Chelmsford City 1 Aveley 0 - An Osman Foyo first half header helps see Chelmsford City to all three points against Essex rivals Aveley in their Vanarama National League South contest at Melbourne Stadium

Vanarama National League South, Wednesday January 1

My first game of 2025 saw me over at an Essex Derby in Chelmsford as a very wet Melbourne Stadium hosted Chelmsford City's home clash with Aveley with both sides looking to get their new year's off to a good start.

The visitors needed the points more if truth be told, they were in the bottom four of the division and eight points from safety with half their league games gone, second season syndrome had certainly hit the Millers in the second tier of non league after making the play offs last season, and they had a lot of work to do in the coming months if they wanted to stay at this level for another season.

They were up against a Chelmsford side who themselves were not hitting their heights this campaign, a very disappointing campaign so far so them down in 14th spot and kind of in no mans land right now, quite a few points above the drop zone but quite a way away from those play off spots too, which they are normally accustomed to being around.

A crowd of 868, with a small contingent from Aveley, braved the elements to come and see if their sides could pull off a good result on the opening day of the new year, any doubts about whether the game would be on were never really a worry as the pitch was playing very well despite all the rain that had fallen since late morning, a testament to the groundsman for that!!!

Could the sides put on a show for the ones who had come out to watch? Well, City should have netted early on in the piece as Osman Foyo's cutback found Critclow who looked odds on to score but instead fired his effort straight at keeper Holden, Aveley responded with a decent chance of their own midway through the half when Anifowose flashed a ball across the six yard box but nobody could get on the end of it.

Chances though were few and far between as both sides struggled with the conditions, City created another decent effort ten minutes before half time when Sam Oguntayo floated ball into the box found Jake Hyde, but his header was straight at Holden, had it been either side of the keeper then City could well have gone ahead, however in the 39th minute the hosts were to edge ahead.

The Clarets won a free kick near the corner flag on the right hand side, and Oguntayo's cross found Foyo who nodded a lovely header back across goal and into the far corner, giving the home fans something to cheer in a half that had been largely frustrating for them.  It was a half that would end with them holding a slender lead though.

Aveley would have been annoyed at the way they conceded the goal as well, they were still right in this contest though and knew if they could find the next goal then it was anyone's game still, they certainly pushed the hosts back a bit in the early exchanges of the second period although they failed to really test Collins in the Chelmsford net, something that would have disappointed them too.

And they were lucky not to have fallen further behind with just over twenty minutes remaining when a counter attack saw Crichlow sent through on goal, but he could only slot wide of the post, and then Aveley had two golden chances to level, Bin-Semekula's free kick from the left wing glanced off the top of the bar, and then Coleman De-Graft somehow sent an effort wide from a few yards out, a hands in hand moment for sure.

Aveley sensed though the nerves in the hosts ranks, City needed a second goal you felt and they thought they had it in the 82nd minute when a quickly taken free kick from Donaldson was converted from close range by Charlie Ruff, however the referee called play back, much to the annoyance of the home crowd and bench, it was tense.

City then had another chance to seal the points in the 87th minute but fluffed their lines again, Ruff finding Hyde inside the box but they took too long and allowed a defender to get back to block, could Aveley punish their opponents for not sealing the deal, well sadly for them, no as this game would end up being settled by that late first half header by Foyo.

Not the greatest of games if truth be told, but Chelmsford wouldn't care about that, it's three points and a clean sheet to start 2025, even if it was a bit of a grind at times, for Aveley it's another disappointing loss, they had their chances but failed to hit the target, and defeat means they remain eight points from safety with twenty two games to go.

Full time Chelmsford City 1 Aveley 0

 

There was plenty of other games in the division on New Years Day so shall we see what happened and how it affects the table:-

Considering the poor weather only two games failed to take place/finish, Hampton & Richmond's home game with Dorking Wanderers was postponed whilst Hornchurch's home game with Tonbridge Angels was abandoned at 1-1 in the 37th minute due to waterlogging, all other games went ahead and finished.

