Benjrider10

Having started well last year, our season went downhill after the unfortunate FA Trophy exit (our luck changed after the misplaced Matt Johnson back pass). That makes tomorrow's game at Cray an important one. We need to bounce back (hopefully in style) and make sure history doesn't repeat itself. And I am optimistic that it won't, now that Mo Faal is with us for a while longer. I have only seen him play twice but was very impressed both times. There is no question he can play at a higher level, so now the "he's off to Bolton" rumour has been parked for the time being, I hope he continues to show the enthusiasm, skill and hard work that I saw when I was back home. He is deceptively skilful with an excellent first touch. Either Alex Read or Billy Britnell will form a good partnership with him and the longer Mo chooses to stay with ETFC, the better a team we will be. Andy Leese's update on the website is timely and positive. I agree with his comment re our defence. Jon Muleba has made a big difference there. Very solid, reliable player who partners Weatherstone well. With Nathan McDonald in goal and Sam Youngs and Ryan Blackman in midfield, the spine to the team is strong. I hope Weatherstone is fit for tomorrow's game. I'll be Twitter-watching at work even more keenly than usual tomorrow - big game for us.

4WF the club posts its accounts on the website (as does the ETFCSS). The most recent published accounts (2017-2018) are there. Look under the "Information" tab, then "Documents". Some will disagree but I think the board do a good job in sharing relevant information at the right time. The website must be factual. No place for Trump-like speculation there. This forum, however, is perfect for "locked and loaded" speculation 😜

Good luck today!! No shortage of strikers with Alex Reed's signing but a real shame Muhammadu Faal is suspended. He has been playing outstandingly well. If our defenders and midfield play as well as they have for the two games I saw while at home, I am optimistic we will get a good result Come on the Town!!

Very disappointed to miss last night's match. Knew coach was due to leave Donkey Lane at 4:15 so left Bush Hill Park at 3:25. Picked my son up from Hertford Rd/Southbury Rd but traffic armageddon meant we mournfully watched the coach head the other way along the A10 at circa 4:45. Apologies if it was us that meant the coach left late 😟 Result has cheered me up though. Won't get to another match until Christmas but the 2 matches I did see this time round leave me optimistic. We are playing some excellent football and the squad has a good balance to it. Fingers crossed for a win on Saturday. This club deserves success in the FA Cup. Could this be our year for first round proper?!

Well the planets certainly aligned for my first home match of the season. What a cracking performance!! Our formation looked solid from front to back and every player did his bit. Standout performances from Ryan Blackman (deservedly man of the match in my opinion) and Muhammadu Faal, but we looked impressive all over the pitch. The first goal followed an exceptional box to box run by Blackman, then a through ball to Faal who took his chance very well. Our passing was slick throughout and I thought the way we marked the Braintree no. 8, who looked to be their chief playmaker, was outstanding. He did look threatening when on the ball but we had done our homework and knew what to expect. I can only recall 1 clear chance for Braintree to equalise in the first half and that was a header from a corner just before half time which fortunately their no.9 looped just wide. I thought our game management through the second half was excellent. Crisp passing and good running off the ball, very few wasted long balls, all extremely encouraging. Nathan MacDonald made a superb save about 15 minutes in to keep us ahead. The second goal near the end was no more than the team performance deserved. Good work by Junior Mubaiyi on the right to win the ball, nice pass to Blackman, first time ball from him set Faal free on quite a long run to goal. It was one of those where every Town supporter holds their breath for what feels like ages as the striker bears down on goal. His first touch was perfect - ahead of him just far enough to draw the keeper off his line but also give him time to pick his spot, which he duly did! Great finish to make the result safe. Terific support as ever on a hot afternoon which must have been draining for both teams. Now fingers crossed for another home draw! The pitch looked superb and the rain forecast through the rest of the week will do it no harm at all. Two more matches for me before I am out of town once again. The whole squad can take great confidence from these recent performances - let's hope we can maintain this form in the league.

Good result yesterday, let's hope we can maintain the momentum against Potters Bar tomorrow. Nice to see genuine competition for places up front. If Josh Davison is not successful after his trial at Charlton (and returns to ETFC), we have 4 very good strikers all pushing for a starting place.

