Essex Senior League Round Up (Saturday November 29) - Oakley net late on to remain top, SOUL come from behind to win big clash against Barking, Buckhurst, Ilford continue brilliant runs, Bas, Ensign, Wakering, Fleet & Woodford also pick up wins

 (Action from Little Oakley's 2-1 win over Frenford at The War Memorial, picture courtesy of Frenford (@Frenfordfc))

The final Saturday in November saw a full list of fixtures go ahead in the Essex Senior League, let's see how those panned out:-

Barking 1 SOUL Tower Hamlets 2 (SOUL Tower Hamlets netted a very important win over fellow promotion chasing Barking to keep the pressure on the leaders Little Oakley after coming from behind to take the win at Mayesbrook Park. Tyreece Robertson had given the hosts the lead in first half stoppage time but saw Ashaan Siddik level things up early in the second half before Zack Newton netted what proved to be the winner in the 66th minute)

Basildon United 2 Harwich & Parkeston 1 (Nikolay Zlatev was at the double as Basildon United kept up their decent recent form by picking up all three points at home to Harwich & Parkeston. Zkatev handed the hosts an early lead and doubled this advantage on the hour mark, Shaun Avis did respond for the visitors five minutes later though however this wasn't enough to prevent the hosts from netting all the spoils at The Hive)

Buckhurst Hill 2 Athletic Newham 1 (It's a perfect five wins from five in November for Hill after they came from behind to defeat Athletic Newham at Roding Lane, Joao Crux stunned the hosts after just two minutes to give the visitors the lead but Dimitri Nicolaou levelled ten minutes before the break to bring the home side level. And then minutes into the second period Harry Lusher netted what proved to be the winner as the hosts capped off a fine month with another three points)

Great Wakering Rovers 4 West Essex 1 (Rovers continued their fine home form to keep tabs on the play off places after they defeated struggling West at Burroughs Park. Max Gnandi gave the hosts a 20th minute lead before Bradley Bennett doubled that lead seven minutes later, Reece Simpson did then pull on back in the 32nd minute to give the visitors brief hope but Alfie Whiteaker's 51st minute strike and a Ben Search goal just before the hour saw the hosts to victory)

Hackney Wick 0 Benfleet 2 (Fleet ended the month in the best possible way with a win as they saw off Hackney Wick at Spa Road, after a goalless first half the hosts saw Mohammed Sebalhi sent off five minutes after the break and this proved pivotal as the visitors took advantage of the extra man, seeing Aaron Russell give them the lead in the 56th minute and then see Mason Shave seal the points with twelve minutes to go)

Halstead Town 1 Romford 1 (The only draw of the day came at Rosemary Lane in front of over 300 as Halstead were held at home by Romford, Christian Adu Gyamfi handed the visitors a shock lead barely a minute into the second half but Kane Gilbert netted just past the hour mark to make sure the hosts salvaged something from this contest)

Hullbridge Sports 0 Woodford Town 4 (Hullbridge's difficult season continued after they were heavily beaten at home by promotion chasing Woodford, Marko Protic gave the visitors the lead in the 25th minute before a Malaki Toussaint goal three minutes before half time doubled their money. A 69th minute penalty from Protic increased Woodford's lead further still before a Emmanuel Okunja goal with just under twenty minutes to go completed a good day at the office for the visiting side)

Little Oakley 2 Frenford 1 (League leaders Oakley needed a late late goal to keep them top of the division and squeeze past bottom side Frenford at The War Memorial, Louis Arnold handed the hosts an eighth minute lead but the visitors stunned their opponents by levelling in first half stoppage time through Nathan Dennis.  And it appeared that the home side were about to lose top spot with only a point against their struggling opponents until Dan Keeble popped up in time added on to win the game for the home side)

Saffron Walden Town 0 White Ensign 2 (After two cracking wins it was one step back for Walden in this one as two early goals were enough for Ensign to leave Catons Lane with all three points. Albie Keith gave them the lead after just two minutes and the game was only eight minutes old when Riley Weir doubled that lead, those goals proved to be enough as well as Ensign got over the disappointment of last weekend's stoppage time debacle to net a very good win here)

Sporting Bengal United 1 Ilford 4 (The Foxes unbeaten run in the league was extended to ten games after they netted a second win over Sporting Bengal United in seven days, Joel Appiah gave them a third minute lead before Emmanueal Wazola doubled that lead just past the midway point of the first half, Brandy Makuendi then reduced the deficit nine minutes before half time but Nickal David Luzolo restored Ilford's two goal cushion on the hour mark. And a Rodney Dame own goal nine minutes from time sealed another good day at the office for the visitors)

Latest table below:-

Oakley's stoppage time winner keeps them a point clear of SOUL Tower Hamlets who were about to retake top spot after losing it in midweek with victory over Barking until that late goal in Oakley, Ilford took advantage of other results to boing into the play off zone, they haven't lost in the league since 13th September so are on a cracking run right now.

There are only four points separating fourth placed Ilford and eleventh placed Hackney Wick, it's so tight which is brilliant for us neutrals who cover the league, one of those sides in that fight, Buckhurst Hill, have now netted five wins out of five this month, a month which surely sees Mark Williams net the MOTM award from the league, this is yet to be decided but as you will see from my form table I have created below, it's hard to argue why this won't happen.

Down at the bottom and only Romford picked up any points as the other six sides lost meaning they all stay close together, with only seven points between 15th and bottom, above that there is a gap starting to appear now, so Harwich upwards have plenty of breathing room now to the ones below.

Right, that form table I was on about for November, here it is:-

This includes league and league competitions only, and as you can see Buckhurst Hill are in front having won 100% of their games, including a 4-1 over Benfleet and a 5-0 win at Catons Lane against Saffron Walden, it's been a remarkable month for Mark Williams side and in my view deserves the MOTM award for November, Ilford again have been in top form and Chris Davis deserves a mention and would be unlucky to miss out on this award again, last months winners of that award, Little Oakley, were also perfect this month so deserve praise too as they have now reached the summit of the division.

Basildon United have had a good month too and deserve praise, as have Woodford & SOUL, plenty of sides have had mixed months too, which in this competitive division is not a surprise, Barking & Halstead have certainly dropped off this month, whereas Frenford, Hullbridge, West & Sporting have struggled somewhat and will want to try and turn this around before long.

That concludes today's blog, I hope you enjoyed reading, until next time, bye bye!!!