League leaders Torquay edged their derby game against Truro to remain a point clear at the top whilst second placed Boreham Wood thrashed mid table Slough to remain a point behind the leaders, Maidstone edged struggling Welling to remain in third, whilst two play off sides clashed down in Sussex as Worthing and Eastbourne Borough shared a goalless draw.

Their was a big bottom two clash at St Albans as the hosts, who came into this one a point behind second bottom Enfield Town, netted a 2-1 win to leapfrog them, Weymouth and Aveley into fourth bottom spot, although they are still seven points from safety despite this, Weymouth did pick up a point themselves against Salisbury, but the four in those relegation positions are still in a precarious position as we enter the new year.

Anyway, that's my first blog of 2025 done and dusted, thanks for reading, here is to many more during the year!!! 

Leyton Orient 2 Cambridge United 0 - Goals from Ollie O'Neill and Jamie Donley help Orient defeat struggling Cambridge to complete a magnificent December and see them into the top ten of EFL League One table

EFL League One, Sunday December 29th

A rare Sunday afternoon at the football for me saw me head over to East London and Leyton for a EFL League One contest between Leyton Orient and Cambridge United, a side my late father followed for a number of years along with his beloved Sunderland of course, so it felt fitting that I should go and watch this one with that in mind.

Sadly for The U's it has been a season of struggle so far, they sat in the bottom four and came into this one off the back of two defeats, a heavy home loss against Huddersfield Town and a boxing day defeat at Charlton Athletic, their only two positive results of December had seen a good home win over Shrewsbury Town and a very decent away point at Wrexham, showing that on their day they can mix it with the best.

They would have to be on their metal today though against possibly the best side in the league in December, Orient had played six, winning five of those and drawing the other, and without conceding a goal in any of those games too, terrific form indeed, form that had taken them from the danger of a relegation battle to being on the verge of the top ten, it had been a remarkable month indeed.

The majority of a crowd of just under 9,000 were therefore hopeful that the hosts could complete the month with a win, although early on it was a very loud away contingent of just over 1,200 who were celebrating a shock lead or at least a lead that was against the form guide when Orient goalkeeper Josh Keeley produced a magnificent reaction save after seven minutes to deny Dan Nlundulu.

Had that gone in maybe it would have been a different contest, Orient took a while to settle if truth be told and the visitors were certainly not playing like a side who are in the bottom four, but just past the half hour mark Orient managed to edge in front and settle some nerves as after some sublime skill from Dan Agyei, the attacker managed to turn past two defenders before squaring the ball back from the byline for Ollie O'Neill to apply a finish from close range.

Agyei was having a superb game and on the stroke of half-time the dangerous Orient attacker shrugged off two tackles in a 40-yard run before blazing his shot high and wide of the target, it would have been a superb goal, but it meant that the hosts would go into the break with a slender lead, although the match was still very much in the balance.

The U's did have a decent spell at the start of the second period but were unable to really test Keeley in the hosts goal, but after this initial spell they created very little as Orient took over the contest, headed by the superb Agyei who was causing havoc down the right hand side, and it was no surprise when the O's pretty much sealed victory with twenty minutes remaining.

U's centre half Michael Morrison was struck in the region no man wants to be hit in, meaning he was down on his knees, and although he did get up and try and stop the Orient attack, he could not, and the hard working Charlie Kelman crossed for Jamie Donley to stab home from close range at the back post, and saw the centre half fall back to his knees again, some visiting players did moan about why play wasn't stopped, but it wasn't, and Orient were well on their way to another win.

It was their sixth win in seven in December, unbeaten as well, and no goals conceded, it's been 703 minujtes since The O's last conceded in any game, that was Oldham Athletic in their FA Cup tie at the end of November, a remarkable run of form as said before and it has taken them into tenth spot and only six points off the playoffs, do Orient dare to dream?

For the visitors it's a third straight loss and another disappointing afternoon at the office, some of their fans booed them at the end, the frustration is evident right now and they remain in the bottom four and five points from safety, they have a lot of work to do between now and May if they want to remain in the division, I for one hope they can do what with my connections to them through my late father of course.

