(Action from Friday nights derby between Ilford & Frenford, with the visitors running out 6-3 winners)
Despite the freezing weather there were some games that did go ahead in the Essex Senior League & the Thurlow Nunn First Division South this weekend, four in each division over Friday & Saturday, let's see how those games went and how it affected the league standings.....
Essex Senior League
Friday
Ilford 3 Frenford 6
Braces from centre half Tom Troubridge & striker Kieran David helped Frenford to the points over a new look Ilford under the new management of Chris Davis & Ray Bartlett at Mayesbrook Park. It looked good early on when the hosts grabbed the lead after twelve minutes when a ball down the channel and towards the right edge of the box saw striker Michael Dafer and keeper Matt Knight converge towards it, Knight tried to clear but saw it blocked by Dafer who managed to get to the loose ball and finish brilliantly from an acute angle, but with eight minutes of the fist half remaining Frenford levelled when a free kick swung towards the back post by Tyler Morgan found Troubridge who had lost his marker and volleyed in off the inside of the post, 1-1, but not for very long. This is because whilst the visitors were still celebrating their leveller, they switched off and allowed Mo Kaudeer to burst through and slot past Knight to immediately restore Ilford's lead, very frustrating for the visitors who had worked so hard to get back on level terms, but they were to head into the dressing rooms behind and The Foxes were half way towards a first win under their new guise. Frenford though didn't let the disappointment of the first period unsettle them, and seven minutes after the restart they were level again when centre half Troubridge nodded home a header back across goal from close range for his second of the game, and then six minutes later they had the lead after what can only be described as a moment of madness from keeper Boateng who was far to lax on the ball inside his own box, and allowed David, who was lurking, to pitch the ball off of the keeper and slot into the empty net, not what Ilford needed that's for sure!!! In the 63rd minute though The Foxes produced some more decent forward play to level the game once again, getting Kaudeer down the right to cross into the box, and although Dafer couldn't convert, the ball ran through to Quincy Warner who provided a first time finish beyond Knight and this superb game was now 3-3 heading into the final twenty five minutes or so, who was going to take this game by the scruff of the neck and grab an important win here? Well, with twenty minutes to go Frenford got themselves back in front for the second time when a total miskick from Morgan went across goal and fell perfectly for David to slam home into the bottom corner for his second of the game, and then seven minutes after that Frenford had a two goal cushion when Dion Johnston fired a ball in from the right and it ended up in the far corner of the net, whether it took a deflection I don't know, but it meant for the first time in this contest someone had some breathing space. And deep into added on time and with pretty much the last kick of the contest, substitute Sandro Camara struck an effort from distance which took a massive deflection, wrong footing Boateng and ending up in the net for a sixth goal for the visitors and a big three points too. For a more detailed look at this contest check out my blog entry on it at https://pedroslocalfootiefix.blogspot.com/2024/01/ilford-3-frenford-6-braces-from-tom.html
Saturday
Athletic Newham 1 Hullbridge Sports 2
Francesco Zabotti tasted defeat for the first time as Athletic Newham boss as his side saw two late goals from the visitors earn them all three points at The Terrance McMillan stadium. Idris Aminu's goal had given the hosts the lead with just over twenty minutes remaining and that looked like being enough to take all the spoils, however Bridge skipper Sam Owosu levelled with less than two minutes of normal time to play, and then there was still time for Michael Agboola to grab a winner for the visitors and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Romford 0 Tilbury 1
Third placed Romford were up against league leaders Tilbury at Rookery Hill, and the latter netted a massive win after Sam Carter's 56th minute goal proved enough to take all the spoils here. The winning moment came when a corner was won by Connor Martin whose header looped over the keeper and appeared to be touched home by Carter, meaning the visitors unbeaten run in the division now stretches back to August 28th, against none other than Romford, that's sixteen games having won eleven of those to boot, amazing.
