Well, after Saturday’s events, we can relax a bit going into this one and the last day at Benfleet. It would be nice to finish with a couple of results, though, wins or draws. Let’s see what happens. First up, Woodford Town.

The Woods have had a good season and been up there all season, but now reside in 3rd in the ESL table, which, at the moment, will get them a play-off game against Barking. They have 78 points from 36 matches, with 24 wins, 6 draws, and 6 defeats. The goal difference is an ESL second best +49, with 77 scored and just 28 conceded (best in the division). Home form, not surprisingly, is very good with 12 wins, 3 draws, and just 2 defeats from their 17 matches. 38 for and 14 against gives The Woods a +24 home GD.

Here’s what they have been doing in their last six matches…
Woodford Town – season 24/25 – The Last Six (seven with the cup game)
(most recent results first)
Buckhurst Hill 2 Woodford Town 1
Defeat in their local derby was not what The Woods required as they strove to finish as high up the play-off places as possible, but that’s what happened last Saturday. Archie Hammond and Jack Ferris put The Stags 2-0 up before Josh Banfield got one back in the 85th minute.

Saffron Walden Town 0 Woodford Town 0
A 0-0 draw at SWT didn’t help the play-off cause much either in a game that looked like not much happened, except for a yellow card for The Woods' Luke Steele.

Romford 0 Woodford Town 3
Romford have been having a poor run of late, and this was an emphatic away day for The Woods, although it was only 1-0 until the 88th minute. Nathan Sollosi opened the scoring in the first half, followed by an 88th-minute goal from Ernest Okoh and a 96th-minute third from Micah Jackson.

Woodford Town 3 Ilford 1
The last of three home wins in a row, and Nathan Sollosi was on target again to make it 1-0 before Miles Mitchell-Nelson made it two. Abdul Shobowale made it 2-1 before Luke Steele restored the margin of victory in the 92nd minute.

Woodford Town 2 Little Oakley 0
Home win number two was this 2-0 victory over a Little Oakley side that had been getting some good results of late. However, they were no match for The Woods, who won it with the goals coming from a Marko Protic penalty and Miles Mitchell-Nelson.

White Ensign 2 Woodford Town 1
Errington Challenge Cup Quarter-Final
Errington Cup Quarter Final defeat at White Ensign with late goal drama. Ensign were in front thanks to a 63rd-minute George Godfrey goal, before two goals at the end decided the game. Simon Omope equalised in the 88th minute for The Woods, and a minute later, Iyiola Adebayo scored the winner.

Woodford Town 4 Benfleet 1
The first home win of the three was this second-half comeback against Benfleet, who led after five minutes with the goal coming from Matthew Stevens-Brown. Not to be “out double-barrelled”, Miles Mitchell-Nelson scored two to put The Woods in front, and Simon Omope and Ernest Okoh had to make do with one surname and one goal each.

Player Appearances
1 David Gokou-Siakouri 34
2 Sam Owusu 33
3 Miles Mitchell-Nelson 31
4 Manny Agboola 27
5 Michael Agboola 27
6 Josh Banfield 27
7 Nathan Sollosi 27
8 Emmanuel Martins 26
9 Luke Steele 25
10 James Jewers 22
11 Marko Protic 21
12 Kahlil Kirwan-Meade 20
13 Micah Jackson 19
14 Ernest Okoh 19
15 Max Harbrow 14
16 Georges Kebi 14
17 Sonny Shilling 14
18 Simon Omope 12
19 Jaydon Charles 11
20 Eddie Allan 10
21 Norman Kebi 10
22 Marcus Painter 10
23 Dion Johnston 9
24 Peter Angelov 8
25 Usman Adeniji 7
26 Chaynie Burgin 6
27 Conor Tyrrell 6
28 Bruno Gomes 5
29 Bruno Tavares 5
30 Dion Johnston 4
31 Eli Beniot 3
32 Billy Karby 3
33 Andre Anderson 2
34 Pedro Carvalho 2
35 Steven Carvell 2
36 James Runham 2
37 Enock Soganile 2
38 Dimi Nicolaou 1
39 Torin Ntege 1
40 Tashan Richmond 1

Links: The ones that I know of are:
Sam Owusu, former Bridge captain, Michael Agboola, former Bridge centre-half, Eli Benoit, who was with The Bridge earlier this season (and pretty decent too), and Billy Karby, who had a short spell with The Bridge last season. Bruno Tavares also played some games for The Bridge last season and scored a few before leaving.


Founded: 2002
Nickname: The Woods
Ground: Ashton Playing Fields, Woodford

Chairman: Tony Scott
First Team Manager: Shane Baptiste
First Team Coach: Tom Jewers
First Team Physio: Sufyan Mukhtar

Records
Best FA Cup performance: First qualifying round, 2013–14, 2023–24
Best FA Vase performance: Second round, 2011–12, 2015–16, 2022–23, 2023–24

The Woods have been members of the Essex Senior League since 2017-18 (when they reverted back to their original name) after previously being members of the Spartan South Midlands League in 2016. They were voted out of the ESL in 2003 after finishing bottom of the table. Their best finish in this time was last season, where they finished runners-up before being beaten in the play-offs by Sporting Bengal United 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

The Bridge and Woodford Town – recent meetings:

Season 2024/2025
Saturday, 16th November 2024
The Bridge 1 Woodford Town 3
136 were at The T.J. Cottis Stadium to see this feisty encounter that The Woods won with goals from David Gokou-Siakouri, Kahlil Kirwan-Meade, and Sonny Shilling. This was after Owen Bellamy had given the Bridge a 4th-minute lead from the spot. Oscar Jones and Emmanuel Martins both received red cards.

