Saturday 8th August, 2026 | Buckhurst Hill 2-0 Barking | Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round | Attendance : 201
By Harry Biggs
Mark Williams’ Buckhurst Hill side breezed through to the next round of the FA Cup in The Stags’ first competitive game of the season following a 2-0 victory over familiar Step 5 opponents Barking on a sunny afternoon at Roding Lane.
The hosts started the contest the better out of the two sides with new signing Max Gnandi denied a run at goal by the linesman’s flag after just seven minutes.
The Stags went in front in the contest after only nine minutes when Arthur Massingham netted another against Barking and he danced through the Barking defence before bending an effort into the bottom corner to make it a repeat of the play-off final so far.
The side in black and blue continue to dominate play from then on and eventually were able to double their lead when the clock struck 35 minutes with Suley Zuhdu completing his homecoming, after the striker put The Stags two goals up. Christian North was given the assist accolade for this goal after his kick flew over the Barking defence and into the stride of Zuhdu, who took the ball down before cooling finishing it pass Simson in the visitors net.
The second half brought a few more chances to the game for the visitors with Alfie Attrill making it a strong start for Barking but the first effort of the half was put just wide of the post.
Demmy Nicolaou was the first player of the half to grant The Stags a chance at goal but unlike Massingham and Zuhdu, the midfielder was unable to convert his chance after his shot was easily saved despite a good move from Hill.
A strong penalty claim drew the attention of the referee following screams from the home supporters but despite substitute Harry Lusher being bundled in the penalty area, the man in the middle wasn’t interested and waved the claims away.
Another chance arose for Barking with fifteen minutes left to play with Ryan Pickles having a great chance to pull one back for the visitors but luckily for Hill, his shot was blazed into the nearby field.
The Stags were luckily able to hold on as the game drew to a close with Christian North denying Barking a consolation goal in the closing stages with a fine save down low.
The victory meant Buckhurst Hill would advance to the Preliminary Round of the Emirates FA Cup and will now travel to take on Biggleswade in the next round on 22nd August.
TEAM :
North 🧤, Foster, Williams ©, Fernandez, McQueen, Brown, Gnandi, Nicolaou 🟨, Dolan, Zuhdu ⚽️, Massingham 🟨⚽️
SUBSTITUTES :
Vanderpuije, Lusher (69’ – Zuhdu), Thompson (57’ – Massingham), Rowland (78’ – Dolan), Edwards (73’ – Foster), Ince, Maltese (58’ – Gnandi)