Report
Walthamstow are now unbeaten in 11 league games, but it was an afternoon of frustration for Stow as missed chances and refereeing decisions saw them lose ground on leaders Stansted.
In the fifth minute there was a sign of things to come, as a misplaced pass from Bengal’s Steve Carvell put James Peagram through on goal, only for the linesman to flag and the referee to award a free kick for offside. Noticing his mistake, he instead dropped the ball to a Bengal player who returned it to Stow.
Peagram later volleyed over from a Lee Flynn cross, and Reece Conway went close with a long-range effort, but in truth Stow struggled in the first half.
It was therefore no surprise when Bengal took the lead on 34 minutes, Kamarl Duncan getting on the end of a Carvell free kick and poking home.
Stow came out with far more drive in the second half, and could have been level ten minutes in when Ryan Ramsay’s one on one effort was well saved. From the resulting corner, Ramsay somehow managed to head over from about a yard.
Then Christian Owusu dragged a shot wide at the back post with the goal at his mercy, but Stow were outraged that they were not awarded a penalty when Ryan Maxwell was pushed over in the box. The same thing would later happen to Ramsay when clean through on goal.
Stow did get a deserved equaliser though, Peagram nodding back Flynn’s cross to Conway who made no mistake from four yards.
There was still time for the home side to be further frustrated, when Maxwell was shown a second yellow for questioning the referee’s reluctance to decide whether a match-ball was round enough, this despite some extremely unsavoury language towards the officials from the Bengal bench throughout the game.
The game petered out in the end though and Stow know they will have to improve for a trip to Stansted this Tuesday.