Maldon & Tiptree 2 Lowestoft Town 3 - A Jake Reed brace helps Isthmian North leaders win an epic contest at Park Drive & increase the gap at the top to four points

Isthmian League North Division, Saturday 30th March

I was not planning on attending a game on Easter Saturday as had planned to spend the day with a best mate of mine, we played golf in the morning and had not planned anything for afternoon, but as we were in the Maldon area we decided to take in a game of football, and it so happened that Maldon & Tiptree were hosting the league leaders, so we thought why not!!!

The Jammers were having a solid if not spectacular season, they sat in ninth spot but some way off the play off places, thirteen points behind fifth placed Bowers & Pitsea with only eight games remaining, so a rather tall order you could say, however they wanted to finish the season as strongly as possible and inflict a fourth straight away loss for the leaders whose form away from their Crown Meadow ground had deserted them lately.

Defeats at Ipswich Wanderers, Heybridge Swifts & Brightlingsea Regent had set the leaders back somewhat, but they won a huge game last time out when they defeated their nearest challengers Felixstowe & Walton United at home in front of nearly 1,000 at Crown Meadow meaning they came into this contest two clear of them at the summit of the division.

And despite their poor away form recently they were up against a Maldon side who were not in the best form, three defeats in four in March with their only positive result being a home win over Ipswich Wanderers, and they came into this contest off the back of a loss at Brentwood Town, and their form had pretty much taken them out of the play off hunt, could they possibly dent the visitors title aspirations though here?

A lovely sunny afternoon greeted a decent crowd of 255 with plenty of those travelling from Suffolk, but the hosts were the ones who were quickest out of the blocks and grabbed a fourth minute lead to stun the league leaders as a wonderful corner swung in from Harry Phillips beat keeper Luke Holt, thumped the inside of the post, and appeared to go in off the back of the keepers head for an unfortunate own goal, but the ball must have already crossed the line as the goal was later awarded to Phillips.

Whatever happened one thing was for sure was that The Jammers had an early lead, and it looked as if the Trawler Boys poor away form would continue, and had Louis Britton converted a one on one situation soon after, it could have been looking even worse for the league leaders, but keeper Holt managed to save the effort and keep the score line at 1-0.

However, on eleven minutes, the hosts lost the ball in midfield and a lovely through ball released Jake Reed in on goal, and he kept his composure to round Luca Collins in the home goal and slot into the empty net to bring Lowestoft level just like that, and Maldon's early endeavour had been undone through their own doing, and after the visitors had smashed an effort against the bar, they punished more defensive frailties to grab the lead when Reed grabbed his second of the contest with seven minutes of the half to go.

Collins in the Jammers goal did have to make a few decent stops to prevent Lowestoft from adding further goals before and after the visitors second goal, but don't think Maldon were without their chances to, they smashed an effort off the underside of the bar and caused the league leaders plenty of problems in a half that was played at a cracking tempo, making it a very entertaining contest.

After the break you felt maybe Lowestoft would stamp their authority on this one, but not a bit of it, because just nine minutes after the break, Maldon were level, after a ball fizzed across goal saw one defender attempt to clear the ball by instead wacked it against Owen Murphy and saw the ball end up in the corner of their own net, so if the first goal they conceded wasn't an own goal, this one certainly was, a right mess, and the game was now locked at 2-2.

But, once again the hosts shot themselves in the foot, and left Adam Hipperson totally free at the far post just beyond the hour mark, and the visiting player stooped to send a header beyond Collins and restore the league leaders lead, meaning the hosts would have to come from behind once again to try and salvage something in a game they had been well in throughout.

They had their moments that's for sure, but were leaving themselves very open at the back, but despite all of this no more goals were forthcoming meaning the visitors would claim the spoils and get back to winning ways on the road, a really epic game of football played at a high tempo throughout, so well done to both sides for putting on such a show.

It all means that the hosts chances of play off glory are pretty much done n dusted now, fourteen points off fifth with seven games to go as they slipped a place to tenth, for Lowestoft though it's another big win, and with Felixstowe & Bury Town dropping points, it meant their lead at the top increased to four points with six games to go for the top two, advantage Trawler Boys for now at the top.

