Report
Walthamstow put the demons of last Saturday to bed with a superb team performance against Redbridge.
The home side controlled the ball for the first few minutes, but once Stow had settled, it was one-way traffic for the majority of the first half.
Stow should have been ahead in the 7th minute when Ryan Ramsay’s teasing cross somehow evaded everyone in the six yard box. But with a quarter of an hour played, Stow were in front.
Junior Appiah gave Redbridge left-back Brad Gayer a torrid time all evening, and when the winger’s dummy gave him a few yards space, he was able to cut back to Billy Jones whose turn and low shot couldn’t be kept out by Lewis Greene.
And not before long it was two, Appiah this time getting on the scoresheet, heading in from a perfect corner from Ramsay.
Redbridge didn’t offer a great deal at the start of the second half, that is until they switched to three at the back, taking more risks going forward.
They were finding more space around the Stow area, but it was a mis-hit deep set-piece from Vinnie Murphy which caused problems, skipping past everyone in the box and forcing Chris Clark in to a sharp reactions save.
At the other end, James Peagram and Christian Owusu both had good chances, before the former made sure of the three points.
It took just two touches – one from Clark’s goal kick, and a stunning volleyed finish for the ball to end up in the back of the net.
Clark still had to be on his toes for Stow to keep the clean sheet intact, and Owusu and Peagram both had further chances to increase the advantage.
All in all, it was a confident performance from Stow against last season’s third-placed side, and a welcome return to winning ways.