Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy 2025/26
This is the quarter-final of the competition.
Benfleet received a bye in Round One.
There were four ties in the First Round, and the results were:

Woodford Town 4 Ilford 1

Athletic Newham 3 Saffron Walden Town 3
(Athletic Newham won 5-3 on penalties)

Harwich & Parkeston 2 West Essex 1

Romford 1 Hullbridge Sports 1
(Hullbridge Sports won 4-3 on penalties)

Second Round results were:
White Ensign 2 Woodford Town 1

Athletic Newham 6 Harwich & Parkeston 2

Little Oakley 0 Barking 2

Sporting Bengal United 2 Basildon United 3

Frenford 0 Benfleet 2

Hullbridge Sports 2 Great Wakering Rovers 1

SOUL Tower Hamlets 4 Halstead Town 3

Hackney Wick 4 Buckhurst Hill 4
(Buckhurst Hill won 3-0 on penalties)

Apart from this match, the rest of the draw for the quarter-final is:
White Ensign v Athletic Newham
Barking v Basildon United
SOUL Tower Hamlets v Buckhurst Hill

2024/25
Last season, the winners were Great Wakering Rovers, who beat Little Oakley 1-0 in the final at Billericay Town FC.

Benfleet exited at the First Round stage, losing 4-0 at Great Wakering Rovers. The Bridge bowed out in the Quarter Final, losing at home to Woodford Town 5-1 after a home 3-2 victory over Stanway Rovers in round two and receiving a bye in round one.

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No.	Player	Appearances
1	Billy Carter	26
2	Callum Legg	26
3	Taylor Lawrence	26
4	Toby Dickinson	26
5	Billy Shulver	25
6	Jake Godfrey	25
7	Florent Gislette	24
8	Mason Shave	24
9	Nathan Saunders	23
10	Aaron Russell	22
11	Matthew Stevens-Brown	22
12	Billy Purdy	20
13	Sonny Hartman	20
14	Max Jobson	18
15	Gianni Frankis	16
16	Lucas Polyblank	15
17	Jayden Oshitola	14
18	Samuel Jobbins	13
19	Jack Frost	8
20	Jacob Wiggins	8
21	Aaron Akoman	7
22	Ben Foord	6
23	Josh Wakefield	6
24	Cameron Harris	5
25	Isaac Long	4
26	Tommy Pinkerton	4
27	Alfie Fletcher	1
28	Louis Coleman	1
29	Mack Polyblank	1
30	Mekhi Clarke	1

No.	Player	Goals	Appearances	Ratio
1	Max Jobson	10	18	1.8
2	Jake Godfrey	6	25	4.166666667
3	Taylor Lawrence	5	26	5.2
4	Aaron Russell	5	22	4.4
5	Sonny Hartman	4	20	5
6	Mason Shave	4	24	6
7	Toby Dickinson	3	26	8.666666667
8	Nathan Saunders	3	23	7.666666667
9	Aaron Akoman	2	7	3.5
10	Billy Carter	2	26	13
11	Gianni Frankis	2	16	8
12	Jayden Oshitola	1	14	14
13	Billy Shulver	1	25	25
14	Matthew Stevens-Brown	1	22	22
15	Jacob Wiggins	1	8	8

Fair to middling…
Benfleet are currently 10th in the table, with 34 points from 22 matches. From their 22 matches, they have 9 wins, 7 draws and 6 defeats. The 9 wins have been against Frenford, Sporting Bengal United, Barking, Great Wakering Rovers, Romford, Athletic Newham, Hackney Wick, Basildon United and Hullbridge Sports (!). The seven draws were against Saffron Walden Town, Ilford, Woodford Town, White Ensign, West Essex, Halstead Town and Romford. They suffered defeats against Basildon United, SOUL Tower Hamlets, Little Oakley, Buckhurst Hill, Harwich & Parkeston and Athletic Newham.