Full time Maldon & Tiptree 2 Lowestoft Town 3

 

 

 

Sevenoaks Town 1 Ashford United 2 - Goals from Max Walsh & Harvey Brand help Ashford United come from behind to net a first away win in four months & take them into the top ten of the Isthmian South East

Isthmian League Division One South East, Friday 29th March

I decided to drag myself off to football on Good Friday as didn't really want to sit at home watching TV all day and mope around, so I checked my Futbology App for fixtures and wanted to go somewhere I had not been before, and up popped Sevenoaks Town Vs Ashford United in the Isthmian South East Division, which is Step Four in the non league football pyramid.

Now The Bourne Stadium, which is Sevenoaks Town's home, lies in Greatness Park and was born (or Bourne...sorry!!!) when the club installed a state of the art 3G pitch in Greatness Park which became The Bourne Stadium back in 2017, now this certainly helped me make my decision to visit here as being on a 3G surface the game was pretty much guaranteed to be on, as despite the amount of rain that has fallen in the last month or two, this should not have been a problem for this surface, hopefully!!!

So what of the two clubs competing in this contest today? Sevenoaks and Ashford are roughly forty miles apart geographically, whereas in the league they are five positions apart, Sevenoaks are in eighth on forty three points whereas Ashford are thirteenth and four points behind today's opponents, so not to much, and the visitors did have a game in hand too.

The hosts are only three spots off the play offs but don't let that fool you, as the points gap to fifth placed Lancing is a rather large TWELVE points, so with only six games to go it's rather unlikely they will make much of a dent into that, and with the visitors a further four back and way clear of the bottom two, these two only really had Kent pride to play for in this one.

Neither teams form has been brilliant of late either, Sevenoaks since the beginning of the month have played five league games, winning at Sheppey United & Herne Bay, but lost home and away to Broadbridge Heath and could only draw at home to bottom side Beckenham Town who have only picked up nineteen points all season.

Ashford's form since the start of March has been even worse, four defeats out of five in the league, with their only positive result this month coming right in the middle of that when they beat Littlehampton Town at home, but as said that was the only good thing to have happened in March, their defeats against Ramsgate, Sittingbourne and Burgess Hill Town were by at least three goals or more, and they had conceded fifteen goals in the four games they had lost.

Now the last time these two meet in the league was way back in the summer in the opening month of the season, August 22nd, where Ashford netted a 2-1 success at their Homelands Stadium, a venue Ashford over the campaign have won nine of their league games this season, which is only bettered by two other sides in the division, it's Ashford's away form that has let them down, only three wins all season away from Homelands, their last one being back on November 25th at Chichester City, four months ago.

In contrast Sevenoaks twelve wins this season has been evenly distributed both home and away, six each, in fact their overall record of twelve wins, seven draws and thirteen defeats suggests a level of inconsistency, which is why they are not able to challenge those play off places come the end of the season, but anyway, who could grab the victory in this contest and begin their Easter Weekend in a positive frame of mind?

A decent crowd of 215 were in attendance on a blustery but mostly sunny Good Friday, and after a rather sedate start to the contest, Sevenoaks began to get the better of the contest initially, Kieron Cadogan had the first real chance of the game when he found himself with a clear sight of goal but saw his effort beaten away by visiting keeper Chiedoze Nwosu, and Nwosu had to be alert to tip over another effort from the hosts soon after.

But, just before the midway point of the first period, the hosts grabbed the lead, when after ball floated beyond the far post from the right had found full back Karn Miller-Neave, his ball back across the goal was converted into the corner of the net by Jerald Aboagye, and you felt it could be another disappointing away day for the visitors and their band of supporters behind the opposite goal.

However, Ashford responded well to going behind and began to grab hold of the game themselves, and just thirteen minutes after going behind, they levelled, as the visitors failed to clear a bouncing ball inside their own box, and Max Walsh managed to fire a effort past Daniel Colmer in the hosts goal and bring his side level pegging, it had certainly been a positive response from the visiting side as said.

Could the hosts now respond to being pulled back, well, they had a golden chance to retake the lead in first half stoppage time when Miller-Neave was brought down inside the box for a penalty to the hosts, but their number nine Cadogan could only thump his spot kick against the bar, and then moments later they nearly fell behind as the visitors glanced an effort off the post at the other end, a mad end to the half but a half that ended all square. It had certainly been a decent contest so far.

Ashford certainly began the second half much better than their opponents and were the ones more likely to go in front, and just before the hour mark their pressure paid off when the superb Stanley Skipper, my MOTM for sure, swung in a lovely cross for Harvey Brand to apply a lovely header beyond Colmer, and now Ashford had the lead, and had just over half an hour to hold on for a rare away win.

