The Teams:
The Bridge: 1 Lewis Greene 2 Abdus Salami 3 Mathew Rose 4 Samuel Brogan 5 Roland Oteniya 6 Alex Moss 7 Joe Gardner (Charlie Little 85’) 8 Ross Elsom 9 Tony Stokes (Capt.) (George Smith 59’) 10 Luke Hornsley (Joe Gregory 86’) 11 Freddie Hockey Subs: 12 George Smith 13 Ryan Karrer 14 Charlie Little 15 Joe Gregory 16 Emmanuel Folarin
Grays: 1 Danny Sambridge 2 Jack McQueen 3 Macauley Joynes 4 Lewis Dark (Capt) 5 Rimmel Daniel 6 Lewis Clark 7 Ryan Melaugh (Mitch Hahn 80’) 8 Callum Leahy 9 Anointed Chukwu (Freddy Moncur 68’) 10 David Knight 11 Aron Gordon (Callum Watts 90’) Subs: 12 Mitch Hahn 14 Freddy Moncur 15 James Smith 16 Callum Watts 17 Sam Griek

Sports Report:
This was a strange game for me as I previously lived just outside Grays and since December, I’ve lived in Hullbridge so the old v the new but with my allegiance very much in the Hullbridge camp.

An atmospheric evening under the Lower Road lights saw an ultimately disappointing result for The Bridge who gave Grays a tough test throughout the 90 minutes despite playing a large proportion of that time with ten men after Ross Elsom received two yellows and departed in the 54tm minute.

There were early chances for Grays who started well and looked dangerous and probably should have taken the lead but missed the opportunity when Chukwu missed after rounding Lewis Greene. Hullbridge fought back though and started to get a foothold in the match and created some chances of their own with Luke Hornsley firing high over the bar and Freddie Hockey, making his debut, going close.

There was a huge moment of controversy in the 27th minute as Grays took the lead when they broke, and the linesman’s flag went up and then back down again, and as everyone momentarily stopped Grays pounced, and a square ball was tapped home by Aron Gordon. Cue mass protests from Hullbridge but to no avail as the goal stood and Ross Elsom picked up a yellow for protesting a little too much. The Bridge were still playing well though and went close on 32 when Stoksey hit the bar with a speculative effort, and it ended 1-0 to Grays at half-time.

There were some competitive tackles flying in and one of these resulted in a second yellow for Ross Elsom as he slid in for a challenge in the 54th minute and the two yellows became red. Ross apologised on his Twitter feed after the game but no need mate, we’re in a battle and these things happen. Roared on by the main bulk of the 264 attendance, Hullbridge were as good as, if not better than Grays even with ten and there were some good chances created and Hockey, Joe Gardner and Roland Oteniya went close. The Grays keeper somehow kept out Roland after a goalmouth scramble but I’m still not sure how. At the other end, Lewis Greene also made some vital saves as Grays tried to add a second and Hullbridge piled on the pressure until the end with Otneiya again going close, firing over, before substitute Charlie Little fired across goal and just wide.

A tough result to take and a battling performance against a decent team who are well-placed in the table, but a lot can be taken from the performance, and I hardly noticed that Grays had the extra man. So, it’s five more to go and the fight continues and next up it’s another tough one at AFC Sudbury, another high-placed team.

Sports Star (Hullbridge Man of the match) Alex Moss
Battled hard against the Grays attack and joined The Bridge attack on many occasions down the left side.
(Note. Sports star is my own personal opinion and, as it’s a game of many opinions, I’m sure everyone has their own choice!)