Essex Senior League, Friday 13th/Saturday 14th February
This weekend saw me do an Essex Senior League double & my weekend of football began on Friday night as I attended another game at Oakside, home of Redbridge FC, as they were hiring out their 3G pitch this evening to Buckhurst Hill for their home Essex Senior League contest against Basildon United, this is because the pitch at Roding Lane, the hosts home, was not playable, as is the case with most grass pitches currently due to the poor weather experienced lately. Let's take a look at what happened in Barkingside....
Buckhurst Hill Vs Basildon United (Friday 13th February)
The hosts were embarking on a very good run, unbeaten in twelve games with their last defeat coming on October 25th, it has seen the side to the cusp of the top five, the play off places, and a win this evening would see Hill climb into fifth spot on goal difference, and with games in hand too, it would certainly strengthen their chances of nailing down a top five spot too before the season is out.
They were also up against a Basildon side going through a tough period of form too, since the turn of the year they had lost all five games they had played and in fact had only picked up two wins in nine, losing the other seven, so they were desperate to stop this run continuing although not many gave them much hope of doing so in this contest, but this is the ESL and strange things do happen.
So, how would one pan out, well, the hosts started on the front foot in the first fifteen minutes or so as the visitors took time to settle, Hill volleyed a decent chance just over the bar but it was the visitors who came oh so close to taking a spectacular lead when a brilliant long range effort from Brandon Dadson had home keeper Christian North beaten all ends up but the ball thumped against the woodwork.
And only a couple of superb defensive blocks denied the visitors again, one off the line in a mad scramble inside the hosts penalty area, it was a warning to them that The Bees were not going to be an easy target this evening and knew they were in for a tough game, Hill then sent another effort over the bar but in the 33rd minute they did break the deadlock, Liam Foster sending in a lovely cross from the right and Harry Lusher sent a decent header beyond Enos Duah, handing the hosts a slender lead.
It had been a very competitive first forty five minutes and that header would be the difference at half time, the visitors certainly had the better chances but both sides had created some & Hill managed to take one of theirs and heading into the second period the Bees certainly started on the front foot and looking for a route back into the contest, however Hill then began to threaten once again & in the 56th minute struck with pretty much an identical goal they had netted in the first half.
It came from the right hand side again, Foster applying another decent ball into the box for Lusher to glance a lovely header beyond Duah and giving the home side some breathing space, and for a short period after that goal you felt they could go on and win this one by more and make it more comfortable.
That didn't happen though & fair play to Basildon they were certainly not playing like a side who were on such a poor run of form, things just hadn't gone well for them in this period, and Hill had enough in them to keep the visitors at bay whilst always looking a threat when they did counter on their opponents.
So, the hosts certainly were not at their maximum this evening, but they were the ones who grabbed the goals when it mattered, Basildon were disappointed not to come away with anything themselves, and the two goals they conceded were exactly the same and they would have been disappointed to have conceded in that way on two occasions, but they could certainly take a lot of positives from their showing in this one.
It's thirteen matches unbeaten for the hosts who can do no wrong right now, an amazing season to date and one that could become even more amazing come the end of the season, for Basildon it's now six defeats in a row but no doubt they will end that run soon if they continue putting in the effort they did tonight.
Full time Buckhurst Hill 2 Basildon United 0
Onto Saturday now, and I decided to pop over to Burroughs Park in Great Wakering to see White Ensign take on relegation threatened Frenford, let's see how that one panned out.....
White Ensign Vs Frenford (Saturday 14th February)
Ensign began the weekend in 13th spot and seven points off the top ten places in the division, Frenford of course have much more worrying matters to contend with as they are bottom of the division and four points from safety with only twelve games remaining in the season.
Tbe hosts form had not been to bad since the turn of the year, yes they had suffered poor losses to Barking and Romford, but other than that they had been unbeaten in their other four games they had played, two of which saw them progress into the latter stages of both ESL cup competitions, the Errington Challenge Cup and Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy, and in their last league outing they defeated Hackney Wick 3-0 at Burroughs Park.
Frenford on the other hand had not picked up any wins this side of new year, they at least ended 2025 with a superb win over Romford at The Drive, however since that win they had only picked up one point in five games and had shipped fifteen goals in that time, not the form you want when you trying to get out of that drop zone, somewhere they have occupied pretty much the whole campaign.
