Billericay Town 7 Little Oakley 0 / Hutton 0 Aveley 5 - Scintillating Blues hit seven past Oakley whilst Millers hit five against Hutton, Stanway, Hullbridge, Witham & Daggers also reach Quarter Finals of BBC Essex Senior Cup

(Action between Hutton & Aveley on Wednesday night at New Lodge which saw the visitors run out 5-0 winners)

BBC Essex Senior Cup Fourth Road, Tuesday 10th/Wednesday 11th November

It was another midweek double for me in the same competition, and the latest round of the BBC Essex Senior Cup, which had now reached the Fourth Road stage and the final sixteen clubs still left in the competition.  Six of eight ties were taking place this week, with all but one taking place on Tuesday.

And there were two of those ties at the same ground in Billericay, New Lodge, one on Tuesday and then one on Wednesday, and I was present at both to see who would win through and join the other four clubs this week in the Quarter Finals of the competition, let's see how those two games panned out:-

Tuesday 10th November

Billericay Town Vs Little Oakley

This game pitted National League South highflyers and current holders of the BBC Essex Senior Cup Billericay Town against Isthmian North side Little Oakley who themselves were also flying in their new division this season, so both sides were playing with plenty of confidence heading into this Last sixteen County Cup tie.

The Blues have started their life back at Step Two in the non league pyramid very well indeed, and currently occupy the final play off spot in the division in seventh spot, having won half of their fourteen league games so far and only losing two, as well as being joint second highest goalscoring club in the division so far, Oakley though have also started life at their new level well too.

They sat sixth in the Isthmian North, which is Step Four, and one place and one point outside the play off zone having also won half of their sixteen league games so far, but both sides were looking to see if they could reach the Last Eight of this prestigious competition, obviously the hosts would start as favourites seeing as they were two levels above their opponents in the pyramid.

It was soon apparent that the hosts were bang up for this contest and despite a number of changes quickly took control of the tie, finding themselves two goals up inside eight minutes, opening the scoring on six minutes as James Mauges & Charlie Ruff combined to set up Elliot Long who finished well, before doubling that lead less than two minutes later as a cut back found Odei Martin Sorondo who applied the finish, and it appeared the visitors would be in for a long night.

The hosts were relentless and looked dangerous everytime they came forward, and midway through the first period it was three and a goal all the making of the visitors sadly for them, as keeper and defender collided, and saw the ball fall nicely for Jon Benton who had the simple task of side footing home into an empty net, and the tie seemed pretty much over already.

And it definitely was over twelve minutes before half time when after Benton had struck the bar with a fantastic effort, skipper Ryan Scott was quickest to react to head the rebound back past keeper Askew and make it 4-0, and the hosts added another goal before half time when Long got his second of the game, tapping home following a superb run from Mauges down the left hand side.

It had been a scintillating performance from The Blues in the opening forty five minutes, they had totally blown away their opponents who had no answer to their quality of play, and they had been ruthless too, the tie was over but how many would Billericay get, Oakley's only thing to play for now was pride and not be totally humiliated, although being outplayed by a side as good as the hosts are isn't something to be embarrassed about, they were that good.  

A number of changes came from both sides after half time, but it was Billericay who found a sixth goal just before the hour mark, Benton grabbing his second of the contest, and it was another lovely move that ended with Benton and Ruff playing a one two that saw the former thump home first time into the bottom corner, and with eleven minutes remaining the hosts completed the scoring as Ruff got his goal to cap a decent showing, finishing off a lightning counter to slot home following a pass from Frankie Merrifield.

The holders then breeze through to the last eight and will take some stopping in this competition if they play like this, it was a painful experience for Oakley for sure but they came up against probably one of the best sides in Essex right now, and were totally outclassed by their National League South opponents. This should not discourage from what has been a very good season so far for the visitors.

The Blues though were brilliant, and ruthless, and rampant, a superb performance.

Full time Billericay Town 7 Little Oakley 0

Wednesday 11th November

Hutton Vs Aveley

The game saw Essex Senior League new boys Hutton attempting to cause another shock in this competition, they were up against Isthmian Premier Aveley who held a two level advantage over their opponents this evening, but they would have been wary of a Hutton side who arguably caused one of the shocks of the season when they came from two goals down to dump National League South Braintree Town out in the last round at New Lodge.

