Saturday 18th March, 2026 | White Ensign 0-1 Buckhurst Hill | Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy Semi Final | Attendance : 76
Mark Williams and his Buckhurst Hill side earned a place in the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy Final after a victory by the seaside in Southend against White Ensign, which means they’re history makers, making it into our first ever cup final in our senior history!
Mark Williams made 4 changes to the side that were victorious away to West Essex last time out. Dino Maras made just his third appearance for The Stags and replaced the injured Christian North between the sticks. Another player who was out injured was Mark Twumasi, who was replaced at the interval against West Essex. He was replaced by Liam Foster in that game, who would also start over him against Ensign. Club captain Ollie Williams returned from suspension and replaced Archie Hammond, who dropped to the bench. The final change saw Ethan Daniels return to the side from injury after he was forced off early in the quarter final against Soul Tower Hamlets. He came in for the unavailable Harvey Brown at centre back.
Onto the action now, and on his return, Ethan Daniels almost gave The Stags the lead just after the 10th minute mark when his header was just inches wide of the Ensign goal.
Ensign had a great chance of their own a few minutes later, but they were unable to put it away with Maras making a good save to deny the hosts.
Just before the half-hour mark, it was The Stags’ turn to try and take the lead, and they would’ve done it if it wasn’t for a wonderful save from the Ensign keeper Jordan Williams, whose spectacular save denied Josh Banfield only his third goal for the club. From the resulting corner a minute later, Ollie Fernandez was the next player to have a go at goal, but his header was put just over from point-blank range!
The Stags finally did eventually take the lead when Harry Lusher headed home in the 29th minute to give Hill the advantage. A wonderful set piece from George Edwards found the header of Lusher, whose header left the keeper rooted to the spot, and he glanced it into the net to put The Stags one step closer to a cup final!
Just before the break, The Stags were denied a second goal, one which would’ve been a worldie, which Arthur Massingham is known for, as his free kick was tipped over the bar at full stretch by the Ensign keeper.
Onto the second half and it wasn’t a half to be proud of from Hill as they were on the back foot for most of the second forty-five with the hosts pushing for an equaliser. It took half an hour for The Stags to obtain a chance worth talking about after Arthur Massingham had another effort saved, one that he should’ve been scoring as he danced through the Ensign defence, only to have his shot saved twice, once on the end of the Ensign keeper and the side from Southend-On-Sea just about held on.
It looked as if we were headed for extra time when White Ensign finally had the ball in the net, but as their wild celebrations were about to start, the referee had blown for a foul inside the area for a push on a Stags defender, to the relief of Buckhurst Hill.
The final moment of the game saw Ensign keeper Jordan Williams sent off for a last-man challenge as Harry Lusher raced through on goal.
The Stags then luckily hang onto the game in added time, and although it wasn’t their finest performance of the season, it was worthy of a place in the final and our first in our senior history!
TEAM:
Maras 🧤, Foster, Edwards, Williams ©, Fernandez 🟨, Daniels 🟨, Massingham, Banfield, Lusher ⚽️, Maltese, Nicolaou 🟨
SUBS:
Hammond (79’ – Massingham), Dolan (61’ – Nicolaou), Mengou, Martin (67’ – Maltese), Buchanan