Old Southendian 2 Old Chelmsfordians 3 / Old Southendian A 1 BKS Sports Reserves 8 - OCs win five goal thriller in Essex Olympian Premier, whilst Lucas Phillips nets six as BKS smash eight in BBC Essex Saturday Junior Cup

Saturday November 15th

I was over at Garon Park today for a double header of football on a dank cold misty mid November afternoon, there was a big clash in the EOFL Premier Division as Old Southendian hosted last years champions Old Chelmsfordians, who snatched the title away from their hosts in the process last season, and then their was an Essex Saturday Junior Cup tie between Old Southendian's A side and BKS Sports Reserves, so an action packed afternoon was in store.

First up was that EOFL Premier tussle, let's see how that went:-

Essex Olympian Premier Division

Old Southendian Vs Old Chelmsfordians

It had been a mixed bag for the hosts this season compared to the last two at least, they sat sixth in the division having only won five of their ten league games thus far, but only losing two in the flip side, OCs, who were the current champions of the division were having a better season having won seven of their thirteen matches and only losing a couple, although they were eleven points behind leaders Catholic who are threatening to run away with the division as it stood.

They were the leaders closest challengers mind along with Corinthians & Shenfield AFC, so the visitors knew they needed to keep winning and hope Catholic would lose a few, OS on the other hand were miles off the pace and defeat today and defeat today would see them fall further off the top places, somewhere they have occupied for the last two seasons at least, and also they were keen to get one over there opponents who miraculously stole the title from under their noses last season.

It started well for the hosts as well, nine minutes were on the clock when they were gifted the lead, a stray pass from the visitors sent Reece Munro clean through on goal, and he applied a lovely finish past visiting keeper Taylor Ellis to give the hosts a decent start, and hope of a decent win over their opponents, but in the 26th minute the visitors were to restore parity when a lovely strike from range by Joe Murphy saw hosts keeper Max Seymour get finger tips to it but only push it onto the bar and in, 1-1.

The visitors were now in the ascendancy and turned the match around six minutes before the break when a nice ball from Connor Jones found Jonny Waskett who provided a decent finish across keeper Seymour into the far corner, Jones did look offside from the original ball to him but this wasn't given and the visitors now had the lead.

Things might have been different had visiting keeper Ellis not produced three brilliant saves in the first period, the latter one of those the best of the lot when he somehow tipped a deflected effort from Nathan Elgie wide of the post, but the visitors after a slow start had improved and were good value for their slender lead at half time, could the hosts fight back and try and win this one, or could the visitors stamp more authority on the contest after the break.

Well, the second half was only six minutes old when OCs increased their lead, it was sloppy from the hosts too, caught out by a quick free kick over the top allowing Josh Brown to fire across Seymour and into the far corner, and now the hosts had a mountain to climb, although it was a mountain they certainly did their best to scale, that's for sure.

OCs did hit the bar from close range but despite this most of the pressure came from the home side as they pushed their opponents back, the visitors showed their grit and determination to keep them at bay, that was until the 63rd minute when Mitch Ali sent in a cross for Jordan Faulkner to apply a looping headed finish perfectly beyond Ellis, it was certainly game on, could the hosts find another?

They certainly tried but failed to find that killer moment, OCs did play on the counter and look dangerous, it was a superb game of football from start to finish, a game decided by 'moments' which is often the case in these battles, OCs though managed to hold on and secure a big win, a win that takes them into second spot, albeit still eleven points behind the leaders.

For the hosts it was a disappointing loss, they could easily have grabbed something from it, but defeat sees them slip down to eighth now and ten points off OCs and a massive twenty one off the leaders, it appears the cups, especially the Premier Cup, will be there best shot at success this season, but they certainly played their part in a wonderful contest, one that was very enjoyable to watch and cover.

Full time Old Southendian 2 Old Chelmsfordians 3

    

So, a superb first game of the day, as expected, how would Part Deux go, let's find out, there wasn't a lot of time between games so it sure was a quick turnaround!!!

BBC Essex Saturday Junior Cup 2nd Round

Old Southendian A Vs BKS Sports Reserves

This pitted EOFL Division Four South East Vs Division Three South East, OS's A side were not having the best season, sitting second bottom having only grabbed five points in nine games, and they were up against a BKS side who were a level above and also having a decent season too, sitting fourth in their division and only five points off the leaders.

Therefore you expected a comfortable away win although this isn't always the case when a higher level opponent plays someone from a lower level, however, on this occasion it was certainly to go the way of the higher league visitors, who grabbed a 17th minute lead when a long ball saw striker Lucas Phillips run onto it and round the on rushing keeper and calmly slot home, this was to be theme of the afternoon as well for the visiting striker who was to certainly fill his boots as the day went on.

Phillips was on hand to double the visitors lead just past the midway point of the first half, it was a typical poachers goal too, prodding home at the back post after the hosts could not clear their lines, and then seven minutes before half time it was three for BKS when Lewis Judge managed to burst into the box before producing a finish under the keeper, and as expected the visiting side went into the break in total control of this cup tie.

