The Mustangs were up against the in-form team of the league at the moment as Waltham Abbey Whites currently sit at the top of the table. Having narrowly lost out 1-2 in the league early in the season the Mustangs were looking forward to having another crack at them.

Mustangs new face Jack Tracey made his debut in the starting line up and with James Camilleri missing and Bryan Smith clearly ill this meant the team had to be juggled around positionally with Matt Paffett and skipper Jordan Richardson playing in the full-back positions.

The game started as an end-to end affair with Abbey just having the better of the early exchanges hitting the post in the first few minutes. Soon after Abbey scored a deserved goal to take the lead. Unfortunately Bryan Smith was too ill to continue the game in central defence by now and his departure meant Jack Tracey was shifted back from Midfield to Central defence with Brett Hilsden introduced to the game on the left wing. Rob Crisp shifted into centre midfield where Jack was playing. Mustangs were enjoying some success on the right flank with Jordan and George combining well to create chances on that side of the pitch. On a couple of occasions they fed Gregory who had a few shots well saved by the much-improved Abbey keeper. Abbey got another goal 15 minutes in though, going into the break 2-0 up.

Mustangs started the second half much brighter than Abbey but against the run of play Abbey scored a third goal early on. Barely a minute later Gregory rounded the Abbey keeper to make it 3-1. Mustangs were starting to play some great football now with Brett and Bonney combining well on the left, Ben and Jack battling well in defence and Jordan and Matt always available for Rees on the flanks. Abbey grabbed a fourth goal against the run of play though, when their striker finished well with his left foot inside the box. Mustangs weren't about to throw the towel in though and this was exemplified by George Barden's tough tacking and covering runs down the right hand side of the pitch. The team soon worked their way back in when the hard-working George Bonney played the ball to Gregory who finished well with his left foot to make it 4-2. Soon after it should have been 4-3 when a Mustangs shot cannoned off the crossbar across the goal line, however, the linesman was not up with play and despite the ball crossing the line, the goal was not given. Brett Hilsden did pull it back to 4-3 shortly after though with a very good strike. At the other end Abbey caught Mustangs on the counter attack and scored to make it 5-3. The lads continued to battle hard until the final whistle with some crunching tackles and great distribution from Rob Crisp in midfield and some intelligent play by George, Bonney and Brett.

Alas the tie ended at 5-3, however the boys can all be very proud of themselves following a very narrow defeat to the top of the table team. The makeshift back four all defended well and Matt and Jordan deserve particular praise for the way they have adapted to new positions of late due to the fact we now have a very small squad. The midfield had a very good game, possibly their best this season, and Gregory and Bonney were their usual hard working selves up front. Darren and Greg would like to thank Bryan for turning up despite clearly being ill and showing the sort of commitment the team applaud. Thanks Bryan, hope you are fit for next week!