This was a Bridge masterclass in how to break quickly and finish, and West Essex were unable to cope with three excellent examples of how to do just that as The Bridge secured another away victory that saw them move away from their opponents in the league table and start to close the gap to the teams above them.

It was the hosts who pressed from the start of the match, with three long throw-ins defended well by The Bridge backline. The third throw produced a shot at goal that was cleared near the goal line by Ollie Jenkins for the game’s first corner that The Bridge cleared.

In their first real attack, Bridge midfield man Marlon Agyakwa fed Ellis Devereux, but Charlie Mann saved at Ellis’s feet as Ellis tried to get on to the through ball. The home side then had a shot deflected for a corner that The Bridge headed clear, and a ball from Troy Osei-Bobie found Ellis Devereux, who played a neat one-two with Kamel Sassi and calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the net for 1-0.

West Essex tried to make a quick reply and had a couple of shots, the first from Jaedon Phillips that was cleared and the second went wide from a Reece Simpson strike. George Briton-Watkins replaced the presumably injured Kelson McFarlane and, with virtually his first touch, crossed for Leo Clark to tap home, but the ball had gone out of play, and the goal was chalked off.

The game then entered a quiet period chance-wise until The Bridge had a couple of chances with Kamel Sassi shooting over and Leo Clark mis-hitting a shot before Agyakwa sent Ellis Devereux through on goal, and Ellis fired over the bar.

We reached half-time with the score remaining at 1-0, despite a good chance for The Bridge just before the half ended. Agyakwa’s cross just missed the head of Sassi, and the ball came out to Rowan Dorling. His shot was blocked, and Sassi fired in the rebound that was tipped over by Charlie Mann to keep the margin at one as the whistle blew.

It was The Bridge that made a fast start to the second half, and just after kick off, Billy Willis won a tussle in The Bridge box before sending a ball forward to Ellis Devereux, who outpaced Elliott Scott and then crossed for Kamel Sassi to tap in unmarked at the back post.

George Briton-Watkins had a shot deflected for a corner before Sassi was harshly sin-binned, and The Bridge were down to ten for ten minutes. They held their own, though and had a shout for a penalty not given, and a Rowan Dorling cross headed goalward by Darren Phillips caught easily by Charlie Mann.

The home side were pushing for a goal, and a corner was headed away by Phillips, but crossed back into the visitors’ box, and Elliott Scott got his head to it first and made it 1-2. Alfie Gilbey’s free kick was punched away by Michael Betts and scrambled clear as Essex started to pile on the pressure, but The Bridge were still dangerous on the break, and Nathan Best had two good chances to kill the game but put one wide and one over the bar. Would The Bridge regret those missed chances?

Well, they made up for it soon after when they cleared a corner, and Rowan Dorling played the ball forward to Nathan Best, who turned his defender and played in Ellis Devereux, and Ellis made no mistake, slotting the ball into the corner of the net for 1-3.

That seemed like the end of things, but this game just kept on going and hadn’t finished yet! Essex were awarded a throw-in, and Oliver Plunkett threw the latest Essex long throw that was headed on at the near post by Arthur Jeans, and Ethan Earnshaw volleyed in at the back post off the crossbar for 2-3. Luckily, for The Bridge, there were no more surprises, and they held their lead for the last remaining minutes and took the three vital points.

It was a fairly even game, but class finishing from The Bridge told in the end, and the revival is well and truely under way. The game finished with one more Bridge chance when a first-time effort from Ellis Devereux went over the bar, but the visitors had done enough and can cautiously start looking upwards instead of downwards at the league table as we enter the second half of the season.

Another calm and controlled performance from Ollie, who has formed a solid partnership with Darren Phillips and, in this case, Billy Willis in The Bridge back line. Didn’t miss anything all game, and he adds another award to his growing collection.