And then came a fifteen minute spell after half time that was truly remarkable and saw the visitors totally dismantle their opponents, in the 48th minute Phillips completed his hat trick by nipping in to round the keeper once again and slot home whilst off balance, and then two minutes later another clinical finish from that man Phillips made it five for BKS and four from the striker.

Another two minutes went by before BKS made it three goals in five minutes, Jamie Chapman, who actually ran the line in the first half (club linos of course) for BKS, came on as a sub at half time and netted their sixth, firing across the keeper into the far corner, and then it was seven just past the hour mark when you know who grabbed his fifth of the contest when firing emphatically across the keeper into the far corner.

And in the 63rd minute it was eight for BKS, Phillips once again firing a powerful, and clinical, finish beyond the keeper into the bottom corner, he has six and BKS had eight and there was still twenty seven minutes left, you really did feel for the hosts and feared for them, as at this stage BKS looked likely to reach double figures as this had turned very ugly for the home side.

To OS's credit though they actually then played some decent football thereafter and kept on going despite that horror spell after half time, and they were rewarded by grabbing a late consolation in the 87th minute when Spencer Ali, son of first team manager Altan, struck a powerful effort from outside the box which deflected home to at least see them end the contest on a positive note.

They had been well beaten though and it was BKS who cruised into the next round of the competition, Round Three, where they face another away trip, this time to Fleet, who ironically knocked out BKS Sports first team today, so a very weird occurrence where a side welcome a first team and then a reserve team of the same club in consecutive rounds, mad eh!!!

Full time Old Southendian A 1 BKS Sports Reserves 8

Not a good day for Old Southendian then, both teams losing to their respective opponents, but congratulations to both Old Chelmsfordians & BKS Sports Reserves on their wins, it was a very enjoyable day indeed, even if it was tad cold by the end of it!!!

That concludes today's blog, thanks again for reading, it's always appreciated!!!

 

Rayleigh Town 5 Cannons Wood 0 - Rayleigh Town net another five in the Thurlow Nunn South as they saw off ten man Cannons Wood to move ever closer to the play off spots, there were also wins for Coggeshall Town, Burnham Ramblers, Newbury Forest, Southend Manor & Hutton

Thurlow Nunn First Division South, Saturday 8th November

 It was the turn of Step Six and the Thurlow Nunn South for my coverage in the second weekend of November, and it pitted play off chasing Rayleigh Town against a Cannons Wood side who were trying to get themselves away from the danger zone at the bottom of the division, and it certainly was an intriguing contest and one that had the potential to produce plenty of goal mouth action.

The hosts came into this contest off the back of a 7-0 demolition of AS London last weekend, a result that saw AS London boss Frankie Sinclair stand down as manager, so Rayleigh were looking to continue that form into this game against a Cannons Wood side who started the day two points above the drop zone but had netted eight goals in their last two games, both away from home, and had picked up four points too.

Town started the day six points off the top five but found it tough going in the first half against a dangerous visiting attack, and on nine minutes Wood had the chance to go in front when they were awarded a penalty after a foul inside the box, however, Emmanuel Osilaja saw his spot kick saved by Josh Hudson, who got down well to his right to tip the ball away, a golden chance spurned by the visitors, and one Rayleigh capitalised on.

That is because after eighteen minutes had elapsed, Rayleigh took the lead, a decent ball in from the right by Louie Watkins found Tommy Sykes who glanced a wonderful header into the far corner, giving visiting keeper Sam Heard no chance whatsoever, and the hosts had a fortunate lead if truth be told based on the balance of play, Wood were certainly having the better of it and even saw a looping header find the net too, but this chalked off for offside.

The booming voice of hosts boss Rob Hodgson was regularly heard from the dugout, he was less than impressed with their performance in the opening half, but it was to end on a very positive note for them when they doubled their lead in first half stoppage time, skipper Ben Baxter sending a cross into the area, finding Kofi Goodrum totally unmarked to squeeze an effort beyond Heard, and Rayleigh would go into the break 2-0 up despite being way off their normal standards, and the visitors would have probably wondered how they were two goals behind.

However, it soon became apparent whatever Hodgson had said in the dressing room at half time certainly raised his sides levels, and twelve minutes into the second period came the home sides third, a ball over the the far side of the six yard box saw centre half Matt Bumpus send a looping header back towards the goal, it went over keeper Heard and full back Damien Siemienczuk was on hand to turn home from pretty much on the goal line, no one really knew who had scored it as no one was sure if the original header from Bumpus had gone over the line prior to Siemienczuk touching it home, but whatever happened, it was a three goal cushion for the home side.

A few minutes later and things went from bad to worse for the visitors, Siemienczuk was involved again but in a flashpoint which ended up with him being booked and visiting player Keanu Hill being sent off, although I wasn't sure he was even involved in the flashpoint, but anyway, he was giving marching orders and soon after that, in the 64th minute, Rayleigh all but ended the contest by adding a fourth when Watkins managed to convert from close range.

