MATCH REPORT - Little Oakley - 18/11/25

Little Oakley 1 (Arnold 90) – Billericay Town 2 (Parsons 39, Nash 58)

A youthful Billericay Town side progressed into the last eight of the Essex Senior Cup with a hard-fought victory over Little Oakley on a bitterly cold evening in northern Essex.

A first Blues goal for Ollie Parsons and a second-half strike from Liam Nash were enough to see off the Essex Senior League side, who created plenty of chances and set up a tense finish through Louis Arnold’s late goal, but Danny Scopes’ team held firm to extend their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions.

It was a scrappy start to proceedings, with neither side able to build sustained possession. The first opening fell to the visitors eight minutes in when Alfie Cerulli latched onto Teddy Collis’ through ball, but he could not keep his effort down. Cerulli went close again ten minutes later, dragging a strike wide from the edge of the box.

The Acorns grew into the contest as the half developed and created their first clear chance just before the half-hour mark, with Daniel Keeble flashing a shot wide of Dondre Abraham’s post. Moments later, the hosts were forced into some defending when George Davis’ well-timed tackle denied Ricay debutant Reiss Lowe a clean strike at goal from ten yards.

Billericay regained control and broke the deadlock six minutes before half time. Nash’s corner was met at the near post by Parsons, who glanced his header past James Askew and into the bottom corner to grab his first goal for the club.

Despite falling behind, Little Oakley finished the half strongly. Blues captain Ryan Scott blocked Davis’ close-range effort, and Abraham was called into action on the 45-minute mark to push Joshua McFaull’s strike round the post. The goalkeeper was required again in first-half stoppage time, keeping out another close-range attempt to ensure Billericay held their lead at the interval.

The second half began much as the first ended, with the Acorns looking the more likely to score. They came close four minutes after the restart, but Bobby Badham’s deflected effort trickled just past the upright.

Those missed chances proved costly, as Billericay doubled their advantage two minutes before the hour with an excellent team move. A slick passage of play involving several players ended with Cerulli’s pinpoint delivery finding Nash, who picked out the bottom corner from eight yards to register his fifth goal of the season.

The Blues continued to search for a third and created opportunities to put the game out of reach entering the final half-hour. Youngster Joe Davis almost marked his debut with a goal, but his header found the gloves of Askew, and Scott headed a corner wide via a touch from a defender.

The hosts finished strongly and created a number of chances before finally reducing the deficit on 90 minutes. Substitute Arnold ran onto a lofted pass and calmly slotted past the onrushing Abraham to give the home supporters something to celebrate. It set up a nervy finish, but Scopes’ young side saw out the remaining moments to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Little Oakley: Askew; Harman, Wood, Keeble (Ladbrook 46), Davis; McFaull, Ketley-Gregan (Arnold 71); Papple (Hipkin 61), Badham, Lambert (Rea 66); Williams (Elvestad 68)

Subs not used: N/A

Billericay Town: Abraham; Lewis-Burgess, Scott, Parsons, Hiobi; Owen, Steward (Waters 85); Nash (Williams 79), Lowe (Davis 35), Cerulli (Sabah 72); Collis (Lorraine 63)

Subs not used: N/A

Referee: Thomas Whay

Attendance: 150

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