Romford 0 Stanway Rovers 4 - Goals from George Okoye, skipper Reece Conway, Tom Maycock & Ricky Tabard see Rovers net impressive win over Romford to take Errington Challenge Cup honours at Scraley Road

Essex Senior League Errington Challenge Cup Final, Wednesday 8th May

Wednesday saw me at a fifth game in six days (and due to that I am now exhausted!!!) and it was the turn of the final of the Essex Senior League Errington Challenge Cup Final which was taking place at the home of Heybridge Swifts, Scraley Road, a ground I remember fondly for attending on many occasions with my late father.

This was the first time I had been since they had laid the 3G pitch, and the venue is rather decent with plenty of seating and places to stand around the pitch, all with a decent view of the action, and the clubhouse and tea bar is also very decent, plenty of room to enjoy post and pre match fare, and also a lovely outside area to relax in before and after the game, and with the weather cool but decent, it was well populated.

Romford were becoming rather familiar to me in the last few days, this was the third time I had seen them since Friday but they made a few changes to the starting line up from those two play off games, as with a rather important date with Great Wakering Rovers at Wembley upcoming this was rather predicted by myself if truth be told, no point trying to risk injury or fatigue ahead of that, and also to put the big squad to the test too, after all what's the point of having one if your not going to call on it on occasions like this.

They were up against a Stanway Rovers side though who had been in fine form in the second half of the season, a run that if it had began earlier than they could easily have snuck into the play off places themselves, and many predict that if they can hold onto much of their current squad next season, they will be right up their for not only winning promotion but winning the division outright, so they had certainly made an impression on many.

This was the first of two big matches upcoming for Rovers in the next few days, they had this final and then a semi final to contend on Friday night too, against Woodford Town in the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy, ironically Woodford are the team Rovers defeated 4-1 in the semi final of the Errington Challenge Cup too to set up this final against Romford, for my blog on the semi finals, please click on this link https://pedroslocalfootiefix.blogspot.com/2024/04/stanway-rovers-4-woodford-town-1-brace.html

Anyway with Romford having an FA Vase final at the weekend, and with many changes to the starting eleven, many, including myself, had Stanway down as comfortable winners in this one, I had stuck my neck out and predicted a 3-0 win or the North Essex side, although the side Romford put out was still full of quality, don't get me wrong, but with such a big life changing game to come, I just did not think they would be 'at it' if you get me.

And after twenty three minutes of the contest, Stanway had already matched my prediction, as they stormed into a three goal lead, opening the scoring after just five minutes when George Okoye was played in to slot into the bottom corner, and then some lovely football carved open Boro and ended with skipper Reece Conway powering home a header from close range in the 22nd minute.

And then just a minute later it was three for Rovers when Tom Maycock fired a lovely left footed effort into the far corner, and the game you felt could already be over, and Boro were in danger of being blown away and potentially embarrassed in a big final.

Boro did have chances don't get me wrong, Charlie Morris was heavily involved in most of the attacks that they created, he did strike the woodwork on one occasion, as did defender Jacob Wiggins, who saw his free kick tipped onto the bar, but apart from these moments, Rovers looked fairly comfortable at the back led by Tyler Corlett, who went on to grab the MOTM honours, which was well deserved, and nice to see a defender take some plaudits in this attacking dominated sport on most occasions.

Romford did bring on some big guns at half time to at least try and show they wanted to get back into the contest, they did for a time put Rovers under some pressure, but Corlett and Co, as said, kept them at bay and as the match wore on Romford's hopes and dreams of a comeback faded, and in fact, and rather annoyingly for me and my prediction, with the clock hitting the ninety minute mark, Rovers added a fourth.

It came from full back Ricky Tabard, who side footed a lovely finish into the bottom corner after the ball had broken to him, yes I was just four, yes four minutes away from a correct score prediction, but you can't win them all can you!!! 

