

Saturday 18th January, 2025 | Buckhurst Hill 2-3 West Essex | Essex Senior League Premier | Attendance : 72
By Harry Biggs
A disappointing result for Mark’s Stags on Saturday afternoon, as they suffered a rare defeat to visitors West Essex at Myrak Park.
Mark made four changes to his side following the midweek draw against Benfleet. Two of the front three were rotated, with Suley Zuhdu returning to the side after suspension to replace Jaime Obama-Nvumba, who started on the bench alongside Alfie Padington. New signing Harry Hope, on loan from Canvey Island, replaced Padington in the starting lineup. The other changes saw Chama Torsiello come in for the injured Alfie Harris, who was a big loss after scoring on Wednesday, and new signing Anthony Page replace Muhammed Otuyo in goal. Page joined The Stags after successful spells at Hashtag United, Tilbury, and Grays Athletic.
First-Half Action
West Essex started strongly, forcing Anthony Page into a fine save within the first few minutes. The visitors took the lead in the 13th minute after a scramble in the box led to a goal. Page made an initial save, but the ball landed at the feet of Oliver Travell, who fired West Essex in front.
Moments later, West Essex nearly doubled their lead, but a heroic triple save from Anthony Page denied them. The new Stags goalkeeper kept his side in the game with quick reflexes under immense pressure.
The Stags equalised just eight minutes later. Suley Zuhdu weaved through the West Essex defence before being brought down inside the box. The referee awarded a penalty, and Zuhdu stepped up to fire his spot-kick into the bottom corner, leveling the game at 1-1.
The Stags ramped up their efforts from the restart, but proceedings were halted after a reckless tackle by West Essex’s McDowell on Stags captain Ollie Williams. McDowell was fortunate to escape with only a warning, despite his studs clearly going down Williams’ calf.
New signing Harry Hope came close to putting The Stags ahead, but his effort was well saved by West Essex keeper Lewis Edwards, who went on to deliver a man-of-the-match performance.
The Stags suffered an unfortunate blow when Frankie Licheri went down injured after delivering a brilliant cross. He was unable to continue and was replaced by Jude Carolan. Get well soon, Frankie.
Just a minute after coming on, substitute Jude Carolan made an immediate impact. A blocked effort fell to his feet, and he calmly slotted the ball into the side netting to put The Stags ahead just after the half-hour mark.
The Stags thought they had scored again moments later when Okuguni headed the ball home, but the referee disallowed the goal for an alleged foul in the build-up.
West Essex capitalised on the controversial decision shortly afterwards as Oliver Travell netted his second goal of the match to bring the visitors level with eight minutes left in the first half. Suley Zuhdu came close to restoring The Stags’ lead with an audacious effort from outside the box, but his shot narrowly missed the crossbar.
As halftime approached, West Essex pushed for a lead, and Chama Torsiello made a vital block to deny a goal-bound effort. However, the visitors managed to score just before the break. A cross into the penalty area found their towering striker, Mitchell Arthur, who headed home to make it 3-2 to West Essex.
In the dying moments of the half, West Essex nearly earned a penalty after Jonah Gregory’s challenge on Arthur in the box. The referee, however, blew for halftime and issued a yellow card to a West Essex player for dissent, confirming it as a sin-bin offense.
Second-Half Drama
The Stags started the second half on the front foot, with Suley Zuhdu’s early effort being brilliantly blocked. From the resulting corner, Chama Torsiello’s towering header went just over the bar.
The pressure continued, and Zuhdu came close again with an audacious bicycle kick that went inches wide of the top corner. What a chance!
Mark responded by making two substitutions, bringing on Padington and Obama-Nvumba for Okuguni and Hope to inject fresh energy into the attack. Drama unfolded on the visitors’ sideline when the West Essex manager was sent off after a heated exchange with the officials.
The Stags continued to dominate, with Obama-Nvumba nearly capitalising on a loose ball, but keeper Lewis Edwards was quick off his line to clear the danger.
Mark made his final change of the game, bringing on Bradley Ismaili for the cautioned Chama Torsiello in a last-ditch effort to find an equaliser. The Stags piled on the pressure, but Edwards produced a sensational save to deny Obama-Nvumba’s powerful volley, which would have been a contender for goal of the season.
Despite relentless attacking, The Stags couldn’t find the elusive equaliser. An effort from Padington in the 88th minute was saved, and with time running out, The Stags threw everything forward. However, West Essex defended resolutely, and Suley’s final shot was blocked. The resulting corner was cleared, securing all three points for West Essex in a thrilling five-goal encounter.
Post-Match Thoughts
After the game, Mark Williams and Ted Buchanan reflected on the team’s performance, discussing the importance of game management and how the team’s second-half drop-off cost them what could have been a crucial win.
TEAM :
Page 🧤, Foster, Licheri, Moncur, Torsiello 🟨, Gregory, Okuguni, Williams ©️, Jones, Zuhdu ⚽️ 🟨, Hope
SUBS :
Obama – Nvumba (63’ – Okuguni), Ismaili (78’ – Torsiello), Padington (63’ – Hope), Warner, Carolan ⚽️ (31’ – Licheri)
UPCOMING GAMES:
Wednesday 22nd January – Athletic Newham (H) – Essex Senior League
Saturday 25th January – FC Clacton (H) – Essex Senior League
Saturday 1st February – Stanway Rovers (A) – Essex Senior League