Hutton started their season at their new level, Step Five, slowly but over the last few weeks have picked up, and are sitting ninth in the ESL having won five of their fourteen league games so far, most of them coming recently, Aveley's start to their campaign sees them down in 15th spot in the Isthmian North, that's step three, having lost half of their sixteen league games so far, although they have also won six of them too and are only five points off sixth spot.

But tonight is was all about who could reach the Final Eight of the county cup, with the visitors favourites ahead of the tie, but Hutton like being the underdogs and would have no fear in this one, especially after their stunning comeback win in the last round, and for the first twenty minutes or so in this contest, there wasn't much in it, but once that period had passed Aveley began to create chances, and just before the half hour mark, they took one, as Harry Critchley rose to head home an Albie Armin corner.

Hutton continued to stay in the contest and battle hard against their higher league opponents, and at half time they were only one goal behind and still very much in the contest despite not creating too much of note going forward, but, five minutes into the second period Francis Mampolo fired home an unstoppable effort into the top corner of the hosts net, and doubled Aveley's advantage, and you felt then it was now going to be too a big a mountain to climb for the home side.

The Millers were now in total control of the contest, and made some changes to freshen things up, and after the restart following those substitutions, Aveley added a third goal, Mampolo turning provider this time, bursting down the left before firing across goal for an easy tap in for Shad Ngandu, 0-3, and the game was well and truly won with twenty minutes still to go.

Hutton to their credit kept fighting and battling hard, as they always do, but they struggled to make much of an impression on their opponents in this tie, and even when they tried to attack and search for a goal back in this one, Aveley kept them at arms length, and sadly for the home side they were to gift the visitors a fourth goal in the 88th minute, a ball forward saw the keeper slide and appear to claim the ball on the edge of his box.

But, the ball then squirmed from his grasp, and he was unable to regather and saw the ball fall to Said Mariche who turned and fired the ball into the empty net and Aveley were now rubber stamping their authority in terms of the score line too, and they still had time to add a fifth goal before the end, good play between Mampolo & Luke Kelly ended with Alejandro Machado being sent through to fire beyond the keeper, and cap a fine performance from the visiting side.

A good night for the Millers then who take their place in the Quarter Finals of the County Cup, they proved far too strong for their opponents this evening, an opponent who dumped out National League South opposition no less in the last round of course, it wasn't to be for Hutton this evening, they were well beaten in the end, and must now turn their attentions back to the league, but for them to reach the Last 16 of the County Cup was a very good achievement nonetheless.

Full time Hutton 0 Aveley 5

There were four other ties that took place on Tuesday, let's see how those went and who joined Billericay Town & Aveley in the Quarter Finals of the BBC Essex Senior Cup:-

Stanway Rovers 3 Waltham Abbey 0 (Rovers are into the Quarter Finals after victory over Abbey at The Hawthorns, the hosts led thanks to a goal seven minutes before half time, and it remained this way till late on when the hosts added two late goals to end up with a 3-0 win)

Rayleigh Town 0 Hullbridge Sports 4 (Sports grabbed a comfortable win against Rayleigh Town at The Len Salmon to progress into the last eight, Jack Unwin gave them a 15th minute lead and the lead was doubled six minutes before half time through Denzel Effah. Fred Agyemang then added a third early on in the second half before the scoring was completed with eleven minutes to go courtesy of a Nick Dembelle spot kick)

Wivenhoe Town 1 Witham Town 2 (Witham survived a scare against opposition two levels below them to squeeze through in the competition, the visitors took the lead but were pegged back thanks to a leveller from Mason Gillam, however the visitors were to net again which proved enough for them to take the win)

Tilbury 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 2 (The Daggers saw off a side two levels below them to progress, this despite going down to ten men before the half hour mark.  Freddie Ingram had given the visitors a seventh minute lead but then saw Jack Bateson sent off in the 27th minute, but, Tilbury could not take advantage of this and when Wiktor Makowski buried a spot kick with eighteen minutes to go, it sealed victory for the Daggers)

So, six of the Quarter Finalists are now known, with two more still to be decided in games to come in the following two weeks, Colchester United host Hashtag United on the 17th November, and then Redbridge host Grays Athletic on the 23rd November, the draw for the Last Eight takes place on Friday 13th November.

That completes my latest blog, thanks once again for reading and taking your time too, it is very much appreciated. 

Burton Albion 4 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 0 - Northern Premier Midlands AFC Rushden & Diamonds historic Emirates FA Cup run comes to an end after they were seen off by EFL League One side Burton Albion

Emirates FA Cup First Round Proper, Saturday 7th November

The first Saturday in November saw the next round of the FA Cup take place, and also saw EFL sides enter the fray, with clubs from League One & League Two beginning their journeys in this season's competition, and those forty eight sides joined the thirty two non league sides who had managed to get themselves into the First Round Proper after getting through their Qualifying Round ties.