Full time Leyton Orient 2 Cambridge United 0

There was a full fixture list in the division today, below are the results and how the up to date table:-

Leaders Birmingham were held at home by bottom half side Blackpool, allowing Wrexham to close the gap to just a point after they won at home, the leaders do have two games in hand though so could increase the gap if they get points in those games, Wycombe slip to third after they suffered a rare loss as they lost to Charlton who are now only four points off the play off places now.

Bolton and Barnsley, two other sides chasing a top six spot, both managed wins to keep in the hunt of a top six position, they were helped slightly after Huddersfield were held at home by bottom side Burton, although the basement side didn't gain any ground on Shrewsbury after they earned a point at home to Northampton, another side battling to stay out of the bottom four.

Perhaps the most barmy game of the day came at St James Park, Exeter, which saw the home side came back from 1-4 down at half time to earn a stoppage time point at home to Crawley Town with the march ending 4-4!!! It's never over till it's over definitely the motto used by the hosts there, but a big blow to the visitors who would have climbed out of the bottom three had they won. 

Anyway that's all for now, hope you've enjoyed reading and a happy new year to you all!!!
  

Hutton 4 FC Baresi 3 - Hutton hold on against ten man FC Baresi to win thriller at New Lodge in the Thurlow Nunn South

Thurlow Nunn First Division South, Saturday December 28th

The final Saturday of 2024 saw me over at New Lodge, Billericay, for Hutton & FC Baresi's final game of the year as they did battle in the Thurlow Nunn First Division South.

These two had done battle over at Wodson Park in Ware in the corresponding fixture in the division in early November and FC Baresi had caused a surprise by beating Hutton 2-1, but the visitors today have been pulling off some surprising score lines recently against play off contenders.

Baresi, who sat 12th in the division and only two points off the top ten at kick off, came into this game having netted  back to back away wins against play off contenders, like Hutton, winning 7-0 at Cannons Wood before recording a another clean sheet in a 2-0 win against Rayleigh Town.

Hutton therefore would have to be on their guard against a dangerous side who were more than capable of pulling off a positive result, although the hosts weren't exactly in top form themselves, yes they had netted two wins, home and away to Barkingside, recently, but the other four games since they had won at bottom side St Mags were all defeats, meaning their play off spot was was not as secure as it once was.

Three points was therefore important to grab before the year was out, and there was barely sixty seconds on the clock when Hutton grabbed the lead and a perfect start after Maxwell Appauh, fresh from his four goal haul in their last game, slotted across the keeper into the far corner, meaning no third clean for the visitors before the game had even started for them.

How would they respond, well if truth be told they could easily have been further behind on more than one occasion but Hutton's wastefulness in front of goal meant the visitors remained in the game, they did have their moments and remained a threat, and three minutes before half time they punished their opponents for their lack of finishing in front of goal when Benyamin Waren planted a header into the roof of the net to send the sides into the half time break all square.

How would the second half pan out then? Well, it turned out to be an absolute belter, and a bit barmy too, the early exchanges of the half were a bit tetchy, and plenty of yellows were handed out by the referee for either confrontations or dissent as both sides seemed to be getting frustrated with decisions against them, but on the hour mark and just after that, things changed for the better for the home side.

Firstly they won a spot kick on the hour mark which was slotted home to restore their lead, and then shortly after the visitors keeper was shown a straight red after a foul outside the box was deemed dangerous, meaning they would be down to ten men for the final twenty five minutes or so and have an outfielder in goal too, not ideal, advantage hosts surely now?

It looked certain that Hutton would go on to record a comfortable victory when they saw a shot from outside the box take a big deflection to wrong foot the stand in keeper and find the bottom corner with twenty minutes to go to increase their lead, but the ten men had other ideas and reduced the arrears five minutes later when after the hosts failed to clear their lines, Kishawn James prodded home from close range.

