Match Preview: The Bridge v Saffron Walden Town

The Bridge were unfortunately unable to follow up the win against West Essex with points from the game at Barking so go into this home fixture with SWT looking to, again, get a run going.

Opponents Saffron Walden Town are currently in 7th place with 29 points from their 15 games played. 9 wins, 2 draws, and 4 defeats have produced 34 goals and 18 against for a +16 GD. From their 5 away matches, they have won 4 and lost 1 with a +5 GD (10 for, 5 against). The one defeat was against Barking recently on 9th November, losing the game 1-3.

Here’s what SWT have been doing in their last six matches…
Saffron Walden Town – season 24/25 – The Last Six
(most recent results first)
Saffron Walden Town 1 Stanway Rovers 3
A big game at Catons Lane saw league leaders Stanway take a comfortable away win stopping SWT’s assault on the play off places. A good first half from the visitors saw them lead 3-0 at the break with goals from Tom Maycock and a double from George Okoye. Lee Hursit saw red for SWT who pulled one back in the second half with a Roman Campbell penalty.

Saffron Walden Town 3 Hullbridge Sports 1
The Bridge gave SWT a bit of a fright before ultimately losing 3-1. A good start by the visitors saw Mechack Asuka give them a 2nd minute lead. Ex-Bridge man Solomon Ofori scored from a SWT corner just before half time and the home side went onto win with goals from Ross Wall and Correy Davidson.

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.

Barking 3 Saffron Walden Town 1
A good home win for Barking who led through Henry Mabassa after 5 minutes. A Juwon Akintunde double either side of a Correy Davidson goal for SWT in the 29th minute saw The Blues take the 3 points. Akintunde hit the net in the 24th and 69th minutes to secure the points.

Woodford Town 0 Saffron Walden Town 1
An impressive away victory at high-flying Woodford Town with the solitary goal from Correy Davidson after 57 minutes enough to give SWT the away day points.

Saffron Walden Town 1 Romford 3
With Dan Spinks in charge of SWT after overseeing Romford’s FA Vase win last season, there must have been a smug grin on Romford faces as they took this away victory. Correy Davidson put the home side one up before a second-half comeback saw Romford take the win with two goals from Chris Millar and one from Jake Gordon in the 95th minute.

First Team Squad & appearances:
Player Appearances
1 Roman Campbell 17
2 Ricky Modeste 17
3 Adalberto Pinto 16
4 Jake Anderson 15
5 Emmanuel Okunja 15
6 Sam Deering 14
7 Lee Hursit 13
8 Darren Phillips 12
9 Junior Luke 11
10 Solomon Ofori 11
11 Tom Skelton 11
12 Ross Wall 11
13 Jamie Hursit 9
14 Charlie Morris 9
15 Ben Sartain 9
16 Scott Doe 8
17 Correy Davidson 7
18 Conor Hoskins 6
19 Hassan Nalbant 6
20 Tom Head 5
21 Michael Turner 4
22 James Bransgrove 3
23 Dion Lewis-Kirwan 2
24 Dexter Peters 2
25 Helder Da Moura 1
26 Bagasan Graham 1
27 Ashlee Jones 1
28 Charlie Noakes 1
29 Seth Owens 1
30 Adebola Sotoyinbo 1
31 Kevin Wright 1

Last Season:
The Bloods finished 9th in the ESL last season. The Bridge finished in 12th.
The teams met three times during the season.

Game one was on the 1st of August 2023 at Lower Road and SWT won the game 2-1. Charlie Heatley gave The Bridge a 1-0 lead but SWT fought back and won it with goals from Reece Barrett and Charlie Cole.

Game two was in The FA Vase at Catons Lane and SWT won again, this time by two goals to nil. The goals came from Ryan Melaugh and Jamie Riley.

The third meeting saw The Bridge finally get a little bit of revenge for the other two games, winning 2-1 at Catons Lane in early February. Tom Head was the SWT scorer and Jay Leader and Adam Topley scored for The Bridge.

This Season:
See above, just a few weeks ago, The Bridge travelled to Catons Lane and lost 3-1

Club Facts:
Founded: 1872
Ground: Catons Lane, Saffron Walden
Chairman: Jamie Sharp
First Team Manager: Dan Spinks

Club History
Saffron Walden Town Football Club are based in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. They are currently members of the Essex Senior League and play at Catons Lane.

