Essex Senior League

Barkingside 1 Woodford Town 6

Hullbridge Sports 2 Ilford 2

Sawbridgeworth Town 1 St Margaretsbury 3

Southend Manor 2 Saffron Walden Town 2

Stansted 2 Redbridge 1

Takeley 2 Leyton Athletic 0

Tower Hamets 1 Hoddesdon Town 0

Walthamstow 1 Sporting Bengal United 1

West Essex 3 Stanway Rovers 3

Barkingside started this week’s ESL fixtures off with a Friday evening encounter with Woodford Town. The bottom-placed club had managed to snare a point last weekend away at Hoddesdon Town, but they were brushed aside by Woodford Town who won the game 6-1, which included a hat-trick from Temi Babalola; the other Woods marksmen were Samir Ali, Taku Mashingaidze and Marcel MacDonald. Warren Kayembe notched the lone Side effort, who now remain rooted to the bottom spot and still winless so far this season. Woodford Town meanwhile are fifth. Stansted started the day leading on goal difference; by the end of the day the Airportmen were top with a two point lead after they beat Redbridge 2-1. Connor Hammond opened the scoring for Stansted in the 9^th minute but Redbridge levelled up midway through the first half when Tyrell Miller rifled home. The leaders needed the cross bar to prevent Stevenson giving the Motormen the lead, then soon after Redbridge went down to ten men, Stansted re-took the lead when Jordan Palmer slotted home from close range with fifteen minutes to go. The Airportmen were able to hold on and open up a two point lead as Hullbridge Sports could only garner appoint from their game with Ilford. Things opened brightly for the hosts as Nathan Scarborough handed Hullbridge a second minute lead. The Foxes equalised via Lauric Diakiesse and then took the lead when Yemi Adelani popped up to score his 7^th league goal of the season. The lead was to last a mere two minutes though as Adebola Sotoyinbo levelled, but with no further goals it meant the game ended in a 2-2 draw; a result that for now sees a slight gap between the top two. Southend Manor needed to get a win to see them move clear of the drop zone. They nearly took the full quota against Saffron Walden Town until a very late leveller. The Bloods broke the deadlock via a James Crane penalty, but Manor were level in the 70^th minute courtousey of Jordan Fisher and then Rhys Fatt fired Manor into the lead with five minutes remaining. There were to be six minutes of stoppage time, and that allowed Tony Da Silva the opportunity to net a very, very late equaliser that keeps Saffron Walden Town third, while Southend Manor now sit eighteenth – one place above the drop zone. Alfie Cleal scored all of Stanway Rovers’ goals in a 3-3 draw with West Essex. The hosts saw Izzy Ogedi-Uzokwe score twice, but it was Tanvir Ahmed’s 89^th minute goal that made sure they took a share of the spoils. The East London derby also ended honours even as Walthamstow and Sporting Bengal United played out a 1-1 draw. Reece Conway scored for Stow, who sit fourth after this; while Sporting Bengal’s goal came from the boot of Kamarl Duncan and his team end the weekend in sixth. Sawbridgeworth Town had a Hertfordshire derby with St Margaretsbury, but the Robins were unstuck by a Charncey Dash brace plus a goal from Ramone Cassidy-Sinclair. Joseph Wright was the Sawbridgeworth scorer in the 3-1 home defeat. Two relegation scrappers had conflicting results on Saturday. Tower Hamlets welcomed Hoddesdon Town to the Mile End Stadium and a single goal from Josh Sykes was enough to see Hamlets pick up a valuable three points that moves them up to seventeenth. Leyton Athletic meanwhile drop into the relegation zone after a Josh Sykes brace gunned them down at Takeley.

Clapton had some Errington Challenge Cup business to attend to on Saturday morning. Enfield provided the opposition and a Jeff Cobblah goal was enough to see Clapton move into the next round.