Saturday 10th January, 2026 | Ilford FC 0-2 Buckhurst Hill | Essex Senior League Premier | Attendance : 77
By Harry Biggs
Buckhurst Hill FC made a statement on their first official game of the new calendar year with a victory over Ilford FC, who prior to the action at Cricklefields Stadium, were unbeaten in 13 games, which would come to an end to allow The Stags to make it 11 unbeaten.
Mark Williams made just two changes to our last ‘official’ game which was our 3-0 victory over Woodford Town in December, following our game against Hullbridge abandoned just a week prior to our game against Ilford. One change saw a straight switch with Liam Foster returning to the side for the first time since the our 5-0 victory over Hackney Wick, with Foster coming in to replace Preston Knight. The other switch saw the return of Christian North, who returned to the side from injury and came replaced Fred Burbidge in net.
Onto the action with The Stags controlling the game throughout with Ilford looking to possibly get a point or a late win by sitting back and defending every attack well.
The travelling Buckhurst couldn’t seem to break that defensive force with Arthur Massingham having multiple shots saved with Josh Banfield also having two rare chances kept out by the Ilford keeper.
It didn’t seem like it would be Harry Lusher’s day with the young striker having multiple shots saved in both halves after he put his first effort of the day straight at the keeper.
The last chance of the first half fell to Liam Foster, who had a great chance to take the lead for The Stags but it was saved on the brink of the interval.
The second half brought chances and drama to an enticing game of football with The Stags still pushing for an opener.
The biggest chance of the game came with Harry Lusher missing a crucial one on one at point blank range with the clock ticking closer to the 90th minute mark.
The goal finally came for The Stags with Arthur Massingham opening the scoring with 18 minutes left to play. Massingham found himself on the end of a loose play after a shot from substitute Tony Martin was blocked with the young winger smashing the ball into the top corner to put Buckhurst Hill ahead.
Buckhurst Hill closed the game by making it 2-0 in the 90th minute with a goal from Callum Maltese making it game, set and match in Ilford. A cross from George Edwards found Maltese inside the area, who was able to fire the ball into the net to finish the game off.
That was it for another game for ESL action for The Stags who made it 11 games unbeaten and ended a 13 game unbeaten run for Ilford, who had been a formidable side prior to the game.
TEAM:
North 🧤, Foster, Edwards, Williams ©, Fernandez, Brown, Massingham ⚽️, Banfield, Lusher, Maltese ⚽️, Dolan
SUBS:
Nicolaou (90+3’ – Dolan), Buchanan, Mengou (85’ – Massingham), Martin (75’ – Lusher)