Cambridge United 0 Cheltenham Town 1 - Matty Taylor's second half goal sees Robins end U's four game unbeaten run and secure huge win in relegation fight

SkyBet League One, Saturday 10th February

Now most of you who reads my blogs or know me personally will know that my Dad's birthday is February 8th and the weekend closest to that date sees me and the step mum make the annual trp to Sunderland to watch the Black Cats in action in memory of my Dad who was a big Sunderland fan of course.

Now this year was a bit different as due to engineering works and other issues on the line between London and Newcastle/Sunderland meant there was just no way we could make the trip, so we decided for this year we could pop to my Dad's other love in football, Cambridge United, a team he was also very fond of, and in fact The U's were the last side I watched with my Dad before his death in August 2008, the Conference Play Off final against Exeter City in May that year, so the club will always have a special place in my heart.

Now The Abbey Stadium is certainly not the same as The Stadium of Light, but the fans are no less passionate at the club, and a new sell out of over 7,000 were inside the stadium to see if their side could continue their four match unbeaten run which had given themselves hope of pulling away from the drop zone in League One, they began the day five points above it in fifteenth spot in the table.

Their opponents for the day were Cheltenham Town who were in a much more precarious position themselves, they sat second bottom in the division and several points from safety and in desperate need of wins sooner rather than later, but they came into this contest off the back of three straight defeats, so many felt that the hosts would probably win this one, but it sometimes doesn't aways run to the form book.

The hosts certainly the the first real chance to get their noses in front and settle the home crowd when Lyle Taylor was played in on goal with fifteen minutes on the clock, but he saw his powerful effort well saved by Southwood who made himself big to deny the blonde haired U's forward, and then a minute later Andrew curled an effort inches wide from outside the box, could the hosts build on this early pressure.

Well, Cheltenham were not without their moments too, they saw Kinsella send a long range effort over the bar, and the hosts were sitting quite deep for a side playing at home to a relegation threatened outfit, which was frustrating the spectators around us, and they seemed to be inviting the visitors onto them, Cambridge though when they did attack found Southwood in the way, and he managed to catch a goal bound volley from Lyle Taylor before The Robins thought they had gone in front just before the half hour mark.

Matty Taylor sent an effort towards goal and Lloyd turned the ball past Taylor in the Cambridge net, but the assistant's flag then went up, much to the relief of the hosts, but it was a warning that they were sitting far to deep and needed to push out somewhat and press their visitors into losing the ball perhaps, and moment later the game switched back up to the other end and saw Southwood make another decent stop to prevent a Jack Lankester effort.

Lankester was involved again in the latter stages of the half but saw an effort from an acute angle saved by Southwood, and it meant the half would end goalless and with both sides feeling they could be happy with their efforts despite not being able to break the deadlock, it was certainly a battle that was for sure.

How would this one go then, well The U's were screaming for a penalty early in the second half when Lankester appeared to be tripped inside the box, but the referee was unmoved and provoked quite an angry reaction from the home fans, and to be honest in did look like a penalty to me as well, but there you go, it wasn't according to the man who mattered.

The U's passed up another decent chance just past the hour mark when Lankester took the ball past the keeper and then looked to cut the ball back to Lyle Taylor but instead passed the ball behind him and saw the chance go, much to the dismay of the home fans, and they were to be even more dismayed a few minutes later.

This is because Cheltenham were looking dangerous when they attacked too, and again the defence seemed to be sitting deep, and a break away saw Sercombe fire straight at Stevens, but in the 64th minute they did find the opener, and it was Taylor who ran onto a pass from Ferry, this after he had stolen the ball off the hosts, to fire a lovely footed effort across goal and in off the inside of the post.

Cue big celebrations from the visiting players who all ran over to celebrate in front of a delirious 207 away supporters who had made the trip from the West, the question was would the hosts be able to find a route back into the game and salvage something from this contest?

