As we reached the last game of the year and waved goodbye to 2023, we were left to ponder on what we were about to encounter next. The first part of the season had seen a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde scenario for our favourite team in Blue and White (although today they were in Yellow and Green), with some good results and performances and others that were exactly the opposite. All of this left The Bridge in 10th place and bang in the middle of the table with 22 of the 38 games played. The last game of 2023 was in the first category and the result was a decent point against a decent side in West Essex, who confusingly don’t play in West Essex, or even Essex at all, but in East London!

In a contest that probably saw The Bridge as the better side but with West Essex having the better scoring opportunities, the teams had to settle for a share of the spoils that left West Essex in 7th place and The Bridge in 10th, as mentioned, as 2023 came to a close.

The home side were the first on the scoresheet after 27 minutes when Zak Oliver put them one up with a bit of a scrappy goal but, as the West Essex media feed mentioned, it may not have been pretty but it was a goal that gave West Essex the lead and many a game has been won with a scrappy goal. This game, however, wasn’t going to fall into that category as The Bridge quickly hit back when Michael Corderoy parried a Jon Evans shot and Michael Dixon headed home the rebound to level the scores after 34 minutes.

In a game not helped by some questionable refereeing decisions, West Essex had the better chances to add to their tally with Oliver and Ruben Bartlett-Antwi both having chances that Lemar Joseph-Johnson kept out and the half ended with the sides level.

It was good to see Sam Owusu back for The Bridge after missing recent games through injury but Jon Evans was probably the most effective player in Yellow and Green as the game continued in the second forty-five in a similar vein to the first forty-five. With a decent home record that saw 8 wins and a draw before this game kicked off, any points that The Bridge could take away from this game would be good and, in the end, they deserved the one that they left E17 with.

There were some late chances for West Essex to take all the points available but Bridge keeper Joseph-Johnson was equal to anything that the home side attempted and kept out David Bell and Ike Oliya as the game entered its final stages. The 1-1 draw was a fair result in the end and both teams will be looking for a good start to 2024 to progress in an upwards direction and to force themselves into a play-off place. Whether either team manages to achieve that will be revealed in time and there’s still a lot of football to be played as 2024 unfolds. A day in East 17 and a decent point to take back to Hullbridge, not a bad end to the year, and high hopes for what comes next…
There remains just one thing left to say…

Consistently good, Jon is usually in my little group of names when deciding on MOM, and, once again, he did more than most to ensure The Bridge left E17 with a point, so I make no apologies for awarding Jon the MOM again, and look forward to him being in contention, as usual, for MOM’s in 2024.