Saturday 21st February, 2026 | Great Wakering Rovers 1-1 Buckhurst Hill | Essex Senior League Premier | Attendance : 132
By Harry Biggs
Buckhurst Hill FC avoided a massive obstacle to their unbeaten streak and to their play off hopes after they came away with a point from Burroughs Park, home to Great Wakering Rovers in what was a game full of excitement between two of the best sides in the Essex Senior League & saw The Stags pick up their first ever point over Wakering in our four season stint so far in the ESL.
Mark Williams made just one change to the side that were victorious against Basildon United with an experienced defender making his debut for the club. Teddy Perkins, who has made appearances in as high as the National League South in his career, joins The Stags on a dual registration from Concord Rangers, and came into the side to replace George Edwards, who was named on the bench to face Wakering.
Onto the action and both sides had chances to take the lead inside the opening ten minutes with Bradley Bennett for Wakering having the first chance of the game with his header flying the bar before Josh Banfield had an effort at goal with his half volley going inches wide of the Wakering goal !
Christian North was called into action just after the 20th minute mark after he denied Ben Search with a brilliant stop.
Wakering had another golden opportunity to take the lead just before the half an hour mark but after a block from Williams in front of goal, Bennett, with the rebound, had another chance to put Wakering ahead but he skied his effort from point blank range.
The officiating in the game had been questioned by both sides within the first half an hour and it was questioned after Harry Lusher was sent through on goal and was clearly pulled back by a Wakering defender but the man in the middle waved the claims away to the shocked faces of the home bench.
The referee did eventually reach for his pocket for the first time in the game just a minute later when Christian North was caught late off the ball by Max Gnandi, who was given a yellow card for his tackle of The Stags’ keeper.
A free kick from Massingham was the next to trouble the Wakering goal but his shot was blocked and the resulting corner was dealt with well by Wakering loanee keeper Ghag, with the score staying level so far.
The Stags eleven were in shock again after Wakering were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box despite the ball being clearly won by Foster. Justice was served luckily though with Search blazing the ball over the bar from the set piece.
Just before the break controversy struck a few minutes after Harry Lusher had a chance to put The Stags ahead but his shot was over the bar. Controversy struck into added time when Wakering’s keeper Ghag looked to have clearly picked up the ball from a back pass but the referee waved the claims away and blew for half time with both sets of teams wondering what had home on with even the home dugout knowing they had grabbed a get out of jail free card there.
Onto the second half and just 6 minutes after the restart, North was called into action with Gnandi running in on goal, but it was an easy save for the man between the sticks.
Whether it was just a change in mindset of the news of Little Oakley dropping points, Great Wakering looked the better of the two sides at the start of the second half and they made that present as they took the lead with just 8 minutes gone after the interval. The Stags failed to clear their lines and a header from Perkins gave away possession and the in-form Gnandi was able to fire the ball past North and into the net, leaving The Stags keeper no chance.
Another poor challenge was made off the ball leaving The Stags bench many questions with this time Liam Foster whipped out off the ball, but again the referee waves away the claims !
A reaction was needed to the goal and Mark Williams turned to his substitutes for a change with Arthur Massingham replaced by Tony Martin, who came onto face his former club that he made the trip to Wembley with two years ago.
Four minutes later, and the change paid off with The Stags equalising the proceedings exactly on the 70th minute mark and it was the skipper Ollie Williams who grabbed The Stags a crucial goal. A corner was headed towards the back post by substitute Martin and Wakering was caught sleeping with Williams getting to the ball first ahead of former Hill player Bradleigh Rowland, and the skipper was then able to tap the ball home and the back post and equal the proceedings with twenty to go !
The Stags started to push for a winner and a wild effort from range by Banfield was just wide of the post straight after the restart with Wakering looking a bit shaken after conceding.
Mark Williams turned to his bench for the second time of the afternoon with just 13 minutes left to play with George Edwards coming on to replace Callum Maltese.
Martin was the next player to claim for a foul, this time inside the penalty area after he was brought down on the counter attack but the referee waved the claims away again.
The bench was turned upon for the third and final time with just a few minutes left of injury time to play with The Stags trying to hang onto a point with skipper and goalscorer Ollie Williams replaced by Dimitri Nicolaou in the midfield.
And after a final set piece was swung into the box and hung onto by North in goal, The Stags were able to hang onto that point and make it 14 games unbeaten with Great Wakering unable to close the gap on Little Oakley at the top, and with The Stags closing in on the top spots with our games in hand, it’s gearing up to be a HUGE end to the season!
TEAM:
North 🧤, Foster, Perkins, Williams © ⚽, Fernandez, Brown, Massingham, Banfield, Lusher, Maltese 🟨, Dolan
SUBS:
Daniels, Edwards (77’ – Maltese), Mengou, Nicolaou (90+5’ – Williams), Martin (64’ – Massingham)