A victory on home soil at Ashton's Stadium saw Woodford Town return to the top of the Essex Senior League ahead of the Saturday fixtures, albeit with second-place Stanway Rovers now with two games in hand.

Shane Baptiste's side started the game on the front foot with Nathan Sollosi having a shot blocked and Marko Protic forcing Ryan Lees into a good save, before Player of the Match Mike Agboola clipped the crossbar with his header from a David Gokou corner.

Just two minutes later, we were awarded a penalty—great work from Gokou, who won the ball back before driving into the box. Our number seven then cut back and was pulled down, with the referee pointing to the spot. Protic stepped up and smashed his spot-kick right into the top corner to give The Woods the lead, scoring his first goal since returning to the Club!

Heading into the break with a one-goal lead, we continued our pressure after the interval and came close to finding a second just minutes into the second half. Protic rose highest to greet a Gokou cross and forced Lees into a fantastic save to deny him from scoring with his header back across goal.

With 65 minutes on the clock, we doubled our advantage! Gokou was the creator once again, causing havoc with his corner into the six-yard box, the ball then fell for Miles Mitchelll-Nelson who volleyed into the back of the net from close range for his tenth goal of the season, with the right-back now scoring six in his last seven appearances.

As Shane Baptiste made changes, we continued to see the game out superbly, with every single player doing their part to help the team secure three huge points. Josh Banfield kept it controlled in midfield, with Dion Johnston - making his second home debut for Woodford after returning to the Club last week - winning or chasing everything that came his way up front.

After six added minutes, the whistle blew, leaving the players, coaching staff and fans at Ashton's elated as The Woods returned to the top of the table at the expense of Stanway!

Starting XI: E. Agboola (GK); Mitchell-Nelson, M. Agboola, Omope (Steele - 84'), Martins; Jewers, Kebi (Banfield - 69'), Owusu (C); Sollosi, Protic (Johnston - 64'), Gokou (Okoh - 84').

Unused substitutes: Angelov

Attendance: 102