I suppose, as long-suffering football fans, we should be used to it by now, but are we? Will we ever get used to thinking our beloved Hullbridge Sports have cracked it, only to have them prove otherwise? Ah, that’s football, I guess, so we should know better, but it always does it to us time after time (as Cyndi Lauper once sang!) .

After a win in the FA Cup against Basildon United and a superb away performance at Romford, Bridge fans were looking forward to extending that run against a newly-promoted Hackney Wick who had yet to gain a point in the ESL 25/26 albeit they had won in the FA Cup at Bearsted and had been involved in a bizarre abandoned match when the golapost broke at Sporting Bengal United! So, what happened to see The Wickers end the day with their first league points of the season and The Bridge run of wins coming to an abrupt end, I’ll try to explain…

The Bridge line-up was not changed significantly from that Romford win, with Ciaran Gordon-Stearn injured and replaced by Dom Alexandru, Danny Hurford and Billy Knott unavailable, with Jack Nolde and George Briton-Watkins coming into the team, and Julian Ramirez moving to a more central midfield role in the absence of Knott. None of that should have made too drastic a difference, although Knott’s experience is invaluable in that midfield.

Things started OK, and the first action saw George Briton-Watkins shoot just wide, rippling the side netting. Then Tobias Braney was involved early with a shot that went wide, and a Taylor Jacobi cross-shot was held by the keeper. The visitors were working hard, a trend that would continue all game, but hadn’t threatened the Hullbridge goal up to this point, although they did have the ball in the net when John Silva found Issa Sidibe, but the flag went up for offside (more on those two later).

In the 26th minute, however, the game changed when Wick goalkeeper Mohammed Nasim came out of his area to intercept a through ball, kicked it clear under pressure from Tobias Braney, straight to George Briton-Watkins, who returned it, and Nasim handled the ball outside the box. It was an obvious red card, and with no goalkeeper on the bench, the visitors were down to ten men with Gerard Thompson-Shaw taking over in goal. So far, things seemed to be going Hullbridge’s way, but the ten men were up for the battle, so it was no foregone conclusion.

The game was still fairly even, and the excellent John Silva had a long-range shot at goal that went over the bar, sort of a “Long John Silva”! (Other pirate jokes are also available!). The Bridge nearly took the lead when a good passing move saw Briton-Watkins cross and Ramirez shoot towards goal, and the ball skewed sideways, and a combination of Braney and a defender forced the ball onto the post, and it bounced away. Taylor Jacobi then had a really decent effort, well saved by the substitute goalkeeper, and from the resultant corner, The Bridge took the lead when Julian Ramirez’s corner was almost going in before Thompson-Shaw pushed it into his own net. That was almost at the end of the half, and shortly after, the half ended with The Bridge leading 1-0.

It hadn't really been a vintage Bridge performance, but we were in front and didn't foresee the drama that was about to come in the second half as “The Wickers” fought their way back into the game. George Briton-Watkins had a chance but mis-hit his shot, and it was deflected wide, and from the corner, Connor Hart's header was cleared off the line.

Meanwhile Hackney had gone close once or twice and forced a few corners, and they were closing The Bridge down well, not giving them time to play and, as we passed the hour mark, a great run and cross from John Silva perfectly found the head of Issa Sidibe who couldn’t miss, so good was the cross, and his header made it 1-1. As I said before, Silva & Sidibe were back, only this time it counted.

The game was then distorted by one of those football moments that can change games. Some excellent work by Tobias Braney and a superb ball from Jack Nolde saw Taylor Jacobi through, and he finished well, nicking it past the goalkeeper. I’ve watched this several times now, but never had the right angle on it, and still can’t make up my mind if it’s on or off, although many others believe the offside call to be the wrong decision. Maybe had the goal stood, the final result would have been different, but we’ll never know.

With the lino’s flag firmly up, it remained 1-1, and The Bridge huffed and puffed but couldn’t get their game going, and the hardworking Hackney team continued to battle hard. Surely, we could find the winner, but alas, no, and Hackney went close in the 85th minute with a free-kick pushed away by Dom Alexandru, followed by a scramble to clear The Bridge lines. If that had us worried, worse was to follow as we entered added on time, and a Hackney throw was only half cleared. When the ball came out to substitute Adam Cheniti, he controlled the bounce and unleashed an overhead kick that found the corner of the Hullbridge net, and the points were Hackney’s.

Despite the disallowed Hullbridge goal, you've got to say that the hard-working Hackney ten probably deserved the win, and The Bridge never quite got their game going. I don’t know if the above explains why The Bridge suffered defeat, but it might capture some of the reasons why, and sometimes football is not explainable. You can’t put it all down to the official’s decisions, but the disputed goal would have made a difference.

The two-game run didn't become three, so The Bridge need to start again and build another run, starting at Brightlingsea Regent in the FA Cup at the weekend. Not an easy place to start, but you have to start somewhere, and let’s hope it’s a win at the seaside and the first of many.