This was another enjoyable night in East, East, East London for the Bridge who came away with the win to add to the win at Athletic Newham and the draw here in E17 back in December. The only blip on the East London win map was the 2-0 defeat at Sporting Bengal United on a cold November night at the Mile End Stadium.

Hullbridge made a bright start to this game in the second round of The Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy and looked determined to make it through to the quarter-final and a match-up with either Coggeshall Town or Barking who were playing the same evening. After just five minutes there was an early chance for Oscar Onuorah but the score remained at 0-0 and then the dangerous Ruban Bartlett-Antwi had the next opportunity but still no score was registered.

That wouldn't last for much longer however as The Bridge were awarded a penalty for handball and Adam Topley stepped up to score with no issue. This was, apparently, the 4th game in a row that the home team had conceded a penalty!

The Bridge were having a good night and Michael Dixon was causing all sorts of problems for the West Essex defence, whilst Alfie Whiteaker was working the line well with Onuorah. The visitors just needed a second goal to really assert themselves in the match and they nearly got it with a header off the bar from a deep free-kick.

Although The Bridge were doing most of the attacking, West Essex were still looking good when they did have the ball, so that second goal would definitely come in handy but we reached half time and it hadn’t arrived so the teams left the field with The Bridge still just the one ahead.

The second half got underway and shortly after Osaretin Otote had a great chance in front of goal but failed to convert and everyone was wondering if it was going to be one of those nights and Hullbridge would live to regret missed chances. The Bridge were the better side now but couldn't create any clear-cut chances as both teams made changes from the bench to try to influence the match.

On 75 minutes there was a clear chance however, and substitute Mekhi Clarke could have finished the game but the home keeper made the save that kept West Essex in the tie. Hullbridge were still pushing for that elusive second goal and more changes from the bench ensued as we moved into injury time. Surely, The Bridge had done enough to gain their passage through to the next round and a home quarter-final against Barking who had beaten Coggeshall Town 1-0. Finally, yes, they had, and even without the second goal to clinch it, The Bridge had produced a good enough performance to warrant their progress.

So, next up it’s Barking in the Quarter-final with the return of Mike Walther and Ross Elsom amongst others (probably!), and Martin Tuohy up against his former team, exciting stuff and there remains just one thing left to say…

Mike was a handful in the game against Halstead, causing the Halstead defence lots of problems and should have been on the scoresheet, and would have been but for some good saves from Jack Cherry. This was a repeat performance and Mike bullied the West Essex defence in another ‘leading the line’ display that wins him the MOM accolade. This was his first MOM and let’s hope there are more to come… good stuff mate!