Hutton though restored their two goal cushion five minutes after that though to seemingly end Baresi's hopes of a comeback by curling in a beauty of an effort which even a normal keeper would have struggled to get anywhere near, and at 4-2 to the hosts with ten minutes of normal time to go, surely they would now cruise home with the extra man.

Well, not quite, as those plucky visitors just would not go away, and an absolute blockbuster from Jerrel Cato in the 85th minute meant the game was back in the balance once again, and now Hutton were holding on for dear life as Baresi so nearly levelled in the time remaining to grab what looked like an unlikely point at one stage.

Hutton did manage to hold on though to record a very important win and make it back to back home wins to see out the year, fair play to Baresi though who did not give up and almost scrambled something from the game, both played their part in what was a marvellous game of football in the cold and foggy conditions at New Lodge.

Full time Hutton 4 FC Baresi 3

Well, what a game, let's look to see the other results happened in the division over the weekend and what it does to the table:-

Friday December 27th

Barkingside 2 Burnham Ramblers 1

Cannons Wood 5 Southend Manor 1

Saturday December 28th

Basildon Town 0 Harlow Town 5

Enfield Borough 3 NW London 3

Hoddesdon Town 4 May & Baker 1

Newbury Forest 2 Coggeshall Town 2

Rayleigh Town 5 St Margaretsbury 0

Leaders Harlow thumped Basildon Town away from home to open up a ten point cushion at the top, Wick do have two games in hand though but Harlow continue to be in a very strong position at the top despite this, Rayleigh & Hutton both recorded wins to keep some distance to the ones outside the play offs who are chasing those places.

Cannons Wood also managed to record a big win to give themselves a gap to the ones below too, the likes of Hoddesdon Town for example who netted a big win today to at least not see the gap to the play offs increase today.

Down at the bottom Barkingside recorded a huge victory over fellow strugglers Burnham Ramblers to pull a four point gap to the relegation spots, whilst Newbury Forest got a useful point against Coggeshall Town, bottom side St Mags were thumped at Rayleigh and remain in a very precarious and hopeless position currently, eight points from safety as it stands and rock bottom.  

So, another exciting weekend in the division, that's all for now, thanks for reading as always!!!

Rayleigh Town 0 FC Baresi 2 - Two Ahmed Abdullah goals direct from corners see FC Baresi take deserved victory to stun promotion chasing Rayleigh Town in their Thurlow Nunn South contest at The Len Salmon Stadium

Thurlow Nunn First Division South, Saturday December 21st

The final weekend before the festivities next week saw me back over at The Len Salmon Stadium for the second weekend in succession, but this time it was to watch a Thurlow Nunn South contest between Rayleigh Town & FC Baresi.

Now the game had been moved from Rayleigh's normal home of Concord Rangers Thames Road due to the pitch not being playable or maybe it was just being protected I don't know (Concord's match last weekend was postponed), and with Bowers & Pitsea's 4G surface available, this was chosen as the venue for this game today.

Now Rayleigh came into this one in third spot and seven points ahead of sixth placed AS London, so were well placed inside the top five positions, promotion through the play offs was their most likely route into the next level as Harlow Town were currently running away with the league, they were also seven points adrift of second placed Hackney Wick too, but all they needed to do was keep winning and stay in that play off zone.

Winning was coming aplenty as well for the hosts, thirteen league wins this campaign, and on a run of four straight wins without conceding a goal too, in fact their last loss in the league came back at the start of November so they were in good form for sure, and very consistent, something that could not be said of their opponents who were anything but consistent.

The visitors were down in 13th and came into this one off the back of some very up and down form, three straight defeats including a 5-0 and 8-0 reverse were followed by a win over promotion chasing Hutton, they then lost 3-4 at home to Hoddesdon Town before winning at Newbury Forest, then suffering a 0-3 reverse against today's opposition only two weekends ago, before they then smashed another promotion chasing side in Cannons Wood 7-0 away from home last time out, which FC Baresi side would turn up today?

