Great Wakering Rovers 1 Sporting Bengal United 2 - Dramatic finish at Burroughs Park as an Artmeladze stoppage time spot kick hands visitors come from behind win

Essex Senior League, Saturday 29th July

Competitive football is back folks, and by the end of this contest, it most certainly was back, but more about that later.  Great Wakering Rovers, who had been relegated back to ESL after suffering play off misery at the end of last season, were taking on Sporting Bengal United, who had returned to the ESL after a year out following play off delight at the end of last season.

Two contrasting ends to each other's season's then, but many felt GWR would be challenging for the top five and the play offs come the end of this campaign and were expected to begin this season with a comfortable home win over the East London outfit who play their games at Mile End Stadium of course.

Sporting are not here to make up the numbers though, and Steve Clark has got them well drilled and solid in defence, but has the players to hurt the opposition too, but GWRs young side, who saw off a young Southend United XI in their final warm up game prior to this first league game, should have had the ideal start when they won a penalty inside a minute of this contest after a clumsy foul inside the box.

Up stepped Jake Gordon to slot home GWRs first goal of the campaign, oh no wait, his penalty was saved by Sporting keeper Sidi Haidara, and the score line remained 0-0, and it would remain that way for the remainder of the half, not sure how as both sides created openings with both keepers being called into action on one than more occasion, the home keeper Luis Shamshoum pulling off a superb save from a header at one point.

GWR started the second half the better though and won another penalty after Steve Carvell had been adjudged to have committed a foul inside the box, much to his dismay, Gordon was taken off penalty duties after his first half miss, and Ben Search was handed the responsibility of taking this one, surely he would score, well no, as his 56th minute penalty was saved by Haidara, drama!!!

However, on the hour mark there was nothing Haidara could do when GWR finally got their noses in front when Gordon thumped a powerful free kick from the edge of the box at goal and although the keeper got a big hand on it, he could only parry it in off the post, Haidara would have been disappointed no doubt but the power was too much for him and the hosts now had a slender lead.

Sporting seemed to have lost their way a little and were clinging on a tad for a time after as the hosts looked like they could now go on and maybe win this one more comfortably, they had certainly been made to work hard thus far but another goal would surely have ended this contest, they had openings to increase their lead, Gordon actually hitting the frame of the goal with a corner on one occasion, but that second goal would not come.

Sporting brought on Shermandin Artmeladze to try and get back into the contest, and he was to have a huge say in how this game ended up, and with eleven minutes left he produced a moment of brilliance to bring the visitors level, driving at the box before firing an unstoppable effort from outside the box beyond the dive of Shamshoum, stunning the home crowd and players, they did not see that coming.

However the most dramatic end was to follow, almost farcical at times too, as deep into three minutes added on and after Jay Nash looked to have been fouled inside the visitors box, which even saw Bengal boss Clark saying that is a penalty against his own side, Bengal flew down the other end and saw substitute Alagi Juwara (I think, I kind of lost track of what was going on as so much was happening!!!) try go go round keeper Shamshoum and was brought down.

The bal rolled loose for Artmeladze, but literally seconds before he rolled it home for what would have been the winner, the referee had already blown for a spot kick, meaning it was a penalty and the goal would not stand, much to Artmeladze's disgust. He was absolutely fuming and in fact even though was supposed to be taking the penalty, he had stormed off to his bench to get some spray on his ankle, so left it to Sam Edwards to take the spot kick and win the game for the visitors.

Prior to all of this happening, Sporting had missed three golden chances to win it, and GWR had even missed a great chance too, could Edwards step up and score, well no as his spot kick was brilliantly saved by Shamshoum, but more drama as the assistant adjudged that the keeper had stepped off his line, so a retake was ordered by the officials, which rather upset the keeper unsurprisingly.

By now Artmeladze had calmed down enough (or so we thought!!!) to step up and attempt to win the game for his side, and sure enough he sent the retaken penalty high into the net, prompting visitors boss Clark to aim a celebration fist pump towards the home bench. which went down well, and saw Clark face to face with his counterpart between the two benches.

