Saturday 6th January
ISTHMIAN NORTH
BRENTWOOD TOWN 2 – 2 FELIXSTOWE AND WALTON UNITED
By Michaela Georgopoulos
Photos by Stefan Peck
After gaining the lead with two second half strikes, Brentwood Town took a draw against second place Felixstowe.
Brentwood started off strong but found it difficult to break the deadlock at The Arena by putting their chances wide.
Despite the Blues maintaining most of the possession a 12th minute goal by Aitkens gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage at the break.
However, in the second half, a raring and energetic Brentwood entered the pitch, making an equalising goal look inevitable.
Wyan Reid was substituted on and made an instant impact by scoring a header with his first touch of the game.
The relentless attacking continued and just seven minutes later, a goal by McKenzie saw the Blues take the lead, before the visitors levelled.
When asked about the change in performance of the team, manager Keith Rowland said: “In the second half, for probably about 35 minutes, we were really fluid and really opened them up. I was really pleased with that.
“I thought we needed a bit more enthusiasm. To get the chances in we felt we had to be brave and get ourselves in good positions wide, to get it in.”
MOTM Reid added: “It feels like a loss when we should have probably won that game.
But we can't get too down about it. We've got a game on Tuesday and Saturday, so it's just about bouncing back and getting back to winning ways.”
The Blues are back in league action on Saturday against fifth placed Maldon and Tiptree, with just one point separating the two sides.
Brentwood Town: 1 Melvin Minter, 2 Jonathan Nzengo, 3 Tom Stephen, 4 James Love, 5 Matt Cripps, 6 Romel Aarons Royal, 7 Samuel Jeremiah (Reid 60’), 8 Shad Ngandu, 18 George Sykes, 10 Mekhi McKenzie (Ogunleye 85’), 11 Andrew Freeman.Subs: 12 Wyan Reid, 14 Daniel Ogunleye, 15 Alex Akrofi, 16 Connor Hogan, 17 Connor Witherspoon.
