Coming into the match on the back of seven games without defeat, Hoddesdon were full of confidence, while Barkingside, sitting bottom of the table, were hungry for points. The hosts dominated much of the first half, creating several chances. After just eight minutes, Connor Bolton delivered a dangerous cross from the left that Bailey Eden was inches away from converting.

Rain began to fall, making the pitch heavy, but Hoddesdon continued to press. Wilkinson came close with a header on 32 minutes, and Patryk Bozych almost produced a moment of magic before the break when he spotted the keeper off his line and attempted a long-range effort from just inside the Barkingside half, only for the ball to curl agonisingly past the left post. Despite the efforts, the score remained 0–0 at half-time.

Three minutes into the second half, Hoddesdon finally broke through. A well-worked short corner routine saw Arnis Lala whip in a cross that Jack Gibbs, up from the back and left unmarked, headed down into the net from six yards. Abana, Richards and Lala were looking dangerous as the tempo remained and there was to be no let up.

The rain intensified, but Hoddesdon kept pushing and nearly scored a comical second when a shot rebounded off the post, struck the Barkingside keeper in the face, and rolled just wide. From the resulting corner, Bailey Eden delivered into the six-yard box where Connor Bolton spun his marker and stabbed home with his left foot to make it 2–0. The celebratory slide was well received by everyone (except the groundstaff), though Hadley Richards suffered a bloody nose after an accidental clash with Bozych, forcing a shirt change.

Barkingside’s afternoon went from bad to worse when Omario Rosen was shown a second yellow card and sent off, leaving them with ten men for the closing stages.

The match finished 2–0 to Hoddesdon, who have transformed a frustrating start to the season into a fantastic run of form. Now unbeaten in eight games, they climb to 17th in the league and are looking firmly upward rather than down. Barkingside never let their heads drop and had their own chances to score but Liam Nugent continued his excellent form and deserved his clean sheet.

Next up for Simon Riddle's men is a home clash against Enfield Borough on Tuesday, and with confidence soaring, fans are encouraged to come down to Lowfield and support the team as we aim to keep the momentum going.

MotM: Freddie Wilkinson – An excellent performance as he seems to improve with every game.

HTFC Team: Nugent, Agnew, Richards, Reid, Gibbs, Bozych, Eden (Casey ’66), Abana (Jordon ’78), Lala (Evans ’83), Wilkinson, Bolton (Smith ’83)