They probably should have done, as after making four changes, which included MOTM Lankester, to try and shake things up, and one of those substitutes Macaulay Bonne sent a near post effort into the side netting, most of us thinking he had found the net, but it was the wrong side of the post, and then minutes later Kaikai fired a ball across the area and Bonne again failed to find enough purchase on the ball to send it goal wards, they were two brilliant chances and you kind of felt that it wasn't their day.

Six minutes of stoppage time gave the hosts more hope of finding something late on, but to be fair the visitors battled gamely and easily held on in the end to record a huge win in their battle against the drop, whereas for Cambridge it was a very frustrating and disappointing day indeed, they are four points above the drop zone and drop a place to 16th now and have some tough games coming up, Cheltenham climb a place to third bottom and are now only five points from safety, this was certainly a boost to their survival hopes for sure.

Cambridge United 0 Cheltenham Town 1

Cray Wanderers 2 Oakwood 0 - Chloe Ashdown makes history by netting first goal on new facility at Flamingo Park as hosts net all three points on a momentous day for the club

South East Counties Women's Football League Kent Division One West, Sunday 4th February

I made the trip over to New Eltham, on the outskirts of Cray on Sunday to be part of an historic day for Cray Wanderers as the club, who have been homeless since 1973 were finally given planning permission to build a state of the art 3G facility on their Flamingo Park site back in November 2018, and after a few issues they have finally reached Phase One of the new facility coming to fruition by hosting a game on the pitch after five months of building work.

The ground is far from finished, and to quote Cray CEO Sam Wright 'It looks like a bomb has hit it' and they still have to construct and install the stands, turnstiles & toilets, so we were all warned that if we were expecting to turn up to a shiny new ground then they were certainly not at that phase yet, however the pitch is all there along with installed floodlights in each corner, dugouts on half way line & the pitch is all fenced off and ready for some action, and those pieces of the jigsaw certainly look decent I must say. Picturing it with all the stands etc up certainly made me think this would be a very decent facility indeed.

Now amazingly (and I found this out recently) Cray Wanderers have never actually owned their own home in their entire history, and they are entering their 164th year as a club (they are the oldest football club in London by the way) so this is a big big thing for the club, to finally own their own home and have such a brilliant set up as well, the old clubhouse behind one of the goals is spacious and has a nice bar which sells some lovely food and drink (the bacon rolls were marvellous by the way!!!).

Now the women's side would be the ones who were to get the first action on this new pitch, which seemed quite fitting as prior to this season Cray Wanderers had never had a women's team in their 163 year history, but that all changed this season and they are enduring quite a season so far, sitting top of the South East Counties League Kent Division One West having won nine of their ten league games and only dropping two points all season.

Their opponents on this momentous day were Oakwood, who are from Crawley in West Sussex, so not to far for them to travel, and they were probably thrilled to be part of this history making day as well, although they were going to have their work cut out to get anything from the game, the two sides had already met this season back in October when Cray ran out 3-0 winners courtesy of goals from Chloe Ashdown, Millie Main & Jessica Oldfield, and all three were to have heavy involvements in the current game too.

The visitors were having a mixed campaign so far too, seven league games had yielded four wins and three losses which saw them in midtable, and they came into this contest off the back of a 1-0 loss at Danson Sports, who are on the same number of points as them now following that result, but this would be a whole new level although they may well have been galvanised by playing on such a brand new facility and in front of a healthy crowd who had turned up to also be part of this history making day.

Now Cray had netted eight, eight and six in their last three league wins, all at home, so they were expected to score some goals in this contest too on the new pitch, who would be the first person to score on the new facility and create some history for themselves, well thankfully for the hosts it was one of their players, and we didn't have to wait long either, as with less than three minutes in the clock Ashdown, who netted in the corresponding fixture of course, fire home a brilliant effort from the edge of the box and hand Cray the perfect start in this one.

Oakwood must of feared the worst after that, and to be honest if it wasn't for their keeper Beckie Kirkham, the score line would have been greater for sure, her positing and bravery and shot stopping was immense and she denied the hosts on several occasions throughout the contest, and even when she was beaten the crossbar came to the visitors rescue.

