon got his rewards. 

A counter attack from an Abbey free-kick saw Connolly play a sublime through ball for Brown. 

One on one with the keeper, Maldon’s number seven made no mistake, slotting home to level the game.

The final 15 minutes of the match were played at a frenetic pace.

The hosts were reduced to ten when Hassan Nalbant was shown a straight red for an elbow on Cawley.

Maldon and Connolly took full advantage of their numerical superiority with nine minutes left. 

Williams’ lofted ball forward was poked in Connolly’s path by another debutant in Jack Stone. 

He made a difficult finish look remarkably easy, his volley proved too powerful for Bradley Robinson in the Abbey net and the away side had the lead.

Disappointingly, it was a lead that didn’t last. A throw-in was picked up by Nicholas Brown who managed to evade the challenges of Yates and Millar before unleashing a piledriver that drew a phenomenal save from Justham to tip the ball onto the post.

Justham didn’t get the luck he deserved and Prince Domafriyie was quickest to react and he grabbed the equaliser. 

It wasn’t quite the sound make when doves cry, but the sound of Jammers sighing was just as bad.

Both sides had half chances to take all three points as the game drew to a close, but the referee brought an end to an entertaining afternoon with a draw certainly the least both teams deserved.

Next up for Maldon is a home match against another promotion contender - Bury Town - on Saturday.