Match Preview

Hoddesdon make the long trip down the A127 this week, as they face Southend Manor in a rearranged fixture on Tuesday evening.

This game was originally scheduled for Saturday the 12th of August, but upon arrival at the ground, it was clear that the surface was unfit for purpose and the referee waved it off before a ball was kicked. With many bare patches, huge cracks and debris at the side of a rock hard, bone dry pitch, the surface was deemed unsafe and Hoddesdon had to make the hour and a half journey back to Hertfordshire without any football being played.

The game was then rescheduled for Saturday the 10th of February but that fixture was also postponed due to wet weather. Fortunately, the team found out before they travelled on that occasion, but a rescheduled game on a Tuesday evening instead of a Saturday afternoon will frustrate the players and management even further and surely prompt the side to work even harder to secure the win.

Southend Manor was formed in 1955 by Gil and Doris Medcalf in Southend-on-Sea as a team of 10 and 11-year-old boys. Gil Medcalf had played for Eton Manor both before and after the Second World War. The 1970s and early 1980s saw a domination of the Borough Combination. In twelve seasons Southend Manor were league champions six times and runners up three times. In the early 1980s entry was gained to the newly formed Southend & District Alliance and two titles were gained in the first three years. With such a good pedigree it must be wondered why Southend Manor were unable to progress to higher standards of football. The problem was that the club used council pitches that were only available for a limited part of the season. However, after many years of pressure Southend Manor was allowed to use Southchurch Park (originally sharing with Southend Athletic Club) which had many of the attributes needed for Senior Football.

In 1996–97 the club reached the last 32 of the FA Vase. The 2001–02 season saw the Club win the League Cup against Sawbridgeworth and the Charity Shield against League Winners Brentwood. The Eastern Floodlit Cup was won in the season 2002–03. During the summer of 2007, a new all Seated 'Main' stand was erected replacing the ageing Athletics stand. A further covered terraced stand was erected during the summer of 2009 to complement the main stand at the Arena. A fifth-placed finish in the 2010–11 Essex Senior League confirmed a fourth consecutive top six finish for the club.

Following relegation from step 5 to step 6 & to The Thurlow Nunn League, Gary Monti was appointed manager at the start for the 2023–24 season.

Upon formation, Southend Manor played at the Oakwood Recreation Ground, later moving to the Victory Sports Ground. In 1985, club moved to Southchurch Park. In 1991, floodlights were installed at South Church Park, with an attendance of 1,521 watching a friendly against Southend United to inaugurate them

Our hosts on Tuesday are unfortunately in danger of finishing inside the bottom three and currently occupy 21st place, second bottom in the table.

Manager Gari Monti chose to depart the club in early November to pursue other ventures. Former White Ensign Assistant Manager Nick Wibrow returned to the club to take over the reigns, alongside assistant Mark Royal, formerly of Biggleswade United, Colney Heath, Leverstock Green, Kempston Rovers, Northwood and Tilbury. Police Officer by day, Wibrow was handed a daunting task to try and 'arrest' the slide down the table, but just 3 wins in 18 means 'Manor' face the prospect of falling out of the league altogether.

Their league record this season reads P40 W11 D4 L25 amassing 37 points with a goal difference of -31. Their home record at Southchurch Park is better than their away record however, reading P20 W8 D1 L11 F42 A43. Just eleven wins all season, home and away, is only matched by bottom placed team Burham Ramblers and the seaside outfit will be desperate to snatch all three points. Anything less than a win for the hosts will plunge them firmly into trouble with just one game to play, away to 18th placed Clapton.

Southend Manor, however, do have pedigree when it comes to facing the Lilywhites.

The last time these sides met was at Lowfield on the 14th of October, where Manor executed a perfect smash and grab 1-0 win, courtesy of a 22nd minute George Hart goal.

