Match Preview: Chelmsford City (A) - 30th March 2026

Photo courtesy of Fin Hall

By Josh Cole

An unusually quick turnaround for The Stags as we travel to Chelmsford City for a Monday night ENLS fixture!

Last time out AFC Totton were defeated away at Maidstone in Kent. CLICK HERE to read the match report.

CHELMSFORD CITY – THEIR SEASON SO FAR:

The Clarets are in 10^th place on 63 points from 39 games. CLICK HERE for the full league table.

Chelmsford started the season well, losing just once in August, whilst winning three and drawing two, but they didn’t carry that into September with two back-to-back losses against Farnborough (2-5) and Maidenhead (2-1).

The other games in September for Chelmsford were two FA Cup wins, one against Hertford Town at home (6-0) and the other against Alvechurch (1-2) away. There was one other league game in this month which was a 0-1 away win at Bath, and that happened between the two cup victories.

October was a mixed month for The Clarets with three wins, all in different competitions. One in the ENLS, one in the FA Cup and one in the Essex senior cup. Their other fixtures in this calendar month were in the ENLS and Chelmsford managed two losses and a draw.

The first game of November was a fantastic derby win for Chelmsford against Braintree, 4-1 winners in the FA Cup first round proper on live TV. They managed to back that up with just three wins in a row in the league. However, other than a penalty shootout win in the Essex senior cup, the other results were without a victory (one draw and three losses) in the league.

This bad form continued into December, losing against Weston-super-Mare in the league and being knocked out of the Essex senior cup at the quarter-final stage away at Great Wakering Rovers. The rest of December was a mixed bag in the league with two wins and two losses.

2026 was looking much better for Chelmsford, with three wins on the spin in January in the ENLS, until a heavy 5-0 defeat away at Slough Town ended that burst of good results.

They managed to put that result behind them quickly, and February was an unbeaten month for Chelmsford which made them one of the form teams in the league. Three wins and two draws were the results, one of those wins was a 0-5 win away at Torquay United, a real shocking result.

In the month of March, their form tailed off and it became another mixed month. On one hand, a big 7-1 win against Bath kicked off the month and there were other good results like wins against Slough (2-0) and Chippenham (0-1) as well as a draw away at Dorking (1-1). The rest of their three games in March were losses and there was a tough 4-2 defeat away at Farnborough in that.

LAST FIVE: CHELMSFORD CITY

Vs Chippenham Town | Away | ENLS | Won 0-1

Goalscorer: Jett Murphy 54’

Vs Farnborough | Away | ENLS | Lost 4-2

Goalscorers: Lyle Taylor 23’ (PEN) & Jack Barham 90+4’

Vs Dover Athletic | Home | ENLS | Lost 1-2

Goalscorer: Lyle Taylor 76’ (PEN)

Vs Slough Town | Home | ENLS | Won 2-0

Goalscorers: Lyle Taylor 63’ & Jason Adigun 70’

Vs Worthing | Away | ENLS | Lost 2-0

LAST FIVE: AFC TOTTON

Vs Maidstone United | Away | ENLS | Lost 3-1

Goalscorer: Christie Ward 70’

Vs Worthing | Home | ENLS | Lost 0-3

Vs Chesham United | Away | ENLS | Won 1-2

Goalscorers: Jaiden Bartolo 90+1’ & Tony Lee 90+6’

Vs Hemel Hempstead | Away | ENLS | Lost 2-0

Vs Weston-super-Mare | Away | ENLS | Lost 1-0

COMPARING THE STATS (all comps)

OPPOSITION PLAYERS TO WATCH:

DEFENCE: Mandela Egbo

The 28-year-old joins as a free agent, having spent the last 2 seasons with Colchester United.

Egbo played 82 times across his spell in East Essex, scoring twice. Having started his career with Hackney JFC, he moved onto Crystal Palace before heading into Europe and signing for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

After 5 years in Germany, a Bundesliga debut and a spell with Darmstadt 98, Egbo headed to America to join New York Red Bulls. In March 2022 Egbo returned to England and joined Swindon Town on a short-term contract.

He signed Charlton Athletic that summer, before joining Colchester United for an undisclosed fee the following year.

MIDFIELD: Jason Adigun

The 21-year-old joined after departing Kidderminster Harriers.

Adigun had played under Adam Murray last season on loan at Eastbourne and joined him in the midlands over the summer.

The tricky winger is no stranger to the National League South, having had loan spells away from both Charlton Athletic and Dagenham & Redbridge to the division.

As previously mentioned, he played for Eastbourne Borough last season but also had spells with Welling United and Tonbridge Angels. He provided goals and assists during his time with the Wings and the Angels but was most prolific with the Sports where he scored six and assisted eight as they finished in the play-offs.

ATTACK: Lyle Taylor

So far this season, the striker has netted 21 times in all competitions, including one in the 2-1 loss for Chelmsford at the Snows Stadium.

Lyle Taylor joined the Clarets in August 2025, after a season with Colchester United in League 2, where he was the U’s top scorer.

His career started out with Millwall, but he found some prolific goalscoring form with Concord Rangers. That resulted in a move to Bournemouth where he had loan spells in the National League South with Lewes and Woking.

He joined AFC Wimbledon in 2015, where he had his longest spell with one club. During his 3-year-stint Taylor netted over 50 times in over 150 games. He also helped the Dons get promoted to League 1, scoring the opener in the Playoff final.

After that he was promoted to the Championship with Charlton, and in his time, there scored 32 goals in 63 games but left to join Nottingham Forest after refusing to play in the final games of the 2020 season after the campaign restarted following a break due to covid.

He made 57 appearances for Forest, scoring seven goals and he was released by Forest following their 2022–23 season, in which he made no appearances.

Since then, he had spells with Birmingham City, Wycombe Wanderers and Cambridge United before playing for Colchester United last season.

MATCH OFFICIALS:

Referee - Adam Merchant

Assistant Ref 1 - Liam Botten

Assistant Ref 2 - Matthew Rowling

Fourth Official - Thomas Whay

GO STAGS

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