Oh boy! Where do you start with this one! As mentioned by many, this was like watching a different team, and in some respects, that’s exactly what The Bridge now are, as they proved with their third victory in a row. Tweaks and changes, and a few changes in personnel that the new management team have made have suddenly turned our favourite team into a force to be reckoned with, and this win at Athletic Newham was a stunning example of the new look Bridge.

Make no mistake, this was no easy game, and the hosts were going for seven unbeaten home games in a row since losing 6-0 to Bowers & Pitsea in the BBC Essex Senior Cup back on the 21st of October, but on the day, Atletico were no match for Marc & Liam’s revitalised team who racked up the goals in a superb all-round team performance.

With Atletico on a good home run and full of confidence, it was imperative that The Bridge made a decent start to the game, and they made their intentions clear from the first minute when Leo Clark’s shot was just over the bar. Just five minutes later, the hosts won a corner and Emmanuel Osilaja’s shot that resulted from it went high over the bar as well. Soon after, Kelson McFarlane’s shot went over the bar too, continuing the trend as the game ebbed and flowed early on.

Then the first big moment of the game occurred when a Bridge throw-in found Ellis Devereux in the home penalty area, and when he was fouled by a defender, a penalty was rightly awarded. Ellis made no mistake from the spot and fired his pen into the bottom corner, and even though keeper Harvey Simson went the right way, he couldn’t prevent the goal, and The Bridge had an early lead.

The Bridge continued to press, and a Billy Willis free kick was headed goalward by Darren Phillips, but blocked and cleared before a Leo Clark shot was deflected for a corner. Leo, having an excellent game, took the corner himself, and it beat the first man, and the second was Ellis Devereux, who connected and glanced the ball into the corner of the Atletico net for 2-0. Ellis nearly made it three when his header from a Billy Willis cross just went wide of the post just after.

Despite the score line, the home side had looked dangerous coming forward without threatening The Bridge goal too much, and Ollie Jenkins was called upon to clear a cross from Kevin Akpoedafe that Steven Kabungwe tried to turn into a chance. They continued to press, and George Rankin’s shot from long range crashed back off the bar to Emmanuel Osilaja, who was first to react and tapped home for 1-2.

However, just a minute later, the perfect response came from the visitors when Jack Hauser, also having a great game, fed a simple but effective pass from midfield to the left wing, where Kelson McFarlane picked it up and stroked the ball into the net for 1-3. Simple, perfect football with no complication needed!

For the second half of the first forty-five, both sides had chances, and the game was quite open and a joy to watch (obviously helped by that 3-1 lead!). Debutante keeper Michael Bett made a good save with his feet from Steven Kabungwe, and Emmanuel Osilaja hit the rebound over the bar, whilst Kelson McFarlane had a shot blocked at the other end. Both sides then had a free kick, Atletico’s taken by Jonathan Ogunsanye, who hit the wall and then fired the rebound high over the bar and then Billy Willis’ kick was caught by keeper Simson.

We reached half-time with just one more off-target shot from Kelson McFarlane, and The Bridge leading 3-1. The home side were still in it, but hopes were high as The Bridge were looking good and there were a lot of top performances from The Bridge boys in that first half.

The good performances continued in the second half too, and even though the hosts kept going, this was definitely going to be The Bridge’s day. They started the second half well and nearly scored a fourth goal when Billy Willis’ corner was headed goalward by Darren Phillips and hit Troy Osei-Bobie (I think!) on the line and bounced away.

Kelson McFarlane was having a good game out wide, and his next run ended with a corner off a home defender that Simon Omope cleared. The Bridge kept coming, though, and an excellent ball from Jack Hauser put Ellis Devereux through, and he would have had his hat-trick but for a fine save from Harvey Simson. More on that later!

Joao Cruz was one of the more effective Atletico players, and he dragged a shot wide around the 50-minute mark, but it was The Bridge who struck next when Ellis Devereux headed the ball to Kelson McFarlane, who simply looked up and lobbed the keeper from some distance with a superb strike.

Cruz was still trying, and his next shot went wide before a Darren Phillips header from a Billy Willis free kick was saved by keeper Simson, and then a lovely ball from Leo Clark found Nathan Best, who scored but was flagged offside.

Both teams made substitutions, and one of those was Andrew Sasay for The Bridge, who was only on for a couple of minutes before Kelson McFarlane sent a ball down the wing, Sasay dummied it, and the ball was picked up by Ellis Devereux, who sent Andrew away and he held off an Atletico defender and placed his left foot shot into the corner of the Atletico net for 5-1. It was to get worse for the hosts, though, as Billy Knott chested the ball to Devereux, and Ellis finished with aplomb (I know, it’s back again!), and this time he completed his hat-trick as The Bridge went 6-1 up.

To give them credit, the home side still kept going and substitute Nicholas Rengifo had a free kick cleared twice by The Bridge defence before The Bridge were at it again and Sasay’s shot was stopped by a block tackle from Kevin Akpoedafe that saw Kevin limp off and Atletico down to ten for the remainder of the game as all subs had been used.

Rengifo had a couple of corners cleared by Darren Phillips and then sent a cross into the Hullbridge box, and Emmanuel Osilaja headed in Atletico’s and his second of the match. There was still time left for George Briton-Watkins to nearly get on the end of a Kai Peters cross and for David Olaonipekun to send in a cross that missed everyone, and finally for a Joao Cruz shot to be deflected for a corner that The Bridge cleared yet again, and that was it, a magnificent away win for The Bridge who make it three in a row as we approach the Christmas period. Two more left and then we see what 2026 will bring....COYB!

This was a good day for The Bridge, and there were a lot of good performances to choose from, but Ellis led the line superbly and bagged a hat-trick in a great all-round performance. On any other day, Jack Hauser could well have been MOM, and he showed his usual calm on the ball and quality passing in an outstanding performance that drove The Bridge to an impressive victory that was great to watch, but for that hat-trick and a couple of assists it's got to be MOM Ellis.