A point on the road away to title hopefuls Harlow Town on Tuesday night will be the inspiration to return to winning ways this weekend, as the Lilywhites travel to Dagenham to face May & Baker on Saturday.

The defeat to Southend Manor a week ago is now a distant memory as the lads put in a disciplined and hard working performance at The Harlow Arena midweek, keeping a clean sheet and shutting out one of the league's high flyers. The return of central defensive pairing Jack Riddle and Jack Gibbs proved to be the cornerstone of the performance, but it was Naz Krutko who grabbed the coveted Man of the Match award with a solid display at the back. In truth, Hoddesdon created plenty of their own chances too and by no means went away from home looking to park the bus and settle for a draw. However, Harlow manager Danny Chapman bemoaned Hoddesdon's approach to the game in his post match interview (which can be viewed HERE) but Simon Riddle and his side managed the game beautifully and ensured that they bounced back from disappointment on the Essex coast, whilst keeping their opponents quiet.

Hoddesdon currently sit 3rd in the league after 2 wins, a draw and a defeat and it has been a bright start to the campaign, with just the one blip at the previuosly mentioned Southend Manor. Confidence in the camp is high and the focus this weekend will be staying in the play off places and amongst the chasing pack, at this early stage of the season.

New signing Mason Oakley made his debut on Tuesday, and, for 70 minutes, the former Wormley man slotted in well, bringing more experience to the squad for the season. Our new signings have performed well so far this season, and the likes of Evans, Collins, Lee, Butler and Healey are already starting to bed into the squad well and give the gaffer some great options. Having scored six goals in the opening three games, and conceding four, there is much to be excited about as the season continues, and we get to take another look at the side evolving, as we head to The Bobby Moore Sports Hub this weekend.

Our hosts May & Baker FC, were established in 1923 as a works team of the May & Baker company. The club became members of the Essex Business Houses League and went on to win the League Cup in 2005–06. The club subsequently joined Division Three of the Essex Olympian League the following season. The club were Division Three runners-up in their first season in the league, and were promoted to Division Two, which was renamed Division One prior to the next season. The 2007–08 season saw them finish second in Division One, earning promotion to the Premier Division. Despite finishing fifth in the Premier Division the following season, they were demoted back to Division One. However, the club went on to win the Division One title in 2009–10 and were promoted back to the Premier Division.

In 2014 the club were renamed May and Baker Eastbrook Community, reflecting the area of Dagenham in which the club is based. They moved up to the newly created Division One South of the Eastern Counties League at the end of the following season.

Prior to the 2019–20 season, May & Baker entered a groundsharing agreement at Aveley’s Parkside ground but this season see's them playing their football at the new £12.8m state-of-the-art sports facility at Parsloes Park in Dagenham. Named after Barking and Dagenham’s own former World Cup winning captain, Bobby Moore, the sports hub replaces the old single-storey pavilion and provides a fantastic upgrade of football facilities for local players. The new hub includes 16 grass sports pitches, two 3G pitches and a third National League System stadia pitch with spectator seating, gym facilities, a fitness studio, and a café alongside a social space for local residents to enjoy every single day. The hub also offers free parking, and community and meeting rooms available for hire. We always enjoy visiting new venues and so look forward to our visit on Saturday.

You can check out their new home ground, as well as highlights from their first game at their new hom, a 2-3 defeat to Enfield Borough, by clicking HERE.

On the pitch, our hosts have had mixed results so far this season and sit 13th in the Thurlow Nunn Division One South, with one win and two defeats

An opening day 2-1 win away to league new boys FC Baresi, was then followed by disappointing home defeats to Enfield Borough (2-3) and Newbury Forest (1-2) and so the Dagenham based outfit are still without a league win in their new home. That said, they did register an impressive 5-0 home win this week, in the league Challenge Cup, against NW London.

An Antony Connor hat trick and a Billy Titley double ensured that May & Baker progressed to the next round with a thumping win. Titley has four goals in three appearances for the side and arguably represents their greatest threat. Ten goals in four games, in all competitions, will certainly give Simon, Jeff, Ray and Andy something to think about heading into this fixture, and the defence will need to be just as switched on as they were at Harlow, to ensure a successful afternoon.

Manager, Jimmy Donald is this season joined by new Assistant Manager, Tony Boot, and they will be hoping to kick start their league form for the visit of the Lilywhites. The new management duo can be sure that they have the firepower to cause problems. Last season, however, Hoddesdon pipped Donald's side to a top ten finish, finishing three points above them and pushing this weekend's opponents into 11th place.

The last time these two sides met was on the 17th of November last year, with a Narcis Filip free kick securing a 2-2 draw at Lowfield and a well earned point for Hoddesdon.

Friday night football came to town on that occasion, and with the Lilywhites having found some form, they have found themselves not taking full reward for their efforts. They had more than enough chances to win comfortably but failed to take full advantage, while being punished by isolated breakaways at the other end.

The Lilywhites began at a high tempo and took the lead through Harrison Cage inside three minutes. George Rankin knocked the ball forward to Dion Laughton who passed it into the path of Harrison who finished clinically from 15 yards.

The Lilywhites were dominating in all areas of the pitch and further goals were looking likely and so it was against the run of play when May & Baker found a 32nd minute equaliser. A quick break caught the home defence square and Gabriel Odili burst through to stroke the ball past Liam Nugent.

With the scores level at the break the Lilywhites would probably have expected to continue in the same vein but they suffered a setback only five minutes into the second half when the visitors took the lead with a quick break in the inside-left channel that was finished with a superb strike from Daniel Barth.

The equaliser came in the 75th minute when Narcis Filipe’s 25-yard free kick clipped the defensive wall and looped into the net completely wrong-footing the keeper and you can watch that goal HERE.

At the time of publication, we do not have information regarding entrance fee's to The Booby Moore Sports Hub. Please keep your eyes on our social media channels for updates.

Kick off is 3pm.

Enjoy the game.

#COYL