Mile End Stadium ballers are turning heads in the division with their style of play

Tower Hamlets manager Ade Abayomi admits his young team are doing better than even he expected after holding Essex Senior League title contenders Barking to a draw last weekend.

The Mile End Stadium outfit are without a game this weekend, but faced Romania on Wednesday night and suffered a 7-1 loss.

Abayomi’s talented team are next in action on Monday when they host Beckenham Town, of the Southern Counties, in the first round of the London Senior Cup.

With the season a month and a half old, Hamlets have beaten the likes of Basildon United and Waltham Forest in the league. In addition to that they thrashed Wivenhoe 5-1 in the FA Cup to demonstrate their ability.

Some observers might have expected Abayomi’s young team to struggle this season, but they are relishing the challenge and the manager is thrilled.

Prior to the 7-1 defeat, he said: “They are exceeding my expectations at the moment and if they carry on improving and learning the way they are, come next season we will be able to really challenge in this league.

“I think Barking probably expected to bully us, but we managed to keep the ball well and they tired towards the end.

“They seemed to use up a lot of energy with their physical style, but look, people have different cultures and we have our style and others have different ones which work for them.”

Tower Hamlets made the best possible start against Barking on Saturday when Patrick Lukondo put them ahead early on.

The Blues, who finished third in the table last season and won the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy, hit back before the break.

Abayomi’s men managed to regain the lead in the 73rd minute when O’Neal Rowe scored from a free kick, but the visitors scored in stoppage time to salvage a point.

Even though a draw against Barking should have been seen as an encouraging result, the Tower Hamlets boss wasn’t happy.

“I was disappointed because we were 2-1 ahead going into the last minute,” added Abayomi. “I told them to keep the ball, but they were a little bit naive and wanted to get another goal, so it is frustrating not to win the game.

“It was a good result against one of the contenders for the league and they are a very physical side, but that didn’t show too much on Saturday. A draw was probably a fair result, but the fact we were winning going into the final minute does disappoint me.”

Abayomi admitted he will use Monday’s London Senior Cup clash against Beckenham to give minutes to some members of his squad that haven’t played much this season.

“We have a lot of players signed up so that game on Monday is a chance to use some of the boys that haven’t featured yet this year,” he said.

“If they are not getting opportunities we will lose them. I want everyone to be involved in our team and to feel part of our club so my idea is to try and use players that haven’t played too much against Beckenham.

“For those boys it will be an opportunity to show why they should be starting every week.”