Barking 1 Chelmsford City 7

Barking crashed out of the Essex Senior Cup following a resounding defeat at the hands of National League South side Chelmsford City at last night.

Blues last welcomed Chelmsford to Maysbrook Park in 2014, when only a penalty shoot-out saw the visitors progress to the next round of the same competition.

But a stronger Chelmsford side managed to easily dismiss the Essex Senior League table toppers in this latest meeting.

The first chance of the game came after only 10 minutes when an Adam Bailey-Dennis close range header from a deep corner flew over the crossbar.

A minute later, Barking thought they had taken the lead when Petrit Elbi played in Omari Delgado who finished calmly only to realise the linesman had flagged him for offside.

An action-packed opening saw Chelmsford take the lead on 12 minutes, though, when a cross from right back Matt Young was headed into his own net by Barking defender Billy Rix.

The home side equalised in the 20th minute with Jay Taylor winning a 50/50 tackle and setting up John Bricknell to score.

But Frankie Merrifield’s low cross was bundled over the line by Luke Daley to restore the visitor’s lead on 27 minutes.

Four minutes later, Chelmsford added a third when an Elliot Buchanan corner was powerfully headed in by midfielder Max Cornhill.

A strike from distance by Daley found the back of the net to make it 4-1, despite Barking goalkeeper Jack Kelly doing well to get a hand to it, to leave the hosts up against it.

Barking made two changes during the break, as Paul Oshin and Joe Pearman came on for Bricknell and Liam Burgess.

And they went close to a second goal within 10 minutes of the restart when Elbi found a bit of space in the penalty area and smashed the ball against the crossbar.

Barking’s near-miss inadvertently led to a fifth Chelmsford goal, as Cornhill chipped keeper Kelly from outside the box to claim his second goal of the night.

Chelmsford struck again on 58 minutes when Max Porter volleyed a headed clearance from a Barking defender straight into the bottom corner of the net.

And they completed the rout four minutes after the hour when Billy Bricknell was played through by Buchanan to calmly finish.

Barking made their final change midway through the half, bringing on Ashley Wackers-Kyriacou for Delgado, but the home sied could not make any inroads into the sizeable deficit.

Joint manager Glen Golby will be hoping his team’s confidence isn’t dented too much ahead of a home meeting with sixth-placed Basildon on Saturday.

Barking: Jack Kelly, Ben Higgs, Ricky Tarbard, Jay Taylor, Billy Rix, Ben O’Brien, Joe Staunton, Liam Burgess (Paul Oshin 46), Petrit Elbi, Omari Delgardo (Ashley Wackers-Kyriacou), John Bricknell (Joe Pearman 46). Unused Subs: James Peagram, Steve Willis.