To Cannons Wood credit that kept going and tried to find a consolation goal, but they just were not destined to find the net in this one, and if truth be told Rayleigh could and should have added more in the second period, they were much more improved from the first half and were certainly the better side in the second forty five minutes, and they were to cap a good afternoon with a fifth goal in stoppage time.

This was after they were awarded a penalty for a foul inside the box, and substitute Dylan Jones duly stepped to thump the spot kick past Heard and make it 5-0, a score line you didn't really see coming at half time, but that's twelve goals without reply in two games now for the home side which does wonders for their goal difference!!! No doubt Hodgson and co would have been happy at how their side improved after the break.

It was an afternoon to forget in the end for Cannons Wood although they certainly showed why they have been scoring goals of late and can certainly take positives from that first half display especially, but it's keeping them out at the other end which they will need to address, but they showed enough today to suggest they can win games going forward and climb away from the bottom three.

Full time Rayleigh Town 5 Cannons Wood 0

Right, lets see what else happened this weekend in the division, and how it effects all the sides in the table:-

Barkingside 1-4 Coggeshall Town (Friday) (Josh Ambrose, James Long, Todd Hollocks & Joe Borein were all on target for visitors Coggeshall as they continued their fine form with a comfortable victory at Cricklefield, it leaves the visitors three points off the top five whereas Barkingside remain second bottom and two points from safety)

Burnham Ramblers 3-1 May & Baker (Stuart Zanone, Tom Franks & Oli Wells all netted for Ranblers as they saw off ten man Bakers at Leslie Field, Ramblers are in ninth and five points off the top five, Bakers poor away form continues as they are now down in 15th)

Clapton Community 2-2 FC Baresi (Clapton Community fought back from two goals down at the break to earn a point in this one, goals from Sertan Kirman & Kuba Ollivierre had Baresi two goals up but second half goals from Fred Taylor & Lewis Owiredu made sure the game ended all square.  Clapton Community remain in the play off zone, Baresi are down in 12th)

FC Romania 2-2 NW London (NW London fought back from a two goal deficit at half time to earn a point, Ekow Amaquandoh & Samir Sedaoui both netted to put the hosts 2-0 up at the break, but the visitors fought back to earn a share of the spoils, leaving FCR three points above the drop zone and the visitors in tenth)

Hoddesdon Town 2-2 Brimsdown (Bailey Eden's 94th minute leveller salvaged a point for bottom side Hoddy, the hosts did lead through Blue Gallagher but then saw Matas Machovas & Max Montgomery score to put the visitors ahead, however, Eden's late goal made sure Hoddy extended their unbeaten run to three games, and denied Brimsdown an important three points as they remain in fourth)

Newbury Forest 5-0 Enfield Borough (League leaders Forest thrashed Enfield Borough for the second time in less than a week, Eben Mbona netted a brace & there were further goals for Tarique Jones, Prince-Manuel Commodore & Reon Reid as the hosts are eight points clear at the top, whereas Borough remain in the bottom three)

Southend Manor 3-0 Dunmow Town (Despite all the dramas at Southchurch Park this week, Manor pulled off a superb win against Dunmow Town thanks to goals from Ole Richards, Ruben Philip & Jude Morgan to take them six point above the bottom three and only three points behind their opponents now who are in 13th)

Stansted 1-3 Hutton (Hutton are up to second after they netted victory at Hargrave Park against fellow promotion chasers Stansted, Hutton lead 2-0 at the break and although Freddie O'Brien pulled one back late on, a stoppage time goal from the visitors sealed the win and leaves The Airportmen in eighth and five points off the play off zone now)

That completes my blog from the Thurlow Nunn South today, hope you enjoyed reading and many thanks for taking the time to read it, it's very much appreciated!!!

Buckhurst Hill 4 Benfleet 1 - A Harry Lusher brace plus strikes from Tyler Dolan & Dimitri Nicolaou hand Buckhurst Hill victory over Benfleet in their Essex Senior League contest at Roding Lane

Essex Senior League, Saturday 1st November

On the first day of November I headed over to Roding Lane in Buckhurst Hill to check out Hill against a Benfleet side who were punching well above their weight this campaign and were harbouring hopes of an outside chance of getting into the play off hunt, especially if results went their way this weekend and they grabbed a positive result here.

They sat in ninth spot at kick off and just the five points off the top five and were up against a Buckhurst Hill side who were down in 15th spot and some eight points behind their opponents although the ones in the know, know, that the hosts are a much better side than the table suggests and would certainly give Benfleet a good competitive game on their own patch.

Well, nobody predicted the start of this one, as the hosts found themselves three goals up inside ten minutes, after a bonkers start which saw the visitors defend in a totally uncharacteristic way, the game was around fifty seconds old when the first goal went in, Harry Lusher pouncing on some really shoddy defending to allow him to get in to slot past Flo Gislette, and the game was barely three minutes old when Lusher fired a superb effort across goal into the far corner, 2-0 and Benfleet didn't know what had hit them.