Sevenoaks had just lost their way, after such a good start to the contest, but after going behind it was the now applying the pressure and getting back on top, second half substitute Joshua Ajayi almost grabbed a leveller but saw his attempted lob well saved by Nwosu, and then the hosts were adamant an effort from close range, which looked to have crossed the line before being cleared off it, wasn't given, much to their dismay.

Even though the visitors were soaking up a lot of pressure, they still looked dangerous on the break, they did have a golden chance to make it 3-1 but saw an effort somehow cleared off the line by the hosts in what was their best second half chance following their goal at that point, and they largely defended well and kept the hosts out, much to the frustration of the home side who just could not find a way through a well drilled visiting defence, which belied their previous defensive displays, especially away from home.

The game ended with a rather bizarre moment, the visitors should really have wrapped it up with the final kick of the game but somehow struck the post from a yard out after the ball had been just about kept out, but the assistant on the far side flagged for a corner, which no one could really understand why, it ended with the ball being dropped at the keepers feet, but pretty much immediately after the full time whistle went, ending what had been a pretty decent contest.

It meant that Sevenoaks frustrating inconsistency continued, they remain in eighth and could fall further off the play off spots by the end of the weekend, it's this type of performance that has cost them a decent run at the top five and they are pretty much now playing for pride for the remainder of the season for sure now, whereas for Ashford it's a first away win in four months, and they really worked hard for each other to achieve this, and it sent them into the top then and only a point behind today's opponents now.

Finally I would like to thank the hosts for such a warm welcome, handing me a free programme at the gate, yes a printed one too, they thanked me for making the trip to their ground as well, it's the small things that mean a lot, so I am very grateful to the club for that, and would certainly recommend visiting the club to others too, so thank you.

Full time Sevenoaks Town 1 Ashford United 2

  

Romford 2 Coggeshall Town 0 - Sam Deering & Michael Bakere net in final twenty minutes as hosts battle to a hard fought win over bottom side Coggeshall Town at Rookery Hill

Essex Senior League, Saturday 23rd March

A change of plans for the weekend meant I was now able to attend a game on Non League Day, so I decided to jump in the Essex Senior League life president's car, Robert Errington, and join him and my good friend Scott W for a trip to Rookery Hill, Corringham, and for me at least see Romford there for the first time since they made it their home earlier this season.

They were up against bottom side Coggeshall Town, and this was one of several games that were taking place in the ESL this weekend, more on those later after I have spoken about and let you know what happened in the game I attended at Rookery Hill, every point counts now as the season enters it's latter stages.

That was most certainly the case for today's game too, Romford began the day in third spot and only behind second placed Woodford Town on goal difference and nine points behind leaders Tilbury, this with eight games remaining, so in theory the rest are just trying to secure a play off spot behind champions elect Tilbury, but, you just never know what might happen as pressure does funny things to some.

Romford were fifteen points clear of sixth placed Hullbridge so their play off position was pretty much secure anyway, but they had to keep the ones above honest and jump on any slip ups from Tilbury/Woodford may make, and be there to pounce if need be, and with their opponents today sitting bottom of the table, it would be easy to dismiss this one as an easy home win.

However, The Seedgrowers come into this one off the back of a marvellous 1-0 win at Buckhurst Hill four days ago, this the same Hill side who had smashed leaders Tilbury 4-0 last weekend, and with a rare clean sheet been obtained too, the bottom side came into this one with some renewed confidence and belief, so this may not have been as straightforward as it seemed, Coggeshall still find themselves in a pretty precarious position though despite this win.

They are still ten points behind Ilford in second bottom, and with just five games to go and with only fifteen points available, wins were pretty much paramount now for them to survive and not find themselves down in Step Six next season (assuming that only one goes down as have been hearing recently two might be relegated, which would mean that Coggeshall would already be down, but that's another story!!!). Whatever the outcome of that grabbing a win here would not be easy against a Romford side who were on a seven match winning run in the league, and had also reached the FA Vase semi finals too, the first leg which of course is next weekend on Easter Saturday.

And some of those wins for Romford were against play off contenders too, winning at Sporting Bengal United and Barking, the latter ending the Blues long unbeaten run in the process, an then last time out they defeated fellow Vase Semi Finalists Great Wakering Rovers at Rookery Hill, so they were certainly expected to see off Coggeshall Town, right?

