Spread the love

By Sonny Jones

BLADENBORO — East Bladen coach Jay Raynor kept urging his team to stick with system and work together, but it was the individual moves of a gifted scorer that helped the Eagles defeat West Bladen 4-1 on Monday night in a Southeastern Athletic Conference boys’ soccer match.

Malcolm Bolden scored twice in the second half as East Bladen (5-5 overall, 1-2 SAC) defeated its county rival for the 24th consecutive time.

“When Malcolm makes his mind up that he wants to get to the end line and he wants to be the baddest dude on the field he can absolutely do it,” Raynor said.

[slideshow_deploy id=’240390′]

Bolden’s first goal came in the 46th minute of the second half when he dribbled along the right sideline, beat a defender to the end line and slid the ball into the far corner of the net that gave East Bladen a 2-0 lead.

His second goal came six minutes later as he worked his way through three West Bladen defenders, got to the end line again and booted the ball into the goal again for his 17th goal this season.

“I thought we did well,” Raynor said. “I thought we committed to the system well. We talked about it and we didn’t (lose our) mental (focus). In the last few weeks, sometimes when the ball is not going to the back of net or we mis-kick the ball, we put our tails between our legs and hang our heads.

“Any time you can go on the road at get a multiple goal win, it makes for a great night,” Raynor said.

West Bladen (5-4-1 overall, 0-2 SAC this season) has only beaten East Bladen once since 2008, a 1-0 decision at home, and had a 2-all draw in 2010.

Monday’s win didn’t come as easy for the Eagles as the score might indicate.

East Bladen got an own goal in the first minute of play when Bolden had a thrown-in along the left side near the end line. His toss deflected off West Bladen keeper Cade Allen and into the net.

“I think that play affected East Bladen’s momentum,” West Bladen coach Kristen Parker said. “(East Bladen) brought their best game tonight. They’ve come off a couple of tough losses, so Coach Raynor had to feel good.”

The Eagles made it 4-0 at the 20-minute mark of the second half when Jacob Nixon headed in a throw-in from Bolden.

West Bladen got on the board in the 71st minute as Christopher Ramirez Labra found the back of the net off a free kick just outside the box. It was his lone shot of the game.

“We never got organized tonight,” Parker said. “We were just hanging on by a thread.

“I’m looking forward to going their place (Oct. 12), but we’ve got some work to do,” Parker said.

Kevyn DeLa Cruz Labra had three shots on goal and Joshua DeLeon had two for West Bladen. William Verdugo-Gomez was credited with five steals.

West Bladen is scheduled to host Red Springs next Monday in another Southeastern Athletic Conference game. East Bladen is scheduled to play at Red Springs on Wednesday.