Rayleigh were hoping they could repeat their success at Wodson Park two weekends ago when Arnold Acheampong, Lewis Risk & Matt Tapley found the net, Baresi were obviously hoping that did not happen, and in very windy and at times soaking wet conditions, which made playing football challenging at times, it was Baresi who probably shaded a goalless first half before they went onto take control in the second period.

Only nine minutes into the second period came the opener, Baresi now having the wind behind them won a corner and saw Ahmed Abdullah curl the ball into the six yard box and see the wind take it and catch out hosts keeper Josh Hudson and sail into the far corner and give the visitors a more than deserved lead.

They were the side looking most likely to net another and add to their lead as well, Hudson had to save well from Junior Appiah before the brilliant Jerrell Cato, who had been a constant thorn down the left for the hosts all afternoon, fired over when in a good position, these misses were not to cost them though.

Corners were an issue for the hosts in the second period with the wind blowing hard towards their own goal, one had already gone in, another had almost crept in at the near post, and another had glanced off the bar, well, history would repeat itself in the 86th minute when Abdullah curled another corner in from the left and this time found it's way in at the near post via a glance of a defenders head, two goals direct from corners in one half, when was the last time that happened?

It meant Baresi could see out the remainder of the contest and pick up back to back wins without conceding a goal, some consistency at last perhaps, it was certainly a brilliant performance and a deserved three points for the visiting team, not what you could say for a Rayleigh side who struggled to get going today and were below par in many aspects of their game, it certainly wasn't up to the standards they normally set, an off day you could say.

The hosts remain third though and still in a great position in their first ever season as a senior club, Baresi go up a place to 12th and are only two points off a top ten position, and considering the start they made to their first ever season at this level, that's a pretty good recovery and they have plenty to be excited about if they can churn out these sorts of performances on a regular basis.

Full time Rayleigh Town 0 FC Baresi 2

There were four other games that took place in the division this weekend, let's see how those went and how it affected the table heading into Christmas:-

Friday December 20th

Basildon Town 0 Cannons Wood 1

Saturday December 21st

Hutton 4 Barkingside 2

Southend Manor 3 Burnham Ramblers 3

St Margaretsbury 0 Hackney Wick 2

Cannons Wood bounced back from a horrific result last weekend by grabbing a battling 1-0 win at Bas Town to open up a four point lead to sixth place, Hutton also recorded an important win over Barkingside to climb back over Cannons Wood to take back fourth place and increase that gap to sixth themselves, Barkingside are now just a point above the drop zone.

This is because third bottom Burnham Ramblers picked up a point in a six goal thriller at Southchurch Park against Southend Manor, Manor are only three points above the drop zone in what is a very tight bottom half of the division, St Mags remain well adrift at the foot of the table after they lost at home to Hackney Wick who closed the gap to leaders Harlow with the points, six behind now with a game in hand.

You do feel it's Harlow's league to lose now,  but no doubt Wick will keep up the chase, you feel nobody else will catch them now though, the play off race could become interesting though so that is something to keep an eye on, down at the bottom apart from St Mags, their are several sides who are in a battle to stay out of those bottom three places, this division is once again proving very competitive and unpredictable, just how we like it!!!

Anyway thanks for reading, and I wish you all a very merry Christmas, stay safe and enjoy your festive celebrations.....

Bowers & Pitsea 0 Carshalton Athletic 3 - Visitors close gap to play off places after goals from Bradford, Goather-Braithwaite & Smith help them to victory over struggling Bowers & Pitsea at Len Salmon Stadium

Isthmian League Premier Division, Saturday December 14th 

I popped over to a local game in mid December and The Len Salmon Stadium for Bowers & Pitsea's latest attempt to try and score a goal in recent times and see if they could net what would be a useful three points in their quest to try and enhance their chances of survival.

They had only managed to notch four wins in the league all season and were second bottom of the table and six point from safety at kick off, and if recent form was anything to go by then things did not look great, six defeats on the spin and failing to net in their last four encounters, that had to change before long if they were to stay in with a shot of getting out of the bottom four.