Ashdown, Main & Katie Jackson all caused the visitors issues with their attacking prowess, along with Oldfield as mentioned earlier, the visitors, especially second half, did complete much better and defend a lot better as they made it tough going for the hosts who really needed that second goal to make the game safe, I was very impressed with visitors centre half Jade Dancaster and also midfielder Darbie Hughes, the latter certainly got stuck in and I really loved that.

But it was their keeper who was their player of the match for sure, but even she could do nothing about the second goal for the hosts when it eventually came in the 76th minute, Main struck an effort at goal which took a touch off her teammate Hannah Atkins and this proved decisive in taking the ball past Kirkham and into the bottom corner, I initially thought it was Main's goal, and she certainly deserved after a superb performance, but the goal was given to Atkins as she did get the final touch according to others.

The bottom line was it was 2-0 and game set and match, and the hosts could go on and record yet another win in their charge for the title and promotion in their first season, ten wins from eleven now in the division and a one point lead over second placed Petts Wood with a couple of games in hand to boot, things are looking food for the ladies then, and things are certainly looking up for the club as a whole, this was a big tick in their box today, and their are many more to come no doubt, I was certainly pleased to be their today and be part of their historic moment, and I will look forward to coming back when even more has been done to the facility.

Full time Cray Wanderers 2 Oakwood 0

Southend United 0 Gateshead 1 - Second half goal from Marcus Dinanga sees Heed end three game losing run on the road to keep their play-off charge on track

Vanarama National League, Saturday 3rd February

My first game of February 2024 saw me over at Roots Hall for Southend United's first game at home for a month, and the first one I have seen since the new consortium led by Aussie Justin Rees had taken over from Ron Martin, in fact their last home game, a 3-0 win over FC Halifax Town, was the first game since they announced the take over had been completed back in early January, a nice new year present for everyone associated with The Blues.

This came after a long drawn out take over with the old owner Ron Martin making things as difficult as possible, unsurprisingly of course, but thankfully things did take place and allowed the new owners to come in and sort out the immediate finances and finally get a sixteen month transfer embargo lifted meaning the Blues could finally make some signings and sort out contract issues too so the side could have a bigger squad than the sixteen they had only been allowed under the embargo.

The lift of that embargo was also a relief and a late Christmas present for the hosts, this after a pretty disappointing December on the field, The four league games yield defeats against high flying Bromley & Barnet, with the latter netting back to back wins over the Blues over the festive period, they did manage a win at Kidderminster Harriers in between the Bromley & Barnet home games, but defeat at home to Hampton & Richmond Borough in the Trophy in early December on penalties sort of set the tone for the month.

2024 had started well for the Blues though, on and off the field, as mentioned above they began the year with a resounding 3-0 home win over FC Halifax Town before netting a 1-0 at Eastleigh, and although they were beaten 3-0 at runaway league leaders Chesterfield last time out, The Blues were feeling good about themselves once again, so came into this one very confident against a side who had lost three on the bounce on the road without scoring.

The Heed's December form in December was mixed, a thumping 5-1 win at Rochdale in the FA Trophy was followed by a loss at home to FC Halifax Town in the league, a win a Oldham Athletic then followed before a draw at home to York City, then the new year saw losses at York, Chesterfield and Dorking Wanderers, although they managed a penalty shoot out win against Weston-super-Mare to reach the Last 16 of the Trophy.

They do come into this game however with a very impressive 2-1 home win over Barnet, so this would have given them a lot of confidence, and they knew a win at Roots Hall could possibly see them into the play-off places if other results went their way.

Now Southend sat in 15th spot and only four points above the drop zone, mainly because of that ten point deduction they encountered early on in the season due to their off the field issues, whilst Gateshead were in eighth spot and two points off seventh placed Aldershot who occupied the final play off position, it was worth noting too that had The Blues not been deducted those points, they would be a point above their opponents in the table, so this could have been an 8th Vs 9th clash and an important game in terms of the play off chase, as it is though the sides needed the points for very differing reasons, but it was expected to be a tight game between two well matched teams.