So, as predicted, a rather comfortable win in the end for the magnificent Rovers,  who will finish the season with at least one Trophy to show for their efforts, they now turn their attention to Friday's Peter Butcher semi final against Woodford Town, whereas Romford will now end their season at the weekend at Wembley, not bad that, although they will surely be much better in that final then tonight's, and with a full strength eleven to chose from in that one, I very much expect them to be 'on it' on Saturday.

Full time Romford 0 Stanway Rovers 4

Romford 1 Sporting Bengal United 3 - Goals from Jay Knight, Joe Gregory & Rian Patel help Sporting Bengal United see off Romford in the Essex Senior League play off final & achieve promotion to Step Four of the non league pyramid

Essex Senior League Play Off Final, Monday 6th May

On a soggy Bank Holiday Monday (typical eh) I once again popped over to Corringham, and Rookery Hill, for the first ever Essex Senior League Play Off final, and it saw Romford host Sporting Bengal United with the winners taking their place in Step Four football for next season, so quite a big prize at stake for sure.

Hosts Romford were enjoying a very successful season, and this final began a week of three finals, they still had the Errington Challenge Cup final to come at Heybridge Swifts against Stanway Rovers on Wednsday, and then their season would end at Wembley of course in the all ESL final against Great Wakering Rovers, some week ahead then, but today was all about getting back to Step Four football for Boro.

They had fallen out of that level and down into Step Five after relegation two seasons ago, so they were looking to bounce back after two years out, but in their way stood a Sporting Bengal United side who were entering new ground here, they had never played Step Four football in their history, and it's crazy to think that at the start of last season they were a Step Six side after relegation from the ESL.

It's been a remarkable rise from the Bengal Boys, they deserve a lot of credit for what they have achieved since they were smashed 7-0 at Stanway Pegasus on the opening day of last season, and Steve Clark and co haven't looked back since, could they do the unthinkable and win back to back promotions via the play offs to book themselves a spot in Step Four next season, what a story that would be.

Romford obviously were not about to let that story play out though, they had the home advantage of course as they did finish above their opponents in the table, seven points above them and two places, the two league encounters though were very tight contests, the first one at Romford's then home ground of Mayesbrook Park saw a very entertaining 3-3 draw back in early September in roasting temperatures (fells a lifetime ago now!!!).

And in the return fixture at Mile End Stadium, Romford netted a 2-1 success in late February, so yes Romford had the slight advantage in terms of results between the two this season, but that would count very little in this contest today, I've said it many times over the last few days but play off football is unpredictable, and it's all on the day and who can hold their nerve the best, so what would happen here?

Romford had the two best openings in the opening half hour but saw one effort cleared off the line by Jay Knight before Finlay Dorrell then found himself in with a chance to give Boro the lead but saw visiting keeper Sidi Haidara produce a decent stop, but in the 32nd minute the visitors got themselves ahead when a lovely ball in from Steve Carvell found Knight who glanced a lovely header into the far corner, and the underdogs had their noses in front.

Romford tried to get back on level terms before the break, and they thought they had done this when Dorrell got in to lob an effort over Haidara and into the net, but the flag had gone up so the goal did not stand, Charlie Morris then thumped an effort against the post before Knight again cleared off the line for Sporting,  Knight had certainly been involved at both ends and because of him the visitors held a slender lead going into the half time break.

The first fifteen minutes of the second period though was to be crucial in deciding this contest and who won promotion, Bengal so nearly grabbed a second goal moments into the second half when after a Rian Patel effort had been saved by Jake Anderson, Carvell attempted to bundle the ball home but Junior Luke managed to get the ball off the line and away from danger.

However, Bengal were not to be denied a second goal in the 55th minute when a lovely cross from the left by Timi Joseph found Joe Gregory who sent a header beyond Anderson into the far corner, and then just three minutes later disaster for Anderson who totally misjudged a punt up field, seeing the ball bounce over him and leave him in no mans land as Patel ran onto the ball and had the easiest of tasks to slot into the empty net, cue mass celebrations amongst the visiting contingent, surely it was game over now. 

