Frenford 2 Romford 0 - Second half goals from Derix Ndjoli & Joseph Akinsanmi help bottom side Frenford net huge three points against Romford to take them only two points from safety in the Essex Senior League table

Essex Senior League, Saturday 27th December

My last game in 2025 saw me over at The Drive between Ilford and Redbridge for a local clash between Frenford & Romford, with each side vying to try and end 2025 on a positive note.

The hosts started the day bottom of the table and five points from safety after what has been a very tough and frustrating season to date, only ten points had been accumulated in their twenty games thus far and were in danger of being cut adrift if they could not pick up points and the ones above them did, Romford were one of these sides and sat 17th in the standings, albeit eight points better off.

If the hosts then could pick up a first win since beating Halstead Town at home in mid November, then they could pull that gap down, and to Sporting Bengal United, who sat immediately above the drop zone, however they had only picked up one point in their last six outings, and they were up against an improving Romford who had recently held high flying Benfleet and Great Wakering Rovers, so this would be a tough ask although the hosts had been in a lot of games this season but little reward.

Romford themselves knew that a win would extend the gap to the bottom two to a yawning chasm or at least maintain it, at kick off it was seven points, so by the end of the afternoon and if results went their way, it could be as much as ten points, anything else though and that gap could shrink and become a worry heading into the new year.

Their were plenty of visiting fans to cheer on their side, and it was Romford who certainly had the better of the opening twenty five minutes or so, and should really have taken their chances that came their way, but wasteful finishing was the reason they did not, and in fact once Frenford had settled and survived those moments did themselves rally and look a danger in the latter parts of the half, but the teams would go into the dressing rooms goalless and looking for some pieces of wisdom from their managements to see who could grab the advantage in this one.

The majority of the second half belonged to Romford who did a lot of pressing and put the visitors defence under a lot of pressure, but the hosts repelled anything that came their way, and that combined with largely poor play in the final third by the visitors left themselves and their away support immensely frustrated indeed, and they were to be even more agast with twenty minutes to go.

That is because Frenford, who had tested the keeper with a spectacular effort on a rare moment for them at the other end of the field in the second period up to that point, stunned Romford by taking the lead, a lovely ball across the box found substitute Derix Ndjoli, who had only been on the field for ten minutes, convert from close range beyond the keeper, and hand Frenford the lead against the run of play, but that mattered not and Romford had just over twenty minutes to salvage something.

Frenford though were battling hard for each other and the visiting fans around me in the second period were getting more and more irritated with what they were seeing, and the hosts were getting closer and closer to that winning line, could they hold on?

Well, they did more than hold on, they actually made the game safe with a minute of normal time remaining, and it was a lovely curling finish from Joseph Akinsanmi, placed well beyond the reach of the keepers full length dive into the far corner, and give the hosts some breathing room heading into stoppage time, making the final few moments a bit less fraught shall we say.

Had Romford grabbed one back quickly it could have been panic stations, but when they fired over from close range deep into added on time, you knew it just wasn't going to be their day, meaning a very disappointing afternoon for them and their disgruntled fans, this was a game they should have grabbed something from really, but poor finishing cost them, as well as lack of concentration at the back which allowed them to be breached twice, although the second goal was decent it has to be said.

This though was a huge win for Frenford, and it now takes them only two points from safety, one more win and they could be out of the bottom two, it can change just like that, so will this result be a spring board to a much better second half of the season, who knows, but it's looking slightly better after today's result, whereas for Romford the gap to the bottom two is now just four points, so they will be nervously looking over the shoulder and hoping the bottom two, who both won today, don't start finding some form.

Full time Frenford 2 Romford 0

Hullbridge Sports 3 Halstead Town 2 - Messrs Harrison & Wallace perfect start continues at Hullbridge Sports after late Ellis Devereux goal seals comeback win against Halstead Town in a very watchable Essex Senior League contest

Essex Senior League, Saturday 20th December

The last Saturday before Christmas saw me return to local football after a small break to watch what was billed as a very intriguing contest between a revived Hullbridge Sports outfit under new management and a Halstead side who were gunning for promotion and trying to get back on track after back to back losses before this contest today.

Since Mark Harrison and Liam Wallace had been appointed as Bridge management the mentality of the club and players had changed in just three games, all three won as well meaning their confidence and outlook had now totally changed, and are top of the form table this month too, a contrast to what had gone before, and they were up against a Halstead side who suffered defeat at Woodford Town last weekend before a cup loss at SOUL Tower Hamlets, both who are promotion rivals of course.

Despite this though Halstead would certainly prove a very tough assignment for the hosts and a real a litmus for this Hullbridge side and new management of where they really were, the visitors losses recently were very hard to take and could both have easily gone the other way, could they right that this afternoon, as said a very intriguing battle awaited us.

