Saturday 27th September, 2025 | Halstead Town 2-1 Buckhurst Hill | Essex Senior League Premier | Attendance : 284
By Harry Biggs
Buckhurst Hill FC’s run of good form came to an abrupt stop on Saturday afternoon when they were beaten by old friends Halstead Town at the Milbank Stadium in what turned out to be a disappointing afternoon in a very controversial game.
Mark Williams made just three changes to the side that beat Hoddesdon Town 2-0 last time out in the FA Vase. Alfie Harris missed out on the trip to Halstead after he was unavailable, so young defender Preston Knight was able to come back into the side after he missed out FA Vase outing due to illness. Young Harry Lusher was named as the lone striker up front with Reece Lee Simpson named on the bench for this game.The centre back partnership hasn’t been fully decided as of yet and for the third game in a row another double switch had to be made in defence with Ethan Daniels out as well as the mentioned Harris. This gave loan signing Jack Johnson a chance to gain his second appearance for the club. The final change to the starting eleven saw new signing Jake Brocklebank start for the club for the first time in the midfield, alongside Archie Hammond and captain Ollie Williams.
Onto the action now and it was Halstead that took the lead inside just nine minutes when George Frodsham put the back in the back of the net for ‘The Humbugs’. The ball was given away cheaply by The Stags inside our own half and as it was delivered into the danger zone, Frodsham was able to curl the effort past North and into the back of the net.
The hosts had started the game well and were applying the pressure on Buckhurst Hill, who just about held on when Christian North denied a header with a strong save, with The Stags struggling to pick up their men at the back. Three minutes later and Halstead had the ball in the back of the net for the second time in the afternoon but the goal was disallowed after the referee felt North was fouled as he tried to stop the Haltead header from reaching the net, so the deficit stayed at just one goal.
Things started to look better though for The Stags after the last chance for the hosts with Dolan and Maltese linking up to produce a good chance but Dolan’s effort was saved by Jack Cherry in goal. Chances started to come our way and with the break approaching, things would look brighter if The Stags went into the interval equal in the contest. New signing Brocklebank created a great chance for Harry Lusher with seven minutes to go until half time when he played a brilliant pass through the Halstead defence but unfortunately, Lusher wasn’t able to pounce on the chance and The Humbugs would survive for now.
Straight after the chance for Lusher went by, Halstead nearly doubled their lead in the game when Ollie Williams was caught in possession and the hosts were able to counter with the ball but after a shot was fired goal wards, The Stags were let off with the shot going over the bar.
The best chance of the game came next for Buckhurst Hill as they were pushing for an equaliser. Callum Maltese back healed the ball to Archie Hammond inside the penalty area, who smashed it towards goal from a very tight angle with the ball being tipped onto the bar by Jack Cherry and The Stags going the closest to scoring as they have had all game and what a goal it would’ve been.
The Stags were finally able to find an equaliser just before the break after constant pressure in the past few minutes. The goal came in controversial fashion starting with Liam Foster being fouled on the edge of the penalty area and rightfully so the referee decided to play advantage and to The Stags’ delight it paid off with Harry Lusher firing the ball into the net with a fine header, however the referee had blown his whistle for somewhat reason in the build up, which made the Halstead players stop playing for a moment or two in the build up to the goal. After consulting with his assistant for a lengthy period, the referee decided to award the goal despite the Halstead claims and the proceedings were levelled at the Milbank.
Just before the break a chance fell to Archie Hammond from his usual speciality of a set piece but the shot was saved well by Cherry for Halstead with the teams going in level at the break.
Onto the second half now and inside the opening two minutes Callum Maltese had a free kick on the edge of the box saved by Cherry again as he blocked the effort with his body before handling the ball.
Halstead were able to turn the tables again and provide the next controversial moment of the game when they were in front again when former Buckhurst Hill player Owen Betts put the ball past North in goal to give The Humbugs the lead. Unfortunately for The Stags, the goal was given with Betts receiving the ball in an offside position and with the linesman missing it, Halstead were able to lead for the second time in the game.
Christian North was called into action again just three minutes after the Halstead goal when he pushed an effort from range out for a corner to deny a third for Halstead.
Robbie Bennet went into the book for Halstead on the hour mark when he was penalised for a poor tackle on Callum Maltese. The Stags should’ve equalised the proceedings six minutes later when a scramble in the penalty area from a corner led to multiple chances at goal being blocked and then the ball was eventually pounced onto by Cherry to stop the ball going anywhere else. A minute late, Halstead picked up their second booking of the afternoon when goalscorer George Frodsham was booked for delaying the restart as the ball left the ground.
Twenty minutes of the game to go now and Mark Williams felt the need to make a double substitution and the first two of the afternoon when Archie Hammond and Liam Foster were replaced by Harvey Livings and new signing Carter Ford.
A great chance fell to Jack Johnson a few minutes after the recent changes when his headed effort went just wide of the Halstead goal. Halstead had an effort a few minutes later which went wide as well as George Edwards having a shot cleared off the line with the past few minutes seeming like a ping pong game.
Mark Williams turned to the substitutes bench twice in three minutes when Reece Lee Simpson came on to replace Harry Lusher and then Tyler Dolan being replaced by Alfie Padington with three minutes remaining.
The final chance of the game fell to Halstead with Kane Gilbert having a shot saved by North in goal for The Stags.
Unfortunately, that was game over and Halstead gained all three points in what turned out to be a very disappointing afternoon for The Stags.
TEAM :
North 🧤, Foster, Edwards, Maltese 🟨, Knight, Williams ©, Johnson, Brocklebank, Lusher ⚽️, Hammond, Dolan
SUBS NOT USED :
Padington (87’ – Dolan), Lee Simpson (81’ – Lusher), Ford (70’- Foster), Livings (70’ – Hammond)
NEXT UP
Wednesday 1st October, 2025 – Romford (H) – Essex Senior League Premier – KO 7:45