And when Tyler Dolan strolled behind a static Benfleet backline to finish beyond Gislette for 3-0 after just eight minutes, the visitors were just totally bemused with their start and we were all bemused at how this game had begun, nobody saw it coming but already the visitors had a fairly large mountain to scale, at least the game was only eight minutes old, but it didn't get any better for the visitors when Hill added another just past the half hour mark.

It came when after excellent work by Dolan down the right, his ball in saw Dimitri Nicolaou run onto the ball to send a first time effort thundering past Gislette and into the visitors net, 4-0 after 32 minutes, wowsers, but fair play to Benfleet, they soon had a goal back to at least have one positive of the first period, it was excellent work from Toby Dickinson down the left, and he stretched out to send the ball across the box for Max Jobson to fire home past Christian North, 4-1, that is how it remained till half time meaning Hill still had a three goal cushion heading into the dressing and leaving us all to having a breather after a rather mad first forty five minutes.

What would we get in the second period? It was a much more competitive second half that's for sure, and in fact Benfleet were much better in the second half and at times did put their opponents under pressure, had they got a second goal back quickly enough it may have made a difference you never know, but they just could not test keeper North that much despite this, and in fact as the half went on it was visiting keeper Gislette who prevented further goals from the hosts, making some decent stops.

It was a strange one though, the opening half hour really decided this game, and if Benfleet hadn't started so slowly they may well have got something out of the game, but kudos to Buckhurst Hill who played brilliantly in that first half, especially the opening half hour, and as a result run out 4-1 winners to give their season a boost, Benfleet's afternoon didn't end well either when they saw Billy Purdy sent off for a poor challenge deep into added on time to end the game with ten men.

It took the hosts up a place to 14th and only five points off now tenth placed Fleet, who themselves are still only six points off the playoffs but will no doubt have an enquiry into how they started the game, it was very unlike them indeed, but Hill punished them to the full for that slow start so should be applauded for that.

Full time Buckhurst Hill 4 Benfleet 1

Right, that wasn't the only action in the ESL this weekend, their were nine other games that took place, starting on Friday night, let's see what happened in those games shall we:-

Friday

Hackney Wick 1 Halstead Town 3 (The Humbugs got back to winning ways with a superb win at Spa Road against Hackney Wick, Kane Gilbert's 15th minute penalty put the visitors ahead before Joel Older netted just past the half hour mark to make it two. Leo Lopate redcued the arrears just before half time, but Halstead saw Older grab a second mid way through the second period)

Saturday

Barking 1 Romford 3 (Romford stunned landlords Barking and ended their 100% home record with a superb win at Mayesbrook, Christian Adu Gyamfi handed the visitors the lead on eleven minutes before Flynn Hamilton doubled their lead midway through the first half. Tyreece Robertson reduced the arrears ten minutes after the break to give Barking hope, but a 99th minute goal from Kevin Musimami sealed a morale boosting win for Romford)

Frenford 1 Basildon United 2 (The Bees continued their good recent revival after they heaped more misery on bottom side Frenford at The Drive, Jadon Yamoah gave Bas the lead on 22 minutes before Kegan Caull netted a second for the visitors twelve minutes after the break. Jake Barlow did give the hosts brief hope when netting in stoppage time, but it was too little too late for the hosts as Bas grabbed all the spoils)

Hullbridge Sports 1 Athletic Newham 5 (In the big game towards the bottom of the division, Athletic Newham netted five as they recorded a big win against Hullbridge at Lower Road. Kevin Akpoedafe netted after just three minutes to give the visitors the lead before Akiljo Balliu added another on the half hour, Billy Willis did immediately reduced the arrears but George Rankin added a third for the visitors just before the break. Carter Ford then added another before half time to send his side into the break 4-1 up, before Bridge were reduced to ten men when substitute Billy Boag was dismissed with thirteen minutes to go, and a late goal from skipper Jonathan Ogunsanya completed the rout)

Little Oakley 1 Sporting Bengal United 0 (Match abandoned at half time due to floodlight failure) (The match at The War Memorial was abandoned at half time with Oakley 1-0 up after the lights failed, Louie Arnold's seventh minute goal had the hosts ahead, but they will both have to go again after this one could not finish)

Soul Tower Hamlets 2 Great Wakering Rovers 0 (League Leaders Soul continued their great season and bounced back from defeat to see off Great Wakering Rovers at Mile End, Shomari Barnwell handed the hosts a 3rd minute lead before Georges Kebi added a second early in the second half to hand the hosts a ninth league win of the campaign)

West Essex 1 Saffron Walden Town 1 (Struggling West were moments from recording a huge win against in form Walden but conceded late on, Reece Simpson gave West a 16th minute lead and this looked like enough to record victory, that was until goal machine Kaleel Green netted three minutes into added on time at the end of the game to salvage a point for the visitors) 

