Laindon secure the Division One League Cup

Laindon Orient F.C. 2 Beacon Hill Rovers F.C.1

Laindon deservedly secured the Division One League Cup trophy but were given a late scare all of their own doing

The team from Basildon dominated the first half and made their intentions known early. Within the opening 10 minutes Laindon created three excellent chances to open the scoring. Steve Carvell saw his shot easily saved by Ken Mtshemla in the Beacon Rovers goal. Nicky Hughes then blazed over wildly when through one on one with the Beacon Hill keeper, Mtshemla was then called on again to save smartly from an Ashley Blackburn effort.

On 15 minutes Laindon took the lead. A long free kick was not dealt with by the Beacon Hill defence allowing Blackburn to ghost through unmarked to slot home at the near post. There were calls for offside but replays showed the Laindon player had timed his run superbly

Mtshemla was then carded for a trip on Blackburn outside the area. He then made an excellent stop tipping over a Carvell free kick

As the half wore on Laindon continued to control the game and their dominance paid off in bizarre fashion. A poor clearance saw the ball drop to Nicky Hughes some 40 yards out he helped the ball back into the Beacon Hill penalty area only to see his cross come pass bounce over Mtshemla into the corner of the net

Half Time Laindon Orient F.C. 2 Beacon Hill Rovers F.C. 0

The second half saw Laindon control the game. Ashley Blackburn blazed over early on but goal mouth action in the next 30 or so minutes was limited

Beacon Hill had not managed a shot on goal and with the clock ticking down Joe Carter chased down a loose ball the Laindon keeper came rushing out of his goal to usher the ball out of play but Carter did well to drag the ball back and cross into the Laindon penalty area. The danger appeared to have passed as the ball fell to a Laindon defender but his clearance cannoned off skipper Kevin O'Kane into the empty net, own goal and with 9 minutes remaining all to play for.

The goal seemed to give Beacon Hill confidence and they pushed on for an equaliser to take the game into extra time.

In the 90th minute Carter hit a spectacular overhead kick towards the Laindon goal which just went over

The Referee played an agonisingly 7 minutes of injury time but Beacon Hill failed to capitalise on the gift given to them and as the whistle blew for full time Laindon celebrated their success

Full Time Laindon Orient F.C. 2 Beacon Hill Rovers F.C. 1