Boro had an almost impossible mountain to climb now, but they gave themselves a sniff of an unlikely comeback when Dorrell swept home from inside the box after good work from Darren Phillips with 63 minutes on the clock, and Dorrell then had a golden chance to pull another one back but somehow headed over from inside the six yard box, had they have found a second goal things may have got interesting.

Sporting though managed to hold their opponents at arms length as Boro tried to apply pressure and find a way back into the contest, they were susceptible to the counter attack though as they were pushing players forward, but on the occasions Sporting did break on them, they could not capitalise.

The longer the game went on though Boro began to realise it wasn't going to be their day and Sporting could now touch promotion, and sure enough after several minutes of stoppage time, the whistle went and Sporting had made history for their community club by achieving what seemed impossible two seasons ago, back to back promotions, an amazing story for them, just shows you what is possible if you put your mind to it.

Commiserations to Romford who miss out on promotion this season, they do have the Errington Challenge Cup Final to come on Wednesday, oh and the small matter of a date at Wembley this weekend against GWR in the FA Vase Final, not a bad consolation prize that eh.    

Full time Romford 1 Sporting Bengal United 3

Bromley 2 Solihull Moors 2 (aet, Bromley won 4-3 on penalties) - Ravens promoted to EFL for very first time in their history after pulsating Vanarama National League Promotion Final against Moors ends with shootout success

Vanarama National League Promotion Final, Sunday 5th May

I was at Wembley Stadium on the first Sunday in May, and today saw a massive game between Bromley who finished third in the Vanarama National League, up against Solihull Moors, who had finished fifth and five points behind today's opponents, and whoever won today's showpiece event at Wembley would become an EFL side for the very first time in their history.

This game then was a very big deal for both sides, a chance to get into the coveted Football League, although this did pose a rather interesting conundrum for Bromley, who would most likely have to rip up their 3G surface at Hayes Lane as EFL rules state you cannot have such a surface in their divisions, a fate that saw Harrogate Town & Sutton United have to do the same thing.

Why the EFL do not accept such things is a question in itself, but am sure Bromley would accept it for a place in the football league, but that was for the future, this was now and they had to get their first, and they were up against a Solihull Moors side who were also gunning for a football league spot which they had never achieved before, and of course they had no worries about ripping up 3G surfaces either, so that was a plus for them.

Bromley had to see off Altrincham to reach this final hurdle, and they defeated them 3-1 at Hayes Lane thanks to a brace from Myles Weston & a Jude Arthurs goal sandwiches in between saw them fight back from a half time deficit in that one, whereas Solihull Moors had to play two games to get to this stage, they defeated FC Halifax Town 4-2 at home before they then saw off league runners up Barnet in very impressive fashion by thrashing them 4-0 at The Hive.

It was an very impressive display and showed everyone they had what it took to reach the promised land of EFL football, nobody expected them to win by that score line, or even win at all, so today's final would not be easy to call, despite the fact Bromley had beaten Moors 3-0 at home only last month, that result would not count for anything today although Bromley would have loved to repeat that for sure!!! It does have to be said though, a week or two before that game at Hayes Lane, they had taken each other on in the FA Trophy Semi Final at the same venue and seen Moors grab a 2-1 success, so they wanted that repeated for sure too!!! It basically meant it was almost impossible to call this final.

That meant Solihull are back at Wembley next weekend too for the FA Trophy final, ironically against Gateshead, a side that were thrown out of the playoffs a day after the regular season had finished, due to their International Stadium not having a ten year lease on it, now why the National League chose to wait until the season had finished to announce this was ridiculous, and Solihull got caught up in the repercussions of this as originally they were the ones to benefit and be sent straight into the semi finals, only for the league to then change their mind and put Altrincham through instead, very unsettling I suspect so the fact they managed to blast their way into this final shows their character, maybe it spurred them on perhaps.

