Monday 23rd February, 2026 | Buckhurst Hill 3-0 Ilford | Errington Challenge Cup Round 2 | Attendance : 55
By Harry Biggs
The Stags advanced to the Quarter Final stage of the Errington Challenge Cup after a 3-0 victory over in-form side Ilford on a mild night at Aveley FC’s Parkside Stadium and a tie against Great Wakering Rovers in the next round has been confirmed !
Mark Williams made multiple changes to the side that drew to Great Wakering Rovers last time out in league action with Dimitri Nicolaou, Ethan Daniels, Archie Hammond and Tony Martin coming into the side alongside Yannis Mengou, who made his first full start for The Stags as the gaffer decided to shift the team around with players given some minutes of the cup tie.
The Stags lead the cup tie inside just twenty minutes when Tony Martin had the ball in the net to keep his successful start to 2026 going. A shot on the edge of the box from Archie Hammond was saved by the Ilford keeper, only for it to be spilled at the feet of Martin, who had an easy finish as he put the ball in the net to give The Stags the lead.
Christian North was called into action just before the half an hour mark after he prevented an own goal with a wonderful save. It was Daniels who nearly had the ball in his own net if it wasn’t for North’s brilliant keeping with The Stags’ keeper clearing the ball off of his goalline with just his fingertips !
Somehow it wasn’t a second for The Stags just on the stroke of half time after an effort from Archie Hammond struck the crossbar before bouncing onto the post, then onto the goalline before bouncing out again !
Onto the second half and it was still mainly dominated by The Stags as they looked to punish Ilford again going forward.
The introduction of Harry Lusher after 67 minutes did certainly punish Ilford. A mistake at the back from Ilford proved costly after a back past left Ilford’s keeper under a lot of pressure and with Lusher at his feet, he kicked the ball straight at him, leaving Harry with an easy finish as he slotted the ball into the bottom corner just two minutes after coming onto the pitch.
The game was well and truly over upon the 76th minute mark when Maksym Trush put the ball into his own net for Ilford after his back pass failed to find Ilford keeper Harold Poku, who had been caught in no man’s land.
The Stags luckily went on to keep a clean sheet and secure a spot in the Quarter Finals of the Errington Challenge Cup where they will take on Great Wakering Rovers at Roding Lane.
TEAM:
North 🧤, Fernandez 🟨, Edwards, Nicoloau, Daniels, Brown, Mengou, Banfield ©, Martin ⚽, Hammond, Dolan
SUBS:
Foster (87’ – Fernandez), Massingham (76’ – Mengou), Twumasi (67’ – Daniels), Maltese (67’ – Hammond), Lusher (67’ – Martin)