White Ensign 1 Ilford 4 (The Foxes continued their excellent league form from October to record a thumping win against White Ensign at Burroughs Park, Daniel Izekor netted the opener on 17 minutes before adding a second eight minutes later, Joel Appiah then made it three in the 39th minute before Maksym Trush made it 4-0 early in the second period.  Daniel Guy was then sent off late on for the hosts before they did add a late goal through George Godfrey, but Ilford were home and hosed well before then)

Woodford Town 3 Harwich & Parkeston 0 (Woodford Town kept up the pressure on the league leaders after they netted a home win, David Gokou-Siakouri gave the hosts the lead mdiway through the first period, before he netted again five minutes before the break, and Marko Protic then added another six minutes into the second half to seal the points)

Let's have a look at the updated table following this weekend's results:-

Soul Tower Hamlets have a three point lead at the summit after they bounced back today, that is ahead of Woodford & Halstead who both won this weekend too, all the other teams below them failed to win but it is still really tight at the top, Ilford are now up to eighth after four wins from five league outings, and only four points off the play offs now.

Athletic Newham's big win at Hullbridge sees them out of the bottom two and up to 17th, the bottom three as it stands now failed to win, Frenford are now four points from safety after they suffered another defeat, four of the bottom half sides won to maintain their positions, with Buckhurst Hill & Romford pulling off rather surprising results against higher placed teams, showing how competitive the league is. Still, only four points separate 14th to 19th, so tight down the bottom as well.

Anyway, that is all for this blog, thanks for reading as always!!!

Basildon Town 5 Enfield Borough 2 - Mack Polybank, Robbie Scanlon, Jack Hurley, skipper Grant Cumming & substitute Abedemi Lamina all on target for Basildon Town who hit five in dominant win over Enfield Borough in Thurlow Nunn South

Thurlow Nunn First Division South, Saturday 25th October

I was back over at The Hive for the second time this campaign, again to watch Basildon Town, as they took on Enfield Borough in a league clash, and I was there to see what Bas Town were now like under the stewardship of Matt Knight & also to check out Enfield Borough who despite being in the bottom three were probably in a false position.

This is because the visitors had only played seven league games thus far and had several in hand over most other sides in the rest of the division, and the hosts would be wary of them too after some decent results lately including a 4-2 home win over FC Baresi last time out, the hosts themselves were just below mid table and several points above today's opponents (having played five more games) and came into this one off an abandoned contest at Hoddesdon, with Town leading that 1-0 at the break.

Town did get a creditable draw at Stansted before that and their last home game resulted in a 3-1 home win against NW London, the side that had dumped Town out of the Vase under the last management team, that was the last time I was here, so things have certainly changed since that day in late August, but with Borough coming into this off the back of two wins on the bounce, I expected a close contest.

It was to be anything but though, the hosts were the better side in the early exchanges and it was no surprise when they did grab the lead just past the midway point of the first half, a mix up between keeper and defender allowing Mack Polybank to find the net, and then just before the half hour it was two for the hosts when again poor defending allowed a simple diagonal ball to the far post saw Robbie Scanlon steal in unmarked to send a close range finish home.

And six minutes before the break Bas Town had a 3-0 lead when another cross into the box found Jack Hurley who sent a lovely looping header into the far corner, the hosts were so dominant and looked like they could score with every cross they sent into the area, the visitors just could not deal with it, and looked well out of the game as they went into the dressing room at half time.

No doubt they would have had serious word with each other at half time, and briefly after the break it looked as if Borough may mount some sort of comeback when they pulled a goal back six minutes into the second period, a slip from a defender allowed a ball to be squared across box before a nice touch and finish past keeper Joe Durrant reduced the arrears, come back on perhaps?

Well, not really, as five minutes after that another cross into the box saw the ball headed back across goal for skipper Grant Cumming to apply a close range header and send the ball beyond the keeper into the net, another cross that hadn't been dealt with by the visitors and Town were reaping the rewards for sure, they were playing very well too and were in cruise control once again.

The hosts then made a flurry of changes to freshen things up, but then saw Freddie Smyth taken off injured meaning the hosts would have to play the final quarter of the game a man light as they had no more substitutes left, but it didn't make any difference and in fact Town then grabbed a fifth goal with nine minutes remaining when after the visitors shot themselves in the foot again, trying to play out from the back and loosing the ball, allowing one of those subs Abidemi Lamina to thump a powerful effort in off the post and put the hosts 5-1 up. Emphatic.

Borough did manage to score with the final kick of the game deep into added on time when a nice lofted ball over the top of the backline saw an attacker run onto it and finish past Durrant, but it was far to little to late and Bas Town could celebrate a superb win and performance in this one, for Borough it was certainly a day to forget.

