Dunmow Town vs Clapton Community FC takes place on Saturday, February 10 2024 with a 3pm kick off at the Scraley Road Stadium, Heybridge, Maldon, Essex CM9 8FJ
The Clapton CFC men’s first team face another huge game on Saturday and a long trip away to fellow promotion contenders Dunmow Town. CCFC are sat in second place but have played more games than others near the top. Dunmow Town are in fifth, but can draw level with us with their games in hand. Needless to say, it’s tight at the top.
After drawing 1-1 at home with another top 5 side Hutton on Saturday, with their equaliser pretty much the last kick of the game, we have just nine games to go. Those games include the return trip away to Hutton, away at Benfleet, who have the best points per game record, and home to leaders Harlow Town. It’s a tough end to the season, for sure, but given CCFC were one of the favourites for relegation in our first season at the level, being in the mix at the top is a huge achievement in itself.
The opposition
Dunmow Town were formed in June 2020 and originally played at Braintree Town’s Cressing Road but have since moved in with Heybridge Swifts at Scraley Road. Their ultimate aims is to have a ground of their own within the town of Dunmow itself, reach Step 3 and attract crowds of 500.
Like us, they are in their first season at this level after promotion. In Dunmow’s case they won the Essex & Suffolk Border League Premier Division title losing just once all season.
Manager Paul Hayes is a former professional striker who made hundreds of appearances in the Football League for the likes of Scunthorpe United, Wycombe Wanderers, Barnsley and Brentford.
Form guide
Dunmow Town have 4 wins and a draw from their last 5 games, including a win against Hutton. They’ve bounced back from a run of six defeats in October and November to be one of the top form sides since.
Previous meetings
This will be our fourth meeting, but only our second competitive game. Dunmow became the first side to beat us at Step 6, with a 2-0 win at the Old Spotted Dog Ground in August. Prior to that in two pre-season friendlies we beat them 2-1 on the Wadham Lodge 3G in July 2021 having lost 3-0 on the stadium pitch there in August 2020.
Players to watch
Dunmow have the second and third top scorers in the division. Stuart Zanone has 23 goals so far this season after an incredible 61 last season, while Asa Cansdale is just behind on 19, including one against us. They’ve just signed the sixth top scorer too, Gabriel Odili from May & Bakers. Little wonder that Dunmow are the second top scorers in the division.
Admission
Dunmow’s admission prices are £5 adults, £2.50 concessions, U16 free.
Directions
It’s going to be up to 3 hours from East London by public transport. The nearest station is Witham, which is around 1 hour 45 minutes from London Liverpool Street (longer than usual due to rail replacement bus service in operation). From there you can get a bus for the six miles to Heybridge Swifts.