Could they began their attempt at fighting their way out of trouble today, well they certainly started well and were ahead after just ten minutes, Correy Davidson finding himself through on goal to round keeper Jordan Williams and from an angle slot the ball into the net, and they should have doubled their lead as well as Ensign took an age to settle into the contest, and close range header somehow kept out by the hosts.
As the half went on the hosts did show some signs of life after what was a very slow start, but they went into the changing rooms at half time a goal behind and knowing they needed a big improvement in the second period for sure, Frenford would have been delighted with their first half showing, exactly what they require if they are to survive this season, but the first fifteen minutes of the second half did not go to plan.
This is because five minutes after the restart, a good move from the hosts ended with Frenford leaving Ralphie Harrold totally free in the middle of the penalty area, and the Ensign player took a touch before firing past an exposed Dominic Alexandru in the visiting goal, and just before the hour mark Ensign had turned it around.
It was another preventable goal too and more sloppy defending from the visitors, Ben Sargent, who was making his 150th appearance for the home side today, played a long pass along the floor and it somehow found it's way through to Mechack Asuka who burst clear of the defence to slot past Alexandru who had showed him rather a lot of that side of the goal, so it seemed a simple finish for such a quality forward, and now Frenford found themselves behind once again and feeling a familiar scenario.
But, rather than cave in, they rolled their sleeves up and seven minutes restored parity, and it was the home side whose turn it was to conceded a rather sloppy goal, a cross from the left was far to deep and overhit and appeared to be going off for a goal kick, Ensign obviously thought this too and switched off, but, the visitors kept the ball in and sent in a cross which found Davidson, and he duly volleyed home for his second of the contest, and made it 2-2.
This certainly galvanized Frenford who could now smell a chance of victory, and Ensign had to dig deep to remain on level terms, they themselves were a danger when they went forward and Frenford had to be wary of this as they did not want to get nothing from a contest they had been very much part of, as it turned neither side could find a winner though, meaning both sides picked up a very well earned point.
Full time White Ensign 2 Frenford 2
There were six other games that took place at the weekend, only two actually fell foul of the weather surprisingly, so well done to all of those who managed to get games on, here are the results of those games.....
Athletic Newham 1 (Eduardo Carvalho 19)
Harwich & Parkeston 2 (Joe Knight 39,54)
Hackney Wick 0
Ilford 2 (Soloman Ofori 26, Idris Aminu 83)
Halstead Town 1 (Billy Jamison 75)
Hullbridge Sports 0
Little Oakley 1 (Rory Harman 75)
Sporting Bengal United 2 (Makai Johnsin-Reid 54, Darnell Fuller 88)
Romford 0 (Rhian Fowler sent off 45, Christian Adu Gyamfi sent off 90)
Great Wakering Rovers 4 (Shaun Gittleson 63, Max Gnandi 74, 90+5, Harrison Topliss 86)
Saffron Walden Town 2 (Jordan Gent 5, Sam Deering 33)
West Essex 3 (Charma Torsiello 11, Reece Simpson 64,69)
Some very surprising results amongst those contests, let's see how they affected the ESL Table after the weekend was done and dusted.....
Well, a huge shock at The War Memorial saw Oakley lose at home to Sporting Bengal, and with GWR thumping nine man Romford at Mayesbrook Park, the gap is down to just two points at the top now, llford went back into fifth spot and the final play off place after their win at Hackney Wick, Buckhurst Hill had gone into fifth on goal difference briefly after their win on Friday night but they are now in sixth.
Halstead are only three points off fifth now themselves after a late win over Hullbridge, leaping above Woodford Town (their game against Barking was postponed on Friday evening) and Saffron Walden (who lost at home to struggling West Essex in another shock result today) meaning their are now only five points between Ilford in fifth and Walden in ninth.
Frenford, despite battling to a point today, are now further from safety (six points) after Sporting's remarkable result today, and with West Essex also pulling off a surprise win today, the bottom side are now five points behind them as well, West remain just a point from safety themselves, and after Athletic Newham's loss at home to Harwich, they are now right in a relegation fight, as are Romford, with only four points between 16th and 19th.
Despite Friday night's loss at Oakside, Basildon do have an eight point gap to the bottom two and as long as they can pick up a couple of results you feel they should be ok, above that teams in those mid table positions are more than likely to be safe and in fact may well be looking up rather than down as the season enters it's final two months or so.
Anyway, many more games took place than I certainly expected this weekend, which was good, and much more for me to include in the blog, which I will conclude their for this edition, hope you enjoyed reading, thank you for taking the time too.....
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