Did I mention that this is a big game?... Well, this is a big game!
A win for Sawbo (don’t even think about it!) would mean that they would be just two points behind The Bridge with three games to play, albeit FC Clacton are all but mathematically gone and will occupy the bottom place and Stansted would need to win most of their remaining games to catch us. Stansted’s game in hand is at home to Little Oakley on Tuesday the 8th, but they travel to Barking on Saturday, so points won’t be easy to come by (he said with fingers crossed).

Sawbo are, obviously, 18th in the ESL table, one below The Bridge. They have 27 points from 34 matches, with 7 wins, 6 draws, and 21 defeats. The goal difference is a massive -45, with 49 scored and 94 conceded (second only to FC Clacton). Home form is poor and 19th best in the division, with 3 wins, 4 draws, and 10 defeats from their 17 matches. 23 for and 45 against gives Sawbo a -22 home GD.

Here’s what they have been doing in their last six matches…
Sawbridgeworth Town – season 24/25 – The Last Six
(most recent results first)
Stanway Rovers 3 Sawbridgeworth Town 1
Not a surprise that Sawbo lost this one at the league leaders, who are still a team that are very much in form. 3-0 down to goals from Reece Conway, Ross Wall and a George Okoye penalty, Sawbo got a consolation from Morgan Arnold but that was all they had to show for their day.

Sawbridgeworth Town 2 Romford 0
A good home win against an admittedly out-of-form Romford, as Sawbo take the three vital points. Austen Garrod and Luke Ellis are the scorers.

Sawbridgeworth Town 3 Little Oakley 3
A decent home draw against a good Little Oakley side who led 2-0 with goals from Daniel Rowe and Noah Alsterlind before Elijah Grant made it 1-2. Bobby Badham then put The Acorns further ahead before Luke Ellis and Austen Garrod pulled it back for Sawbo.

Barking 3 Sawbridgeworth Town 2
2-0 up in this one, and then Barking staged a fightback and won it in the 92nd minute. Elijah Grant had scored the two Sawbo openers (one a penalty) before Barking’s second-half comeback saw Akilijo Balliu, Juwon Akintunde, and Michele Maccari win it with the late Barking goals.

Sawbridgeworth Town1 Frenford 0
Sawbo needed just a single goal to take the victory here, and Luke Ellis provided it in the 16th minute.

Sawbridgeworth Town 1 Stansted 1
1-0 down to their relegation-threatened opponents, a vital 86th-minute goal from Elijah Grant saved the day for Sawbo. Charlie Adams had given Stansted a 7th-minute lead before the vital equaliser.

Player Appearances
1 Austen Garrod 28
2 Joshua Fox 27
3 Stephen Smith 26
4 Daniel Sayer 23
5 Elijah Mambombe 21
6 Danny Palmer 21
7 Owen Braddick 18
8 Kieran David 18
9 William Kiers 18
10 Nabil Musah 18
11 George Lusardi 16
12 Shane Bambridge 13
13 Elijah Grant 13
14 Thomas Lawrence 13
15 Jude Collins 12
16 George Spillane 12
17 Isaac Stevens 12
18 Jimmy Parker 11
19 Morgan Arnold 10
20 Jaydon Charles 10
21 Jeremy Ebelebe 10
22 Mason Cook 9
23 Lemachi Nwanna-skeete 9
24 Myles Weekes 8
25 Ethan Richards 7
26 Jeffrey Agyeman 6
27 Luke Ellis 5
28 Joseph Fernandez 5
29 Freddie Griffiths 5
30 Charles Opoku 5
31 Martel Reid-Yethman 5
32 Reece Barnett 4
33 Antony Croydon 4
34 Jehovany Kinzonzi 4
35 Jacob Waring 4
36 Cian Aldridge 3
37 Teddy Hall 3
38 George Hamill 3
39 Miraldie Ndunzi 3
40 Samuel Owusu 3
41 Freddie Pheby 3
42 Kaspar Sacevicius 3
43 Micheal Toner 3
44 Costi Varsoi 3
45 Mike Appiah 2
46 Inrahim Barrie 2
47 Charlie Burns 2
48 Jason Carttini 2
49 Jason Cattini 2
50 Roman Chapps 2
51 Joe Cloake 2
52 Marcus Dowdeswell 2
53 Rory Harding 2
54 Ahkenaton Oguoko 2
55 Kenny Oguoko 2
56 Darnell Ramsay 2
57 Jadon Ata-Gyamfi 1
58 Astin Brace 1
59 Jason Brown 1
60 Daniel Calin 1
61 Euan Cliff 1
62 Kamarni Collington 1
63 Kyle Finlayter-Lynch 1
64 Samuel Hick 1
65 Yousuf Hoque 1
66 Joshua Kaikai 1
67 David Kieran 1
68 Alfie Munn 1
69 Cameron Pike 1

