Preview: Tower Hamlets (H)

Walthamstow finally get their Essex Senior League season underway this Saturday as Tower Hamlets visit Wadham Lodge for the season opener.

Stow will be looking to continue their good pre-season form into the competitive games. In six friendlies (four against higher-level opposition) Stow won three and drew three, keeping three clean sheets in the process.

And manager Ryan Maxwell has no doubt been given a few selection headaches, with such high performance levels in each of the friendlies.

It’s been a summer of upheaval for Hamlets, as manager AJ Ashinke left to assist Allan Fenn, south of the river at Fisher. There has been no news about who his replacement is.

News of Hamlets’ pre-season is pretty hard to come by too. On the 13th of July they lost 4-1 to Eastern Senior League South side Hackey Wick, but aside from that, there’s no information on who they have played, or how they have got on.

We’ve met before

The first meeting between us and Tower Hamlets came eight years ago to the day (3rd August), when they were known as Bethnal Green United, and we were Waltham Forest.

The game ended in a 3-3 draw at the Met Police Sports Club in Chigwell (pictured above). After being three goals down against a United side which included former Stags Gbenga Sonuga, Jamie Petts, Darryl Wilson, Carey Wright, Marlon Boateng, Junior Luke, Danny Gabriel and Victor Renner all playing.

Jeff Hammond scored our first, Josh Bonnett got our second and Joel Palmer got the leveller in a game which boiled over a few times despite being a friendly.

In one of the first few games of the 2017-18 season we lost 5-0 at Mile End Stadium, a ground where we seem to have struggled recently, especially against Hamlets’ co-tenants Sporting Bengal United. Forest started well that day, but it was all downhill after the quarter of an hour mark, as Hamlets seemed likely to score with every attack.

More recently though, things have gone Stow’s way. Last season we won 2-0 at Mile End, and at Wadham Lodge, Dwade James’ 89th minute penalty was enough to secure a 1-0 victory.