Delighted that Ryan Blackman has committed to ETFC for another season. Unlike 4WF, I enjoy seeing him play 😜. He keeps it simple, which I like. I also remember seeing RB at the ground the Sunday after his nasty, season-ending injury when I was watching the ETFC Ladies first team play (maybe to start physio?) and was impressed by his dedication. Equally delighted that Sam Youngs has signed too, and the feedback from CUFCgeneral re 2 of the 3 new signings is positive. Squad shaping up OK. Keep going, Management Team!!

Seems to me that there is some information on the website already for those on tenterhooks - the 5 pen pictures on scroll make a decent starting point for the squad 😎. Let's see who else comes in. Can't understand why people expect the info to be shared any earlier. Was no different in previous years. Let the management team get on with it - we will find out soon enough. And now, back to the cricket and the women's World Cup .....

Interesting that there is a remarkably similar debate to this one on the Hornchurch forum 🤔 !!! We're all non league fans at heart and just want the best for our club. No point in speculating who's leaving and who's joining. We'll find out soon enough. I think back to the "old" days when I first worked abroad and waited for a monthly letter from my dad with clippings from the Gazette. Now the same gossip is a mere tweet or post away. Enjoy the summer everybody, there's plenty of cricket to keep us entertained 🙂 But please renew!!

Theo, 4WF I understand your frustration and appreciate that you are both long time supporters (EFC and ETFC). You're both better placed than me to comment on the quality of the football over the last 2 seasons - I work abroad and only get to a handful of games each year. My point is we are a supporters owned/run club and if the funding dries up, it's not just the first team that suffers. We've seen the "old" club turn to ashes and I have no intention of seeing the "new" club start spiralling the wrong way. That's why I renewed 2 days ago - 3 season tickets and 7 ETFCSS memberships. Most of my family are members and don't even know it 😋 The debate on the forum is healthy but let's not forget: "no club - no debate". I'd rather have sh** football than no football.

Can somebody explain to me how NOT renewing ETFCSS membership/season tickets timely is going to help build a decent team for 2019/2020? We all know that players come and go each season. I'm as disappointed as anyone that Matt Johnson and Joe Wright have chosen to move on, but that is their call. Let the management team get on with their jobs and let's do our bit by renewing. Very few clubs at our level can afford to keep players on a contract for more than a season at a time. If us supporters hold back renewing, the downward spiral begins.

Very enjoyable match tonight (never mind the traffic and the various magic roundabouts)!! Thought we played some good football at times and was very impressed with the work rate of Davison in particular, who ran his socks off and made life difficult for the Hornchurch defenders every time he was near the ball. Youngs as skilful as ever in midfield - he really is a good player. Yes, we have under-achieved in the league, but we only have to look at Braintree to see what can happen to a team that gains promotion when perhaps they are not ready for it. ETFC is far more than just the first team. I've had the pleasure the last 2 Saturday mornings of watching the ETFC disability squad train, and I watched the ladies 1st team play some very attractive football last Sunday afternoon. I'm very proud to be a member of the club, even more so with a new trophy to be added to the honours board. Looking forward to seeing that in the bar next season. I agree with Steph's post. The team/squad has improved incrementally the last 2 seasons. I take little notice of the negativity on this forum. I suspect the manager and players don't bother reading it and I don't blame them. You have to be thick skinned to be a success in this game. Everybody has an opinion. Let's have some positive posts congratulating the team, coaching and management staff and all the directors!!!

Well this post got me thinking. My first game at Southbury Road was the 1977-78 season, a two-nil win over Tooting & Mitcham (I think). I remember Bruce the dog! How time passes ..... now Greg Heald's son is on the ETFC subs bench 🙂. Fingers crossed he breaks into the first team (cue mass reminiscing )

Great news to wake up to! Can't wait for the final - I'll be there!!

Great to see a green box on the website!! (too many red boxes lately) ..... I'm still comfortable that we have a good squad (good = challenging for play-offs). Didn't get the results over the last few games but our form was going to turn around at some point and I'm delighted it was last night. The players should regain confidence from that result, let's hope it's the start of a winning run.