By contrast though their opponents, Carshalton Athletic, were on a really good run of form, one defeat in eleven and on an unbeaten run of eight in all competitions and in with a shot of closing the gap to the play off places to just a point if they could pick up all three points here and results went for them elsewhere, they started the day in 11th spot, four points off those places.

The form book suggested the visitors would be favourites, they had drawn a fair few of those games in that unbeaten run though, however after a fairly even first forty five minutes with not to much in the way of goalmouth action, the visitors pounced in first half stoppage time, when Tommy Bradford managed to shake off his marker before slotting across keeper David Hughes into the far corner to give Carshalton the edge going into the half time break.

It was certainly a good time to score for the visitors and a poor time to concede for the hosts, they continued to huff and puff in the second period but it was clear to see why they were struggling to find the net, and equally clear to see why they were struggling down towards the foot of the table, despite their hard working traits, which sadly isn't enough right now.

The visitors looked dangerous and were the ones mostly on the front foot in the second period, and it was no surprise when they did double their money in the 64th minute when Darnell Goather-Braithwaite ran onto a pass into the box to fire a lovely shot high into the roof of the net, and then fourteen minutes later they sealed the deal and the points when David Smith fired an effort in off the post, again giving keeper Hughes no chance.

A comprehensive win for Carshalton in the end, and they are now just one point off the play offs now and up to eighth after today's win, for Bowers, it's another defeat, their seventh loss in a row now and no goals in five straight games, things will have to improve soon if they are to have a shot at survival come the new year.

Full time Bowers & Pitsea 0 Carshalton Athletic 3

Right let's have a look at what else happened in the division today:-

Billericay Town 1 (Todd Miller 16)

Hastings United 1 (Davide Rodari 3)

Bognor Regis Town 2 (Tommy-Lee Higgs 67; Jasper Mather 69; Spencer Spurway sent off 90+4)

Whitehawk 3 (Charlie Walker 10(pen); Callum Barlow 49; Wasiri Williams 90+9)

Chatham Town 4 (Freddie Sears 18,54; Rowan Liburd 45; John Ufuah 75)

Folkestone Invicta 1 (Joseph Turner 42)

Cray Valley PM 5 (Sonny Black 9; Freddie Parker 25(pen),88,90+7, Denzel Gayle 90+5)

Wingate & Finchley 3 (Ogo Obi 41,81; Camilo Restrepo 54)

Dartford 2 (Callum Jones 22; Olly Box 72)

Dulwich Hamlet 2 (Luke Wanadio 45+3; Ralfi Hand 61)

Dover Athletic 0

Cray Wanderers 1 (Nyren Clunis 47)

Hashtag United 4 (Max Cornhill 4; Toby Aromolaran 13; Josh Osude 58; Luke May-Parrott 87)

Potters Bar Town 1 (Joe Re 90+4)

Hendon 0 

Canvey Island 1 (Chris Harris 61)

Horsham 3 (Chris Dickson 34(pen),49,69)

Cheshunt 1 (Vas Vasiliou 60)

Lewes 2 (Eddie Allsopp 34, Gianluca Botti 68)

Chichester City 3 (Jimmy Wild 10(pen); Isaac Bello 70; Lloyd Rowlatt 73)

And how does those results affect the table:-

Certainly some dramatic games in the league today, and plenty of goals too, leaders Dover Athletic lost only their third league game of the season but their lead was only cut to five points after Billericay Town failed to beat struggling Hastings United at home today.

Cray Valley PM netted two stoppage time goals to win a mad contest against play off hopefuls Wingate & Finchley to move level with second placed Billericay, Chatham Town climb into the play off places after they thrashed mid table Folkestone Invicta, Carshalton & Canvey climb into the top ten and move closer to those top five positions after victories today.

Down at the bottom, Whitehawk's dramatic 99th minute win in their huge clash down at the bottom against Bognor Regis Town sees them close the gap to safety and also sees the side from near Brighton jump a place too, meaning the bottom three now all lost this weekend as their gaps to safety increased after all the teams just above the drop zone picked up points.

Anyway that concludes today's blog, thanks for reading and hope your enjoyed reading as well.