Wednesday 1st April, 2026 | Barking 1-0 Buckhurst Hill | Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy Final | Attendance : 527
By Harry Biggs
Despite first half domination, Mark Williams’ Buckhurst Hill side suffered Cup Final heartache in the club’s first ever cup final in its senior history after a second half goal cancelled out all hard work with Barking crowned as champions.
Mark Williams was forced into two of the three changes he made to the side that were 6-1 winners against Woodford Town last time out with both Marko Protic and Nathan Sollosi unable to make the squad due to ineligibility after they were signed after the semi- final stage, and were replaced by Josh Banfield and Arthur Massingham, who both returned from injury. The final change saw Callum Maltese also return from injury with Dimitri Nicoalou dropping to the substitutes bench.
Onto the action now and the biggest moment in the game came on the 13th minute of play when the referee awarded The Stags a penalty for a handball inside the area by Barking. Both sets of fans held their breath and Tyler Dolan stood over the ball and had the possibility of giving The Stags the all important lead. Dolan stepped up, putting the penalty towards the bottom right corner, the same way in which Barking keeper Omer Ozer was diving towards and it was he that guessed right, brilliantly saving Dolan’s spot kick, who had never been known to miss a spot kick for Hill.
The next big chance of the game again went to The Stags and no wonder Ozer was awarded man of the match at the end of the game for Barking after another terrific save denied The Stags after an effort from Arthur Massingham from the edge of the area was saved by Ozer.
The domination continued for The Stags when Arthur Massingham saw his shot whistle just wide of the Barking goal just after the half an hour mark.
Just two minutes later, the best chance of the game since the penalty occurred when an effort on the half volley from Harry Lusher struck the crossbar leaving the Barking keeper stunned as they were just about to clear their lines.
The last chance of a dominant half for The Stags fell to Tyler Dolan but unfortunately his header at the back post was put inches wide of the post with somehow the teams going in at the break level.
Onto the second half now and something must have been said in the Barking dressing room at half time that changed the mindset of the ‘home team’ as inside just a minute of the restart, Barking were able to take the lead with Saliu Lo Seye firing the ball past Christian North at close range.
Barking had a chance to double their lead just less than 10 minutes later but the effort from the edge of the area was sent over the bar.
The Stags then went up the other end and tried to produce something of their own as Harry Lusher found the ball on the edge of the area after a neat pass from Maltese with Lusher firing the ball towards goal but unfortunately for him, the effort just inches over the crossbar.
Christian North had the majority of the 527 present at New Lodge on their feet when he pulled off an unbelievable save to deny a volley from Barking Sam Edwards with the Stags keeper tipping the effort over the crossbar.
The final big chance of the game for The Stags fell to Yannis Mengou with the youngster still looking for his first Stags goal, unfortunately for him though, it showed that it wasn’t going to be Buckhurst Hill’s night. Mengou was played through on goal on the wing as he was able to latch onto the loose ball but Barking keeper Ozer was there yet again at the right moment as he was out quick enough to shut the chance down and save the shot to claim the night for Barking.
After 5 minutes of additional time, the referee blew his full time whistle to crown Barking Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy Champions. A valiant effort and one to be proud of for The Stags in the club’s first ever senior cup final.
A massive Thank You to all of the supporters that joined us for the historic night. Although it wasn’t the result we wanted, we’ve come very far in our first few years of senior football and we will definitely be back with play-offs still very much achievable this season !
TEAM :
North 🧤, Foster, Edwards, Williams ©, Fernandez, Brown, Massingham, Banfield, Lusher 🟨, Maltese, Dolan
SUBSTITUTES :
Hammond (85’ – Williams), Mengou (80’ – Maltese), Daniels, Nicolaou (68’ – Massingham), Martin (72’ – Foster)