Saturday 28th February, 2026 | Buckhurst Hill 4-1 Saffron Walden Town | Essex Senior League Premier | Attendance : 116
By Harry Biggs
Buckhurst Hill FC made it 16 games unbeaten in all competitions after a 4-1 victory over Saffron Walden Town in what was our first game at Roding Lane in 2026 !
Ted Buchanan was the main man in the dugout with manager Mark Williams unavailable and multiple changes were made to the side that faced Ilford in cup action last time out with Foster, Williams, Brown, Massingham, Lusher and Maltese all returning to the starting lineup.
Onto the action now and it took just 5 minutes for The Stags to take the lead after a long ball over the Walden defence from Liam Loster found Harry Lusher, who was able to go around Walden’s keeper Coton and finish the ball into the net to give Hill the early lead.
The Stags came close again with two efforts 5 minutes apart from each other from Massingham and Maltese were just off target.
Just after the half an hour mark, our best chase since Lusher’s opener came but Maltese and Lusher were both unable to convert due to an amazing double save by former Buckhurst Hill youngster George Coton in net for the visitors’.
The Stags were eventually able to double our lead just before the break when Ollie Fernandez headed the ball from a corner to earn just his second goal in senior football and for Buckhurst Hill !
Buckhurst Hill finished the second half very well and just minutes after Fernandez’s goal, Harry Lusher nearly scored a header of his own but unfortunately, his header was just over the crossbar.
Onto the second half and just 3 minutes into the start of the second forty five, a rare chance arose for Josh Banfield but it was inches over the crossbar.
Christian North was called into action just before the hour mark and pulled off a wonderful save to deny Walden a goal back into the contest.
It should’ve been 3-0 to The Stags a few minutes later when Harry Lusher was squared the ball by Callum Maltese inside the penalty area but Lusher somehow couldn’t put the chance away after it was then brilliantly saved by the Walden keeper Coton.
The Stags were piling on the pressure and were eventually able to make it 3-0 when Harry Lusher was brought down inside the penalty area and the referee took no hesitation to award The Stags a penalty. It was Tyler Dolan who stepped up to take the spot kick and he dispatched it beautifully, sending the keeper the wrong way and thumping the ball into the top corner !
Shortly later, Harry Lusher made it 4-0 to Hill after he grabbed his second of the game. A deflected pass from Banfield went straight into the path of Lusher, who took the ball down inside the area and finished the ball into the bottom corner on the half volley, leaving the Walden keeper with no chance.
The visitors Walden were able to grab a consolation goal with Ollie Miles getting himself on the scoresheet but it wasn’t enough to get anything out of the game and The Stags would go on to make it 16 games unbeaten as the full time whistle was sounded around Roding Lane !
TEAM:
North 🧤, Foster, Edwards, Williams 🟨, Fernandez ⚽, Brown, Massingham, Banfield, Lusher ⚽⚽, Maltese, Dolan ⚽(P).
SUBS:
Daniels (90+2’ – Foster), Mengou (82’ – Massingham), Hammond (75’ – Lusher), Nicolaou (82’ – Williams), Martin (70’ – Maltese).