Links: Another of those teams to use a large number of players as they try to get it right, or right enough, to stay in the ESL. I would hazard a guess that Samuel Owusu is Sam Owusu, now captain of promotion-chasing Woodford Town and, of course, a previous Bridge captain.

Everyone else has no connection to The Bridge…unless, of course, you know of one I don’t.

Founded: 1897
Ground: Crofters End, Sawbridgeworth (2,500, 175 seated)
Chairman: Steve Day
First Team Manager: Ben Taylor
Assistant Manager: Shane Bambridge
Head Coach: Mark Mezan
Physio: Sureyya Kephales
Nickname: The Robins

CLUB HONOURS & RECORDS
East Herts League
Champions 1923–24
Essex Olympian League
Champions 1971–72
Herts Junior Cup
Champions 1926–27
Herts Senior Centenary Trophy
Champions 1990–91, 1993–94

Records
Best FA Cup performance: First qualifying round, 2016–17
Best FA Vase performance: Third round replay, 1980–81
Attendance: 610 vs Bishop's Stortford

The Robins joined the Essex Senior League in 1976-77 and have been there ever since, except, controversially, in 2023-24 when they were allocated against their wishes to the Spartan South Midlands League Premier. Their best performance was a 2nd place finish in 1994-95. The Bridge finished 14th out of 15th that season.

The Bridge and Sawbridgeworth Town – recent meetings:

Season 2024/2025
Saturday, 2nd November 2024
The Bridge 3 Sawbridgeworth Town 3
101 were at The T.J. Cottis Stadium to see Louis Bragg put The Bridge in front after 4 minutes before Kieran David levelled it. A Tobias Braney penalty and a second goal from Louis made it 3-1 at half-time. The Robins fought back in the second half, and goals from Jude Collins and Elijah Mambombe ensured a share of the points.

Season 2023/2024
Whilst The Bridge were finishing in 12th place with 49 points from 38 games in the ESL, as mentioned, Sawbo had been allocated to the Spartans South Midland League Premier and finished 19th out of 19 with 14 points from their 38 matches, winning just twice. Therefore, the two teams did not meet this season.

Season 2022/2023
Sawbo finished 18th in the ESL Premier with 29 points from 38 matches. Enfield were Champions with 92 points whilst The Bridge were busy competing in the Isthmian League North and, therefore, the two teams did not meet this season.

Season 2021/2022
Sawbo finished 19th in the ESL Premier with 27 points from 40 matches. Meanwhile, The Bridge were staging their “Great Escape” in the Isthmian League North and finished 16th with 39 points. With the two teams in different leagues, they didn’t meet this season.