The opening exchanges were quite scrappy although I felt Halstead may have edged slightly, although neither side really carved out any real chances of note, but then on 26 minutes came the opening goal, and out of the blue from the hosts, a lovely ball in by Kelson McFarlane found Kamel Sassi who sent a lovely looping header over visiting keeper Charlie Turner and hand the hosts the lead.

It was a lead that was only to last a couple of minutes though as Halstead found a leveller, the ball finding it's way to Joel Older who duly lashed home from around twelve yards and giving Michael Bett no chance whatsoever in the hosts goal, and just like that there were two decent goals to enjoy after a rather average beginning to the contest, scrappy as said.

The teams were to go into the break all square, but Halstead were to strike early in the second period, and what a goal it was too, Kane Gilbert received the ball and flicked it around the corner to give him some space before he sent a wordie of a strike beyond Bett and into the far corner, a truly wonderful strike, and Halstead now had the lead, how would this Hullbridge team react to this?

Well, as said earlier, the mentality of this side has changed recently, and maybe Bridge of old would have crumbled, but not a bit of it in this game, and with just over twenty minutes remaining found themselves on level terms and it was their skipper and centre half Darren Phillips who provided the powerful header beyond Turner to bring them level, twenty minutes or so to go, who was winning this one?

I still felt that the visitors had the more potent threat going forward and if anyone was to win I would have said they would have done, but what do I know, Ellis Devereux had been kept quiet in this contest and had hardly had a sniff at goal, but with 87 minutes on the clock, he got through on the Halstead goal and duly slotted home his only real chance of the contest to put the hosts ahead, could the Humbugs respond again?

They certainly put plenty of pressure on their opponents but Phillips amongst others defended superbly and managed to hold out to win and keep the new management's 100% record in tact, this was a big test of that today and they came through with flying colours, things are certainly looking up for them now, that's four wins from four in December.

For Halstead things are just not happening for them right now, that's three defeats in a row now but it could easily have been three wins from three, according to them, that's how it's going at the moment although they are still right in the promotion race in what is a very tightly packed table, a good watch though and an enjoyable afternoon indeed.

Full time Hullbridge Sports 3 Halstead Town 2

There were four other games today in the division, let's see how those panned out:-

Basildon United 3 Saffron Walden Town 2 (The Bees grabbed their second win of the month after ending Walden's 100% record for December with victory at The Hive, things were made harder for the visitors when Finn Barden was red carded on the half hour mark which lead to Nikolay Zlatev netting a spot kick to give the hosts the lead. Jack Wilson then increased that lead early in the second half and when Noor Mbaza Samuel made it 3-0 with just over ten minutes to go, it seemed that the hosts were cruising. They were made to sweat somewhat though when Sam Deering firstly pulled one back from the spot on 87 minutes before netting again deep into stoppage time, but it was too little to late for the visitors who ended up losing this one and see the hosts breathe a sigh of relief)

Buckhurst Hill 3 Sporting Bengal United 3 (David Komolafe's hat-trick so nearly gave Sporting Bengal United a stunning win at Roding Lane but saw a stoppage time leveller deny them a first win since September. Harry Lusher had given the hosts a 34th minute lead but the visitors fought back and levelled through Komolafe's first goal three minutes before half time, and he then gave them the lead ten minutes after the break but then saw Hill level courtesy of Arthur Massingham in the 67th minute. However when Komolafe netted an 86th minute penalty to complete his hat-trick, it seemed the visitors would end a run of nine successive defeats with a shock win, but it wasn't to be as Hill saw Tony Martin net in the eighth minute of time added on to break Sporting hearts and earn the hosts a very late point)

Great Wakering Rovers 2 Romford 2 (Romford earned a very decent point at Burroughs Park but it took a late Harrison Topliss goal to make sure Rovers got something from this contest. After a goalless first half it was Romford who got ahead ten minutes after the break through Flynn Hamilton, Rovers levelled through Harry Talbot in the 73rd minute but then saw Romford restore their lead through Henry Hart just two minutes later. However, Topliss brought Rovers level in the 81st minute and make sure the hosts did grab something from the game)

Little Oakley 1 Hackney Wick 2 (It's three defeats in four in all competitions for league leaders Little Oakley after they fell to defeat at home to Hackney Wick who picked up their first win in December. The visitors flew out of the blocks and were two goals up in 21 minutes, Andre Anderson netting the opener after eleven minutes before Mosope Oguntuga doubled that lead, and despite Jack Ladbrook's goal on 75 minutes giving Oakley hope, they could not muster anymore goals and saw Wick pick up a very decent win on the road.

