Two out of two for dominant Old Boys

Hutton 1-3 Old Southendian

Old Southendian made it two wins from two Essex Olympian League Premier Division outings, coming from behind to record a 3-1 success at Hutton.

“It was a thoroughly deserved win – We dominated large parts of the game,” Old Boys boss, Altan Ali told Yellow Sport.

But it was a shaky start from the visitors who went behind after a quarter of an hour to a Stephen Judge strike: “I wouldn’t say it was against the run of play, but I didn’t think we deserved to be behind either,” Ali added.

But Old Southendian managed to get a foothold in the game and turned the screw. Taylor Turner then had a goal disallowed, perhaps harshly, for off-side?

But the Garon Park-based side were level shortly before the interval. Mitch Ali went on a run before teeing up Nick Hennessey to score with his left foot.

Stopper Peter Loveday produced an excellent one-on-one save to keep out the hosts. But after the restart, the Old Boys seized control, pushing the home side back: “We absolutely dominated them,” Ali explained.

“They couldn’t live with our fitness or our fast, attacking football. It was only a matter of time.

Old Boys hit the front when Hennessy’s delightful centre picked out Craig Paten to score.

Callum Ludlaim thought he’d added a third after Mitch Ali had again fashioned an opening. However, his effort came back off the bar – Paten on hand to pick up the pieces.

Ali concluded: “Our game management was excellent. We slowed the game down, took our time when we needed to and didn’t allow Hutton to build any momentum.

“It’s been a really good start with two wins from two games. I’m delighted by the start but won’t be fooled – It is what it is, we know we have some really tough games coming up and we intend to do as well as we can.”