Bethnal Green United are back to winning ways

24 November 2009

Alfred Kamara scored United's third on Saturday

Bethnal Green united got back to winning ways on Saturday after they beat third-bottom Clapton 3-0, in what manager Justin Gardner described as 'an impressive performance'.

Anton Stephenson (pictured bottom right in the orange) scored twice to take his tally for the season to nine, while Alfred Kamara also found the net late on to leave the Greens boss more than satisfied with his side's efforts.

"It was really good to get a win after two successive defeats," he said.

"It was an impressive performance and I cannot ask for much more."

The boss had been highly critical of his team's defending in recent weeks and threatened beforehand that another poor performance would lead to changes in the back-line.

"Keeping a clean sheet was key and I was pleased with the way we defended," he said.

"I said last week that I am looking for a centre-half and that situation has not changed, but we defended well on Saturday and that it was certainly a step in the right direction.

"We worked hard in training and I told them that we had to get the basics right and not to mess about."

They had to as they came across a Clapton side which impressed Gardner.

"It was a really enjoyable game because both teams went out there to play football the right way,"he said.

"It was refreshing not to see long ball football and I thought Clapton looked like a good team. If they could find a goalscorer they could easily jump up to mid-table.

"The only real difference between the teams was our experience and how good we were in front of goal."

It took just 21 minutes for the Tons to see how deadly United could be when Stephenson latched on to a quality pass from Tamba Ngongou and although was clearly brought down in the area by a defender after rounding the Clapton keeper, he recovered quickly to score from close range.

And the same player doubled his side's tally with a powerful shot from close range.

Clapton fought back in the second period but Green caught their Newham rivals on the counter-attack in the last move of the match as new signing Daryl Wilson passed to Kadir Jama on the right who cut in and picked Kamara out at the back post ,to finish well into the bottom corner.

"The pitch was terrible and the worst in the league, so credit to both teams," Gardner said before heaping praise on his players.

"Anton Stephenson has hit six in four and is flying at the moment.

"Left back Karl Blake was also brilliant, especially after missing a few weeks due to illness and credit must also go to Alfred Kamara, who I thought was outstanding.

"I was also happy with how Daryl Wilson played.

"He only joined us last week and a lot of people were shocked when I put him straight into the squad.

"He will be a really good player for either up front or right midfield and his pace at times is frightening."

Bethnal Green host Barkingside this Saturday with kick-off at 1.30pm at Mile End Stadium.