The opening few minutes certainly suggested that it could be a long day for the visitors, Hassan Nalbant almost got in after barely a minute gone, and Romford certainly looked a threat, but once the visitors had settled they did look pretty nippy on the break and going forward, so the hosts had to be wary of there potential threat, but despite the encouraging start, the game failed to really ignite and remained goalless as the half time whistle blew, it certainly was not a classic thus far.

The Seedgrowers would have certainly been the happier of the two sides for sure, and early in the second period they glanced an effort against the bar as they almost grabbed the lead, and they continued to look a threat led by their young winger Lester Ward, who looked very useful for someone so young, could they possibly grab back to back wins this season and give themselves a fighting chance.

Well, Romford did have their moments too, and with seventeen minutes of the ninety to go they edged ahead as a throw on into the box by (I think) Charlie Morris was flicked on by centre half Darren Phillips to the back post where Sam Deering was totally unmarked to convert from close range, could the visitors respond to this setback?

Sadly for them no, and two minutes into stoppage time Romford sealed the points when Michael Bakere turned on the turbochargers to burst though the Coggeshall back line which parted like the red sea, and then loft a beautiful finish beyond keeper Dev Bhamra as the hosts claimed an eighth straight win in the league.

It had been a far from convincing performance from the hosts, but a win is a win at this stage of the campaign, and it kept them third on goal difference and still nine points behind leaders Tilbury, and with them now having a eighteen point gap back to sixth place, they are all but assured of a play off spot now, it doesn't look so good for the visitors now though.

They are ten points behind second bottom Ilford with just four games to go, Ilford have a game in hand as well, so if they win that game it's all but done for The Seedgrowers, so regardless of how many are relegated, it's almost certain that Coggeshall will now end the season bottom and in Step Six next season, they battled so hard today and probably deserved something from the game, but that's been the story of their season, hopefully they can rebuild and come back stronger from this season, it's certainly been a tough one for them.

Full time Romford 2 Coggeshall Town 0

Ok, let's now see what else happened in the Essex Senior League this weekend:-

Friday

Ilford 1 West Essex 1

The Foxes were denied what could be a crucial win after Ruben Bartlett-Antwi's stoppage time leveller denied the hosts all three points, which looked on the cards after Daniel Izekor's goal on the hour mark had given them the lead.

Saturday

Buckhurst Hill 0 Little Oakley 1

Hill lost at home for the second time in a row, this after defeating leaders Tilbury 4-0 a couple of home games ago. The only goal of the game came early on when Harry Mann netted inside the first fifteen minutes, and that proved enough for Oakley to grab all three points.

FC Clacton 0 Woodford Town 2

Woodford kept second spot on goal difference after they saw off The Seasiders at Rush Green Bowl, Luke Steele gave the visitors the lead midway through the first period before Andre Anderson sealed the points with six minutes to go.

Frenford 0 Sporting Bengal United 2

Sporting Bengal opened up an eight point gap to sixth spot to enhance their play off aspirations after defeating Frenford at The Drive. Rian Patel gave the visitors a 26th minute lead before Joe Gregory's goal nine minutes from time sealed the deal here.

Halstead Town 0 Barking 1

Shaye La-Rose netted the only goal of the game with just over fifteen minutes remaining to enhance Barking's play off chances, opening up a nine point lead to sixth spot now.

Saffron Walden Town 1 Athletic Newham 0

Walden kept up their late charge for a unlikely play off spot after Stanley Leech netted the only goal on 82 minutes to hand them victory over Athletic Newham at Catons Lane, they are now nine points off the top five with seven games to go and have games in hand as well.

Stanway Rovers 4 Great Wakering Rovers 1

FA Vase semi finalists GWR have now lost three straight in the league after they were humbled at Stanway Rovers, George Okoye handed the hosts a 26th minute lead, a lead that was doubled two minutes later by Jose Santa-De La Paz. Reece Conway then made it three a minute after the break and although Danny Cossington pulled one back twenty minutes into the second half, Freddy Cooper netted a fourth for Stanway with twelve minutes to go and make it five straight wins in the division, taking them up to eighth in the standings.

