As mentioned in my match preview, it’s not often that The Bridge win four in a row, and this derby defeat on Saturday stopped that little run from continuing and stopped The Bridge winning run at three, with White Ensign blitzing the home side in eight early first-half minutes that saw The Bridge 3-0 down after just thirteen minutes of play and the game, effectively over, before it had hardly begun.

I guess, given the facts, that was unexpected, but, although Ensign’s season has been as up and down as Hullbridge’s, they did go to Athletic Newham and do something similar, winning 4-1, although that time it was a late blitz and an Emmanuel Sergio hat-trick rather than Riley Weir.

Ah, yes, Riley Weir…The Bridge couldn’t get close…in fact, he had so much space, it could have been Rayleigh Weir! (I knew I could get that one in somehow!).

Moving on, and I guess, unfortunately, The Bridge didn’t, as before they could even think about it, Ensign were quick out of the traps and 1-0 up after just 4 minutes. A bouncing ball in the midfield saw Ensign win the header contest, and the ball was sent over the top and between the centre backs by Emmanuel Sergio to Riley Weir, who was on it and lobbed Dom Alexandru for 1-0. We had been warned, as a minute before, the Sergio/Weir combination saw Weir’s header going wide before Reece Latimer got the final touch that sent it wide of the post, but this time there was no mistake.

If that wasn't bad enough, soon it was two, with just two minutes more on the clock. A long free kick by keeper Charlie Brown was deflected over the bar, not by Snoopy but by John Sonuga, who got there just before Weir pounced, and from Sergio’s corner, Weir had a free header and made it 2-0 to Hullbridge’s disbelief. It was one-way traffic, and Ensign had a shot blocked, and then one went wide, and Sergio should have scored when in front of goal, but his shot hit the bar and bounced away. Soon Sergio was at it again, but his shot was saved by Alexandru. Finally, The Bridge mounted an attack, and George Briton-Watkins’ cross was mis-kicked by Connor Hart, and it fell to Tobias Braney, who hit the target, but the keeper saved well.

It was mere respite, though, as a free kick from the keeper was picked up by the Ensign midfield, and a run from Sergio finished with a ball wide to Rio Campbell. Alexandru saved his shot, but Weir pounced on the rebound, and it was zero three!

The Bridge tried to fight back, and Braney, Callum Knowlden, and Julian Ramirez all had chances, but the best effort was a superb volley from Jake Wiggins that the keeper saved well. Meanwhile, Ensign had chances of their own, and Campbell’s shot was cleared off the line by Knowlden’s defensive positional sense, and Sergio should have made it four when Weir put him in, but he somehow put the ball over the bar.

3-0 at half time was a fair reflection of the game as Ensign’s eleven attempts and seven on target to the home side's five and two proved.

The second half was more even, but with fewer chances from both sides. There were a lot of free kicks and corners, and both Sergio and full-back Ben Sargent had shots go over the bar, as did Connor Hart. The Bridge should have made it 1-3 when a Billy Willis cross just evaded Braney as he slid in, but he just failed to connect with the ball.

An Ensign breakaway ended with Sergio feeding Arnold Mengi, but Alexandru saved well, and The Bridge cleared for a corner. As the game drifted a bit, Daniel Guy had a shot go harmlessly over the bar, but soon the Sergio/Weir link-up was at it again as Sergio’s corner found Weir in space and he free-headed home number four.

Tobias Braney was unlucky with a chance saved by Brown, and then Brown tipped Braney’s sizzling effort wide. From the resultant corner, Billy Knott scored directly with a slight help from Brown, who tipped the ball in rather than out, and that was it.

A good away performance from Ensign and Emmanuel Sergio and Riley Weir were top-notch, but a day to forget for The Bridge, and Ensign didn’t even need midfield maestro Jon Evans! Maybe The Bridge did, but that ship has long since sailed in favour of Bowers & Pitsea, where Jon now plies his trade. As ever in football, there’s always another game, so we move on to that and cast this one from our memory…bring on Frenford!