After the win at FC Clacton last time out, it’s back to Lower Road and a home matchup with Benfleet as The Bridge attempt to get some sort of run going before 2024 comes to an end.

Opponents Benfleet are currently in 14th place with 18 points from their 17 games played. Six wins, 11 defeats, and a complete aversion to draws have produced 30 goals for and 32 against for a -2 GD. From their 9 away matches, they have won 1 and lost 8 with a -7 GD (12 for, 19 against), so they don’t travel well, and let’s hope that continues for one more match at least!

Here’s what Benfleet have been doing in their last six matches…
Benfleet – season 24/25 – The Last Six (Seven)
(most recent results first)
Benfleet v Barking P-P
The match scheduled for Woodside was postponed after a pitch inspection, due to a waterlogged pitch.

Takeley 1 Benfleet 0
A narrow defeat at Takeley with the game's only goal coming in the 81st minute and scored by Jordan Wescott.

Benfleet 3 Athletic Newham 0
This was a good home win against decent opponents in Athletic Newham. It was 0-0 at half-time, but the home side played a good second half and won it with goals from Nathan Saunders, Sonny Hartman, and Toby Dickinson.

Saffron Walden Town 3 Benfleet 2
A decent 284 attendance watched SWT win this one 3-2 but that doesn't tell the whole story. SWT had goalkeeper Jake Anderson sent off in the 61st minute with the score at 1-1. Billy Carter had put Benfleet one up before a Cameron Harris OG made it 1-1 after 18 minutes. After the red card, Adalberto Pinto gave SWT a 74th-minute lead before John Joe-Slater thought he had saved the day for Benfleet in the 90th minute only for Kevin Wright to get the 97th-minute winner.

Brantham Athletic 2 Benfleet 1
Isuzu FA Vase Second Round
Benfleet bowed out of The Vase at the second-round stage losing at Brantham Athletic from the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division (step 5, level 9). Ben Dixon and Calum Griffiths put the home side 2-0 up before a 94th-minute Benfleet consolation from Mason Shave.

White Ensign 1 Benfleet 0
A single goal is enough for Ensign who defeat the visitors despite playing with ten men from the 8th minute as Billy Bonham-Dare receives a red card.

Stanway Rovers 2 Benfleet 0
Table-topping Stanway Rovers are too good for Benfleet and win 2-0 with goals from Jamie Bennett and Joe Turpin.

First Team Squad & appearances:
Player Appearances
1 Billy Carter 20
2 Taylor Lawrence 20
3 Nathan Saunders 20
4 Cameron Harris 19
5 Mason Shave 19
6 Florent Gislette 18
7 Toby Dickinson 17
8 Sonny Hartman 17
9 Matthew Stevens-Brown 17
10 Billy Shulver 16
11 Max Jobson 14
12 Aaron Russell 13
13 Billy Purdy 12
14 Cory Rider 12
15 Joel Bevan 11
16 Rhys Fatt 10
17 Jack Frost 10
18 Albie Keith 7
19 Henry Sims 7
20 John-Joe Slater 7
21 Callum Legg 6
22 Harrison Whitelaw 6
23 Louie Rodmell 5
24 Michael Fitzgibbon 3
25 Grant Frances 3
26 Arshak Sargsyan 2
27 Teddy Warwick 2
28 Joshua Blackburn 1
29 Dom Goggin 1
30 Ben Lane 1
31 Kelson McFarlane 1
32 Wale Odedoyin 1
33 Frankie Stone 1
34 Ben Wood 1

Last Season:
The teams didn’t meet last season as Benfleet were playing and winning the Eastern Counties Football League Division One South (Thurlow Nunn League). They won the title and promotion with 103 points from 42 matches. Wormley Rovers finished runners-up on 97 points, so it was a comfortable title win with 33 wins, 4 draws, and just 5 defeats. Goal difference was +76 (108 for and 32 against).

