Stow 3-0 Ilford

Walthamstow returned to winning ways with a confident 3-0 victory over Ilford. A goal from Charlie Cole and two from Connor Scully helped Stow extend the lead at the top of the table to 11 points after Stansted drew 1-1 with West Essex.

The first half was a quiet affair, with little to shout about in front of goal. The closest Stow came in the opening half an hour was when Connor Scully broke down the right but his cross was just cut out at the last minute with Callum Ibe unmarked in the box.

It was Ibe who turned creator for Stow’s opener on 38 minutes; his turn and shot from just inside the box could only be parried by into the path of Cole who made no mistake from six yards out.

Ilford had the first chance of the second half, with former Stow forward Tony Da Silva firing straight at Amarildo Cekrezi after the ball had dropped in the box, but other than that, there was little for the Stow defence to worry about.

With 15 minutes played in the second half, Scully ended the game as a contest, floating a free-kick straight into the top corner from fully 40 yards.

https://twitter.com/walthamstowfc/status/1492649037291569154

Tim Ogunrinde went close for Stow, firing into the side netting, before Scully made sure of the points from the spot in injury time as he was cut down turning into the Ilford box.