Two late goals saw Wadham Lodge beaten 2-0 at Clapton in the Essex Senior League on Saturday in front of a bumper crowd at the Old Spotted Dog.

Clapton were in the ascendancy throughout the contest but the game turned on a controversial penalty ten minutes from time Wadham coach Neil Day was philosophical about the incident but adamant his player had not made contact.

“Clapton complained bitterly about our penalties in the first game and there was probably a certain amount of irony here,” he said.

“Our player swears he pulled out of the tackle and from what I hear their player teased him that he’d been looking for that opportunity to go over all game.

“It’s no good complaining as you win some and lose some in those circumstances and I thought the officials had an excellent game. Clapton scored a second anyway and fully deserved to win so we have to move on and learn from it.”

Day was more upbeat about the fantastic support Wadham enjoyed at the game as between 40-50 noisy fans made the trip to Forest Gate.

He said: “The Clapton support was unbelievably loud but it was heartening to hear our own supporters as well at times amongst the din.

“It was probably the most positive aspect of the day for us and has attracted positive publicity already.

“Let’s hope we can build on that and rival Clapton as the place to watch non-league football in east London.”