Southend Manor went into the weekend action knowing that, if they could win at Brentwood and Basildon United see off top dogs Saffron Walden at Gardiners Close, they would move into joint leadership of the Schweppes Essex Senior League.

However, the plans all went horribly wrong as Manor themselves suffered a defeat and Bees, in new manager Steve Wheeler's first home game in charge, also lost. In both cases the scoreline was 2-1.

At Brentwood, Manor took a two minute lead through Simon Cox, but Gannon equalised ten minutes before the break and ever-reliable penalty taker Lee Felstead grabbed the winner from the spot after 54 minutes.

To make matters worse for Manor, they dropped to third spot as Ilford overtook them with a 5-3 win over Woodford at Clapton's Spotted Dog Ground. Manor badly need to beat Ilford now when the pair clash at Southchurch Park next Saturday.

Duncan Easlea gave Walden the advantage at Basildon and Marc Das made it 2-0 a minute after half-time with his 17th of the season, just three short of Southend's Ben Barnett, the League's leading marksman.

The game had moved into the final minute when Steve Farmer grabbed Basildon's late consolation.

Basildon face another tough task tomorrow when they visit a fourth-placed Burnham Ramblers side who know they must finish in the top two to have any chance of achieving their dream of playing Ryman League soccer next season.

Concord Rangers were another local side to suffer a heartache afternoon. They went into action at their Thames Road, Canvey, home knowing that victory would lift them to fourth place.

However, they not only lost 2-0 to Sawbridgeworth, they suffered huge disciplinary problems with two players being sent off and a host of others booked in an afternoon to forget.

Only local joy came from Hullbridge Sports, who visited Bowers United having won only three of their previous 15 games this season.

However, two goals from Lee Mann (17 and 22 minutes) gave Hullbridge a 2-0 win over the defending champions at Crown Avenue and was a particularly disappointing result for the Pitsea side following their own 2-0 success at East Ham in midweek.

Two to one - Basildon United outnumber Saffron Walden in Saturday's Schweppes Essex Senior League game, but lost 2-1 to the leaders.

Picture: STEPHEN LLOYD

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.