Saturday 7th March, 2026 | Little Oakley 1-0 Buckhurst Hill | Essex Senior League Premier | Attendance : 85
By Harry Biggs
The Stags’ 16-game unbeaten streak that stretched all the way back to late October 2025 eventually came to an end at the feet of top of the table, Little Oakley.
Mark Williams made just one change to the side that beat Saffron Walden Town 4-1 last time out at Roding Lane, with Tyler Dolan unavailable, so Dimitri Nicolaou would start in his place.
Onto the action now, and it was The Stags who started the better out of the two sides as they really tested the league leaders inside the opening 45 minutes with efforts from Nicolaou and Maltese going just wide of goal.
The best chance of the half fell to Ollie Fernandez after his bicycle kick from the edge of the post struck the crossbar, leaving the hosts stunned.
The second half didn’t bring much joy for the travelling Stags, and inside just 3 minutes of the restart, captain Ollie Williams was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence, leaving his team with 10 men for a long period of the second forty-five.
It didn’t take long for the league leaders to capitalise on the one-man advantage, and just 3 minutes after Williams’ dismissal, Little Oakley took the lead from a set piece with Jack Ladbrook heading the ball into the net to give Oakley the lead.
Despite the one-man deficit, The Stags still controlled the game with Oakley sitting back defending multiple chances from Maltese, Massingham and substitute Martin, but unfortunately it wasn’t for The Stags, who fought until the end, but the winning run did come to an end with no equaliser scored by the end of the proceedings.
TEAM:
North 🧤, Foster, Edwards, Williams © 🟨🟥, Fernandez, Brown, Massingham, Banfield, Lusher, Maltese, Nicolaou
SUBS:
Twumasi, Mengou (84’ – Maltese), Hammond (74’ – Lusher), Buchanan, Martin (73’ – Edwards)