It may not have been Halloween just yet, but it was fast approaching and, in keeping with this scary time of year, an appropriately scary fixture against league leaders Stanway Rovers was the Tuesday night offering in The Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy 1st Round. Stanway have been excellent all season, so it was time to be afraid—be very afraid!

We were welcomed at The T.J.Cottis Stadium by an appropriately misty atmosphere under the lights as we awaited the horrors to follow. Both team line-ups looked strong and Stanway had most of their key players playing, albeit Christian North was in ghoul instead of usual ghoulkeeper Callum Robinson. The Bridge had stirred it up a bit but the names were all familiar as they came out of Steve and Tom’s cauldron!

Expecting a possible nightmare, it was good to see that The Bridge were not outclassed in the early stages of the game and our fears of a slaughter began to disappear into the night. The Bridge were giving the high-flying visitors a good game and neither side were creating too many chances. There were early efforts from Harrison Chatting and George Okoye but they didn’t trouble ghoulkeeper Laurence Whymark who dealt with both.

The Bridge went close when a long ball forward saw Tobias Braney just beat ghoulkeeper North to the ball but his lob over North was cleared by Ricky Tarbard and then the visitors had a couple of efforts from Okoye, saved comfortably by Whymark, and Jamie Bennett’s curling shot went wide.

Jack Unwin was having a good game at right-back and a mazy run saw his pass cut out by North as he tried to play Hullbridge in. Still, the game was fairly even and The Bridge put a nice move together that saw Braney’s shot deflected over and, at the other end, Bennett’s shot was stopped by Whymark. Around the half-hour mark, Rovers did have the ball in the net as Chatting’s ball in was tapped home by Reece Conway but the flag was up for offside, as Rovers stuck pins into their linesman voodoo doll.

Soon after though our nightmares began to come true as a Rovers corner was swung in and Harry Thomas’ header was tipped onto the bar by Whymark but the rebound fell to Joe Debell who, horror of horrors, headed home. The nightmare soon became drastically worse when Rovers found Harry Thomas in the box and Jamie Bennett ghosted in at the far post to convert Thomas’ pass and, like a dagger to the heart, it was 2-0 to the visitors.

It could have been worse as just on half-time Okoye found Bennett who curled his shot wide as the half ended 2-0. The first half had not been too scary and The Bridge were holding their own despite being two down but could they fight back from this position and kill off their opponents? Would it be trick or treat?

Howling at the moon (OK, we weren't really howling at the moon but it works for the report!), the second half began and at the other end from where we were standing Rovers hit the post. It was hard to see exactly what happened but, I think it was Harrison Chatting with the attempt. Jack Hauser replaced captain Jake Wiggins, who had been hurt in an earlier tackle, or attacked by a werewolf, possibly. A couple of Rovers' chances were thwarted by Whymark but The Bridge were still in this but just needed to go for the jugular.

Enter centre-stage Piers Hatcliff who unleashed a spooktacular screamer from 25 yards or so that left North flying like a bat but unable to get anywhere near the ball as it flew into the net. The Bridge were very much back in the game now and as they pressed high up the pitch, a combination error between the visitor's defence and keeper left the ball at Hatcliff’s feet and he calmly rolled the ball into the net for 2-2.

Both teams were now really going for it and creating chances. Okoye was one-on-one with Whymark who saved the shot and then he had a shot saved by Whymark again before a Bridge defender cleared. Bennett had an effort blocked and The Bridge were putting in crosses and corners that were defended by the Rovers' defence. Was there a twist to this pre-Halloween tale or would that worst nightmare of all, penalties, decide the outcome?

Time was ticking but the witching hour was not yet here as The Bridge were awarded another corner that was swung into a very crowded penalty area and Tobias Braney, who had led the line well all night, struck like a vampire bat to put The Bridge 3-2 in front. An excellent second-half fightback by The Bridge was complete.

Like a bat out of hell, The Bridge had fought back to bury their opponents with a chilling performance that put all our fears to rest as we moved into the next round of the Memorial Trophy. In addition to that, the performance gives us a huge confidence boost going into the next ESL game at home to Sawbridgeworth Town. A horrific night for Stanway but an absolute thriller for The Bridge and bring on Saturday as …

A spooktacular effort to get us back in the game and a second that was just as important. Great stuff from Piers, who was the leader of the pack, on a thrilling night at Lower Road where there were some great individual performances and a good all-round team performance to strike fear into the heart of our opponents. Woooooooo!