The club was established as Saffron Walden in 1872 and are the oldest senior football club in Essex. They entered the FA Cup in 1876–77, but withdrew after being drawn against holders Wanderers as they could not afford to travel. Two years later they made their first appearance, losing 5–0 to Upton Park in the first round.

In 1882 the club were founder members of the Essex County Football Association. In 1890 club secretary Arthur Smith, the headmaster of the local Boy's National School, negotiated an annual fee of £3 with Lord Braybrooke for the use of a piece of land in Loft's Lane; previously the club had played on the town common, but had been unable to charge spectators an entrance fee. The club reached the final of the Essex Junior Cup in 1894–95, but lost 3–0 to Barking Excelsior. In 1896–97 they reached the final again, beating Leytonstone 6–1 in a replay.

In 1899 they entered the Haverhill and District League, which they won in 1907–08, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1928–29, 1929–30 and 1933–34. The club also entered the Stansted and District League, the Cambridgeshire League and Hertfordshire and Essex Border League during the same era, winning the Stanstead & District League on seven occasions and the Border League once. In 1926 the club reached the final of the Essex Junior Cup, where a record crowd of 6,000 saw them lose 2–1 to Rainham Athletic.

The club moved to the Essex & Suffolk Border League and the North Essex League, before joining the Spartan League in 1933. In 1936–37 they won Division Two.
After World War II the club moved to the Parthenon League in 1954, and, after a single season, left to join the Hertfordshire County League.

In 1971 the club were founder members of the Essex Senior League. After winning the league in 1973–74, they switched to the Eastern Counties League, which they won in 1982–83. After finishing sixth the following season, the club joined Division Two North of the Isthmian League. In 1996 the club dropped back into the Essex Senior League, following a rule change which deemed the sloping pitch at Catons Lane to be unfit for the league. They won the league in 1999–2000 and were runners-up the following year, but ongoing work on the ground prevented the club from being promoted.

The club tried to transfer to the Eastern Counties League, but was prevented from doing so by the Essex Senior League. In order to fulfil their wish, in 2003–04 the club spent a season outside the league system, playing just friendlies, before rejoining Division One of the Eastern Counties League in 2004. In August 2011 they resigned from the league claiming that their financial situation meant that they could not guarantee that they would complete the 2011–12 season. In 2012 they rejoined the Eastern Counties League.

On 4 July 2012, members voted to convert the club into a Community Benefit Society. They were promoted to the Premier Division at the end of the 2014–15 season after finishing third in Division One.

At the end of the 2017–18 season Saffron Walden were transferred to the Essex Senior League. In 2019–20 the club were top of the table when the league was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021–22 they were league runners-up, qualifying for a promotion play-off against Witham Town, which they lost 3–0.

Ground
In 1890, the club moved to The Meadow on Catons Lane. During the 1927–28 season, the first stand at the ground was erected. In 1937, the main stand at the ground was built. In 1954, the first stand at the ground, built from corrugated iron, was replaced. 1966 FIFA World Cup winner Martin Peters opened the new clubhouse in 1973. Six years later, floodlights were added to Catons Lane, with a friendly against Norwich City inaugurating them, in front of a crowd of 1,500.

Honours
Eastern Counties League
Champions 1982–83
Essex Senior League
Champions 1973–74, 1999–2000
Spartan League
Division Two champions 1936–37
Haverhill and District League
Champions 1907–08, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1933–34
Stansted and District League
Champions 1907–08, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1911–12, 1920–21, 1922–23, 1923–24
Hertfordshire and Essex Border League
Champions 1926–27 (shared)
Essex Senior Challenge Trophy
Winners 1983, 1984, 1985
Essex Junior Cup
Winners 1897

Records
Best FA Cup performance: First round, 1876–77, 1878–79,1880-81
Best FA Vase performance: Fifth round, 1990–91
Most appearances: Les Page, 538
Most goals: Alec Ramsey, 192

Tuesday nights under the Lower Road lights, don’t you just love them, I know I do. Who cares how cold it is (well maybe just a little bit), who cares about the result…we all do, obviously!

This Tuesday night we all care about the result because, once again, The Bridge need a win, and getting one against The Bloods won’t be easy. Still, we laugh in the face of easy (we do, right?), we relish the December cold ( we’ve got thermals, we’ll be like toast), we have nerves of steel ( we’re probably gonna need them) and we’ll be there with all our hope and Bridge battered nerves intact.

I’ve said it before: It’s a tough one. 17th vs. 7th …The Bridge vs. The Bloods, 3 valuable ESL points up for grabs. Can we?

Be there, be loud, be Hullbridge and proud, and…