Tilbury 2 Hullbridge Sports 0

League leaders Tilbury got back to winning ways after two games without one after they netted victory over Hullbridge Sports a Chadfields. Alex Akrofi handed the Dockers a 47th minute lead before Troy Osei-Bobie sealed the points and took them a step closer to the title and promotion in stoppage time, they now hold a nine point lead over both Woodford Town & Romford with just six games to go.

White Ensign 0 Takeley 2

Takeley netted maximum points at Burroughs Park against Ensign after a fifth minute goal from Kieron Southgate and a second by Kyle O'Byrne with eleven minutes to go helped them earn victory.

Let's have a look at the table as we edge ever closer to the end of the season:-

Tilbury need ten more points in their final six games to claim the title and promotion back to Step Four and likely a place in the Isthmian North next season, and the top five looked pretty well set now too as the gap to sixth gets ever more, now eight points between fifth placed Sporting and sixth placed Hullbridge.

Down at the bottom it seems Coggeshall will fall another step, that's two in two seasons, regardless of how many sides are relegated, Ilford will be hoping and praying it's only one that goes down as if two are relegated then they are now in serious bother, eight points from safety with just five games to go.

That concludes my latest blog and look at the ESL, thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed!!!

Spain 0 Colombia 1 - Daniel Munoz nets second half goal as Colombia defeat Spain in front of a partisan crowd at The Olympic Stadium in London

International Friendly, Friday 22nd March

It was a rare international match for me for the start of the weekend as I joined several other friends at The London Stadium (or the Olympic Stadium) in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford for a friendly between Spain & Colombia.

This wasn't the first time I had seen Spain, I saw them win at Wembley early on in the first ever season of the Nations League against England, although that was before the days of Covid back in 2018, so a good six years ago, and it's fair to say I'd never seen Colombia before in the flesh, so this was a good opportunity to watch one of the big South American outfits close up.

Now the Spanish had just come off the back of a pretty successive qualifying campaign for the Euros in France this summer, topping their group by four points having won seven of their eight qualifiers, although in a group containing Scotland, Norway, Georgia & Cyprus, this really was to be expected. The Spanish had also claimed the latest UEFA Nations League title back in June after defeating Italy in the Semi Finals before beating Croatia on spot kicks after a goalless draw.

And this match against Colombia (as well as Monday's match against Brazil in Madrid) would be a good warm up before manager Luis de la Fuente has to pick his squad for the Euros, it was the first match of 2024 for both sides and like the Spanish, the South Americans were having a good run of form in 2023, twelve games played and no defeats, including wins against Germany in Gelsenkirchin, & Brazil and Paraguay in the World Cup Qualifiers in the South American section, a table they sit third in currently behind world champs Argentina & second placed Uruguay after six games each.

A good test for both then, Colombia have Copa America coming up this summer as well and also have two more friendlies coming up against Romania & The USA, that match against the Europeans also takes place in the Spanish capital, so maybe they can share a flight back there after this one, who knows?

Maybe it depended on how 'friendly' this contest would be, they two countries had not met since a friendly back in summer 2017 which ended in a 2-2 draw, would we get a similar outcome in this one?

Well, the match itself was not memorable at all, a typical international friendly if truth be told, chances were at a premium at best, and there was lots of possession based football but not much else, what was memorable was the atmosphere created by the Colombian's fans, we were sat in their end and they certainly know how to party and cheer on their side.

And although their side probably conceded more possession to the Spanish, unsurprisingly, they were able to keep them at arms length and even attack themselves on occasions, raising the noise and general excitement amongst our now 'fellow' South Americans who were very friendly and happy that we were supporting their side!!!

We managed to leave our seats at the front of the upper tier and down to the lower bowl and behind the goal Colombia were attacking in the second half amongst a sea of craziness amongst the Colombia fans, it was amazing, I won't lie, and just past the hour mark they managed to break the deadlock when Crystal Palace defender Daniel Munoz volleyed home spectacularly after fantastic play from Liverpool's Luis Diaz.

Cue, absolute bedlam in our end and in most of the stadium, there were way more Colombian's present that was for sure even though officially it was Spain's home game, it certainly felt like you were in Bogota and not Madrid, what a superb experience it was, and with the South Americans managing to hold on to win, that was even better, as said not the best of games, but the atmosphere and the people more than made up for that.