In the FA Cup, they drew 1-1 at Leighton Town in the Extra Preliminary Round before losing 1-0 at home in the replay.

In the BBC Essex Senior Cup, they beat White Ensign at home 2-1 and then drew 1-1 at Canvey Island, winning 4-1 on penalties. Goalkeeper Florent Gislette scored the 88th-minute equaliser! They then exited the competition, losing 9-0 at Aveley in the Fourth Round.

In the FA Vase, they won 7-6 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the first Qualifying Round at Barking. In the Second Qualifying Round, they won 5-2 at home to West Essex before beating Great Wakering Rovers 2-0 at home in the First Round. In Round Two, they won at Walsham Le Willows 2-1 and then won at Dereham Town 2-0 in Round Three. They finally bowed out in Round Four, losing at home 2-0 to Punjab United.

In the Errington Challenge Cup, after a bye in the First Round, they will meet White Ensign at Burroughs Park in Round Two. Which brings us to the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy and our visit to Woodside Park. Benfleet received a bye in Round One and won at Frenford 2-0 in Round Two to set up the Quarter-Final clash with The Bridge.

Results over the last six matches are:

Opponents	Venue	Competition	Res	Score
Punjab United	Home	FA Vase 4	L	0 - 2
Athletic Newham	Away	Essex Senior League	L	1 - 4
Hullbridge Sports	Home	Essex Senior League	W	3 - 2
Basildon United	Home	Essex Senior League	W	4 - 0
Romford	Away	Essex Senior League	D	1 - 1
Frenford	Home	Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy 2	W	2 - 0

The last five seasons

League	Season	Position	Top goalscorer
Essex Senior League	2024/25	16/20	Max Jobson 12
Eastern Counties Division 1 South	2023/24	1/22	Rhys Fatt 22
Eastern Counties Division 1 South	2022/23	6/19	Ben Foord 14
Eastern Counties Division 1 South	2021/22	3/20	Ben Foord 19
Eastern Counties Division 1 South	2020/21	ABAND	N/A

Season 2025/2026
Saturday, 27th December 2025
Benfleet 3 The Bridge 2
A very good crowd of 452 witnessed this one just after Christmas. The Bridge got off to a bad start and were 2-0 down after seven minutes, with both goals coming from Benfleet captain Sonny Hartman. It got worse in the second half when Ollie Jenkins got an OG after 56 minutes. The Bridge, however, were always in this game and hit back with two late goals from Ellis Devereux (80 & 89 minutes) and nearly salvaged a point that they would probably have deserved.

Season 2024/2025
Saturday, 26th April 2025
Benfleet 2 The Bridge 3
In the last game of the 2024/25 season, The Bridge travelled to Woodside Park and won 3-2, with goals from Nikolay Zlatev, Beau Macdonald, and Owen Bellamy. Billy Carter and Mason Shave replied for the home side as The Bridge took the final win of 24/25.

Season 2024/2025
Saturday, 21st December 2024
The Bridge 3 Benfleet 1
171 were at The T.J. Cottis Stadium to see two late goals win it for The Bridge after Callum Knowlden and Nathan Saunders had ensured a 1-1 half-time score. The two late goals were an Owen Bellamy penalty (85’) and Freddie Moriaty (90+3’).

These were the only recent league meetings between the two teams as Benfleet were mainly in the Eastern Counties League Division 1 South, whilst The Bridge were in either the ESL or the Isthmian League North.

However, the teams met in the BBC Essex Senior Cup 1st Round on Wednesday, 4th October 2023 at Canvey Island, and The Bridge won 2-0. Charlie Heatley & Gursewak Jagdev were the scorers.

Max Jobson (who is not as big as he appears in the picture above!) is at number 15 in the ESL Premier goal table with 9 goals. Next up is Jake Godfrey, who comes in at number 46 with 5 goals. Also keep an eye out for ex-Bridge captain Jake Wiggins, who has made eight appearances for Benfleet since departing from Lower Road.