With Phil Brown very kindly giving us a weekend off from the mad rollercoaster that is Southend United, it leaves some of us football fans/addicts with a problem. So why not support one of our local non-league sides?
Players out on loan
Witham are away at Grays Athletic. Brown, Banton & Farrell (possibly still injured) out on loan there and doing well from what I've heard. Ex-youth players James Stevens and Jack Paxman play for Witham and ex-shrimper Mark Bentley plays for Grays, so there will be a fair amount of SUFC featuring.
Harlow are home against Brentwood Town. Towering defender Matsuzaka has been starting everytime he has been available, only missing games due to play in the FA Youth cup with us.
Chelmsford City are at home against Hemel Hemstead. With Jason Williams so far scoring 3 in 5 games, it might be worth seeing how he does there. Also playing for Chelmsford are ex-shrimpers Lee Sawyer and Nicky Nicolau.
UPDATE: The game is a "Pay what you want" and gates open at 11:30am you can make a day of it!
Soham Town Rangers are away to Great Wakering Rovers. Jack Bridge has been there for a month or so now with a couple of goals and a few assists to his name, he could be another one to look out for.
Hayes and Yeading are away at Boreham Wood, probably one for those in London or desperate to see Isaac Layne. After grabbing 2 goals and an assist in his first game, a 6-0 win over Horsham, this will be a bigger test for him. A step up from where he was playing at Billericay, it is certainly the right move for development.
Local Teams
Billericay are away against Harrow, so not playing locally this weekend.
Concord could have been looking forward to a 2nd round tie, but a 1-0 defeat against Mansfield stopped them after they took them to a replay. Instead they play Farnborough at home. Ex-shrimper and youth Alex Woodyard plays for Concord.
Canvey Island play Metropolitan Police away, which is the other side of London. Ex-youth Marlon Agyakwa, Aaron Tatham, Dan King and Charlie Barlow play for Canvey. UPDATE: Canvey play East Thurrock at home Tuesday 2nd December, thanks Mick for the correction!
NOTE: PLEASE check with the club's twitter to see if the match is going ahead. Some have already started to be postponed and it would be wise to check BEFORE travelling!
If I've missed anything out, let me know and I'll add it in. I'll post again in a couple of weeks for when we have a game on the Friday against Burton.