That made eighty sides and forty ties across the weekend, but only two of those non league sides had actually began right at the start of the competition this season, the Extra Preliminary Round, which is an incredible achievement it has to be said, and quite rare too, they both played at Step Four in the non league pyramid, and both had to get through six rounds just to be here.

One of those sides were AFC Rushden & Diamonds, who reside in the Northern Premier Midlands Division, and they were taking on League One Burton Albion at the latter's Pirelli Stadium, that's five levels and a massive 139 places between them, it really was a David v Goliath showdown in every sense, and just one of many reasons that I love this competition.

And with Stafford Rangers (the other Step Four side who began right back in the Extra Prelim) being second in their division (Northern Premier West), it meant that AFC Rushden & Diamonds were officially the lowest ranked side left in the competition as they are twelve in their respective division, so this was a massive occasion for the club who were only formed fifteen years ago from the ashes of the deceased Rushden & Diamonds, who themselves had quite a story in their short existence of around twenty years.

And today they had the opportunity of causing quite an upset against football league opposition, they had never reached the First Round Proper in there short history before, the furthest the got was the Fourth Qualifying Round back in 2015/16, but in the last eight seasons they hadn't been past the First Qualifying Round and last season they lost in the Extra Preliminary Round, so this season's run was certainly an historic one.

And they would be backed by a sold out away end at The Pirelli too, with nearly 2,000 AFCRD supporters, the very same supporters who some of them no doubt set the club up back in 2011, there to cheer on their side, and one of those players would be none other than Billy Sharp, the forty year old striker who signed for the club recently, and twenty one years on from a loan spell at the old Rushden & Diamonds club where he made sixteen appearances and netted nine times.

It was certainly a boost for the club ahead of such a massive cup tie, but even so they were up against a League One side away from home, so realistically their chances of success were very limited, and Burton themselves were keen on a cup run themselves knowing that two wins in this competition would see them have the chance of drawing one of the big boys in Round Three.

Burton themselves had been having a mixed campaign in League One, down in 15th spot with just seventeen points from their fourteen league games thus far, so this cup match was a welcome distraction from the league although they had everything to lose in this one and nothing to gain, other than a place in Round Two and potentially one win away from drawing an Arsenal or a Man City for example. The prize money was also a attraction too no doubt.

The Brewers, as Burton are known, have been around since 1950, and they only reached the EFL seventeen years ago, and were once managed by a certain Nigel Clough & also Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and since reaching the third tier in 2015/16, they have managed to stay at this level ever since, which for a club of Burton's size is a very good achievement, and last season they reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup before losing to West Ham United who were of course a Premier League side then.

That was only the second time in their history they had reached that round, so they were keen to repeat that success again this season, but first they had to get past AFCRD who although were many many places below in the football pyramid, would no doubt make it tough for their opponents, the start then was all important to maybe set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

The underdogs from Northamptonshire did well in the opening twenty minutes and there wasn't a lot between the two sides, however, midway through the first half Burton were to edge ahead although AFCRD and their fans packed in behind that goal were not happy as they claimed the ball had gone out for a goal kick, but play went on and an eventual ball into the box fell to Raphael Borges Rodrigues, and although his effort was saved by Charlie Woods, Will Collar was the quickest to react and poke home the rebound.

The visitors though continued to make life difficult for the hosts, but they were to be punished ten minutes before the break, Diamonds took to long to try and clear a ball in from Emeka Adiele, and Borges Rodrigues pounced to thump an effort beyond Woods and into the roof of the net, sending the hosts into the break two goals to the good, Diamonds had competed well in the opening forty five minutes but needed something special after the break to have any chance of causing what now looked an even more unlikely cup shock.

And fair play to Diamonds, they really took it to the Brewers after the break and were the better side for the opening fifteen or twenty minutes of the second period, Freddie Findlay almost pulled one back, forcing a good save from Corey Addai, as they attacked the end their magnificent support was based, they made such a good noise throughout the whole game, making the atmosphere if truth be told. (The atmosphere was added to by the misty conditions as well!!!).