It was all a bit of a mess though and sad too, especially for Gateshead who worked their socks off to make the play offs, that may rumble on, but for now we do have a final, thankfully, and could Bromley, who took four points off Moors in the regular season, continue that form against their opponents, or could Moors put in another vintage display like they had done in semi finals, only time would tell.

Bromley certainly had the majority of the support in a crowd of 23,374, they had 16,000 of those inside the national stadium and it was The Ravens who almost netted twice inside the first three minutes as they looked to gain an early advantage in this massive game, Moors took a while to settle but once they did the game settled into a more calm pattern and the first half was pretty cagey with neither side wanting to give to much away.

However, with four minutes of the half remaining and it looking likely to be goalless at the break, Bromley struck, as Michael Cheek managed to shake off a defender before applying a decent finish into the far corner and send the Bromley half of Wembley into raptures, Moors were furious as they felt Cheek had fouled his marker before finding the net, but replays showed this wasn't the case and in my view the referee got it spot on, and Bromley had a slender lead going into the break.

If the first half was cagey and sensible, the rest of the contest was anything but, and the tone was set for the second period when Moors struck just three minutes after the break when a shot from Tahvon Campbell was well saved by keeper Grant Smith, but saw Joe Sbarra quickest to react to the lose ball and fire home the rebound, and just like that Moors were now level, game on!!!

But Moors were then to shoot themselves in the foot just before the hour mark and give Bromley the chance to regain the lead, a poor pass back saw keeper Smith mis control, allowing Bromley to nip in and touch the ball past the Smith, who brought down the forward for a penalty kick to the Ravens, and Cheek stepped up to slot home the spot kick, and Moors had it all to do again.

If Bromley thought their opponents were going to go away after that then they were very much mistaken, Moors showed a lot of character to fight back once again and twenty minutes into the second half and only seven minutes after that penalty, Moors were level once again as the game was now turning into a classic promotion final once again, Jamey Osborne picking the ball up before driving towards the box and firing a wonderful effort into the bottom corner, what was going to happen next!!!

For a time after that goal Moors were definitely on the front foot and looking the more likelier to grab the lead, Bromley certainly had to dig deep and hang in the game for a time, but once they had weathered the storm, they looked like they could win the game as extra time loomed, but neither side could muster a late winner meaning once again the promotion final would go to extra time.

Both sides had to try and muster one last push, but how Bromley failed to win the match in extra time is anyone's guess, Alex Kirk headed against the Moors bar in the first period of the extra half hour, and then in the second period of it Kirk struck the post, seeing his effort hit the inside of it and flying across the line and off for a goal kick, how it did not go in is anyone's guess, we all had our hands over our heads in disbelief, maybe it was Solihull's day and not Bromley's, you started to think that after that moment.

Those moments in extra time were the most memorable but it meant for the third time in four years the Promotion Final would be decided on penalties, and the season for both clubs came down to one shootout to decide who would be promoted to the EFL for the very first time in their histories, who would hold their nerve.

Sadly for Moors they had a mountain to climb from the very first kick of the shootout, seeing it saved, and after Bromley had netted their first kick, Moors saw their second one saved as well, not ideal, but Bromley then saw their second one saved too, so after four penalties in the shootout, three had been saved!!! Where was this going next we all thought....

Well, thereafter all the spot kicks were converted, meaning Bromley had the chance to win the shoot out with the fifth and final kick, Byron Webster was tasked with that kick, and he held his nerve to slot home the kick that sent his side into the Football League for the very first time, and cued mass celebrations amongst The Ravens players, staff and supporters, they had realised their dream and are now an EFL League Two side next season.

Sadly their has to be a losing side in all of this, and commiserations to Solihull Moors who gave everything in this one, just like Bromley had, and to lose in this way is heart breaking, they now have to get themselves up one last time this season now in next weekend's Trophy Final against Gateshead, let's hope for their sake they do at least end the season on a positive note and this one will sting for a while no doubt.