How does today's action affect the table, let's have a look:-

Oakley's loss at home to Wick means although they remain top, SOUL can now overtake them if they win their game in hand, whilst GWR's point means they are just inside the top five by a point, in fact no one in the top ten won today, Walden and Halstead both lost but it's so tight up there right now in what is a very competitive division that at least half the league could make a play off charge with some wins.

In contrast to the top ten, nobody in the bottom half lost today, Wick grabbing a great win to be just off the top ten, Bas & Bridge also netted wins too which for the former takes them closer to the top ten whilst for Bridge they are now way ahead of the bottom two and in 15th now, and Romford/Sporting Bengal also picked up useful points to increase the gap to the bottom two.

That concludes today's blog and indeed any blogging till after Christmas, thanks for reading as always and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and get everything you asked for.
   

Bryne 0 Aalesund 4 - Aalesund on brink of promotion back to Eliteserien after netting four first half goals against Bryne who need a second leg miracle to hold onto their top flight status and not drop back to the OBOS-ligean

Kvalifisering Eliteserien 2025 (Kamp 4), Sunday 7th December

It was my second ever visit to The Bryne Stadion on Sunday to see if the hosts, Bryne, could keep their place in the Eliterserien after their first season back in the top flight for over two decades has seen them struggle somewhat and end the season third bottom in the division, and in the relegation play off spot, they would be up against Aalesund, who finished fourth in the OBOS-ligean, and had come through two play off games to make this stage and give themselves a chance of promotion and relegating Bryne at the same breath, that first leg of the final to come later, but first, here is how the play off system works, and how it got to this stage and this fixture today.

It's known as Kvalifisering Eliteserien, basically Qualifying for the Eliterserien, the top division in the country, to see who would grab the final place in that league for the 2026 season.

This is how it works:-

This is how the top six ended up in the OBOS-ligaen, Norway's second tier, and as you can see Lillestrom & Start went up to the Eliterserien automatically, 3rd to 6th then play off to see who will play the team who finish third bottom in the Eliterserien over two legs to see who takes that final spot for 2026 at the top table, still with me? Hope so!!!

The opening game of the play offs (Kamp One, Kamp meaning Game for anyone who wants to know) sees 5th host 6th, on this occasion Egersund Vs Ranheim, the winner of that then travel to 4th place and winner of that travel to third, before the winners of that play Bryne, the side who finished third bottom in the Eliteserien, over two legs, let's see how those games went setting up the final two play offs games (Kamp 4 & 5).

Kamp One - Egersund 3 Ranheim 2

This game had a very dramatic conclusion, Mikael Johnsen put the visitors ahead six minutes before half time before Mathias Sauer levelled the game up in first half stoppage time, Ranheim then restored their lead through Aki Samuelsen with just over twenty minutes remaining to give them huge hope of getting into the next stage of the playoffs.  But, Oscar Kapskarmo levelled in the 84th minute before Scott Vatne's 95th minute winner sent Egersund through to the next stage!!!

Kamp Two - Aalesund 3 Egersund 1 (aet)

That meant Egersund travelled north to face Aalesund, and it looked for a very long time as if the visitors would prevail after Oscar Kapskarmo's 8th minute goal looked enough to send them into the next stage, but, another dramatic ending, this time going against Egersund, saw Kristian Lonebu's 91st minute leveller send the tie into an extra half hour, and further goals for the hosts from Fredrik Heiselberg & David Johannsson saw Aalesund into the next stage after extra time.

Kamp Three - Kongsvinger 4 Aalesund 5 (aet)

That meant Aalesund would now have to travel over to near the capital, Oslo, to take on Kongsvinger, who finished third after missing out on automatic promotion by a point, and if you thought the first two games were dramatic, it had nothing on what was to come in the third game of the playoffs. Henrik Melland gave Aalesund the lead in the 22nd minute only to see the hosts level three minutes later courtesy of Lucas Haren, but the visitors quickly restored their lead three minutes later through Paul Ngongo however, it was 2-2 on the half hour mark after Rasmus Christiansen restored parity for the second time.  Aalesund though went in front for a third time eight minutes before the break through a second of the game for Ngongo, and when Leonbu added his second and the visitors fourth soon after half time, they looked in control.  But not a bit of it, Kongsvinger reduced the arrears in the 55th minute through Jesper Grundt, and then levelled the tie at 4-4 in the 76th minute through Martin Vinjor meaning this titanic tussle would go to extra time!!! And with eight minutes of extra time remaining Phillip Aukland netted the winner for Aalesund to send them through to the two legged final of these playoffs against a broken hearted home side who saw Lucas Haren sent off late on in the extra half hour, phew!!!

This meant that Aalesund would now come up again Bryne, the side who ended their first Eliteserien season in over two decades after winning promotion last season third bottom and in that relegation play off spot as said earlier, Kamp Four of the play off rounds would take place firstly at Bryne, with the final game (Kamp Five) taking place in Aalesund, with the aggregate winners over the two games taking their place in the Eliteserien for 2026.

