Hornchurch maintain their lead- and complete a Hashtag double

Leaders Hornchurch travelled to their match with in-form Hashtag United having recorded only one win from their previous five matches. Crisis? Not a bit of it, as the Tags four match winning streak came to an end- although, to be fair to the hosts, they were a match for the Urchins until they went down to ten men!

Harry Haysom was the early departure, on fifty seven minutes, and soon afterwards the hosts resilience departed too, Ryan Scott up from the back to score a rather impressive tenth goal of the season- the most multifunctional defender in the Premier Division, and tenth in the Premier goalscorers table as a result. The Tags certainly weren’t done, and there were only five minutes left on the clock when the visitors made it two, Femi Akinwande- on from the bench- adding a seventh Urchins goal to the eight he scored for Hastings United. With a minute to go the victory became more comfortable, Nathan Bertram-Cooper making it three, and Hornchurch maintained their six point lead at the top as well as repeating the outcome of the meeting between the sides on August Bank Holiday Monday.

Newly promoted Chatham Town have had a fine season, and it shows no sign of tailing off as they remain the Urchins closest challengers. Two thousand, five hundred and eighty eight turned up to the Bauvill Stadium to watch them face Dulwich Hamlet, and most of them will have been delighted after watching their side come from behind to keep the pressure on Hornchurch. Hamlet had only one defeat from their previous nine, and they went ahead eight minutes after half time, Adrian Clifton with the opener- but had held that lead for only seven minutes when Chris Dickson scored his seventh Chats goal in only eleven appearances. That appeared to be that, but Chatham are good at finding late goals and they did it again, Reece Butler finding a way past Will Larkin right at the end to earn his side three valuable points. Not quite as good as the five-two win in August’s fixture, but it’ll do!

Third place Enfield Town were rained off, so Wingate & Finchley, a place behind, took the opportunity to go level on points with their North London rivals. The Blues welcomed Cheshunt for a New Years Day derby, and the two sides delivered a five goal thriller, with the Blues getting the odd number. Ruben Carvalho opened the scoring for Wingate, converting from the spot on thirty four minutes, but the Ambers were quickly level through Solomon Baugh, and remained level at half time. Two minutes after the break Anointed Chukwu- of course, formerly of Cheshunt- made his former club miserable by restoring the hosts lead, and just after the hour they were more miserable still, when he scored another to take his seasons tally to twelve. Ambers striker Nnamdi Nwachuku quickly replied, but that was that for goals, and the hosts stay fourth whilst the visitors stay fourth from bottom. Six points from six for the Blues against the Ambers this season, local bragging rights secured.

Billericay Town retained their hold on fifth place, but only just. They fell behind four minutes after the break at New Lodge, visitors Potters Bar Town looking to continue a fine run which had seen only leaders Hornchurch inflict defeat on them since early September. Brandon Adams delivered that goal, taking his tally to eight in eleven matches- how high would the Scholars be had he not missed nearly three months of the season through injury- but within ten minutes Alfie Cerulli had levelled for the Blues, and right at the end, with a draw as good as a certainty, an own goal gave most of the nine hundred and four watching on something to sing about, turning one point into three for the hosts- and six against the Scholars this season.

Hastings United are sixth, but the Sussex side couldn’t find a way past Cray Wanderers at Hayes Lane, the match ending goalless. That’s United’s third draw in four; whilst Wands matches have ended level in five of their last seven matches- perhaps we should have expected this outcome?

Carshalton Athletic’s promotion push seems most certainly back on, after they followed up their six goals against Haringey Borough on Saturday with four more against Kingstonian, and recorded a fourth win from five to climb to eighth. This was rather remarkable for Athletic’s number nineteen Oluwabunmi Babajide, who scored all four goals- notching in the ninth, fifteenth, thirty sixth and seventy ninth minutes to take his tally for the season to twelve and leave the K’s, for whom Andy Somo’s ninth of the season was no more than a consolation, nine points from safety in twentieth place. The Robins are four points away from the top five, and have taken six points from the K’s this season.

The consensus is that Lewes were second best against Bognor Regis Town at the Dripping Pan, but that won’t matter much to the Rooks fans amongst the one thousand, four hundred and seventy four watching on, because their side won anyway. The only goal of the game arrived with fifteen minutes remaining, Jake Elliott the unlikely saviour for the hosts, and it sends them up to ninth and ends a seven match unbeaten run for the Rocks. Still, at least Bognor ended this encounter with a full complement of players, unlike the August Bank Holiday Monday draw with the Rooks which saw them finish with nine! Image from James Boyes.

Horsham slipped to tenth after losing a Sussex derby against Whitehawk at the Camping World Community Stadium. Their are a number of former Hornets turning out for the Hawks these days, and of course it was one of them, Charlie Harris, who delivered the only goal of the game six minutes from time before celebrating as if he’d won the pools- perhaps the Lardy Army had been giving him a bit of a hard time? If so, he left rubbing their eyes with their rendered blocks of pork fat, rifling home a clearance from just inside the box to end an eight match winless run for his new side. Two Bank Holidays, two matches against the Hornets, two wins, and some happy Hawks.

Canvey Island welcomed neighbours Concord Rangers to the MovieStarr Stadium, and they took ownership of the local limelight- for the second time this seasoon- just before half time, when Sam Higgins scored his first goal for the club on his third appearance- his fifth of the season when you add in the four he got for Hornchurch. That result takes the Gulls to twelfth, and leaves their neighbours bottom of the pile and ten points from safety- although they do have many, many games in hand, indeed as many as five, over the sides they are pursuing.

Folkestone Invicta delivered their first win under Andy Drury, and ended a five match losing streak in the process- and to make victory even sweeter it came at Hartsdown Park, home of Kentish seaside rivals Margate. Both goals went to Invicta striker David Smith, taking his tally to seven for the season by scoring on seventeen and twenty two minutes- and that was two Bank Holiday victories for the Stripes over the Blues this season.

Note to all clubs- please upload any goal of the month contenders as soon as you can, to the address we sent you!

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