Well done to Bromley though, history made!!!

Full time Bromley 2 Solihull Moors 2 (aet, Bromlety won 4-3 on penalties)

Bowers & Pitsea 1 Brentwood Town 1 (aet; Bowers & Pitsea won 3-2 on penalties) - Bowers & Pitsea net shootout win over Essex rivals Brentwood Town in Isthmian North play off final to make immediate return to Premier Division

Isthmian North Play Off Final, Saturday 4th May

My second play off tie of the weekend saw me over at another local Essex club and The Len Salmon Stadium for an all Essex Isthmian North Play Off final between Bowers & Pitsea & Brentwood Town.

Both sides had won their respective play off semi final's away from home, Bowers, who had finished the season in fourth spot, were away to third placed Felixstowe & Walton United, who had finished only a point above them, TQ Addy had given the visitors a 1-0 lead but were pegged back by Josh Mayhew, Benas Vaivada then restored Bowers lead, only to see Mayhew net in stoppage time to take the tie into extra time.

No goals were forthcoming in the extra half hour and it went to penalties, Bowers kept their nerve to win the shootout 4-2 to progress into today's final against a Brentwood side who finished the season in fifth and took on runners up Bury Town, who had only finished two points ahead of them in the table, and after a goalless ninety minutes it also meant extra time in this one too, but extra time saw the game burst into life.

Mekhi McKenzie gave Brentwood a 95th minute lead, only to see Ryan Holland level five minutes later, but the visitors were not to be denied and retook the lead through Daniel Ogunleye in the 110th minute before they sealed their place in today's final with a Shad Ngandu goal six minutes into stoppage time at the end of extra time, so two dramatic play off semi finals, no doubt today's final would be filled with drama too.

Bowers of course had the home advantage having finished higher in the table, but the two fixtures in the regular season between the two sides saw the visiting team take the points on each occasion, Brentwood netting a 2-0 win at The Len Salmon Stadium back on October 28th thanks to goals from Ogunleye & McKenzie, before Bowers netted a 3-1 win at Brentwood only a month ago thanks to goals from Vaivada, Matt Price & Ben Williamson, so this one was a hard one to call, although Bowers will take heart from that victory against today's opponents only a few weeks ago.

This is play off football though, previous meetings and results mean nothing, it's all about who can hold their nerve and play the better football on the day, and with that big dangling carrot of Step Three football to come for the winners next season, nerves would obviously play a part too, it was such a big game for both sides, and it being an Essex derby too, it was sure to be spicy no doubt with so much a stake!!!

A superb crowd of 1,101 turned up to watch this showpiece event, and the hosts made the better start in front of their biggest crowd of the season and forced two excellent stops from visiting keeper Melvin Minter, but just past the quarter hour mark Bowers got the lead they deserved when Chris Millar curled a free kick underneath the wall, that had jumped, and see the effort crash off the inside of the post and into the far corner.

Advantage Bowers then, but after such a good start the hosts saw Brentwood slowly come back into the contest as the half went on, and eleven minutes before the break levelled the contest up when a free kick in from the right found Matt Cripps with space inside the box, and he had time to swivel and fire a decent effort into the bottom corner and send the sizable travelling support into raptures.

It meant the sides went into the break all square and with everything still to play for, the first half had been a decent watch but the second forty five minutes became a bit more cagey and tight as the sides just did not want to lose the contest, Brentwood somehow headed over one effort from six yards out, but twenty minutes into the second period Bowers were handed a golden chance to retake the lead.

Price got down the right and tried to send a ball into the danger zone, but the ball hit the outstretched arms of Cripps, and the referee pointed to the spot, much to the visiting defenders dismay, but hosts skipper Williamson saw his spot kick saved by Minter, meaning the score line remained all square at 1-1 with around twenty five minutes to go, a big chance gone a begging there, would it come to haunt the hosts.

