Needham Market 0-4 Bishop’s Stortford Match Report
Needham Market 0-4 Bishop’s Stortford Match Report
23/9/25
Pitching In Southern League Premier Central Division
Hamish Arnold
Obi Onyeagwara and debutant Scott Kashket scored their first Bishop’s Stortford goals in a 0-4 away win at Needham Market on Tuesday night. After three league defeats, the Blues got back to winning ways against a side who themselves had scored four goals on Saturday at home to bottom side Stamford. Stortford sit sixth in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central Division table, two points from second-placed Kettering Town with a game in hand (the abandoned Stratford Town match in August).
Coming off the back of four defeats (three in the league, one in the Emirates FA Cup), Blues manager Steve Castle would have been delighted with the early intent shown by his side, with Jack Smith sliding the ball through to Onyeagwara on the left side of the box, who slotted home calmly into the bottom right corner inside three minutes. Luke Ingram went close not long after, with a driving run from halfway, his low shot across goal from the right of the box was only narrowly wide of the post, before Saleem Akanbi fizzed a low cross from the right towards Aaron Greene in the middle, only for Marketmen defender Jake Dye to divert the ball into the roof of his own net to double Stortford’s lead in the 13th minute. Akanbi, who had already scored from near halfway having spotted the goalkeeper off his line, tried the same trick again as he controlled Cole Dasilva’s clearance and saw James Bradbrook in no man’s land, but the shot was scuffed and went slowly to the ‘keeper. Having trotted forward to attack a corner kick, Mark Haines found himself in the middle of the hosts’ half when the corner was cleared, but he picked up the ball and tried his luck from range, but the shot was always rising over the bar. Greene picked out Luka Chalwell with a through ball on the edge of the box, he pulled his first time effort wide of the bottom left corner. There was no lack of belief from the Suffolk outfit though, with Smith required to block a shot on the line after Ingram’s right wing cut back had smartly picked out a team-mate in space in the box, the curled effort was deflected behind and Adam Hayton saved from the following corner. Akanbi headed over the bar from Dasilva’s right wing corner, before Chalwell curled a shot straight to Bradbrook from 25 yards on the stroke of half-time.
HT 0-2
Breaking through on the left side of the box, Ajanbi was fouled by Bradbrook and referee Michael Robertson-Tant pointed to the spot inside five minutes of the restart. Dasilva made it three out of three for spot kicks this season, calmly firing past Bradbrook’s dive to his right. Chalwell’s shot from the left side of the box went straight to the goalkeeper, before Tommy Smith’s low shot was blocked by Jake Thompson. Kashket came off the bench and curled a shot wide after intercepting a wayward pass by Dye, and Jamie McGrath – one of three substitutions made at half time by Needham Market – squandered a great shooting position from the middle of the box, miscueing the ball high and wide. 10 minutes from time and the match was sealed, when Akanbi’s low shot from the right side of the box was parried by Bradbrook, Kashket couldn’t miss from close range. In a crowded box for a corner, Hayton did well to save from a downward header, before Neal shot over the bar from a free kick in injury time.
FT 0-4
TEAMS
Needham Market XI
1 James Bradbrook
2 Jake Dye (Own goal 13’)
3 Tommy Smith
4 Kyle Hammond (Saunders 46’)
5 Keiran Morphew (c)
6 Daniel Morphew
7 Luke Ingram (Chukwu-Nsofor 63’)
10 Joe Neal
11 Ryan Miles (McGrath 46’)
17 Ben Hunter (Cowling 69’)
19 Reggie Lambe (Carroll-Chambers 46’)
Subs
8 Oliver Sainders
9 Seth Carroll-Chambers (Yellow card 66’)
12 Jackson Chukwu-Nsofor
14 Jamie McGrath
15 Myles Cowling
Bishop’s Stortford XI
1 Adam Hayton
3 Leon Davies
5 Jake Thompson (c)
6 Mark Haines
7 Aaron Greene (Akinbulumo 83’)
8 Declan Phillips
11 Obi Onyeagwara (Goal 3’) (Kashket 59’)
14 Jack Smith (Assist 3’)
18 Cole Dasilva (Goal p 52’)
19 Saleem Akanbi (Assist 13’ 52’ 80’) (Field 90+1’)
20 Luka Chalwell (Evans 73’)
Subs
4 Eyituoyo Akinbulumo
12 Fabio Virciglio
15 Rehan Field
16 Scott Kashket (Goal 80’)
17 Presley Evans
Attendance 302