The eve of match signing of former Football League man Stuart Munday certainly seemed to give Great Wakering Rovers a lift last night.

Shoebury man Munday, best remembered locally for scoring the winning goal for Brighton in an FA Cup tie with Southend United, has joined the Burroughs Park set-up and came off the bench to play the last 22 minutes of last night's Ryman Division One North home game with leaders Northwood.

Wakering went into this game on the back of a run which had seen them lose four Division One North games on the trot, scoring just once and conceding 11 in the process.

No-one exemplified the village side's spirit better than diminutive front-runner Dan Ringer. His speed and refusal to give up any cause caused Northwood nightmares and the only sorrow was that he failed to get the goal his non-stop efforts deserved.

Wakering partnered Ringer with top scorer Dan Trenkel up front and had Mark Hampshire playing deeper than we're used to seeing him.

It was a formation that caused Northwood problems from the start and it was no surprise when the panic-stricken visitors fell behind after 17 minutes, opposition defender Danny Butler putting the ball into his own net from Trenkel's left-wing cross.

To be fair Northwood had their moments and home keeper Dave Hudson had to be alert when pushing a close-range Scott Fitzgerald effort over the top after 25 minutes.

Wakering still pulled the strings in the second-half with Hampshire cutting in from the left and shooting into Bullivant's arms and Twidell, set-up by Hampshire, seeing the keeper foil him again.

But it mattered little when, with six minutes to go, Bullivant dropped Neville Hickton's free-kick and Trenkel was on hand to gather the ball, turn, and score his 13th goal of the term.

Published Wednesday, December 18, 2002

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