Brentwood Town P-P  Wroxham

Billericay Town 1-2  Dover Athletic

Lewes  1-1  East Thurrock United

Bury  1-1  Southend United

Torquay United  2-1  Dagenham & Redbridge

Southend Manor  2-2  Basildon United

—————

FULL TIME:  And a fitting tribute to the late, great Mitchell Cole it was, as one of his last clubs stage a stirring fightback, keeping in tune with the normal Phoenix FM match coverage.  One way or another, it’s been a fun afternoon.

Until the next time, enjoy the weekend, and your football.

—————

90th min – Billericay Town halve the deficit.  Could they ….. ?

88th min – Unbelievable.  Yet another late equaliser.  A stunning shot.  Basildon United have shown nothing yet somehow drawn level.  I’m afraid my mask of impartiality was taken off and instead a mask of “Yes!  Get in there!” was put on instead.  Chortle.

85th min – Looks like game over, though, at New Lodge, as Dover double their lead.

84th min – Game on here.  A free kick, a header from the sub at the far post, and Basildon are back in it.  An interesting last few minutes here awaits us.

82nd min – Yes!  Kris Newby drags the Rocks level at the Dripping Pan.  Which sounds almost illegal, but means East Thurrock United have equalised.  Daggers joy at Torquay, however, is short lived.  Boo.

80th min – Getting news of a serious injury to a Billericay Town player at New Lodge, unconfirmed reports saying it’s Glen Poole.  A stretcher and neck brace have been called for.  Fingers crossed it’s just precautionary.

77th min – Miss of the season here.  Southend Manor press again, the centre forward is completely clear inside the area, with just the goal in front of him.  He sidefoots is calmly and deliberately.  Past the left hand post.  Chortle and double chortle.

75th min – Yes, a bit of cheer.  Daggers draw level down Devon way.  Huzzah!

68th min – Here, Manor have a free kick from 25 yards tipped over the bar.

But elsewhere it’s not so good.  Frozen football.

60th min – Not too much going on so we’re chatting about darts players fighting on the oche, which happened yesterday.  Great fun.  Unlike here.

52nd min – Seven minutes of nothing here in the second half so far.  No news elsewhere either.  Bottom clenchingly cold though.  And in the FA Cup, Chelmsford City’s run looks to be over, a couple of goals and a player down.  Harumph.

4.01pm – Kick Off! As news comes through that East Thurrock United are losing too.  Not happy at all.  Although the Bees are far more unhappy here.

—————

HALF TIME: All very comfortable for Manor here.  Basildon are trying but haven’t shown anything really threatening, and they trudge off arguing with each other.  Oops.

Anyway, we’re off for a Bovril and a thaw.  Laters.

45th min – Hurrah!  Gavin Zico Tomlin levels things up for Southend United at Bury.  Game on!

43rd min – Here, a Southend Manor shot slides centimetres past the far post.  Of Sparta Rotterdam’s goal.  Chortle.

39th min – It’s all going Duncan Norvelle.  Daggers let in a goal now.  One drawing, three losing, not a goal between them so far.  Very poor, Vic.

35th min – Bother.  Southend United go behind in the FA Cup at Bury, just as Manor go 2-0 ahead here.

32nd min – Awful Basildon defending here luckily goes unpunished.  North of the border, the two Highland League clubs are holding their own (chortle) against SFL1 sides.  Sadly, closer to home, Chelmsford City, in which we featured two classic FA Cup battles earlier this season, trail Crawley Town.

24th min – Perfect timing.  Jay Smith beats his marker inside the left hand side of the box and slots home from around 8 yards.  1-0 to Southend Manor.

22nd min – Not particularly good here but not entirely unexpected.

It will hopefully liven up here and elsewhere too.

20th min – Back here, and ooh, that’s a bad miss.  Basildon attack down the right, a cross field pass finds the centre forward unmarked inside the area, but he shanks it high and wide.  Not exactly liquid football here so far.

17th min – And Billericay fall behind.  Ulp.  I hexed them there.

15th min – Less action than Ladies Night at a convent so far for our sides.  Not a goal between them yet.  Dover came close with a Ricky Modeste shot, so they win the competition for most camp player’s name.

8th min – Play is stopped for an injured Manor player.  Elsewhere, Hastings United, possibly the worst team we’ve seen this season, have somehow made it into the 3rd round draw of the FA Cup after a 1-1 draw away at Harrogate Town.  Ridiculous but great.

3rd min – After early visiting pressure, Manor break forward on the right, and Chris Baddeley gets to the ball on the edge of the area, lobs over keeper Steve Brown, but hits the outside of the near post.  A real let off for Basildon.

3.00pm – KICK OFF! Manor in their normal yellow with black shorts, the Bees in all red.

—————

2.59pm – The minute’s silence for the late Southend United and Basildon United great Mitchell Cole is so well observed you could hear the distant tweet of the birds.  Spine tingling but so, so sad.

2.55pm – The teams come out to a tiny, cold and silent crowd.  This is why I love football.  It’s the glamour.

2.50pm – Before we set off, we were watching two football games, with time running out.  We assumed West Ham and Ross County had been beaten.  But 10 minutes later, once we arrive, West Ham have won and County are denied an injury time winner by a Caley Thistle injury time equaliser.  Funny old game innit.

2.45pm – Elsewhere, Billericay Town will want to get back to winning ways shortly after their midweek hammering.  Their opponents, though, also hammered them recently, so it’s a tough ask for the New Lodge side.

East Thurrock United have an equally difficult afternoon awaiting them, at a side only beaten once at home all season.  The Rocks, though, have only lost once away, so they don’t travel without hope.

Long away days for our Football League sides, too, but Southend United have the consolation of knowing their game is an FA Cup match, so if the worst happens against a side a division above them, their promotion hopes remain untroubled by it.  They can relax and go for it – for Mitchell Cole.

2.40pm – A very good winter’s afternoon from The Southchurch Park Arena.  Haven’t been here for a while and it’s a pleasure to be back.

In the aftermath of a grisly morning for non-league and local football, it seems somehow fitting that, in place of the postponed encounter at Brentwood Town, we’ve hastily re-arranged things and got ourselves to the home of Southend Manor.

I can’t say I knew Mitchell Cole.  My only knowledge of him is the storming displays of his from midfield as Southend United took the League One title in 2006.

Latterly, he turned out briefly this season for Basildon United.  He, and the team, played well, but didn’t get the results they deserved.

I was aware of the condition he had which prevented him from furthering a promising professional career.  We all felt sympathy at the time but nobody could ever expect this morning’s tragic news.  27 is far, far too young for your time to be up.  Thoughts are with his family at this horrible time.

It will be so fitting that the last team he played for, Basildon United (the team I support coincidentally), came up with an unexpected way win here against Southend Manor.  Regardless of the result, though, it puts everything into perspective.  RIP Mitchell Cole.

As ever, keep refreshing the page every few minutes, and this afternoon’s understandably muted coverage of today’s games will come your way.

GAME ON!