Sporting Bengal United 1 Barking 2
Another side who are flying right now are Barking, and they stretched their unbeaten league run to ten games after coming from behind to beat fellow promotion rivals Sporting Bengal United at Mile End. After a goalless first period the hosts took the lead two minutes after the restart when Yassine Kachi produced a cross for Christian Adu Gyamfi to head home at the back post, however The Blues netted a leveller with eleven minutes remaining when Tony Martin netted a penalty. And the Blues won it with seven minutes to go when Jack Folan's lofted free kick wasn't cleared and Luke Hirst headed home from close range to send Barking into the play off places for the first time this season.
Let's see how those games affected the table.....
That Tilbury win at Romford saw the Dockers increase their lead at the top to four points after Sporting's loss at home to Barking, that result for the Blues takes them up to fourth spot now too as they continued their impressive recovery after a poor start to their campaign. Still plenty of sides in and around those play off spots though, tenth placed West Essex are only five points off those top five positions, crazy stuff!!!
Down at the foot Ilford now trail third bottom Frenford by nine points after that humbling loss at Mayesbrook Park on Friday night, although they still have a seven point buffer back to bottom side Coggeshall Town although the latter do have two games in hand, and with the announcement that only one side will be likely relegated at the end of the season, Ilford do for now hold the advantage, you would say it was between the bottom two for that position now.
Ok let's head down to the level below and the Thurlow Nunn South and see what went on in that division over the weekend.....
Thurlow Nunn First Division South
Friday
May & Baker 1 Burnham Ramblers 3
Ramblers netted only their third league win since the end of October as goals from Alfie Ayers, Aiden Brown & Leon Isaac saw them to a huge three points at Parkside against May & Baker. The visitors grabbed a third minute lead when Ayers volleyed home superbly from the edge of the box but Bakers levelled from the spot in the 26th minute with Gabriel Odili smashing home the spot kick after Ben Wood had committed a foul inside the box. Ramblers though retook the lead just after the break when a lovelt through ball from Ayers found Brown who beat the keeper, and then just before the hour mark Brown squared to Isaac who found the net, handing Ramblers a very very vital win on the road.
Saturday
Barkingside 0 Harlow Town 2
It's now six league wins from seven for Harlow as they continued their charge for promotion with a 2-0 win at The Drive against Barkingside, both goals came in the opening forty five minutes, Raheem Gray netted the opener seven minutes before half time before Sheikh Ishaq Ameen doubled that lead three minutes later, and that proved enough to take all the spoils here.
Clapton Community 3 Newbury Forest 2
CFC remain top of the pile after they saw off a spirited Newbury Forest at The Old Spotted Dog, Julian Austin headed in a Sherwin Stanley cross to give CFC the lead, and then the visitors saw their keeper sent off when bringing down Stanley for a penalty when clean through, a penalty that Stanley duly dispatched to give the hosts a two goal lead. The ten men though managed to pull one back before half time but CFC were to restore that two goal lead after the break when Taylan Gul smashed home from the edge of the box, and although Forest did pull one back from the spot late on, CFC held on to take all the points.
Park View 1 Cannons Wood 2
Cannons Wood survived a scare at bottom side Park View after coming from behind to net all three points at the New River Stadium, Zivonimir Lopes found the bottom corner of the net four minutes after half time to give Park View the lead, but an immediate response from the visitors saw Samuel Adetiba net for the visitors and then Adetiba netted at the death to snatch victory for Cannons Wood and break the hosts hearts who also saw Emmanuel Etcheri sent off after the visitors had taken the lead.
Let's see how the table looks after those games.....
Clapton Community's win saw them with a two point gap to Harlow who jumped above Benfleet after their win over Barkingside, although Benfleet were not in action and have a bundle of games in hand over the top two and are still the team to watch in my eyes, Cannons Wood's late late win at Park View sees them four points outside the play off positions, it's between the top seven really to see who can get into that top five realistically.
Down at the bottom that injury time loss to Cannons Wood will hurt Park View who remain eight points from safety and with a terrible goal difference to boot, Burnham Ramblers bounced out of the bottom three and into 17th after a very impressive win at Parkside against May & Baker who themselves are only seven points above the drop zone in 14th, it's a very tight bottom half of the division for sure, so nobody can count themselves completely safe just yet.
That concludes this latest round up, hope you enjoyed reading and until next time, goodbye.....
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