Whilst this was going on a melee ensued inside the GWR six yard box after the penalty had been scored, and saw the scorer, Artmeladze, conclude a crazy few minutes for himself by punching keeper Shamshoum and seeing him lay facedown inside his own goal, he was duly sent off and the keeper was booked for his part in the confrontation.

It had been a rather unsavoury few minutes and threatened to get out of hand, but thankfully the game did restart almost TWELVE minutes into three minutes of added on time, GWR did have a minute or so to try and force a leveller, but they could not and Bengal held on for a dramatic and very impressive victory on their return to Step Five football.

The hosts will be rather gutted to lose that one, but only had themselves to blame quite frankly, you cannot pass up the chances they had and expect to win games, but Sporting will be a tough side to beat this season and were more than a match for their opponents today, just a shame the game had to end the way it did as it was played hard but fair prior to that, competitive football is well and truly back!!! I need a lie down after all of that!!!

Full time Great Wakering Rovers 1 Sporting Bengal United 2

Hornchurch 0 Braintree Town 0 - Urchins & Iron share goalless draw after a game of few chances at Bridge Avenue

Pre Season Friendly, Tuesday 25th July

My final PSF prior to the 2023/24 season saw me pop over to Bridge Avenue in Upminster for a contest between Isthmian Premier side Hornchurch and Vanarama National South side Braintree Town as both sides enter their final preparations as the new season draws nearer and nearer.

This could easily have been a league fixture this season, The Urchins suffered play off final heartbreak at home for the second consecutive season at the end of the last campaign, losing out to Aveley in front of 3,000 at Bridge Avenue, it was a season where promotion at one stage looked nailed on as they spent the majority in the automatic places, but nothing is nailed on in football and so they must try and make it third time luckily this campaign.  

The Iron had a pretty decent season last time around, they managed to finish seventh and make the playoffs, although they lost at Worthing in the eliminator, and also won the Essex Senior Cup for the first time in their history after defeating Concord Rangers at Colchester United's Community Stadium, and after their struggles in previous season's, it was certainly a step forward for the club.

This contest as it turned out though was not very memorable, the first half saw barely any chances of note, the only clear cut one fell to the hosts when Sam Higgins sent a close range header over the bar, and the only other shot at goal also came from the hosts when George Saunders fired over from a difficult angle, but truth be told it was a forgettable half.

The second half wasn't much better although there were a touch more chances, well just about anyway, Tom Wraight should have netted for the hosts but somehow sent his header wide of the target following a good cross from Saunders, Wraight had been booked prior to this for a foul on John White which certainly annoyed the visitors. The foot was high and slightly dangerous so a yellow card was the correct outcome. Their certainly had been some physical challenges in this contest, which I don't mind as shows the commitment from both sides.

The visitors only shot on goal I can remember came from their centre forward Nnamdi Nwachuku, who fired an effort goal wards although it seemed to take a slight nick off a defender before the host keeper Joe Wright claimed with relative ease, and moments after this The Urchins saw Liam Nash stun the palms of visiting keeper Jack Sims who had looked pretty impressive during the contest.

A scramble inside the hosts box resulted in nothing ultimately and that was about it for excitement in the contest which was well contested but resulted in both defences coming out on top in a goalless draw but more minutes in the legs of both sides. Both clubs conclude their pre season work in the next week or so before the real stuff begins.

Full time Hornchurch 0 Braintree Town 0

White Ensign 1 Witham Town 4 - Rowan Dorling & Jeffrey Cobblah amongst scorers for visitors who net victory at a blustery Len Forge

Pre Season Friendly, Saturday 15th July

My fifth PSF in seven days (yes I know, I can't believe that either, and I had not done any before last weekend!!!) saw me over at The Len Forge Centre as Essex Senior League side White Ensign were hosting Isthmian North side Witham Town as both sides continue to prepare for the new season.

Ensign were embarking on another season at Step Five and the ESL, they had finished 13th in their last campaign and were hoping to maybe better that this season, they had held onto some of last season's squad and add some more quality too so no doubt manager Aaron Bloxham and Co would hope these additions would help them to push on for a top ten finish perhaps this term.

