Saffron Walden Town are set to welcome St Margaretsbury to Catons Lane on Saturday – after beating them in midweek to move to the top of the Essex Senior League table.

Kick-off was delayed until 8pm with players held up in traffic en route due to an accident and both sides had chances in the opening half an hour.

The home side moved the ball around well, but the scoreline remained blank at the break as the two sides cancelled each other out.

Having given a debut to experienced goalkeeper Rob Budd, the Bloods broke the deadlock just before the hour mark, though, after a determined run and finish by Gavin Cockman, who was, however, forced off with injury after scoring.

And Jason Maher's men doubled their lead on 70 minutes when James Crane found the net, which was enough for them to seal the points and leapfrog above Hashtag United and take over at the summit.

Walden had moved up to third place on Saturday after winning 2-0 at Cockfosters.

Ryan Fleming put them ahead after only five minutes and they added a second just past the half-hour mark through Nathan Scarborough.

Their subsequent success in midweek left the Bloods one point clear of Hashtag, who have two games in hand.

And after playing host to St Margaretsbury, they turn their attention to the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy on Monday when they travel to Mile End Stadium to take on a youthful Tower Hamlets squad.

Walden came from behind to win 3-2 on their last trip to east London to face Hamlets, with Ross Adams, Spike Bell and substitute Greg Strong the men on target in September.

Maher's men are set to play host to Redbridge in their final match of 2019 on Saturday week (December 21), before a two-week break for Christmas and New Year.

They then return to action in 2020 with a trip to Hadley on January 4.