Both sides tried to find a winner in the closing stages, but neither could, so just like both semi finals, this tie was headed for an extra half hour to see if anyone could win it before the dreaded penalties of course.

The visitors looked the more likely to find one in the extra time period if anyone was going to, the first fifteen minutes of it saw them miss two decent openings, one side footed wide from a terrific position, and another saved after a mazy run, the second fifteen of extra time again saw Bowers seemingly happy to hold on for spot kicks whilst Brentwood looked like the ones trying to win it.

Bowers then had one final push to try and avoid penalties, but they failed to muster a goal, and it meant penalties would be needed to decide who would win promotion to the Isthmian Premier, the season had come down to a shoot out, always a tough way to decide it, but someone had to win and someone had to lose, that's the way it is sadly.

The kicks were to be taken in front of the masses of Brentwood fans behind the goal, and their side went first and scored via the hand of hosts keeper David Hughes, and after some tactical time wasting by visiting keeper Minter, the hosts slotted home their first kick, Hughes then saved Brentwood's next kick, and after Minter tried some more timewasting to put the hosts kicker off, he was booked, stupid really, but it worked as Bowers saw their second effort strike the post, 1-1 after two kicks each.

Town then sent their third kick wide of the target, and Bowers then grabbed an advantage as they netted their third to lead 2-1 after three kicks each, both sides then netted their next penalties meaning Bowers had a 3-2 advantage with both sides final kick to come, Brentwood had to score to keep the shoot out alive, but Hughes saved again and Bowers had made an immediate return to the Isthmian Premier and Step Three football once again.

Wild celebrations indeed and a pitch invasion, despite the PA announcer repeatedly telling them not to otherwise their would be no presentation, but could you blame them, they had won promotion after a long tough season and two dramatic and hard fought play off games too, well done to Bowers & Pitsea, but commiserations to Brentwood Town who lose the final in heart-breaking fashion on penalties, but it's still been an excellent season for them too despite this, so well played both.

Full time Bowers & Pitsea 1 Brentwood Town 1 (aet; Bowers & Pitsea won 3-2 on penalties)

Romford 1 Barking 0 - Kris Newby penalty sends Boro into Essex Senior League play off final to face Sporting Bengal United after they saw off Woodford Town on penalties

Essex Senior League Play Off Semi Finals, Friday 3rd May

Tilbury had won the ESL and automatic promotion to Step Four a couple of weekend's ago, who would join them in promotion to the next level? Well, the first friday in May saw the first ever ESL play offs get underway as two tasty semi final ties took place to see who would end up in Monday's play off final and a chance at promotion.

I was over at Rookery Hill for Romford Vs Barking, the hosts were gunning to add promotion to their already superb season, if they won this contest they would have three finals in a week coming up next week, they were already in the Errington Challenge Cup Final next Wednesday, and of course the FA Vase final next weekend at Wembley against Great Wakering Rovers in the all ESL final.

Some big games coming up the for Boro, but the focus was on tonight and a tough battle against Barking, Romford had finished in third spot in the division, seven points and one place above Barking, and the two league games this season had seen a 2-2 draw at Romford's then home Mayesbrook Park, a ground they shared with Barking of course, before the Barking home game at Mayesbrook saw a rare loss for them as Romford netted a 2-0 success, so Boro had the upper hand in terms of results, could they do it again or would The Blues notch an away win to take them to the final?

Barking themselves have had a remarkable turnaround after a very difficult start, and in fact that home loss to Romford in early March was their only league defeat after October 28th, so an impressive run that took them into the playoffs and set up this tie, one more push was needed from both now to see if they could grab that chance to claim the second promotion spot into Step Four, it was win or go home now, who would prevail.

The opening half was certainly tight, with very little in the way of clear cut chances, and the only effort on target saw a Blues ball in from the left come off a defender and almost go in at the near post, but hosts keeper Jake Anderson made a smart stop to prevent this from happening, but apart from that neither keeper had much to do, but in first half stoppage time Romford were to be given a golden chance to grab the lead.