So Spain start their 2024 with a loss, whereas The Colombian's back up an unbeaten 2023 with a winning start to 2024, and it was Spain's first friendly loss since they were humbled by Georgia back in June 2016, so a rare loss for them, Colombia though are a very good outfit who work hard for each other, and that right now is making them very hard to beat. And as a now honouree Colombian, that makes me very happy!!! 

Full time Spain 0 Colombia 1

Benfleet 2 Tower Hamlets 0 - Goals from Matthew Stevens-Brown & Taylor Lawrence help hosts to yet another win as their quest for the Thurlow Nunn First Division South title & promotion to Step Five continued

Thurlow Nunn First Division South, Wednesday 20th March

It has been a while since I had made a trip over to Canvey Island for a football game, so I decided to go and watch Thurlow Nunn South league leaders Benfleet continue their quest for the title and promotion to Step Five and the Essex Senior League as they welcomed relegation threatened Tower Hamlets to Park Lane.

Now both teams needed the points for differing reasons, Benfleet currently sit top of the division and are two points clear of second placed Hutton having played six games less than them, therefore Benfleet's closest challengers were third placed Wormley Rovers who were only three points off the leaders and have only played one game more, and with Harlow Town not being able to gain promotion and with the others way behind on points and having played more games, Benfleet's eyes were solely on Wormley as said.

Fleet's form has been almost perfect since the turn of the year, ten games played nine wins and just one loss, who was that against, yep Wormley, as the chasers netted a magnificent 4-0 at Wormley Sports club, but apart from that Benfleet had netted thirty-six goals in the other nine games they had won, conceding just nine as well, meaning that 4-0 loss was very much out of character but showed just how good Wormley have been too.

Fleet were therefore expected to win this contest against a Hamlets side who sat four points above the bottom three at kick off in 14th place, although they do have a few games in hand on those below, so were hoping to pick up some more points in those games to get them away from the danger zone down at the bottom of the table.

The Mile End sides form since the turn of the year has seen them net just two wins from seven games, one draw and four defeats, one of which came against Benfleet which ended with a narrow 2-1 win for the Canvey based side, a couple of months or so ago in East London, so if that is anything to go by, maybe tonight's contest would be tighter then some had anticipated.

The most dramatic moment of the first half though wasn't anything to do with either side as it turned out, as midway through the first period referee Dwayne Uylett's calf muscle popped, meaning he was unable to continue officiating the game, and although one of the assistants, Liam Dawson, was able to take over in the middle, who was going to replace him in the assistant referee role?

Thankfully, there was a chap in the stands who used to referee in the local leagues and at the ripe old age of nearly sixty, he came on to take the assistant referee role meaning the game could continue, and ran the line in a pair of jeans, needs must as they say, and kudos to him as well as he did a pretty good job for the rest of the contest, right place and right time you could say, and as said it meant the game could continue.

Benfleet did have a couple of decent openings when Taylor Lawrence saw a curling effort from outside the box saved fairly comfortably by visiting keeper Lamar Johnson, before skipper Aaron Russell really should have scored when after a ball was squared to him by Joey Hardingham, he could only fire wide of the post, Hamlets did have their moments too, and should have scored when a ball into the six yard box was somehow poked straight at keeper Archie Cunningham.

But four minutes before the break Benfleet managed to find a breakthrough to ease their frustrations, a corner swung in with the left boot of Lawrence wasn't cleared and eventually saw Matthew Stevens-Brown blast home from close range and it meant the hosts went into the break a goal to the good and on track for another three points.

Benfleet upped the anti after the break and went close to a second goal on a few occasions, one such moment saw them screaming for a goal after they were adamant that they had forced the ball over the line from close range, however the linesman on the near side, Alistair Lloyd, disagreed and said it had not, and whilst the game remained 1-0, Hamlets were always in the contest and just like the first period did have their moments in the opponents box.

But, with just under twenty minutes to go, Benfleet found a second to pretty much seal this contest, a ball into the mixer saw keeper Johnson try and punch clear whilst under pressure, and he could only punch the ball into the air and into the path of Lawrence who was lurking to send a first time left footed volley back across goal and into the far corner, and hand the hosts breathing space finally in the match.

It proved to be enough too as the home side continued their march towards the title and promotion, they have a three point lead at the top with a game in hand over second placed Wormley Rovers as the two most likely challengers for the title are now in the top two places, whereas despite a hard working performance from Hamlets they left with nothing and remain in 15th spot, flour points above the drop zone.

Full time Benfleet 2 Tower Hamlets 0