Witham Town endured another tough season in the 2022/23 campaign, but they did manage to finish fifth bottom, seven points clear of Coggeshall Town who were in the final relegation play off spot (Coggeshall eventually fell into the ESL themselves) thus earning another season at Step Four and the Isthmian North.

Gary Kimble has also returned as manager for Town too, his last spell was a very successful won when they won promotion to the Isthmian Premier, so the club are hoping he can work his magic again and at least see the club to a much better season this time around, although it will be tough for sure.

It was nice to see Town super fan James Beardwell prior to the game, and after grabbing a selfie with him and an interview on his vlog (yes I am finally famous!!!) attention turned to the game itself which would be played in sunny but very blustery conditions (as I write this the wind is still battering against my kitchen window in my flat near the seafront!!!).

This would make it tougher for the players out there although at least it wasn't driving rain as well, that would have been worse, at least the sun was shining, and after only two minutes Town had the lead when a corner in from the left saw Rowan Dorling, son of ESL chair Lee no less (Lee was in attendance too) get across his marker to send a powerful header at the Ensign goal and although a defender tried to clear it off the line he could only help it on it's way into the net.

Not the start the hosts were looking for but they did recover and actually probably had the edge for the rest of the half, even though they were playing into the wind in the opening forty five minutes, and despite this their only real chance saw Hunter's shot cleared off the line by a defender's head, meaning the half ended with Witham holding a slender lead.

It had been a scrappy first forty five minutes, not helped by the wind of course, but the visitors stamped their authority on the contest early in the second period when netting twice in the opening ten minutes of the half, firstly winning a penalty two minutes after the break which saw the returning Jeffrey Cobblah step up and find the target from twelve yards, and then adding a third in the 53rd minute when their nine sent a lovely chip over the keeper and into the net.

Ensign managed to refocus after this awful start to the second period and twenty minutes into the half when an error at the back from the visitors resulted in Adebayo receiving the ball just outside the box, and he fired a powerful effort beyond the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net, thus reducing the arrears in the process.

The visitors, who apart from that moment looked fairly untroubled at the back in the majority, had the final say in this contest when they added a fourth goal with five minutes remaining after the fourteen broke the Ensign offside trap to stroll clear, round the keeper, and slot home, although the hosts were not to happy with the assistant as they were adamant he had strayed offside. The assistant though disagreed and the goal stood, and it meant Town had netted four in this contest and ran out winners in this latest PSF.

Full time White Ensign 1 Witham Town 4

Tilbury 5 Stansted 2 - Essex Senior League hosts net five against ten man Spartan South Midlands Stansted on damp evening at Chadfields

Pre Season Friendly, Friday 14th July

After uhming and rring over whether to go to a game on a wet Friday evening, I decided yes, so took myself off to Chadfields for a contest between a side who had just gone down into the Essex Senior League, and a side who were founder members of that division but had been moved into a different division for the coming season at most peoples surprise.

Tilbury had of course suffered relegation from the Isthmian North last season so were embarking on their first season at Step Five for a few years, whereas Stansted, who as said above, were founder members of the ESL several decades ago, were suddenly moved over to the SSMFL for the coming season, something they appealed but lost, but after the initial shock got their heads around it and now look forward to a season in a different division against some new sides.

Had a nice chat with Tilbury boss Marc Harrison before the game, and he bought me some food from the Eat Street kiosk at the ground, a very nice gesture indeed, and I also spoke with Paul Pittuck and Jon Watters from Stansted, it's always nice to chat with these guys as they always make you feel welcome and are true gents as well as brilliant managers and coaches. (I did speak with other people associated with both clubs as well apart from these who also made me feel very welcome, this is why I love non league football, people genuinely do care about how you are doing).

I also bumped into Mark Healy, ex Ensign and Regent, and had a nice chat with him after the game, always good to catch up with these guys, and they always ask how you are and stuff which always makes you feel good, so thank you. 

Talking of Tilbury boss Harrison, he is in fact assembling a very decent squad for their ESL campaign which has led to many labelling them with being one of the favourites for the title this season, Pittuck told me they had managed to retain most of their squad from last season and just had a couple more to add before pre season was done, so both squads seemed in decent shape half way through their pre season campaigns.

