Maldon on top despite Ware scare

They were two up in eight minutes through Lewis Dark and Billy Sendall, and when Bradley Fraser pulled one back on the half-hour the hosts responded with two more goals in the next five minutes, from Chris Bryan and Johnathan Glowacki.

A massacre threatened, but instead it was Ware who did the rest of the scoring. Spencer Knight reduced the arrears with a 65th-minute penalty and pulled another one back in the 80th minute. With Maldon wobbling, only the bar denied the visitors a notable point but the Essex men held on to make it five home wins out of five.

Potters Bar retained the division’s other unbeaten record but were held to a 1-1 home draw by Heybridge, a fair result on the day. Taylor Hastings gave Swifts the lead after 56 minutes and Sergio Manesio replied for the hosts 14 minutes later.

Overnight leaders Tilbury slipped to third after going down 1-0 at home to Grays in a predictably fiery local derby. Jake Hall’s 31st-minute goal was enough to give Grays their first win at Chadfields for 26 years, and both sides had a man sent off for violent conduct in the second half, Joel Barnett of Tilbury and Danny Bunce of Grays. The crowd of 421 was the division’s best of the season. (Action from the game pictured by Mikey Cartwright with Grays in blue).

Cheshunt stayed well in the mix at the top with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Ilford. Tony Burke opened their account with a 34th-minute penalty and set up the second for Ryan Wade just before half-time. Lee Brennan added the third.

Aveley are hot on the heels of the top five after seeing off local rivals Brentwood by the same score at the Mill Field. Junior Dadson and an own goal by ex-Miller Ryan Doyle made it 2-0 by the 17th minute and Rashid Kamara added another well before the interval. Brentwood had Lee Blackburn sent off in the 83rd minute and Billy Holland wasted the chance to make it four with a late penalty.

There was a more important missed penalty at Needham Market, where Jake Whincup saved Sam Newson’s kick and Waltham Abbey went home with a point from a goalless draw.

Soham are the comeback kings of the week. After their 6-3 victory at Harlow on Tuesday, having trailed three times, they wiped out a 2-0 half-time deficit to take all the points at Romford. Paul Clayton and Nick Reynolds scored in the last five minutes of the first half to put Romford in command but Rob Mason reduced the arrears early in the second period. Two goal in seven minutes by Matt Robinson put the visitors 3-2 up by the 63rd minute and that ended the scoring as Soham climbed into the top half of the table.

One Non-League Day disappointment was that the joint initiative by Aveley and Romford was not better rewarded. The two clubs, based less than a mile apart, staggered their kick-offs and offered discounted tickets covering both matches. It failed to pay off although, oddly enough, the attendance at both games was 104.

Harlow recovered from their midweek thrashing to pick up their first home points of the season at the fifth attempt. Always on top, they had to wait until the last eight minutes for the Gary Bowes double which provided a 2-0 win over Wroxham.

Thamesmead left it late to retain their 100 per cent home record. Only two minutes remained when Lea Dawson headed home a corner from Ashley Probets for the only goal of their game against strugglers Redbridge.

Waltham Forest and Sudbury shared the spoils with a 2-2 draw at Cricklefield. Corey Whitely put Forest ahead after 32 minutes but Leon Antoine replied shortly before the interval and a deflected shot by Dave Cowley gave the visitors the lead with 20 minutes to go. Jack Leachman rescued the hosts in the 83rd minute.

It was a similar story at Witham, through here it was visiting Chatham who scored first only to fall behind before emerging with a 2-2 draw. Kevin Watson’s header put Chats in front after 16 minutes and Witham hit back with two goals in five minutes of playing time either side of the interval, from Rob Whitnell and Danny Emmanuel. Brad Potter squared it in the 54th minute.