This was certainly the case when the two sides met in the North East in late November, with Harry Cardwell's 75th minute leveller earning a point for The Blues after Stephen Wearne had given the hosts a 14th minute lead at The Gateshead International Stadium, and it was certainly the case in this contest too, the first half was tight for sure, The Blues certainly began the contest well but then saw two chances for the visitors almost see them go behind.

Dinanga flashed a shot across goal and just wide before a brilliant free kick from Francis seemed to be dipping under the the bar but hosts keeper Collin was equal to it to push it over the bar, but Southend then had two decent chances of their own, a low ball into the box from Fonguck found Husin whose goal bound effort was well blocked, and then Cardwell so nearly got on the end of brilliant ball in by Bridge, however the first half was to end goalless.

Twelve minutes into the second period though came the breakthrough, and it went to the visiting side who had started the second period the better, a scramble inside the box saw the hosts desperately try to clear their lines, but Dinanga swung a boot at the ball to find the net and give Gateshead something to hold onto in the remaining half an hour or so of the contest. Could the Blues recover and gain at least a point, like they had done up in the North East?

The majority of the 6,372 inside the ground certainly hoped so, Waldron & Ralph could not direct headers from Bridge's crosses on target, and Caldwell glanced a header wide from a Morton cross before Ralph then saw a low strike saved by visiting keeper Beach as the hosts did all they could to try and salvage something from this contest.

The hosts were then given a boost when eight minutes added on time was displayed, much to the dismay of the visitors and their 61 hardcore fans who were now clinging on to their slender lead, and The Blues then struck the goalframe twice in a minute, Cardwell flicking on Bridge's corner and seeing that strike the far post before Ralph saw his header from the resulting corner hit the crossbar and come down the wrong side of the goal line in the hosts mind's at least.

You kind of felt it wasn't going to be the hosts day thereafter and after the eight minutes had elapsed Gateshead could celebrate a very good win at Roots Hall and see them enter those play off places on goal difference after Oldham Athletic dropped points at Ebbsfleet United in the late game to send them back to the North East very happy indeed.

As for The Blues it's back to back defeats now after a good start to the year, they are now only two points above the drop zone although they do have three games in hand but need to make sure they make those games count, although I do feel they will have enough not to be sucked into that relegation battle and hopefully finish comfortably in mid table at least when the season does finish. You never know, a good run could see them finish higher but staying in the league this season is paramount after what has gone on before, hopefully the future is bright for The Blues.

Full time Southend United 0 Gateshead 1

  

Athletic Newham 1 FC Clacton 1 - Teddy Collis second half spot kick earns point on the road for ten man visitors against play off chasing hosts

Essex Senior League, Wednesday 31st January

The final evening of January and I chose to pop over to The Terry Mac at Newham Leisure Centre to watch two sides who have had to rebuild somewhat after changes on and off the field in the last couple of months or so, play off chasing Athletic Newham, who were hosting FC Clacton in a rearranged fixture from earlier in the season.

The hosts were looking to try and break into that top five club and a play off position, and three points here would get them level with fifth placed Barking, and a healthy home win could have taken them above The Blues into that fifth spot on goal difference, so that was the aim for the hosts who had managed to win on their last outing in the league at the weekend, this after back to back losses.

They were up against a FC Clacton side who were unbeaten in four games in all competitions, so even if they were down in 14th spot before the game they were still going to be a tough assignment for the hosts, the two had met back in September on the North Essex coast, and Clacton had ran out 3-2 winners in that one, although neither sides were the same from that game so hard to read into that one, it was four/five months ago and a lot has changed since then.