Club Facts:
Founded: 1922
Ground: Woodside Park, Benfleet, Essex SS7 4PA
Chairman: Dan Wright
First Team Manager: Lee Scott
Assistant Manager: Mike Cundy
Physio; Dave Saxton

Club History
Benfleet Football Club are based in South Benfleet, Essex, England. They are currently members of the Essex Senior League and play at the Woodside Stadium.

The club was established in 1922 and were initially named Benfleet United. After merging with Parkfields Athletic, they were renamed Benfleet Rangers. The club played in the Southend & District League and won the Essex Junior Cup in 1967–68. After winning the league title in 1971–72, the club joined the Essex Olympian League and dropped the Rangers part of the name. They were runners-up in their first two seasons in the league. In 1981 the league gained a second division, with Benfleet becoming members of Division One. They were league runners-up again in 1981–82 before the league was renamed the Essex Intermediate League in 1986. The club were subsequently champions and Essex Intermediate Cup winners in 1988–89.

In 1995–96 Benfleet finished second-from-bottom of Division One and were relegated to Division Two. In 1997, the club considered joining the Essex Senior League, however the cost of enclosing the club's Woodside Park ground proved too prohibitive. They won the Essex Premier Cup in 2002–03. The league reverted to its original name in 2005, and the club were Division Two champions in 2006–07, earning promotion to the renamed Premier Division. After three seasons in the Premier Division, they were relegated back to Division One at the end of the 2009–10 season. The 2013–14 season ended with them being relegated to Division Two, and the club resigned from the league midway through the following season.

Benfleet then re-entered the Essex Olympian League in Division Three for the 2015–16 season, going on to win the division and secure promotion to Division Two. At the end of the 2017–18 season, the club successfully applied for promotion to the new Division One South of the Eastern Counties League, a three-division jump. The 2023–24 season saw Benfleet win the Division One South title, earning promotion to the Essex Senior League.

Ground
The club originally played at the recreation ground in South Benfleet, which was located on a former army camp behind the shops on the High Street. There were initially no facilities and players had to change in the public toilets at the recreation ground entrance. A pavilion was subsequently built at the end of Brook Road, with Benfleet playing on the pitch opposite it. However, when the club requested permission to build a clubhouse, local residents objected. As a result, they relocated to the Woodside ground on Manor Road.

When they moved up to the Eastern Counties League, the first team began a groundshare at Canvey Island's Park Lane due to the Woodside ground not meeting the required standards, while the remainder of the club's teams remained at Woodside Park in Benfleet. Following upgrade work, the first team returned to Woodside for the start of the 2024–25 season.

Honours
Eastern Counties League
Division One South champions 2023–24
Essex Olympian League
Champions 1988–89
Division Two Champions 2006–07
Division Three Champions 2015–16
Senior Cup winners 1983–84
Senior Challenge Cup winners 1974–75 (shared), 1982–83, 1984–85, 1989–90 (shared)
Denny King Memorial Cup winners 2001–02, 2002–03
Southend & District League
Champions 1971–72
Essex Premier Cup
Winners 2002–03
Essex Intermediate Cup
Winners 1988–89
Essex Junior Cup
Winners 1967–68

Records
Best FA Cup performance: Preliminary round, 2024–25
Best FA Vase performance: Second round, 2024–25

Aha, it’s nice to see some of my favourite green squares appearing on the previous results list shown above. Two wins in the last five and The Bridge are starting to make some progress, but the key now is to continue that slight turnaround in results against Benfleet on Saturday.

Benfleet’s form guide is a bit misleading though, as they have lost by one goal in tough games against Takeley, SWT, and White Ensign and by two at leaders Stanway Rovers. A decent 3-0 win over Athletic Newham is also in there, so make no mistake, Benfleet are no pushovers and a home win on Saturday would be an excellent result.

16th plays 14th and just one point separates the two teams, although Benfleet have two games in hand, so three points would see The Bridge continue their upward movement and see them climb above Saturday’s opponents.

It’s the last home game of 2024 and The Bridge will need your backing to help them over the line in another tough encounter, so you don’t need me to tell you, but I will anyway, let’s show the lads our support and…