Bury Town 3-1 Walthamstow
It was another defeat for Walthamstow, this time coming up short in a 3-1 loss against title-chasing Bury Town.
The manner of Stow’s defeat will come as little surprise; plenty of the ball in the opposition’s final third, but undone again by goalkeeping and defensive mistakes.
What may have come as a surprise though, was how Stow took an early lead in Suffolk. A long throw found its way into the Bury Town box, and home keeper Charlie Beckwith could only slice a clearance into the back of one of his team mates. The ball took an eternity to drop, but when it did, Louie Johnson was there to nod home.
Stow played with confidence and Johnson went close again with a deft flick at the front post. But seven minutes after Stow’s opener, Bury Town were level. Stow defender Hamid Bun-Seisay attempted to pass the ball back to Lamar Joseph-Johnson in the Stow goal, only to find out that Joseph-Johnson had come out to clear the same ball. The result was Bun-Seisay’s pass rolling to Cemal Ramadan who helped the ball over the line from a yard out.
A minute later Bury Town were ahead. Joseph-Johnson fumbled at a routine shot, and with Stow unable to clear, Luke Brown diverted the ball home from ten yards.
There were more chances for both sides for the remaining 35 minutes of the first half. Johnson and Ali Njie had goal-bound efforts saved by Beckwith, and Joseph-Johnson pulled off a superb triple save just before the break.
The second half opened in comical fashion again for Stow. They gave the ball away from kick-off and were saved by the crossbar after a rasping long-range effort.
But with 50 minutes played, the game was settled as a contest. Stow earned a free kick in a good position on the edge of the Bury Town box, but it was shanked straight into the wall. Town broke, and top scorer Ramadan slotted neatly home to make it 3-1.
From then on Bury were content to let Stow have the ball and keep them safely at bay in the gap between the edge of the penalty area and the centre circle. Njie did force a good near-post save from Beckwith, and Tyrone Baker fired narrowly wide from the edge of the box, but there was little else happening for Stow in an attacking sense.
Walthamstow now host Redbridge at Wadham Lodge, hoping to end a seven-game winless run.