Full time Basildon Town 5 Enfield Borough 2

Let's now have a brief look at what happened in the rest of the division's action this weekend and how it affects that league table:-

Cannons Wood 1-3 Burnham Ramblers (Friday)

Lymore Gardens 2-0 Dunmow Town (Friday)

NW London 1-2 Coggeshall Town (Friday)

Clapton Community 1-2 AS London

FC Baresi 2-1 May & Baker

Newbury Forest 4-4 Brimsdown

Rayleigh Town 4-0 Barkingside

There were three Friday night contests ahead of Saturday's fixtures, it was certainly an eventful game at Parkside, Burnham were reduced to ten men inside ten minutes and also had a sin bin soon after, they recovered from this though to net victory against Cannons Wood, leaving the home side second bottom and seeing the visitors two points off the play offs. Lymore Gardens continued their brilliant home form with a 2-0 win over Dunmow Town, it saw the home side go above Newbury Forest and to the top of the table whilst it left Dunmow down in 15th spot. Finally on Friday NW London suffered a rare home defeat as they went down to Coggeshall Town, that result sees The Seedgrowers two points off the play off places whilst NW London are down in 12th.

Onto Saturday and Clapton Community suffered a surprising home defeat to AS London to leave them in fourth and the result saw the visitors into the top ten and six points off the top five, FC Baresi got back to winning ways after last weekend's loss by handing May & Baker another defeat, Baresi are in 11th and also six points off the play off zone, Bakers are down in 14th spot.  It was a bonkers game at Oakside as Newbury Forest, who would have gone back top with a win, shared eight goals with fifth placed play off chasing Brimsdown who remain in the top five on goal difference.  And finally Rayleigh Town, another side chasing promotion dreams, thumped Barkingside at Thames Road, meaning they 9th and only three points off the top five, whereas Side are just one point and one place above the bottom three.  

That completes my latest blog, thanks again for reading and taking the time too, until next time, bye bye for now.....

Billericay Town 3 Waltham Abbey 0 - Goals from Freddie Hockey, Jack Evans & Alfie Cerulli help Billericay Town see off Waltham Abbey to progress in the BBC Essex Senior Cup, thirteen other sides also progressed on a busy night in the Last 32 of the competition

BBC Essex Senior Cup Third Round, Tuesday 21st October

There were fourteen Third Round ties taking place on this evening in the BBC Essex Senior Cup, and I was at the tie between Isthmian Premier Billericay Town & Isthmian North side Waltham Abbey at New Lodge.

Yes the hosts were in a higher division than their opponents, but The Blues had struggled this season and were fifth bottom in their division and only above the drop zone on goal difference, and with Abbey sitting in ninth in the North Division, potentially this could be a rather intriguing tie.

Both were beginning their County Cup campaigns as they had both come into the competition at this stage being Step Four and above, and both were looking to get themselves into that Last 16 draw which takes place on Friday (24th October) so if your reading this before that date, then this quote still applies, if not then that draw would have already taken place!!!

The early exchanges were fairly even although you could see the hosts had maybe half a yard of extra pace and movement, as expected, but once the hosts got into their stride they began to become a real threat, and with twelve minutes remaining of the first period they grabbed the lead, the excellent Alfie Cerulli hammered a ball into the danger zone and saw Freddie Hockey divert a powerful effort beyond visiting keeper Lenny Jones and hand the hosts a deserved half time lead. 

Could the hosts go on and run away with this tie in the second half? Well, twelve minutes after the break they did double their cushion when Jack Evans was given all the time in the world from range, probably 20-25 yards out, to pick his spot and fire a brilliant low drive beyond Jones and into the bottom corner, and now it seemed The Blues would cruise into the next round.

However, Abbey were not to lie down and if truth be told had the better of the remainder of the game, and the hosts had to work very hard to keep them at bay and finding a goal that would really put the tie in the balance, but despite a lot of Abbey possession and pressure on the hosts goal, they didn't test keeper Dondre Abraham and could not find that all important goal back.

Of course Town had their moments too, and could have added a third goal to really kill off the tie, but two minutes into added on time they did find that third goal, which turned out to be the final act of this contest, Liam Nash doing well down the right before his ball across the box found Cerulli who took a touch before finding the bottom corner with aplomb to cap a decent performance from himself and also seal his sides passage into Round Four.

Full time Billericay Town 3 Waltham Abbey 0

Well done to Billericay then, who else could join them in the hat for Round Four along with Essex Senior League side Little Oakley who thrashed National League South side Dagenham & Redbridge a week ago, let's see how the other thirteen ties on this evening went:-

Maldon & Tiptree 1 Walthamstow 0 (Macaulay Bonne's 85th minute goal saw Maldon & Tiptree battle past Walthamstow in their all Isthmian North tie)

Takeley 1 Great Wakering Rovers 1 (Great Wakering Rovers won 5-4 on penalties) (These two were battling promotion against each other last term in the Essex Senior League, but now Isthmian North Takeley were humbled at home by GWR on penalties. The hosts did lead midway through the second half courtesy of an own goal, but Harry Talbot levelled with seven to go to force spot kicks, which the visitors won to prevail)

Redbridge 1 Hornchurch 3 (National League South league leaders Hornchurch got the better of Isthmian North Redbridge at Oakside, Solomon Ogunwomoju had given the hosts an eighth minute lead, but The Urchins fought back and saw Darren McQueen level three minutes later before McQueen then put them in front just before the half hour mark.  And McQueen completed his hat trick ten minutes into the second half to make sure the visitors won through to the next round.