It was the hosts though who drew first blood on the quarter hour mark when a beautiful pass in behind the Stansted defence from Elliot Howson found striker Izaih Antoine who swept home a lovely finish beyond the keeper, and on the half hour mark it was two for the hosts when Harry Hope swung in a free kick from the left and saw Donovan touch home from close range. It's fair to say the visitors defence was static at best.

Stansted though responded with a goal of their own straight from the restart when Cav Clarke thumped home and it meant the hosts would go into half time with a 2-1 lead, the contest had certainly been very competitive and almost felt like a league or cup game, the referee had handed out a booking a piece for both sides after some tasty challenges you could say.

And two minutes after the break Stansted found themselves down to ten men after a poor challenge on Antoine resulted in a straight red for the visitors, there was nothing friendly about that as both teams came together, although to be fair to the hosts as along with the visitors asked if Stansted could bring a substitute on to replace the sent off player so it was eleven v eleven, but the officials disagreed so the visitors would have to play the entire second half with ten men.

Twenty minutes into the half Tilbury made it three and it was a sublime goal too, as Jordan Peart waltzed his way through the Stansted back line before sending a beautiful finish beyond the keeper, and after having more chances to add further goals did finally grab a fourth goal with five minutes to go when after the visitors lost the ball in midfield, a clinical hosts saw a brilliant ball from Tom Salter find Ashman who strode into the box before firing home.

Stansted did manage to pull a goal back two minutes later when Finley Gregory got onto a loose ball to rifle home, but the last laugh went to the hosts when Salter curled home a lovely effort with the last kick of the contest and cap a fine evening for the home side.

Full time Tilbury 5 Stansted 2

Hutton 2 Buckhurst Hill 2 - Essex Senior visitors twice come from behind to earn draw against Thurlow Nunn South new boys Hutton at New Lodge

Pre Season Friendly, Wednesday 12th July

I was over at New Lodge for the second successive evening as tenants Hutton were in action against Buckhurst Hill, the hosts are preparing for their first ever season in Senior Football after winning the Essex Olympian Premier title last campaign.

They will be competing in the Thurlow Nunn South Division this season which is Step Six in the non league pyramid and were taking on a Buckhurst Hill side who will be embarking on their second season in the Essex Senior League, step five, so a level above tonight's opponents.  

The visitors season didn't end well last season after a poor run of form saw them finish the season down in 17th, not the season they were hoping for after such a wonderful few years where they won the majority of games they played in after winning three promotions to make it to where they are today with a very good and settled side.

Last season saw some of that side depart for pastures new, and with more leaving in the summer it's a new era for the club in terms of personnel, and this was sure to prove a tough test against a Hutton side who won the Olympian Premier by ten points last term, losing only two league games all season in the process, and it was the hosts who got off to a flyer in this contest.

There were only two minutes on the clock when their number twenty, who was being called Casey by his teammates, produced a lovely finish over the keeper into the far corner, however the visitors responded with a goal of their own ten minutes later although the keeper should have done better with the effort, parrying what looked like a simple save above his head up in the air and into the net after the number ten had struck an effort from outside the box.

Miscommunication at the back almost allowed the hosts to retake the lead, as two Hill defenders got in each others way in trying to clear, and it ended with a thumping effort from the hosts cannoning off the bar, but eleven minutes before the break Hutton did retake the lead when after Hill had lost the ball in midfield, a clinical home side played a pass to the twenty one who produced a lovely finish into the far corner and punish the visitors to the max.

Hill tried to respond after the break and saw one effort tipped brilliantly onto the crossbar, and then saw their own stopper tip a free kick from the Hutton twenty one onto their crossbar, however with just over twenty minutes to go the visitors did have a leveller when their number ten turned provider this time, sending in a decent corner which the seventeen managed to convert first time from inside the box.

Both sides had the chance to win it, the hosts somehow firing over from point blank range after a brilliant ball in from the left, and then Hill saw an effort put just wide after a lovely ball into the box.  It all meant the game would finish all square, a decent well contested game it was too.

Hutton 2 Buckhurst Hill 2