Now before the game had even began the evening had it's dramas, the visitors had a nightmare in getting to East London from North Essex, the A12 was shut for several hours at Colchester meaning a big diversion through some small towns and villages to get around the issue, this caused havoc in anyone North of Colchester getting south of it, meaning when I arrived at the ground at around 7pm, half the visiting side were nowhere near arriving.

A new kick off time of 8pm was announced, although the Clacton management were still not sure if all of their starting eleven would even be there by that time, and discussions between the hosts and the visitors plus the match referee ended with an agreement that the game would be delayed further till 8.15pm, which was the latest they could kick off. Fingers were then crossed that the players in question would arrive before that time so they could get going.

Now, the added issue was that the game had to be finished by 10pm as the Leisure Centre and grounds were to be closed at this time, and kicking off at 8:15pm meant that time was very tight shall we say, the solution was to shorten the game time, yes shorten the game time, to, forty minutes per half, so an eighty minute contest, this then gave them a bit more leeway with the timings, and it was all agreed by the league after the referee called them to get the ok to do this, so we had an eighty minute game which eventually kicked off at 8:17pm, 32 minutes after the original kick off time.

All present were just thankful we had a game as anymore delays may have resulted in the game not starting at all, so thankfully that didn't happen, but it meant Athletic Newham were very warmed up after being on the pitch for quite sometimes prior to the original kick off time, and the visitors literally turned up, had a chat and then off they went, it certainly was not ideal preparation for the visitors that was for sure.

Clacton actually began quite well, but it was the hosts who grabbed a 14th minute lead as pacey attacker Idris Aminu cut in from the left hand side and after running across the area to try and get a shooting angle, he eventually struck a decent right footed effort back across goal and into the far corner, and now the visitors would have to try and battle back in this contest.

Clacton's already miserable afternoon/evening got even worse six minutes before the break when they were reduced to ten men after a poor challenge on the right wing resulted in a second yellow, and now not only did the visitors trail by a goal at the half they also were a man light too.

But instead of feeling sorry for themselves and throwing in the towel, the visitors actually did pretty well considering they had ten men, although they should have found themselves further behind when the hosts struck the crossbar with a pretty decent effort from range, and they also missed a point blank header too as they looked to take advantage of their extra man.

But it was Clacton who were to grab the next goal as after the hosts keeper had brought down a visiting attacker to give away a penalty, Teddy Collis stepped up to send the booked keeper the wrong way in the 63rd minute and hand the ten man side a leveller, meaning it was all to play for in the final seventeen minutes plus added on time, of which their would not be much of due to the time constraints.

For a time you felt the ten men may go on and win it, but they were more than happy with a point after what had gone on before, and so the hosts were the ones trying to win it at the end, but Clacton stood firm although with literally the final act of the game it looked like the hosts should have had a nailed on penalty, but instead of it being given the referee blew the full time whistle instead, leaving the hosts frustrated to say the least.

It means Athletic Newham do climb a place to 8th and a point closer to the play offs, but they really wanted all three, especially after leading at the half and having a man extra, whereas Clacton would have been delighted to have come away with something after the afternoon/evening they had endured, and the point takes them up a place to 13th having extended their unbeaten run to five games now.

So, a rather bizarre turn of events this evening, but we got a game in and it wasn't to bad a contest in the end, and I hope all the Clacton guys and girls had a much better journey home than the one they had coming to the game, the were at least rewarded with something to cheer and didn't return home empty handed.

Full time Athletic Newham 1 FC Clacton 1

 

Redbridge 2 Heybridge Swifts 1 - Substitute James Barlow nets 80th minute winner as hosts grab their first win of 2024 by seeing off play off chasing visitors

Isthmian League One North, Tuesday 30th January

Tuesday night saw me over at Oakside for the first time since hosts Redbridge had been promoted to Step Four and the Isthmian North from the Essex Senior League, and on this occasion they were hosting play off chasing Heybridge Swifts who had travelled down from North Essex to the Eastern side of the capital.