Colchester United 1 Aveley 3 (Isthmian Premier Aveley produced a brilliant performance to see off League Two side Colchester United, Suley Zuhdu gave The Millers a ninth minute lead before Jayden Gipson doubled that lead just before the midway point in the first half, and when Zuhdu added another early in the second half the game looked done.  Kaion Lisbie did pull one back for The Us midway through the second half but it was too little too late as Aveley progressed)

Brentwood Town 3 Brightlingsea Regent 2 (Isthmian Premier leaders Brentwood edged past struggling Isthmian North Regent to progress, George Doyle stunned the home side after six minutes to give Regent the lead but soon levelled through Danny Ogunleye five minutes later.  Charlie Durling though restored the visitors lead twenty minutes from time but the hosts fought back again to level through Benas Vaivada in the 76th minute before netting the winner in stoppage time thanks to Charlie Edwards)

Canvey Island 1 Benfleet 1 (Benfleet won 4-1 on penalties) (Essex Senior League Benfleet stunned their former landlords, Isthmian North Canvey, to progress in the County Cup on penalties after a dramatic ending to normal time. It looked like Max Fiddes 33rd minute goal would be enough for the hosts to progress, that was until Benfleet keeper Florent Gislette levelled late on to send the tie to spot kicks, a shootout that saw Benfleet dominate to progress)

Harwich & Parkeston 2 Woodford Town 1 (Harwich won their all Essex Senior League tie against Woodford, Yemi Adelani put the visitors ahead just before the half hour mark but Zach Pedro levelled after the break before Shaun Avis netted the winner with three minutes to go to send the hosts through)

Grays Athletic 4 Southend United 0 (Grays saw off a young Shrimpers outfit to progress, the Isthmian North hosts broke the deadlock three minutes into the second period through Jack Turner before a Sam Bantick penalty made it two in the 51st minute, Oscar Shelvey netted a third in the 63rd minute before Bantick, who left to join Witham Town after this contest, added his second and fourth for Grays in stoppage time)

Hullbridge Sports 1 Witham Town 3 (Isthmian North Witham Town came from behind to see off Essex Senior League Sports at Lower Road, the hosts led through George Briton-Watkins in the 16th minute but saw Town level seven minutes before half time courtesy of Darius Gabriel Ghinea. William Ademiluyi then handed Witham the lead with ten minutes to go before Gabe Campbell sealed the tie two minutes after)

Hashtag United 6 Concord Rangers 0 (Isthmian Premier Tags thrashed Isthmian North visitors Concord to win through to Round Four, Jaxon Brown netted the opener in the 22nd minute before netting again six minutes before the break, Praise Ogbebor then made it 3-0 six minutes into the second half before Bradley Sach made it four midway through the second period.  Luke May-Parrott then made it five a minute later before the scoring was completed in the 90th minute thanks to a second of the night for Sach)

Athletic Newham 0 Bowers & Pitsea 6 (Isthmian North high flyers Bowers cruised past Essex Senior League Athletic Newham at Parsloes, Ross Wall gave the visitors a 12th minute lead but the hosts had a great chance to level early in the second half but saw a Chuks Uzor penalty saved by Joseph Whitney, and it proved a pivotal moment in the game as barely a minute later mike Faulkner doubled the visitors lead. Jon Evans then made it three nil in the 56th minute and then it was four when Kai Redgrave netted making it three Bowers goals in five second half minutes. Elton Tettey then made it four second half goals in ten minutes, and the same man netted again on 66 minutes to make it five for the visitors as they took their place in Round Four)

Heybridge Swifts 4 Burnham Ramblers 0 (Isthmian North Swifts won their local derby against Thurlow Nunn South Ramblers to progress, Adeyeye gave the hosts the lead midway through the first period before Dylan Logan doubled their lead three minutes later, and when Ben McCrow added a third on half time, the tie was as good as done. Swifts did add a fourth in the second period, Mason Gillam adding another with twelve minutes remaining, and Swifts cruised into the next round)

Halstead Town 0 Chelmsford City 3 (National League South Chelmsford City saw off Essex Senior League Halstead at Rosemary Lane to progress, with all the damage done in the first half.  Jett Murphy handed the hosts the lead after just four minutes before Archie Tamplin doubled their lead just past the quarter hour mark, and when Murphy added another twelve minutes before half time, it was as good as over.  The Humbugs did improve after the break but they were well beaten by their higher level opponents who won through to Round Four)

So, that means fifteen of the sixteen Last 16 spots are now filled, their is one more Third Round tie left to play which sees Isthmian North Tilbury host National League South Braintree Town at Chadfields on October 28th, and as said the draw for Round Four takes place on Friday October 24th.

That concludes my latest blog, hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading as always!!!

