Remarkably, this weekend will see all of our sides in the Hamro Foundation Essex League reach the halfway point of their seasons, following on from our Mid Essex League and EWPL teams who completed the first half of their seasons last weekend.

The weekend will start, as always, with Friday night junior training at Upminster Park, with what will be the 11th of the 20 weekly sessions scheduled. After last week’s changes on Friday evening, due to the hot weather, normal sessions and timings will return this week. Also returning will be Wholeslice (at Roots), who will be back taking orders for their legendary pizzas from outside the Pavilion. The bar will also be open throughout the evening whist the last 16 game between Australia and Egypt at the FIFA World Cup will be shown live on the screens. Wholeslice have kindly offered to assist with the disposal of pizza boxes from this week, so once you have finished your pizzas if you could please take your boxes back to the ordering table so they can be disposed of.

There is a huge game for the 1st XI on Saturday as they travel to Billericay. Upminster currently sit in second place in the table following their astonishing victory over Gidea Park & Romford, while Billericay are top of the pile after their win over Woodford Wells last weekend. The 2nd XI face Brentwood in a local derby at Upminster Park while the 3rd and 4th XIs will be looking to cement their positions at the top of their respective divisions.

On Sunday there is just the one senior fixture with the Women’s 2nd XI taking on Hutton at Coopers, but the Matchplay XI (U16s) are in action at Upminster Park as they take on Harold Wood in the Trevor Bailey Matchplay with the winners almost certainly securing themselves a place in the knockout stages of the competition. There are also seven junior games scheduled to take place throughout the day.

Senior fixtures for the weekend:

SATURDAY
1st XI @ Billericay – 12.00pm – HFEL 1st XI Div 1;
2nd XI v Brentwood – 12.00pm – Upminster Park - HFEL 2nd XI Prem Div;
3rd XI v Shenfield – 12.00pm – Coopers School - HFEL 3rd XI Prem Div;
4th XI @ Fives & Heronians 3rd XI – 12.00pm - HFEL 3rd XI Div 1;
5th XI @ Shenfield 4th XI – 12.00pm – HFEL 4th XI Prem East Div;
6th XI v Navestock 2nd XI – 1.00pm – Campion School - Mid Essex League Div 9;
7th XI v Rayleigh 4th XI – 1.00pm – Brian Clay Ground - Mid Essex League Div 10;
Friendly XI v Belhus 5th XI - 12.30pm - Coopers School (astro) - Friendly;

SUNDAY
Women’s 2nd XI v Hutton – 1.00pm – Cooper School – EWPL Div 2;

We hope to see many members, junior players and junior parents at the club over the weekend, and we ask that everyone plays their part in making the weekend run smoothly by placing litter in the bins provided, returning glasses to the bar and respecting bar staff and other club officials at all times.