It was a 4-2 win at home to St Margaretsbury in early October that saw Hoddesdon through to the next round of this cup with goals from Cross, Prentice and a Blackwood double, that set up this tie against Benfleet. On that day, a crowd of nearly 100 witnessed Hoddesdon come up trumps on derby day, and there will be hopes that Hoddesdon can go deep into this competition. Home advantage in the cup is not to be sniffed at and despite the weekends game v Tower Hamlets being called off due to bad weather, the Lilywhites will be in buoyant mood after claiming a point away to top of the table Hutton last time out.

Even though form is never a decider in the cup, Benfleet have impressed so far this season and find themselves 3rd in the table at the time of writing. They also boast the best goal difference in the league with +30, scoring 45 times and conceding just 15. They also have 4 or 5 games in hand over first and second place and will sit comfortably top of the Thurlow Nunn Division 1 South, should they win those games, so Hoddesdon are in for a tough evening.

Benfleet arrived at this round of the competition courtesy of a 4-2 penalty shoot out home win against Cannons Wood, after a 0-0 stalemate at the end of 90 minutes. Having lost in the first round of both the FA Vase and the Essex Senior Cup, Benfleet will be keen to ensure they remain in the hat for the last cup competition they are in. To ensure that happens, the visitors will look to their prolific players to ensure a safe passage to the next round. Three players lead the way in the goalscoring charts for Benfleet, with Rhys Fatt, Max Jobson and Lawrence Taylor all notching 6 times so far this season. Captain Aaron Russell will no doubt have a say over proceedings to as he looks to steer his side to another victory. Manager Lee Scott, who took over from Alec Salmon earlier in the season after he moved to Enfield, still plays for the side and it will be interesting to see if he features in the match day squad. He didn't feature in Benfleets last game this past Saturday, an impressive 3-2 win at home to May & Baker in the league, with the winner coming late on in the 93rd minute, courtesy of the afore mentioned Rhys Fatt.

For Hoddesdon, much confidence can be taken from their last outing, claiming a solid away point at top of the table Hutton. It was a vastly improved second half performance, full of character and grit, that saw them snatch a draw at New Lodge, courtesy of a Callum Bennison strike in the 83rd minute, after coming off the bench late in the game. Man of the Match that evening was George Rankin, and the young winger continues to impress, coupling his pace with his trickery, and could prove to once again be Hoddesdons 'go to' player. George was also Man of the Match the last time these two teams played each other. Unfortunately, on that occasion, Hoddesdon were on the wrong end of a 6-0 drubbing and will be hoping there is no repeat of that performance in the cup.

Alongside this competition, Hoddesdon also remain in the Herts Senior Charity Trophy (where they entertain Cuffley at home on the 12th of December) and so cup football has proved a welcome distraction to a bumpy league campaign thus far. With a history of being a good cup side, Manager Simon Riddle will be looking to put more silverware in the cabinet this season, but not before clearing this next hurdle first.

Check out Benfleets website HERE and you can follow them on Twitter/X HERE.

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