Buildbase FA Vase
Hullbridge Sports put aside their testing league campaign, which has seen them plummet to the foot of the Essex Senior League table and instead turn their attention once again to the Buildbase FA Vase. They travel to a Tring Athletic side who have had a similar season in that they are now one game away from reaching the last 16 whilst also embroiled in a relegation battle in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division. Both teams may have only won five league encounters but have both pulled off some great reasons in the Vase and it promises to be a classic cup-tie as it’s a real fifty-fifty pick-em affair. Hullbridge seem a different side under their new management team and may have just enough about them to continue flying the Essex Senior League flag into the 5th Round.
Essex Senior League Premier Division
With Redbridge suffering storm damage to their Oakside venue means that their encounter with Stansted is off. That allows FC Romania the opportunity to eat into Redbridge’s seven point lead. To do so they need to beat an Ilford side those have blown hot and cold during the campaign. Ilford fo have James Peagram leading the goalscoring charts and so the visitors need to keep him quiet; Ilford meanwhile face a team who have been scoring goals from all over the pitch in recent weeks which makes them on their day a difficult team to defend against.
Takeley sit third and entertain a Wadham Lodge side that have picked up enough points in recent weeks to move them out of the relegation zone. The Station Road outfit will want to return to action after the Christmas break by seeing in the New Year with the win they require to keep themselves in contention. Basildon United sit fourth and will be using one of their two games in hand over the leaders on Saturday. West Essex provide the opposition and so far this term the Bees have seen them off in two cup competitions as well as winning the corresponding fixture without conceding a single goal in the process. A Basildon win isn’t guaranteed of course but the Bees will be well aware that they need to win those games in hand so as to keep right on Redbridge’s tail.
Great Wakering Rovers travel to bottom-placed Hackney Wick in an intriguing affair. Rovers are twelve points off the summit and so are going into 2018 as title outsiders. They do have games in hand though, and need to make sure they trade in one of those for three points if they want to remain in the title hunt. Hackney Wick are certainly not a push-over and are scrapping for points themselves as their debut season in the Essex Senior League has turned into a battle against relegation.
The other team currently in the drop zone are Barkingside who have an opportunity to put a stop to their alarming recent spell of bad form as they go again at Burnham Ramblers. A few weeks ago Ramblers were in the drop zone while Barkingside were in the top half of the table. Fortunes have certainly changed a lot since then; a Barkingside win could move them up the table if other results go their way; or at the very least keep them within touching distance of the teams above them if they don’t. If the losing run continues then Barkingside could find themselves getting sucked deeper and deeper into the relegation quicksand.
Saturday 6th January
Buildbase FA Vase 4th Round
Tring Athletic v Hullbridge Sports
Essex Senior League Premier Division
Basildon United v West Essex
Burnham Ramblers v Barkingside
Hackney Wick v Great Wakering Rovers
Ilford v FC Romania
Sawbridgeworth Town v Sporting Bengal United
Takeley v Wadham Lodge
Tower Hamlets v Enfield 1893
Waltham Forest v Clapton