Anyway, now for the game I mentioned at the start of this blog and the one I am blogging on at The Bryne Stadion, at this stage the latest instalment in this play off series, who would grab the advantage going into the second leg next week, let's see:-

Bryne Vs Aalesund (Kamp Four, Bryne Stadion, Sunday December 7th)

It's fair to say the hosts first season back in the top flight for over twenty years had not gone as well as they hoped, but even their most ardent fan probably expected them to be in a relegation battle this season, and so it proved, although they did end quite a way above the bottom two as you can see below:-

As you can see, they finished way above Stromsgodset but they just could not pull themselves out of 14th and clear the sides above them, and had third bottom & that relegation play off spot confirmed in the penultimate weekend of the season, they did though end their regular season with a 4-1 win at Haugesund who had a season to forget to put it mildly!!!

This will give them some confidence heading into this game then against an Aalesund side who have been the proverbial yoyo club over past seasons, unable to stay in the Eliteserien but seemingly find the OBOS-ligean an easier division for them to bounce back, could they do the same here again, or would Bryne manage to hold onto that final place at the top table and not relinquish something they had worked so hard to achieve with promotion last season after over two decades away from the top flight.  Aalesund had certainly had a rather stressful and dramatic route to this game, maybe they thought that promotion was in the stars, who knows, despite only missing out on automatic promotion by three points themselves.

This was just the first leg of this final tie in the play off series, but a win for either side would certainly give themselves an advantage going into the second leg on Thursday further north at the Color Line Arena, so today was really about who could get themselves into a favourable position heading into Kamp Five.

The opening ten minutes saw the hosts try and dominate the ball, they couldn't create anything of note though and on twelve minutes were caught by a sucker punch of a counter attack from the visitors, Kristian Lonebu fired a shot from close range across goal and although this saved by the hosts keeper, the ball went across goal and fell invitingly to Mathias Christensen who had the simple task of side footing into the empty net and stun the home crowd.  

An early set back then for the home side, and it was to get even worse for the home side in the 26th minute who were once again caught on the counter by the visitors who looked like they could score every time they broke away, this time is was a lovely finish from the edge of the box from Christensen, a total opposite to the first goal he scored, and his second was a lovely curling side footed finish giving the keeper no chance, and now that early set back for the hosts was becoming a much bigger issue.

Bryne really needed the next goal, but it was increasingly looking likelier that the visitors would pierce a brittle home defence, and with around ten minutes of the half to go Lonebu attempted to go by a defender in the box and went to ground under a challenge, the referee pointed for a corner, but after a lengthy VAR review was sent to the screen and to no ones surprise (after the replay had been shown on the big screen) the penalty was awarded.

Everyone in the home stands prayed for a save or a miss, but Paul Ngongo made no mistake from the spot, firing home the penalty and putting Aalesund into dreamland, three goals up before half time, very unexpected and they were already in my mind, and probably in other peoples too, that they had one foot in the Eliterserien for next season.

Could it get any worse for the hosts, well, it did, three minutes before half time, a cross into the box saw Henrik Melland rise totally unchallenged to send a deft header into the corner of the net, and hand the visitors a scarcely believable four goal lead the the first half of this play off final first leg, the hosts and the home crowd were shell shocked, and their grasp on their Eliteserien spot was slipping and slipping away with every passing moment.

Boos and whistles greeted the half time whistle, unsurprisingly, and Aalesund's evening could not be going any better than it was, they had been ruthless with the chances they had created, they certainly had not outplayed the hosts but were just clinical when it mattered, and the home sides defending was not the best, and to be honest they were not brilliant going forward either, not a good recipe.

How on earth were Bryne going to get back into this contest and indeed the tie as a whole, well a goal or two would help for starters, but it was the visitors who could easily have added more in the early exchanges but they cutting edge was lacking in this half, thankfully for Bryne, but although the hosts certainly improved after the break I cannot remember the visiting keeper making a save of any note in the entire game, let alone the second period.

Aalesund were managing the game well too, and kept the hosts at arms length, if Bryne could have grabbed a couple back in the second half it may have given them a glimmer of hope for Thursday's second leg, but they never looked like scoring and the damage had been done in the first period, and Aalesund saw out the game to record a superb victory.

It means only a miracle now will prevent Aalesund from taking their place in the Eliterserien once again for 2026, and see the comebacks of all comebacks from Bryne from preventing them from dropping back down to the OBOS-ligean after just one season back in the top flight, and if truth be told, it's hard to see how that will happen, well done to Aalesund though, that was some clinical first half display and a good nights work in South West Norway.

Full time Bryne 0 Aalesund 4