However, Diamonds were unable to find a goal despite all their pressure, and as the half wore on Burton began to see more of the ball, unsurprisingly, and saw a wonderful dipping effort strike the bar before hitting Diamonds keeper Woods on the back and going narrowly wide, but Woods will want to forget the third Burton goal, which came with fifteen minutes to go, as a long range effort from Charlie Webster saw the keeper unable to hold onto the shot, and see it squeeze just over the line before he could stop it going over.

It was a shame for Woods, he had been solid throughout but this was an unfortunate moment for him, and it pretty much ended the contest, Sharp almost got his fairy-tale goal, and a 300th of his career, near the end but saw an effort go just wide of the far post, which would have been the story of the day no doubt in this one, and would have handed Diamonds a deserved goal to reward their decent showing here.

It wasn't to be though, and deep into added on time, Burton added a fourth thanks to a rasping drive across Woods from Zac Scutt, finding the bottom corner emphatically, and sealing a good days work for the hosts who were made to work hard for this despite winning by four goals in the end.

The Brewers then got the job done and avoided a huge shock on what was Gary Bowyer's 100th game in charge of the club, that was their main aim today, but Diamonds can be very proud of their performance, they really took it to their opponents in the second half and had they got one back, who knows, their historic run in this competition is at an end, but they did their club very proud today and throughout the competition this season.

Full time Burton Albion 4 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 0

So, well done to Burton Albion on their victory and progression into the Second Round Proper, and are just one win away from a potential meeting with a Premier League side, I must say the Pirelli Stadium is a lovely little ground, and the hospitality is also very good for the price it was, and was nice to chat to some people on my table and also in the stands, a very good day all round, so cannot complain.

I also wish AFC Rushden & Diamonds all the best for the rest of the season too, their fans sang loud and proud all game, and made up almost half the attendance today, a great effort from them and from their side too, and they will no doubt try and get up that league table for the remainder of the season now this cup run is at an end.

Great Wakering Rovers 0 White Ensign 2 / SOUL Tower Hamlets 1 Hutton 0 - White Ensign earn derby day win over Great Wakering Rovers, SOUL Tower Hamlets net late on to take all the spoils against Hutton

(Action from the Burroughs Park derby between Great Wakering Rovers & White Ensign on Tuesday night)

Essex Senior League, Tuesday 3rd/Wednesday 4th November

November already hey, and the season is starting to take shape, and my latest blog is a midweek double header in the Essex Senior League which saw me take in the Burroughs Park derby & a game at Cricklefield Stadium, they were part of three league games happening this midweek as well as a County Cup tie involving one of the ESL sides, let's see how the games I attended went.

Tuesday 3rd November

Great Wakering Rovers Vs White Ensign (Burroughs Park)

Now normally GWR would be the team most people would look too to be the dominant side in this fixture, the landlords have often been fighting towards the top of this division and even been up at Step Four on more than one occasion, whereas tenants Ensign have often punched above their weight since reaching Senior Football a few years ago, and were always classed as the underdogs in fixtures between these two.

Well, that isn't the case this season as Ensign are actually above their landlords in the standings, the 'visitors' on this occasion sit one point and three places above their opponents in 13th spot, and only one win from the top ten, and with their superb 5-0 home win over Wormley Rovers in the FA Vase at the weekend, they were coming into this one with plenty of confidence.

This did come after back to back losses in the league without scoring, although they had won back to back home games prior to that, so up and down form wise, however they were taking on a GWR outfit who are by no means having the season everyone expected, down in sixteenth spot with only twelve points from their ten league games thus far, with only three wins.

Many will point to the fact they lost some quality players before the season began, but they still have quality in their squad, so it is still a surprise to me that they are down where they are, & until recently they had won no league games before victories over three of the four sides immediately below them, which was very important indeed, with the last outing a 3-0 home win over a Woodford Town side who have slipped alarmingly down the standings in recent weeks and like GWR were many peoples tips to do well this season.

This derby then was even more intriguing this time around, with both sides hoping to grab a win over the other, these games are normally very well contested shall we say, it was a decent start to the contest too, both sides went close early on but Ensign thereafter began to carve out the better openings as they were the better side after an initial burst at the beginning from the hosts.

It appeared that the first half would end goalless too despite plenty of goal mouth action, especially at the end Ensign were attacking, but they did finally manage to make one of their chances count, and it came four minutes before the break when a ball over to the far side saw a lovely guided volley from George Godfrey go back across goal and into the opposite corner, and Ensign had a deserved lead.

