Tilbury 2 Frenford 0 - Second half goals from Oli Spooner & Alex Clark help hosts to hard fought win over Frenford to seal Essex Senior League title & promotion back to the Isthmian North at first time of asking

Essex Senior League, Saturday 20th April

The penultimate weekend in April brought the penultimate weekend of the Essex Senior League regular season and I was over at Chadfields to see if runaway leaders Tilbury could finally seal the title and promotion back to the Isthmian North Division and Step Four football at the first time of asking following their relegation last season.

It's been a incredible season for the Dockers, they made a slow start to their campaign and the management were called into question by some after losing three of their first six league games, but once they got into their stride they went on a long unbeaten run of twenty three league games until they were finally beaten again at Buckhurst Hill, a run of over six months without defeat in the league.

They have only lost once more since then, a home loss to Woodford Town, but with such a big lead at the top they could afford the odd slip up for sure, and they also had a marvellous run in the FA Vase, reaching the Last Eight of the competition before bowing out on penalties at home to North Greenford United, so an amazing season for sure, and now they had the chance to finish it with silverware and the chance to call themselves champions of the Essex Senior League, which would have been a more than deserved accolade.

They had the chance to claim the title on a couple of occasions in the week leading up to this one, a win at Saffron Walden Town on Tuesday would have sealed the title, but they found themselves 2-0 down in that one before some unsavoury scenes ended with that game being abandoned, and then if Romford had lost on Wednesday at Athletic Newham then Tilbury would have claimed the title, however Romford had other ideas and romped to a 4-1 win, to at least keep the title race going for a few more days.

Tilbury's opponents today were Frenford, a side they had beaten 3-0 at The Drive in last September as The Dockers juggernaut was getting into full flow, this game would be different though for sure in terms of pressure and atmosphere and how much was a stake for the hosts, Frenford themselves had endured a tough season in their first foray into Step Five football, and were sat in third bottom in the division.

They were pretty much guaranteed not to finish in the bottom two though unless Ilford, who were three points behind Frenford, overturned a twenty four goal swing goal difference wise, which was extremely unlikely, especially as The Foxes last game of the season was next weekend against third placed and play off bound Woodford Town, so the visitors could end their season playing with freedom, which can sometimes be a hindrance to the ones going for victory.

Frenford have had some decent wins this season so can not be taken lightly, and have been in a lot of games that they have ended up losing, so Tilbury would have to be wary of them for sure, but on paper at least this only looked like a home win, but as said pressure does funny things to sides sometimes when they get so close to the line, something that Frenford didn't have to worry about, although Tilbury knew how to win games on the whole, so if they played well they would win.

You felt that if The Dockers could get in front early then that would certainly settle some nerves and maybe set the tone for the afternoon, however this did not materialise as a rather nervy performance from the hosts saw a rather nervy atmosphere inside Chadfields amongst a decent 425 crowd, the hosts certainly had a lot of the ball but could not really create much in terms of chances to grab that elusive goal that would settle them and the crowd down.

Frenford rarely threatened in the opening forty five minutes but had the two best chances of the half at the end of it, both of them falling to Nick Reynolds, firstly seeing a close range downward header somehow saved brilliantly by Christian North, and then with the final kick of the half Reynolds sliced wide when in a great position, and the game remained goalless heading into the break, to say the hosts were worried and nervy was an understatement.

The early exchanges of the second period didn't help the hosts in terms of easing those nerves and anxiety, the only thing that was in their favour perhaps was that Romford, who needed to better Tilbury's result to keep the title race alive , and with them drawing at Buckhurst Hill, they would still be champions if it stayed as it was, however The Dockers really wanted to win the league with a win and grab a goal to ease the pressure which had been building.

Frenford to their credit had been making it a very hard fought contest, and were giving nothing to their opponents, but the more the second period went on, the closer Tilbury were coming to opening the scoring, they thought they had taken the lead when a lovely run from Shea Hutchinson ended with his effort being deflected to the back post where David Knight was on hand to turn the ball home, however the assistants flag had gone up, meaning it would not count.

This only added to the frustration and anxiousness amongst the hosts, but midway through the second period came the moment they craved, as they finally grabbed the lead, as after they somehow headed against the inside of the post from point blank range, the ball went across the box and perfectly into the path of Oli Spooner who managed to fire home via keeper Jimmy Parker's hand and into the net to bring utter joy and relief amongst the home fans and players/management.

It certainly was a release of pressure, however they still had around half an hour to go, so it wasn't done yet, and as the game got closer and closer to the end, it was tense inside the ground to say the least, but, two minutes into six added on, Tilbury sealed the contest and the title when they countered on Frenford who were trying to find a leveller, and the ball was eventually squared to Alex Clark who fired home to send the hosts wild with delight, and bring utter relief that they had managed to get over the line after a very tough contest.

And with the news that Romford had fallen behind to a stoppage time goal at Roding Lane, celebrations had already begun the stands and almost on the pitch too, they knew they were going up as champions now and could enjoy the final few moments before the whistle sparked great scenes on the pitch and the fans also came on to celebrate with them, ESL champions for 2023/24 and promotion back to the Isthmian North at the first time of asking, well done to everyone at the club for achieving this feat, it was well deserved.

Full time Tilbury 2 Frenford 0

So, we know that Tilbury are champions, let's see what else happened in the division and see how the table looks with one week of the regular season remaining:-

Athletic Newham 0 

Barking 0 

Att-45

Buckhurst Hill 1 (Youcef Tacine 90+3) 

Romford 0

Att-125

Saffron Walden Town 4 (Olly Miles 64,77,80; Jacob Noble 67) 

Great Wakering Rovers 3 (Max Gnandi 10,74; Jake Gordon 22)

Att-223

Stanway Rovers 4 (Harry Thomas 51, 58; Tom Maycock 55; Nathaniel Mardell 90+1)

West Essex 0

Att 80

White Ensign 2 (Ethan Evison 65,88)

Little Oakley 3 (Jordi Papple 22; Daniel Rowe 35; Harry Mann 90)

Att-62

So, today's results mean pretty much all has been decided title/automatic promotion/play off wise now, Tilbury are of course champions now and will be back in Step Four football next season, Romford, Woodford Town, Barking & Sporting Bengal United will most likely be the four sides competing for a place in Step Four in the post season, Romford and Woodford will have home advantage regardless of where they finish now, all that needs to be decided is who they face at home. GWR cans till make the play offs mathematically but they need to make up thirteen points in their final five games which is pretty unlikely as those games have to be played in the next couple of weeks or so.

Down at the bottom and it's almost certain that Ilford will finish in the bottom two along with already relegated Coggeshall Town, whether Ilford go down with them is still a matter for discussion and really depends on reprieves from elsewhere, the league did say two were going down a couple of months or so ago but Ilford seemed to think they had survived a few weeks ago when they knew they would definitely not finish bottom, so who knows how that's going to pan out!!!

Anyway congratulations again to Tilbury for their success today, it was a pleasure to share the day with you and also be part of the presentation at the end too, handing the tankards to ESL president Robert Errington to pass onto the players of the winning side, no doubt their celebrations will go long into the night and quite frankly who could blame them, they deserve it 100% after a long tough season and especially after the disappointment of relegation last season.