In freezing conditions, Woodford Town welcome Saffron Walden Town to Ashton’s Stadium on Friday, looking to make it four consecutive victories, however, it was The Bloods who left IG8 with all three points.

The hosts will be kicking themselves for allowing the game to slip out of their reach, having controlled the majority of the first half, despite Sam Deering giving Walden the lead shortly before the half-hour mark. That didn’t deter The Woods, though, as Pedro Carvalho hit back on the brink of half-time with a moment of magic. The winger received the ball with his back to goal, turned his marker and, on the swivel, unleashed a beautiful curling effort into the bottom corner to send the sides into the interval on level terms.

A nine-minute barrage on Manny Agboola’s goal was ultimately the nail in the coffin for Woodford, though, as the visitors raced into a three-goal lead to put the game to bed. On 51 minutes, Kaleel Green pounced on an Agboola error to tap home into an empty net, before, just five minutes later, Henry Mabassa prodded home from a free-kick which landed inside the six-yard box to double the lead. In the blink of an eye, it was four, as Deering netted his second of the night to wrap up all three points for John Hughes' side, on what was a night that will fail to live long in the memory of the Woodford supporters, who made a swift move for the exit.

Shane Baptiste made four changes, yet those players failed to make the required difference to drag the hosts back into the contest as the game drew to a conclusion, leaving The Woods three points behind league leaders SOUL Tower Hamlets, and the possibility of slipping to fourth by the end of the weekend’s fixtures.

Starting XI: E. Agboola (GK); Owusu (C (M. Agboola - 90’)), Kirwan-Meade, Mitchell-Nelson, Martins (Okunja - 72’); Toussaint (Adelani - 72’), Jewers, Christou (Protic - 72’); Carvalho, Sotoyinbo, Gokou.

Unused substitute: Chinyere (GK)