Saffron Walden Town set for Stanway test after beating Barking

And the Bloods go into that match on the back of a hard-fought 2-1 win at Barking last Friday.

The game was barely two minutes old when the home side saw Eli Benoit was sent off for denying a clear scoring opportunity, with Jason Hallett firing home the resulting free-kick low past Dev Bhamra to put the Bloods in front.

Saffron Walden Town won 2-1 at Barking in the Essex Senior League (Image: Terry Gilbert)

Barking's 10 men were back on level terms on 13 minutes, though, as Luke Hirst was given too much space on the edge of the box to guide the ball past James Young and into the bottom corner of the net.

And Hirst was then somehow denied a second from close range, after Eljay Worrell and Jess Norey had combined on the left.

Joe Pullen was booked for a foul on Hirst with Craig Calver firing straight at Bhamra before Jason Maher's men regained the lead on the half-hour mark courtesy of Connor Scully's neat finish.

Tom Jelliman denied Hirst with a great recovery tackle, after the Barking man had rounded Young to seize on a poor headed backpass, and Solomon Ofori saw his effort saved by Bhamra after his touch let him down.

Action from the Essex Senior League match between Barking and Saffron Walden Town (Image: Terry Gilbert)

Play continued to swing from end to end, with Barking's Ahmed Abdulla firing over from the edge of the box before Hallett was replaced by George Pullen.

And Hirst had a shot deflected behind in the last meaningful action of a frantic first half at Mayesbrook Park.

Calver curled wide soon after the restart, while Okori failed to make contact when Cameron Watson knocked Jelliman's free-kick across goal.

But the Bloods had a let-off when Tim Ogunrinde just failed to connect at the near post for Barking before Scully almost found Ofori at the other end.

Ogunrinde fired straight at Young, before Thomas Skelton was booked and Jelliman joined Calver in the sin-bin to leave Bloods down to nine men.

George Pullen saw a shot blocked and Skelton fired just over before Walden returned to full strength, with Scully denied by a good tackle in the box.

And Barking were unable to capitalise on a free-kick in stoppage time, after Dion Lewis-Kirnan picked up Walden's third yellow card of the night, as the visitors took all three points.