You felt GWR, who did have some moments in the opening forty five minutes, could not be as bad as they had been in the opening forty five minutes in the second period, and they would show some fight and desire to get themselves back into this contest, well it was the complete opposite, and only some wasteful finishing prevented them from going further behind, Ensign finding the woodwork twice in quick succession as well as some goal bound blocks from GWR thwarting Ensign from going further ahead.

GWR made some changes to try and inject something into their performance, Ensign were still only one goal ahead despite their dominance and almost paid for their misses when GWR came close when firing over, and they then saw Ensign keeper Jordan Williams make a top top save to deny a wonderful long range effort, but thereafter Ensign recovered their composure and were the ones looking to end the game with a second.

Things were made harder for GWR when they were then reduced to ten men, centre half Kye Jude being dismissed for a second yellow in the 76th minute, and this only added to their woes, and in the 85th minute Ensign finally sealed a deserved win when George Briton-Watkins burst through to slot beyond George Marsh & give them some breathing space heading into the final part of the contest.

GWR did see a late goal bound effort blocked, and they dragged a free kick wide of the post with the final kick off the contest, a contest they had been second best in and were just outworked, outrun, and outfought by their opponents in every department, concerns for GWR then heading forward, but for Ensign this was a very comprehensive win, a win that takes them to the cusp of the top ten, not bad at all, they were very good in this one.

Full time Great Wakering Rovers 0 White Ensign 2

Wednesday 4th November

SOUL Tower Hamlets Vs Hutton (Cricklefield Stadium)

Last season's runners up SOUL have had a mixed campaign so far you could say, not helped by the fact their home ground, the Mile End Stadium, has had some issues with the playing surface hence some disruption to their season so far, and it was also the reason this game was being played at Cricklefield, as Mile End is now out of action for the time being.

Not ideal then, SOUL are down in 14th right now although they have only played nine games and have games in hand, mind you, having had four wins and four losses in those nine matches, it's been a mixed campaign as said, and they were welcoming a Hutton side to their home for the evening who have suddenly clicked into action after a slow start to the season.

Whereas SOUL netted a narrow win at strugglers Hackney Wick, their first win in six matches in all competitions, Hutton have been in scintillating form of late, having won five of their last seven in all competitions, that included a win at home to Vanarama National League South Braintree Town in the County Cup, and last time out smashed six past Romford to make it nineteen goals in those seven games, the only loss being a narrow defeat to unbeaten Heybridge Swifts.

It means that Hutton are now into the top ten and three points ahead of tonight's opponents & not fearing anyone right now, although SOUL did have three games in hand on their opponents, but this promised to be quite a contest I felt, the two games I'd seen Hutton play this season had seen fifteen goals in them, so I was quite confident their would be some in this contest too. 

Well, as it turned out, goals would be scarce in this contest, the opening forty five minutes certainly was a lively contest, with the hosts posing more of an attacking threat, mainly through Solomon Ofori down the left hand side, and even when they were reduced to ten men just before the half hour mark when Jack Ashford was sin binned, they still continued to pose a threat, and did actually find the net through Kieran James, but he was flagged offside after the ball had gone in, chalking that one off.

Hutton did have some attacks for sure, but they were nowhere neat as frequent as the hosts, and even in a second half where the hosts were not as productive as they had been in the first period, and one where Hutton did have a couple of very decent openings, SOUL were still the ones looking the most likely to nick one if anyone was too, which was becoming more and more unlikely.

Ofori, who had been a huge threat in the first half but had dropped off quite a bit in the second half, ended up having the last laugh, as he was played in in the 90th minute, and after rounding keeper Tommy Burley, he kept his composure to fire home despite a defender trying to keep it out with his hands, but found the shot to hot to handle, and it handed SOUL a deserved win overall and one that took them level on points with Hutton in the table and on the cusp of the top ten with games in hand.

Full time SOUL Tower Hamlets 1 Hutton 0

Let's see how the table looks now after the latest midweek games:-

Heybridge Swifts went top on goal difference after they saw off Romford 3-1 in the one other game this midweek, they are still the only unbeaten side left in the division this season, Romford stay in ninth and have lost back to back games since the departure of manager Darren Manning, and will no doubt want to appoint someone permanently soon and get themselves back on track.

White Ensign move to the cusp of the top ten after their superb derby win over GWR who remain down in 16th spot, and SOUL's win over Hutton also sees them on the cusp of the top ten, they are locked together on sixteen points with four other sides now in a very tightly packed mid table which sees only four points separating sixth placed Halstead Town & fourteenth placed Basildon United!!!

Anyway that's the latest dealings in the ESL for now, thanks for reading!!!