Wakering Sports 1 Corinthians 2 - Goals from the in form Callum King & skipper Jamie Skinner help Corinthians come from behind to net hard fought win against Wakering Sports & make it eight wins on the bounce

Essex Olympian Premier Division, Saturday 18th October

I was over at Cupid's just outside Great Wakering for an Essex Olympian Premier division tussle between Wakering Sports & Corinthians, the hosts was coming into this one of the back of a decent 3-1 home win over Bishop's Stortford Swifts, the visitors had netted victory at Barleylands against Hashtag United A last weekend.

That win for the visitors by a score line of 3-2 saw them net a seventh straight win in the division to keep them in second spot behind leaders Catholic United, this after starting the season with one draw and two losses, one of those at home to the leaders, but they have found their feet for sure in the top division but knew they would be in for a very tough physical battle against a Wakering Sports side who were in sixth spot and nine points of todays opponents after a rather inconsistent few weeks.

The hosts then were looking to record back to back home wins and get them closer to the top five, Corinthians themselves were looking to keep tabs on the leaders and make it eight straight wins in the process, the early signs in this contest though seem to favour the former as the home side flew out of the blocks and created several decent openings in the opening exchanges, however they were unable to take any of the chances, which included visiting keeper Oscar Baines making a couple of decent saves.

But, on the half hour mark, Sports were finally able to break through, a wonderful ball into the box saw a defender try and flick clear, but all he did was flick it into the path of the hosts who applied a lovely header which looped into the far corner of the net, and hand the hosts a more than deserved lead in this contest, and to be honest it could easily have been two soon after had Baines not saved a one on one situation, and with half time looming, the only real positive for the visitors was that it was still only 1-0.

Their only chance was a good one up till then, when a bouncing cross was somehow headed over, but in the 43rd minute with their second chance of the game, they levelled, when messy defending allowed the ball to fall to the in form Callum King who made no mistake by slotting home and sending his side into the break all square, leaving their opponents scratching their heads and wondering how they were not out of sight and only level.

They were to be scratching their heads even more ten minutes into the second period too when they fell behind, and it was another goal that they could have prevented, they failed to to clear their lines and allowed the visitors to get the ball across the box into the path of skipper and centre half Jamie Skinner who thumped a right footed effort through a crowded penalty area and beyond the hosts keeper who only saw it late and could not react.

The hosts now had to find something once again and try and get back to how they had been playing prior to this Corinthians fightback, but they now found a visiting backline who were dealing with whatever the hosts could throw at them much much better than they had been doing in those early first half moments, and the visitors were playing a whole lot better than they had been doing and were causing the visitors a lot more problems at the other too.

As the game ticked on though the hosts did their upmost to try and find a leveller, there was no doubt they deserved something from this game, especially after dominating most of the first period, but you don't always get what you deserve and ultimately they were unable to break down a stubborn and tough visiting back line, and the visitors could celebrate a very good win and prove to themselves that they can roll up their sleeves and ride out the storm they had to endure today and then go on and win.

It's eight wins in a row now for the visitors, they are just finding ways to win right now, for Sports, they will wonder how they lost this game, well the reason sadly is not taking their chances in the first period and then conceding two soft goals, this must be a frustration for them although they can also take a lot of positives from this contest too, despite the defeat.

Full time Wakering Sports 1 Corinthians 2

Shall we take a look at what else went on in the division today, and how it affects the table:-

Bishop's Stortford Swifts 1-6 Old Southendian

Catholic United 4-1 Barnston

Harold Hill 1-2 Hashtag United A

Harold Wood Athletic 1-1 Runwell Sports

Herongate Athletic 0-3 Shenfield AFC

Old Chelmsfordians 1-0 Leigh Ramblers

Sungate 2-1 ACD United

Old Southendian got themselves back on track and are up to sixth after they thumped six past Bishop's Stortford Swifts away from home, Swifts had won three of their four outings at home but were well beaten here, and they drop three places as a result, leaders Catholic recorded another win to maintain their five point lead at the top of the standings against a Barnston side who drop to third bottom as a result.

Hashtag United A won the battle of the bottom two at Henderson's against winless Harold Hill, it's a result that takes them up three places in the process and leaves Hill rock bottom with no wins in eleven games now, Harold Wood and Runwell shared the spoils at The Rec which sees Wood up two spots to tenth and Runwell remain in fifth.

Shenfield continued their brilliant season with another win, this time at Herongate which sees AFC in third and right on the coat tails of the top two still, whilst Herongate drop a place to ninth as a result, and last years champions Old Chelmsfordians netted a narrow home win over Leigh Rams, that's four successive defeats now for the visitors, it leaves the hosts fourth still whilst for Rams they drop two places to 11th now.

And finally Sungate's recent revival continued after they made it four wins from five games to lift themselves further up the table to eighth spot after they netted a narrow home win over ACD United who themselves drop a place to second bottom.

That's all for this blog, it's been another enjoyable Saturday afternoon, hope you enjoy reading and many thanks for taking the time too, always appreciated!!! Thank you.....