The hosts first season at this level for a few years had been mixed, they had won only four of their seventeen league games, with the other's being five draws and eight defeats, the Motormen had been in many games this season but had fallen on the wrong side more often than not, although despite their lowly 17th place standing in the table, they were thirteen points clear of the drop zone with plenty of games in hand.

They were up against a side who were coming to Oakside having lost their local derby at Witham Town 3-0, this after going on a nine match unbeaten run to get them right in the play off mix, they sat in sixth at kick off and only outside the top five places on goal difference, so they knew if they could get back to winning ways here in Barkingside, they could potentially break into those play off spots.

Now the hosts were yet to win in 2024, they did lead 2-1 at New Salamis at the weekend in stoppage time before the game was abandoned after some rather unsavoury scenes, that result is yet to be confirmed, so for now they were still winless in the new year, could they grab one here and get their 2024 off and running finally?

Well, it could not have began any better for the home side when they struck a very early blow when grabbing a third minute lead when a ball fed into the box from the left hand side saw striker Ayo Odukoya send a first time powerful effort with his right foot sail into the far corner, giving visiting keeper Callum Chafer no chance whatsoever, a superb start for the home side, how would the visitors respond.

They almost replied very quickly when forcing a pretty smart save from hosts keeper Connor Wheatley at his near post, but just before the quarter hour mark Swifts found a leveller when after a powerful effort from inside the box could only be parried up into the air by Wheatley, Ben Sartain was on hand to nod the dropping ball home, and the contest was all square.

Swifts for a time had a good spell and threatened to quickly turn this one around, and only another decent stop from Wheatley prevented the visitors grabbing the lead when they got behind the hosts back line, however it was Wheatley's opposing number who was to keep the score line level towards the end of the first period as Redbridge finished the half strong, Chafer pulled off an amazing point blank save before beating away another decent effort soon after, and sandwiched in between these saves saw the hosts somehow blast over from two yards out, it looked easier to score.

It meant an entertaining end to end first period ended all square, and the tempo didn't really drop to much in the second half either, although the hosts were producing the better openings but saw Chafer once again produce another awesome stop to prevent them from grabbing the lead, however with ten minutes of the ninety to go, The Motormen managed to find what proved to be the winner when James Barlow, on for early goal scorer Odukoya, nodded home a brilliant cross from the right.

Now the visiting players and management were adament Barlow had put the ball into the net with his hand, but the referee was adament he had not done, pointing to his head to suggest he felt the ball had been headed home, and after a consultation with his assistant, the goal stood and the hosts now had a slender lead to hold onto heading into the final moments of this decent contest.

The hosts had to survive some rather hairy moments in the bundle of stoppage time that was added on at the end, but they did manage to survive some late scares to record a very important and hard fought win, taking them up two places to 15th and sixteen points away from that dreaded drop zone, whereas for Swifts it's now back to back defeats as their play off chase stalled, although they are only three points off those places with plenty of games still to play.

Full time Redbridge 2 Heybridge Swifts 1

Corinthians 0 Romford 4 - Visiting skipper Shannon Simpson nets brace to help her Romford side to all three points at Stambridge Memorial Ground

Essex County Women's Football League Premier Division, Sunday 28th January

I decided to pop over to Stambridge on the last Sunday in January for a Essex County Women's Premier match up between hosts Corinthians & visitors Romford, this was an important game at both ends of the division too.

The hosts were sitting second bottom in the division and only four points clear of bottom side Tigers, so points in this one could put more daylight between themselves and the bottom side and enhance their fight against relegation, they were level on points with the side above them too (Leigh Ramblers) and in fact they were only four points off sixth placed Toby, so they were not to far off being pretty much mid table.

Romford on the other hand were at the opposite end of the table, sitting third and trying to keep tabs with the top two sides (Chelmsford City & Frontiers) and they began the afternoon in third spot and two points behind second spot and eight points off leaders Chelmsford, so three points here was paramount for the visiting side if they wanted to keep tabs on the ones above them, and also increase the gap to fourth placed Stanway Rovers & fifth placed Bowers & Pitsea Reserves, who were four points behind Romford heading into today's games.