This is because Sam Deering looked to be caught by a challenge from a defender, which resulted in him going to ground, and although the referee didn't appear to give the penalty, the assistant advised him that it was a spot kick, so he pointed to the spot, much to Barking's dismay, they were clearly not happy at the award of the penalty, but the decision had been made and Boro skipper Kris Newby duly stepped up to dispatch the spot kick and send his side into the half time break a goal ahead.

Could the Blues bounce back from this disappointment? Well, if truth be told they were lucky not to be further behind as Romford created some really good openings to double their lead and perhaps kill this contest, a lob over keeper Max Spence bounced off the top of the visitors bar, and then a miracle clearance off the visitors line after a counter attack from the hosts saw them nailed on to make it 2-0 before the intervention from the visitors.

The second chance mentioned came after Barking were screaming for a spot kick of their own, and after they had seen one given against them for what looked a similar type of challenge late in the first period, they were less than happy, so to almost go 2-0 down from the counter attack from that would have rubbed salt into their wounds that was for sure.

Another Romford attack ended with a powerful effort go straight at Spence, had it been either side of him it would have surely been 2-0, but Barking remained in the contest and as the time ticked down closer and closer to the final stages of the match, Romford begin to retreat deeper and deeper into their own half and The Blues were now applying more and more pressure on them as a result.

But the hosts dealt with everything that was thrown at them, I cannot recall the visitors having a shot on target in the second period, and hosts keeper Anderson didn't have a save to make of note, which was a testament to the hosts backline, and after several tense minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew his whistle to end this one and see Romford reach yet another final, what a season it's been, and it could become even better for sure.

Full time Romford 1 Barking 0

So, who would join Romford in Monday's play off final? Well, the other semi final saw runners up Woodford Town host fifth placed Sporting Bengal United at Ashton's, let's see how that one panned out.....

Woodford Town 1 Sporting Bengal United 1 (Sporting Bengal won 5-4 on penalties)

The last time these two did battle was at Ashton's when Bengal netted a 3-2 win in the league, so that was certainly fresh in the minds of both sets of players coming into this huge play off semi final tie, the hosts had as said finished runners up behind Tilbury and only ahead of third placed Romford on goal difference, meaning a tie against the fifth placed finishers at home.

However that team, Sporting Bengal United, would be a tough assignment, an incredible season has seen them reach a second successive play off campaign (they won promotion from Step Six last season through the play offs too) and were determined to upset the apple cart and reach that final on Monday and make it back to back promotions to reach Step Four for the very first time in their history.

Could they continue their quest for this and continue a history making season? Well, they were to trail at the break after James Jewers handed the hosts the lead right on half time, a free kick caused chaos inside the box before the ball dropped to the Town skipper who controlled the ball before volleying home, but early in the second half things were to turn against Woodford.

Tanvir Ahmed was brought down by Town's Enock Soganile, and as Tanvir was last man, Soganile was given a straight red, and from that free kick, Joe Gregory fired home after Steve Carvell had struck the post with the set play, and it meant Bengal now had a man advantage with pretty much the whole second half to go.

However, no more goals were forthcoming, meaning penalties would be needed to decide who went through, Woodford missed their first penalty before four successive penalties from each side meant Sporting had match point with their fifth a final spot kick, but this was saved, meaning Woodford were still in the tie.

The hosts then saw their next spot kick saved, meaning another chance for Bengal to win it, but they then struck the post meaning another 'match point' had passed them by, deary me, the drama!!! Woodford though saw another penalty saved meaning Bengal yet again had the chance to win it, and at the third time of asking they slotted home the spot kick to win the tie in dramatic fashion and keep what has been an amazing season going for another game and a chance at what would be an extraordinary promotion for sure.

It all means the final will be played (I believe) at Rookery Hill at 3pm on Bank Holiday Monday between Romford & Sporting Bengal United. That should be another battle for sure, who can win that and gain promotion eh?