A game that started promisingly was transformed in the 22nd minute when the visitors scored what can only be described as a ‘soft’ goal with a rare attack on the home goal. Early pressure from the Lilywhites put the visitors on the back foot and should perhaps have produced a goal in only the 5th minute when Jack Gibbs glanced a free header wide of the mark from a corner on the left. The visitors had been penned in their own half but soon gave an indication that they couldn’t be underestimated when they struck the bar with a 20-yard free-kick that they had earned from their first real attack. The Lilywhites continued to stay on top and a second good opportunity fell them in the 20th minute when Tyler Blackwood cleverly created an opening for himself but, with only the keeper to beat, he shot over the target. The tide turned two minutes later, though, when the visitors broke up their left and were allowed to work their way towards the near post and squeeze the ball under Liam Nugent for George Hart to bundle home. This goal seemed to unsettle that Lilywhites and the visitors were, in turn, clearly encouraged by it. Just before the half-hour mark, Liam Nugent was forced into making a good save and moments later things went from bad to worse for the Lilywhites when Ben Clarke was sin-binned for venting his frustration on the referee.

The half finished with the Manor getting on top and forcing another save from Liam Nugent low down to his right.

The second opened with the Lilywhites still struggling to find any rhythm and manager Simon Riddle was forced to quickly make substitutions in an effort to turn matters around. They appeared to be working when the Lilywhites suffered a further setback when Callum Bennison was sin-binned for showing dissatisfaction with the referee’s decision on what he felt should have been a goal-kick rather than a corner. Despite again having to spend ten minutes with ten men, the Lilywhites began to take the upper hand and with nine minutes of added-time being played, they had two good opportunities to equalise. Firstly, Sam Cross hit a free-kick from the edge of the box over the bar, and then a Hadley Richards corner from the right caused chaos in the six-yard area and the visitors were very relieved when they managed to scramble the ball away from close to their goal-line. Man-of-the Match that day was goalkeeper Liam Nugent and perhaps the lads will be desperate to avenge both that defeat, as well as the fruitless 3 hour return trip back in August.

Last time out, Southend Manor lost 3-2 at home to NW London on Saturday just gone. Goals from Louie Rodmell and Reece Latimer were not enough to take anything from that fixture and now the pressure is on to find something from Tuesday's game. They currently sit second bottom in the form table too, with 1 win and 5 defeats from their last 6 outings, conceding 19 and scoring 6. Just one win in the last 16, a 2-1 home win v Cannon's Wood in March, has seen the Essex based club slide further and further down the league table and now with two games to go, they stare down the barrel of relegation.

The afore mentioned George Hart is the clubs leading goalscorer this season with 9 goals in 18 games and he can still produce a display to trouble the Lilywhites. Tom White and Luke Jackson are not far behind on 7 goals each. Midfielder Ashley Drury is the leading appearance maker this season with 38 games. Captain Reece Latimer has 32 appearances this season, along with 5 goals and manager Nick Wibrow will be hoping his skipper can lead the team to a win and an unlikely escape from demotion.

For Hoddesdon, Connor Bolton was presented with the golden boot award at the weekend's presentation evening, being five goals clear of his nearest rival, but it remains to be seen whether or not he will have to give the award back as a result of the final two league games of the season.

Multi award winner Jack Gibbs will surely captain the side, alongside defensive partner Jack Riddle, both of whom are in good form of late. The race for the Man of the Match Award this season is still very much on and so all the players will look to put in an impressive display and snatch the final piece of silverware for the season. Regular stopper Liam Nugent remains on the sidelines with injury, so we expect the excellent Ethan Gannon to continue to deputise. Manager Simon Riddle is still without a number of players due to injury, including midfielder Harrison Cage and forward Narcis Felip, but such is the depth of the squad, we still anticipate a hotly contested game on Tuesday night. Midfielder Blue Gallagher grabbed the only goal of the game during Saturday's away trip to Park View and he comes into the game buoyant off the back of that hard fought win.

A ninth place finish is still possible for the Lilywhites and three points has to be the goal on Tuesday.

Entry at The Southchurch Park Arena is £5 adults, £5 concessions and FREE for Under 16s.

Kick off is 7:45pm and all travelling support is warmly welcomed.

Enjoy the game.

#COYL