Sawbridgeworth Town This season:
League positions in brackets are current position
Home: Won 3, Drawn 4, Lost 10 (F23, A45 = -22) Pts 13 ESL 19th
Just 3 wins from their 17 home matches:
Ilford (15) 1-0
Frenford 14() 1-0
Romford (8) 2-0
4 draws against:
FC Clacton (20) 3-3
Saffron Walden Town (6) 1-1
Stansted (19) 1-1
Little Oakley (9) 3-3
And 10 defeats:
Woodford Town (2) 0-2
Buckhurst Hill (12) 0-2
Stanway Rovers (1) 4-7
Great Wakering Rovers (5) 1-2
Athletic Newham (13) 2-4
Halstead Town (10) 2-5
Barking (4) 0-2
Takeley (3) 0-6
Benfleet (16) 1-4
White Ensign (7) 1-3

Away: Won 4, Drawn 2, Lost 11 (F26, A49 = -23 Pts 14 ESL 17th
4 away wins at:
Benfleet (16) 3-2
Stansted (19) 2-0
Ilford (15) 4-3
Halstead Town (10) 3-1
2 draws:
Buckhurst Hill (12) 3-3
Hullbridge Sports (17) 3-3
And 11 defeats:
Frenford (14) 0-2
Little Oakley (9) 0-3
Romford (8) 1-5
Saffron Walden Town (6) 1-4
Great Wakering Rovers (5) 1-6
West Essex (11) 0-3
FC Clacton (20) 0-3
Athletic Newham (13) 1-2
Woodford Town (2) 1-3
Barking (4) 2-3
Stanway Rovers (1) 1-3

Up for the cup!
In the FA Cup, The Robins exited at the Extra Preliminary Round Stage, losing 0-5 at home to FC Romania of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, Level 9, step 5.
In the FA Vase First Qualifying Round, The Robins went out, losing 4-1 at Brantham Athletic (Eastern Counties League Premier Division, Level 9, step 5).
In the Hertfordshire FA Senior Challenge Cup First Round, Sawbo were beaten 2-1 at home by Baldock Town of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, Level 9, step 5.
The Robins were drawn away in both the Errington and Peter Butcher. FC Clacton beat The Robins 2-1 in the Errington Challenge Cup Preliminary Round, and Romford won by the same 2-1 scoreline in the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy First Round.

The Bridge: 1 win; 3 draws; 2 defeats; For 6; Against 9; GD -3; Points 6
Sawbridgeworth Town: 2 wins; 2 draws; 2 defeats; For 10; Against 10; GD 0; Points 8

The season-long stats are in Hullbridge’s favour for once, with more wins, fewer defeats, and more goals scored and fewer conceded. More points, one position higher, and a better win percentage make good reading. However, if we talk about the last six games, the form is in Sawbo’s favour. With good wins over Romford and Frenford and a decent draw with Little Oakley. So, all to play for then!

Expect to see most of these in the Sawbo line-up as they've been regulars in the last six:
Jimmy Parker, Owen Braddick, Lemachi Nwanna-skeete, Stephen Smith, Morgan Arnold, George Lusardi, Elijah Grant, Austen Garrod, Myles Weekes, and Joshua Fox.

All the ESL fixtures are on Saturday this week, and the top end is fairly well sorted already. Every time Woodford win a match, Stanway do likewise, and that probably won't change. The play-off teams look to be sorted, too, as SWT are now 8 points adrift of GWR. So, how about the bottom end?

FC Clacton can reach 28 points if they win all their remaining games, so mathematically, they can still catch Stansted and Sawbridgeworth, but it's very unlikely. Stansted and Sawbo can both reach 39 points, which would, without stating the obvious, take them above The Bridge! Stansted are at Barking on Saturday, so we’ll keep a close eye on that one! Here's something to make you worry...their other four games are all at home, against Little Oakley, SWT, Ilford & GWR. Sawbo have 27 points, and their 3 remaining games after the big one on Saturday are: Takeley away, West Essex at home, and White Ensign away. My win coefficient, based on league position and form, has Sawbo as slight favourites! And here’s the worst bit of all…I’m not able to go to Sawbo on Saturday, so will be constantly watching FWP on my phone with fear and dread all afternoon!

OMG, Just win on Saturday, then, and stop worrying! Let's hope we get that win, and always remember…