Hadleigh United welcomed  Essex opponents  Basildon United  from the Essex Senior League for today's friendly.

Hadleigh  had Craig Payne  & Lee Smith on the bench after returning from holiday,and keeper  Aaron Benstead back in between the "sticks ".

Hadleigh forced the first corner of the match after only three minutes, when Ollie Canfer's through ball found  Ben Deacon to lay the ball into the path of Duane Wright, his shot being deflected for the corner, Chris Dennett's dangerous  flag kick forced the Basildon keeper to punch clear.

Minutes later  Ollie Canfer shot just over for Hadleigh after a latching on to a left crossed ball from Chris Dennett, as Hadleigh pressed, this pressure paid  when after 7 minutes  Duane Wright was brought down in a heavy challenge just inside the area, with the resultant   spot kick being converted by Mark Roper.

A Basildon attack after 19 minutes put Hadleigh's defence under pressure, with  Simon Hyde  keeping a cool head to pass back to Aaron Benstead to clear the danger.

Basildon levelled on 22 minutes, following a corner from the right,  Hadleigh only partially cleared the danger with the ball finding a Basildon midfielder, who found a Basildon player unmarked on the left, his chipped ball in over the defence caught Aaron Benstead out as the ball sailed into the far right  top corner.

Play was then even, but as half time approached a Hadleigh attack saw a Basildon defender  clear over his own bar at the expense of a corner, Chris  Dennett's  flag kick into the goalmouth saw  Duane Wright shot go goalbound, looking to claim the goal, but Ben Deacon claimed a final touch to score Hadleigh's  second as Basildon tried to scramble the ball clear.

H-T    Hadleigh 2     Basildon 1

Three minutes into the second half Duane Wright headed just too wide from a Warren Taylor-Holt  corner,   at the other end a dangerous ball in from a free kick was cleared by Simon Hyde.

Hadleigh increased their lead on 55 minutes when a powerful low shot in by Warren Taylor-Holt had the Keeper well beaten.

A minute later Hadleigh had another chance when subsitute Craig Payne's header into the area found Ben Deacon who headed straight at the Keeper.

After 67 minutes the Basildon Keeper saved well from a close range effort by Duane Wright, with Craig Payne firing over the loose ball.

Hadleigh were now having most of the play and on 78 minutes a ball into the area from the left by Warren Taylor-Holt  found Craig Payne to turn and beat his marker to fire home for Hadleigh's fourth.

Hadleigh scored their fifth on 83 minutes, when following a Basildon attack, Lee Smith's clearance onthe right found Liam Jennings, his through ball found Duane Wright to setup Warren Taylor-Holt  to fire in a powerful shot with the Keeper well beaten.

As full time approached, a sprint down the right by Hadleigh's Luke Read found Duane Wright to control , but fire just too high.

A fine with for Hadleigh over a hard working Basildon team.

F-T    Hadleigh 5  Basildon 1

Hadleigh Squad :-

1   A. Benstead, 2. B. Girling, 3  W. Taylor-Holt, 4. D. Wright, 5. M. Roper, 6. S. Hyde, 7. O. canfer, 8. L. Owen

9.  P.Hart, 10. B. Deacon, 11. C. Dennett

Subs   L. Smith on for 2, C. Leys on for 11, L. Read on for 10, 16. L. Jennings on for 8, C. Payne on for 9, S. Welton on for 7.  unused sub L. Whitwell