Tuesday, 14th January 2025
The Bridge 1 Woodford Town 5
Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy Quarter-Final
A heavy defeat for The Bridge, who are 5- 0 down after 43 minutes. Woodford's goals came from Ernest Okoh with 2, Luke Steele, Micah Jackson with 2, and David Gokou-Siakouri. Jack Wilson got a 90th-minute consolation for The Bridge.

Season 2023/2024
Whilst The Bridge were finishing in 12th place with 49 points from 38 games in the ESL, The Woods were finishing the season as runners-up with 77 points. Tilbury won it with 86 points. The teams met twice during the season:

Friday, 8th September 2023
Woodford Town 1 The Bridge 1
The Bridge took the lead through Midfield Maestro Jon Evans before a 92nd-minute equaliser from Jaedon Phillips ensured a share of the spoils.

Tuesday, 15th December 2023
The Bridge 0 Woodford Town 0
The second draw between the two sides was watched by a crowd of 85 on a cold Tuesday night in December.

Season 2022/2023
The Woods finished 3rd in the ESL Premier with 78 points from 38 matches. Enfield were Champions with 92 points whilst The Bridge were busy competing in the Isthmian League North and, therefore, the two teams did not meet this season.

Season 2021/2022
Woodford Town finished 14th in the ESL Premier with 55 points from 40 matches. Meanwhile, The Bridge were staging their “Great Escape” in the Isthmian League North and finished 16th with 39 points. With the two teams in different leagues, they didn’t meet this season.

Woodford Town This season:
League positions in brackets are current position

Home: Won 12, Drawn 3, Lost 2 (F38, A14 = +24) Pts 39 ESL 4th
12 wins from their 17 home matches:
Takeley (2) 1-0
Great Wakering Rovers (5) 3-1
Athletic Newham (12) 1-0
White Ensign (7) 6-0
West Essex (10) 3-0
Frenford (14) 2-1
Romford (9) 1-0
Stansted (19) 2-0
Sawbridgeworth Town (18) 3-1
Benfleet (15) 4-1
Little Oakley(8) 2-0
Ilford (16) 3-1
3 draws against:
FC Clacton (20) 2-2
Buckhurst Hill (11) 2-2
Stanway Rovers (1) 1-1
And 2 defeats:
Saffron Walden Town (6) 0-1
Halstead Town (13) 2-3

Away: Won 12, Drawn 3, Lost 4 (F39, A14 = +25 Pts 39 ESL 2nd
Woodford have now completed their 19-match away schedule and have:
12 wins at:
Benfleet (15) 1-0
Sawbridgeworth Town (18) 2-0
Halstead Town (13) 4-0
FC Clacton (20) 1-0
White Ensign (7) 4-1
Stansted (19) 4-0
Ilford (16) 2-0
Hullbridge Sports (17) 3-1
Barking (4) 2-1
Athletic Newham (12) 8-1
West Essex (10) 1-0
Romford (9) 3-0
3 draws:
Stanway Rovers (1) 0-0
Great Wakering Rovers (5) 0-0
Saffron Walden Town (9) 0-0
And 4 defeats:
Frenford (14) 2-3
Takeley (2) 0-2
Little Oakley (8) 1-3
Buckhurst Hill (11) 1-2

Up for the cup!
In the FA Cup, The Woods exited at the Extra Preliminary Round Stage, losing 3-1 at fellow ESL side, Benfleet.

In the FA Vase First Qualifying Round, The Woods went out, losing 4-3 on penalties at Hadleigh United after a 0-0 draw. Hadleigh are members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division, Level 9, step 5.

In the London Senior Cup 2nd Round, Woodford beat Hendon (Isthmian League Premier Division, Level 7, Step 3) 5-3 on penalties after a home 0-0 draw before going out in the 3rd Round to Tooting & Mitchem United (Combined Counties League Premier Division South, Level 9, Step 5), again at home, 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

In the BBC Essex Senior Cup, they lost 4-1 on penalties to Coggeshall Town (Eastern Counties League Division One South, Level 10, Step 6) after a 0-0 draw.

The Woods were drawn away to Buckhurst Hill in the Errington Challenge Cup First Round and won 3-0. White Ensign beat The Woods 2-1 in the Quarter-Final.

In the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy First Round, they beat Takeley 2-0. They then defeated The Bridge 5-1 at Lower Road in the Quarter-Final. Great Wakering Rovers beat The Woods 1-0 in the Semi-Final.

The Bridge: 1 win; 2 draws; 3 defeats; For 5; Against 7; GD -2; Points 5
Woodford Town: 4 wins; 1 draw; 1 defeat; For 13; Against 4; GD +9; Points 13

To be honest, I’m glad there’s nothing on this one for The Bridge, as I can’t see anything other than a win for Woodford, who, despite falling away slightly in the last couple of weeks, have been excellent all season and deserve that play-off place. The stats and form and everything are in their favour, so The Bridge have nothing to lose…just go for it, lads!

The ESL is mostly wrapped up for the season, with Stanway all but Champions and the play-off places going to the current 2nd to 5th placed teams. Stansted can still save themselves at the expense of Sawbridgeworth, but it’s going to be difficult and they will need a win and a draw at least but probably two wins. Thankfully, The Bridge are now out of that one! A tough season but we fight on and as always…