Southend United Ladies are out of the Eastern Region Women’s Football League (ERWFL) Cup after a 3-0 home defeat to Histon Ladies in Sunday’s second round. The visitors arrived with a perfect promotion season behind them and five league games unbeaten; Southend could not find the goal to bring the tie back within reach. Sunday’s result followed league defeats by Enfield Town and Leyton Orient, making three losses in succession across all competitions. This was a different test, though, against a Premier Division side playing one level above Southend.
More than a higher-division label
Histon earned their promotion by winning all 22 league games in Division One North last season. Darren Marjoram’s side also lifted the Cambridgeshire FA Invitational Cup, completing a league and cup double. They sit sixth with nine points from six league matches: two wins, three draws and one defeat. A 5-0 opening-day loss at Haringey Borough was followed by five unbeaten league games, including successive 3-0 wins over St Albans City and Wroxham. Their response to that first result gives a better measure of the opposition than the division alone.
Openings, but no reply
Goalkeeper Molly Lee, Amber Denton, Niamh Carpenter, Hannah Stone and Maizie Kelly were the five changes from Orient, where Caitlin Spenner had started in goal. Robert Craven’s club report describes Southend playing into a strong wind. Ella Marden’s left-wing cross bounced in front of Lee and went in at 18 minutes. Charlotte Freestone hit the post; Isobel Boyd was denied by Keeley Robinson before half-time. Evie Nicholls finished Tia Johnson’s pass on a break after the interval. Lauren Johnson’s six-yard volley was saved and Kelly shot wide after controlling Lee’s goal-kick. Those were the chances to bring the tie back; instead, Freestone ran onto a through ball for the third.
A player’s view of the change
Southend defender Katie Burbridge, who replaced Abbie Rex at 62 minutes, was assessing her own team on this week’s podcast. She described better links through the middle before Southend worked the ball wide, and felt the single-goal interval deficit was respectable against higher-division opponents. Charlie also saw a competitive first half and signs of a recognisable Southend playing identity.
Katie placed the switch from four defenders to three, with two up front, at half-time. In her assessment, that gave Southend more attacking momentum but might also have left them more exposed. Histon’s goals at 54 and 79 minutes followed the switch.
She also welcomed seeing supporters in Southend shirts beyond the players’ families. Results have been disappointing, but her impression was that people were enjoying watching the team. There is room to recognise that encouragement without treating it as an answer to three defeats.
Hutton at Garon Park on Sunday
Southend return to Division One South action at home to Hutton on Sunday 4 October, with a 2pm kick-off. They are fifth with six points from five games, having beaten Hertford Town and Wormley Rovers but lost the other three. The immediate question is whether they can stop the run of two league defeats.
Hutton sit tenth with no points. Their table shows two losses, but only one was played: a 5-0 defeat at AFC Sudbury Reserves. The other is an awarded win for Toby Women, not another on-field defeat. Hutton’s latest played fixtures were cup losses, 15-0 against Bowers & Pitsea in the Women’s FA Cup and 6-0 against Wroxham in the League Cup.
Southend will have further cup football in the ERWFL Plate, but Sunday’s priority is league points. Histon’s level supplies context for this defeat. Against Hutton, the task is to turn the promising passages Katie and Charlie described into a result, without assuming the visitors’ record does the work for them.
League positions and records checked on 30 September 2026.
Match details
Score: Southend United Ladies 0-3 Histon Ladies. Half-time: 0-1.
Competition: Eastern Region Women’s Football League Cup, second round. Date: Sunday 27 September 2026. Venue: Garon Park.
Histon goals: Ella Marden (18), Evie Nicholls (54), Charlotte Freestone (79).
Southend XI: Molly Lee (GK), Georgia Hyland, Abbie Rex, Hannah Warner, Maizie Kelly, Amber Denton, Lauren Johnson, Zoe Tryfonos, Niamh Carpenter, Hannah Stone, Darcy Drewitt.
Substitutions: Isobel Boyd for Stone (36); Abbey Dell for Kelly (46); Sophie Stack for Carpenter (46); Katie Burbridge for Rex (62); Stone for Warner (67); Kelly for Tryfonos (67). Unused: Caitlin Spenner.
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