A rare Friday night game for Boro as Benfleet come to The Lawtech Stadium tomorrow to play a game originally scheduled for 10th August but postponed due to a car accident involving one of the Benfleet players, whom we hope is now making progress towards a full recovery.

This will be the first ever meeting between the teams with not so much as a friendly ever being played in the past.

Benfleet were promoted as champions of the Thurlow Nunn League Division One South last season, which they won by a margin of six points ahead of runners-up Wormley Rovers. They have made a solid start following their promotion to Step 5, which they began with a narrow 1-0 home defeat in the Essex Senior League against Woodford Town.

They then thumped Ilford 6-3, also at home and then met Woodford Town again, in the FA Cup this time and again on their home ground at Woodside, to which they have returned after a number of seasons sharing at Canvey Island. This time they won 3-1. Their most recent game was last Saturday when, like Boro, they were beaten by Isthmian League North opposition. While Boro were beaten at Brightlingsea Regent, Benfleet lost 5-1 at home to Haringey Borough.

Benfleet FC – A Brief History

Formed in 1922, the club were known as Benfleet United but after a merger with Parkfields Athletic became Benfleet Rangers. The Rangers suffix was dropped in 1971 when the club joined the Essex Olympian League. The club chose not to apply to join the Essex Senior League in 1997 as the cost of bringing their Woodside Park ground unto standard proved prohibitive, but in 2018 they successfully applied for promotion to the Thurlow Nunn League, a move that entailed groundsharing at Canvey Island.

Benfleet’s debut season in the Thurlow Nunn League ended with a twelfth place finish. In 2019-20 they were eleventh when Covid caused the season to be abandoned and in the similarly curtailed 2020-21 season they were eighth. They subsequently finished third and sixth before taking the title last season with 103 points from 42 games.

This season is Benfleet’s first at Step 5 and comes with a return to their Woodside Park ground which has been improved to meet ground grading requirements. This is not the club’s first FA Cup campaign however, as they took part in the 2020-21 season but fell at the first hurdle when they were beaten on penalties by Brantham Athletic.

Benfleet have taken part in the FA Vase in a number of seasons and their best run came in 2021-22 when wins over St Margaretsbury and Holland took them to the First Round Proper where they lost at Wroxham. They reached the same stage the following season but only required one win – over Newbury Forest – to do so. They were knocked out on penalties by Baldock Town.

This Season and Last:

Leading the goalscoring charts for Benfleet last season was Rhys Fatt with 22 goals while Taylor Lawrence netted 18 times. Benfleet’s top scorers so far this season are Max Jobson - who claimed a hat-trick in the win over Ilford - and Lawrence; both have three goals.

In the FA Vase Benfleet will enter in the Second Qualifying Round and again are at home when they will play the winners of the Haverhill Rovers v Baldock Town tie. Last season ended in defeat in the First Qualifying Round of the Vase when they were beaten 3-0 at home by Frenford.

Tomorrow’s fixtures:

There is only one game in the Essex Senior League tomorrow, which is Sawbridgeworth Town v Stanway Rovers. There are however, a number of FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round ties involving Essex Senior League sides tomorrow and these are:

Barking v FC Baresi
Buckhurst Hill v Cockfosters
Hadleigh United v Woodford Town
Halstead Town v Langford Town
Harlow Town v Ilford
Long Melford v Hullbridge Sports
Potton United v Little Oakley
Takeley v Hutton
West Essex v Southend Manor
Stansted v Burnham Ramblers