Can we play you every week? Football fans can be cruel with their chants, but Bridge fans might be thinking that after this week’s action! However, that’s a bit harsh on Harlow, and there wasn’t too much between the two teams, but The Bridge did get two wins and cup progression in two competitions, which ain’t bad! Sometimes football can be a very happy place!

The line-ups hadn't changed too much from the previous meeting, so a tight game was expected, and it started similarly, with Harlow gaining quite a few early corners but not threatening too much. Meanwhile, The Bridge had a couple of Billy Willis free kicks dealt with by the home defence, and The Bridge had a rare corner themselves, but John Sonuga’s header went wide.

Both teams then had fairly tame efforts saved by the keepers, ours from Louis Bragg and Harlow’s from Stef Georgiou. Harlow lost the influential Mitch Hahn to an early injury, and just after, Dwade James' shot at goal went wide. The Bridge hadn’t had much on target, but were looking comfortable and soon to be even more so as Tobias Braney won a ball and played in Julian Sarmiento-Ramirez. James Pellin saved his shot, but he couldn't hold it, and an aware Louis Bragg followed up to tap home for 1-0.

The Hawks quickly tried to retaliate, and Dwade James and Raheem Gray had efforts off target before Stef Georgiou was on target, but Dom Alexandru saved easily. They kept pushing, though, and when they were awarded a free kick, Arley Barker crossed it into the danger zone, and Lewis Stead’s head got there first and made it 1-1. They nearly repeated the move a minute later, but this time, The Bridge headed clear.

Harlow had further chances to go ahead with Denzel Effah heavily involved in the action, but The Bridge held firm, and when Billy Willis played a ball up to Braney, he controlled it beautifully and turned and fired the second Bridge goal, a classic Tobias finish. Sarmiento-Ramirez then had a couple of chances, one deflected wide and the other a chase just won by goalkeeper Pellin before the half ended, inevitably, with more Harlow corners but no further score additions.

The second half was probably shaded by The Bridge, who had more efforts on target, although the home side continued to bombard the visitors with corners. There was almost a repeat of the Louis Bragg goal when Ramirez’s shot was almost followed up by Braggy, but keeper Pellin just recovered it, whilst at the other end, Dom was saving at the feet of a Harlow attacker who I couldn’t quite identify!

As both teams utilised their benches, The Bridge had a series of free kicks headed clear or caught by Pellin, and Raheem Gray went close, but The Bridge just cleared their lines. Alexandru saved from Georgiou, and Bragg put Braney in, but for once, his shot was tame and saved. The Harlow free kicks and corners continued, but The Bridge were comfortable and looking good. Harlow launched another long ball forward, and John Sonuga got his head to it for the umptieth time, and Braney challenged the Harlow centre-half, and the ball fell to Louis Bragg, who buried it in the corner from around 20-25 yards out.

From there on in, The Bridge controlled the game with sporadic Harlow attempts, and a cross from Josh Gruby almost provided Denzal Effah with Harlow’s second, but Alexandru magnificently tipped the header over. Time ran out for the home side, and The Bridge completed two wins in Harlow in a week. Another solid performance, everyone doing their job, and more cup matches to look forward to…whisper it quietly, but are things looking up?

There were some good performances here, and the whole team put in a shift, so there were several candidates, but Braggy claims the award with a superb all-around performance, topped off with two goals as well. Great strike for the second one by the way, Braggy!