And there were wins for Hackney Wick, Hutton and Tower Hamlets, as Essex Senior League rivals Barking and Sporting Bengal also triumphed.
But Frenford, Ilford, Newbury Forest and Enfield Borough were all left empty-handed after tasting defeats in their respective leagues.
Clapton Community took a first-half lead when Charlie Fagan tapped home, after Noah Adejokun’s shot was blocked.
And after having effort ruled out, while seeing Jack Francis make a superb save at point-blank range, they sealed the points when Fagan fired home a left-footed volley from the edge of the box.
They are now unbeaten in 14 games and have a two-point cushion over Cannons Wood, who have three games in hand.
Amazing noise from the @ClaptonCFC fans who travelled to Southend with us today, even after the home team turned off the lights 🫥 A clean sheet, a good win and nice to score to get @CoachRuudy off my back for a week 😂😂#topoftheleague
— Charlie Fagan (@CharlieFagan8) November 11, 2023
Hutton are now fourth after beating Burnham Ramblers 3-1 at New Lodge.
Tom Stephens netted twice on his long-awaited return to the side and was only denied a hat-trick by the post, with Stephen Judge also on target for the hosts as they made it four wins in a row in all competitions.
Todays scorers! Tom was denied a hatrick by the post (from right back). It was his long awaited return to the side after injury and illness…in what was only his 2nd start of the season ⚽️⚽️. Judge just done what Judge does ⚽️🔴⚪️ #upthetons pic.twitter.com/zXIGh4Ip7N
— huttonfc (@huttonfc) November 11, 2023
Hackney Wick made a bright start against lowly Park View, hitting the crossbar and the post in quick succession on 16 minutes.
Frankie Hanmore fired home a brilliant free-kick to open the scoring, before the visitors were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
🎯🎯🎯 https://t.co/QsAK66peKq pic.twitter.com/H6ld44kQtJ
— Hackney Wick FC (@HackneyWickFC) November 11, 2023
Victory Akam doubled the lead just before the hour mark, with Leo Pola Lopete making it 3-0 soon after.
Ben Lewis-Gold added a late fourth to complete a good day for Wick, who sit in eighth place.
East London rivals Tower Hamlets are now 11th, after their 2-1 win at St Margaretsbury.
They trailed at half-time, but hit back through Solomon Asomah’s 17th goal of the season as substitute Leon Lewis also found the target.
Newbury Forest slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Benfleet after conceding twice in the first half, while Enfield Borough were beaten 4-1 at home by Hoddesdon Town, who saw Dion Laughton and Jack Riddle net goals in each half.
Samir Sedaoui netted a consolation for Borough.
Barking struck twice in each half to claim a 4-0 win over Frenford at The Drive – their first away win of the campaign and first clean sheet since August.
Blues fielded six new signings and saw two of their debutants claim the goals, with Declan Nche grabbing a hat-trick and Tony Martin also on target.
Nche fired home on nine minutes to open the scoring, then pounced for another when Luke Hirst’s shot was blocked by the legs of Matt Knight.
Tom Troubridge headed wide for the hosts, but Barking went 3-0 up on the hour when Hirst’s quick free-kick set up Nche to complete his treble.
Martin slid home the fourth from Brad Rowland’s free-kick, but Barking saw Hirst sent off for a second bookable offence late on.
Frenford had a late effort ruled out as Ben Lane kept a clean sheet on his debut for the visitors.
Sporting Bengal took the lead from the penalty spot against Halstead, as Sheri Artmeladze converted.
And Yasin Zougui headed home from Steve Carvell’s corner to double their advantage, before Artmeladze swept home a pass from Chris Gyamfi to complete their 3-0 success.
Ilford fell to a seventh defeat in eight outings, though, as they went down 2-1 at Little Oakley.
They took the lead with a great finish from Mohamud Kaudeer, only for the home side’s Harry Mann to level just before half-time.
Zayshaun Asamoah then hit a post and David Ejakita headed a great chance over, before the Acorns grabbed a winner as Jordan Blackwell lobbed home.
The Foxes finished with 10 men after a late red card to rub salt into their wounds.
Full time here 2-1 little Oakley and it’s our own doing 2 poor pieces of defending other than a fairly even game where we had chances and ended with 10 men
— Ilford FC (@IlfordFC1881) November 11, 2023
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