Turnaround for Takeley

Takeley’s point from a 2-2 draw with Barkingside on Tuesday night saw them already equal their Essex Senior League points tally of last season.

The Station Road side finished 18th in the 2015/16 term with 35 points from 40 games.

In just 21 matches so far this campaign Marc Das, who took the manager’s role in the summer, has guided the club to the same 35 point mark with 10 wins and five draws in just three months.

Ahead of the trip to face London Bari on Saturday, Das told the Broadcast: “With a bit of luck we’ll soon have more points this season than the club had in the entire of last season.”

Das made no secret of his desire to get the club challenging for promotion and silverware when he was appointed.

An impressive start to the league season saw his troops unbeaten in their first six games and be among the early front runners.

A dip in terms of results has followed of late, but Das has been pleased with the performances.

“Everything is positive, we have not had the best results recently, but have been having the better of games and not been converting our chances,” he said.

“Because we started the season so brightly it put pressure on us as we gave ourselves higher expectations than if we had been 11th or 12th at the start.”

Against Barkingside two quick goals at the start of the second half saw the visitors ahead. However, Jason Todd scored a brace within eight minutes of coming off the bench to rescue a draw.