Waltham Forest 2-1 Takeley

Waltham Forest picked up a vital and deserved three points against Takeley, but they left it late to do so.

Jose Agua proved to be Forest’s biggest threat all game, and gave the home side the lead after 18 minutes. Latching on to Miguel Lopes de Matos’ long ball, Agua’s powerful shot was deflected high by the Takeley keeper, eventually bouncing on the line and into the roof of the net.

Agua almost supplied the returning Solomon Ofori with a goal, but Ofori was only inches away from connecting with a square ball across the face of goal.

At the other end, Alex Catana was untroubled in the Forest goal as Takeley were limited to a number of long-range efforts.

Forest, and Agua in particular were especially wasteful in the second half, spurring at least five clear-cut opportunities to double the lead.

And they were punished with just three minutes remaining as Takeley countered and and finished a one-on-one situation.

However, Forest didn’t lie down, and only two minutes later second half substitute Prince Madu was clipped in the penalty area giving the referee no option but to point to the spot.

Captain Kubilay Akbayrak stepped up and rifled the penalty into the top right-hand corner, to cue wild celebrations.

This win takes Forest four points ahead of bottom-placed Newham, who they face this Tuesday, at Tilbury FC.