The game on paper at least suggested an away win then, but the hosts had began 2024 in positive fashion, winning a thriller at Leigh Ramblers 5-4 in the final minute before grabbing a 0-0 draw with Hutton Reserves although those sides were in and around themselves so there was no denying that today's test would be a much tougher one for sure, Romford had dispatched Hutton Reserves 3-0 before thrashing Tigers 4-0 away, so the visitors had also began 2024 in very positive fashion too.

Now the two sides had met back on bonfire weekend at Noak Hill Sports Complex and Romford ran out 2-0 winners in that contest, with goals from Raquel Mezquita & Chloe Eastwell settling that one, and after only eight minutes Romford had already matched that scoreline as they dominated the early exchanges, they took the lead after only two minutes when skipper Shannon Simpson managed to get through to slot past hosts keeper Zoe Brown and into the net.

And just six minutes later the visitors doubled their lead when a free kick swung into the box was turned past their own keeper by a defender, and at this point you feared for Corinthians as they were being totally outplayed and had not come out of the dressing room so far.

To their credit though the hosts did fight their way back into the contest, maybe not by goals, but at least in determination and spirit, and they did manage to force a save from the visiting keeper (one of three in the game I think as they swapped who was in goal a couple of times in the second period to allow the ones who were in goal to have spell on the pitch!!! This was because their regular keeper wasn't available so some took turns in goal, which is fair enough) but that was really the only real chance the hosts mustered in the opening forty five minutes. Tanya Holley was their main threat and did an awful lot of chasing and running, mainly to no avail sadly.

Romford's pace up front continued to trouble the hosts although they did as well as they could and actually did well against them for large parts, Samantha Koski & Simpson were the main threat for the visitors along with Sharmari Crawford, and on more than one occasion hosts keeper Brown had to be alert to thwart them from going further ahead.

The second period was a lot more competitive and although Romford did continue to look dangerous, especially on the counter attack, Corinthians did muster a few more openings than what they had done in the first period, they did have a golden chance to pull one back when a mix up between defender and keeper saw the hosts prod wide when it looked certain they would score, but despite a more improved hosts in the second half Romford always looked in control.

Simpson & Co continued to threaten, and with nine minutes to go they grabbed a clinching third when a ball across the area was missed and it seemed the chance had gone, but Venetia Stuart (I think as she was wearing the number four shirt although I am almost certain she was in goal in the first period, but who knows!!!) managed to strike a decent left footed effort into the net, and ran off celebrating wildly as it was her left foot, so assuming she doesn't score many with that boot.

The hosts continued to try and find at least a goal to cheer even though the game was lost, and they almost had a spectacular moment when substitute Katie Whiter-Chapman struck a wonderful effort from range and saw it cannon back off the crossbar, it would have certainly been the goal of the game for sure, but it wasn't to be, and then three minutes from time Romford managed to add a fourth when skipper Simpson netted her second of the game by slotting past Brown after getting in on goal, and cap a decent afternoon for the visiting side.

Full time Corinthians 0 Romford 4

Let's look at what else happened in the division today as their were three other games that took place, and how that affects the table:-

Chelmsford City 4 Bowers & Pitsea Reserves 1

Leigh Ramblers 1 Frontiers 3

Toby 1 Hutton Reserves 3

Leaders Chelmsford City made it ten wins for the league season after defeating Bowers & Pitsea Reserves, they maintain their six point lead a the top as second placed Frontiers also won with their road victory at Leigh Ramblers. It means it's as it was for the top three, and Romford's win also opens the gap to fourth to seven points now.

Defeat for Corinthians means they remain second bottom but will be pleased that Leigh Rams lost, although Hutton Reserves did build a three point gap to Leigh and Corinthians after they won at Toby, who themselves are now just a point above today's opponents.

That's all for my latest blog, thanks for reading.