WEEK 27 REVIEW: Round-up of all the league and cup action from the weekend

FENTON CUP

In the Fenton Cup, Newham Wanderers are into the quarter-finals following the weekend’s results as they earned their place following a 2-0 win on the road away at Redbridge Community. Bradley Harris and Joao Cruz both got on the scoresheet with the crucial goals to move them into the last eight.

FENTON TROPHY

There were two second round ties in the Fenton Trophy, beginning with a cupset in Harlow where Division Three’s Changing Lives pulled off a big result in beating county cup semi-finalists, Dagenham United Reserves. Samuel Afriyie and Abdulhalim Alhadi both netted for the hosts in a 2-1 success with Alexander Sodje netting the Dagenham consolation.

There was no such slip-up for Frenford A who also put themselves through into the quarter-finals of the competition with a 5-1 home win against Division Three’s Old Parkonians A at The Drive. Aaron Leggett scored for the visitors but a Frenford brace from Able Alexiou-McCrae plus goals from Gando Koroma, Abdulramon Jaji and Adam Younis turned the tie.

In the quarter-finals, there were two relative cupsets with lower ranked sides prevailing in both ties, beginning with Division Three’s title challengers and county semi-finalists, Collier Row Wheels, seeing their cup run come to an end as they went down in a 2-1 home defeat against Melbourne Sports.

The day’s all Division Two clash came from Loughton where Royal Forest were up against Old Barkabbeyans for a place in the semi-finals. A close game saw the sides finish level at 3-3 with Sam Thompson, Josh Robinson and Jay Elliott goals for the visitors. And it was Old Barks who held their nerve from the spot to win the shootout 5-4.

SENIOR DIVISION CUP

The line-up for the Senior Division Cup semi-finals was completed on Monday evening as Lymore Gardens took on an Aveley Under 23s side at Parsloes Park in front of a strong crowd. The Millers led but saw Lymore drag the game level through Joshua Morris and Dylan Roberts before late goals put Aveley through, 4-2, John Silva scoring two with Airon Paul and Sola Adebo one each.

SENIOR DIVISION

FC Baresi have moved to the cusp of the league title in the Senior Division as their result, a 7-0 home victory against Sporting Hackney, coupled with results elsewhere moved them fourteen points clear at the top. Marvin Hamilton-Omole, Lewis Jones, Junior Appiah, Murat Karagul, Noyan Tajbakhsh, Erol Hassan and Nicola Rappacchiani were the men on target.

That outcome was made all the more important as second placed Woodford East dropped valuable points at Mayesbrook Park, Haringey Borough Under 23s the side to do the damage with a 3-2 win. Eamon Payne and Andrew Rowe were both on the scoresheet for the Peacocks but those goals proved not quite enough on the day.

Third placed Chadwell Heath Spartans closed the gap on the top two to just four points with victory themselves, coming away 3-1 winners from their trip to Parsloes Park as they defeated Bakers693. A goal apiece from Billy Gipp, Elie Fanga and Peter Adeleye were enough for the visitors to walk away with maximum points.

There were some huge performances from sides at the other end of the table too where Kit Out London moved off the bottom of the table for the first time in a long while, securing their fourth win of the season with a 4-1 home win against Rapid Chingford. Jayden Fearon-Doyle scored a hat-trick, Kacper Bialek scoring the other, though they still sit seven points from safety.

Also closing the gap on possible safety were Priory Park Rangers who made it five wins for the season in the top flight as they came away 5-3 winners at the Marshes against sixth-placed Lymore Gardens. That result, coupled with others around them, means they now sit just four points away from the side above in the race to beat the drop.

It was a similar story for Aveley Under 23s who completed a great week for the club with an away win against fifth placed Walthamstow Reserves in a semi-final dress rehearsal. A close game saw the Millers edge the game 3-2 with Abdikarim Sheikh scoring twice off the bench and Hasan Acar netting the other, Issa Sidibe’s double accounting for the Stow goals.

Over at West Ham Foundation, CSM London have moved nine points clear of the drop zone after a run of good performances, their latest seeing them take a victory against FC Petrocub in a 5-3 scoreline, shutting the gap on their opponents to just a couple of points. Jaydon Charles scored a hat-trick, Lewis Grantham and Ramiz Mahmood also on target.

PREMIER DIVISION CUP

In the Premier Division Cup, two of the East division’s rival sides, Unitey and Ongar Town, were in action with a second round clash at Roding Valley on Saturday. It was the hosts who ended the happier of the sides however with Ameer Mursal, Muamar Osman and Junior Milla scoring the goals in a 3-0 win to put Unitey into the quarter-finals.

PREMIER DIVISION EAST

Over in Hainault, league leaders, Fairlop Rovers, were up against an out-of-form Newbury Athletic side in their latest bid for promotion on Saturday. In a game that swung one way and then the other, it was a game that finished at 2-2 in the end with Jayden Francis and Dylan Scutt goals levelling it after Reda El Ghaibouz had put them ahead with his brace.

PREMIER DIVISION WEST

In the West division, the big game of the day came from Parsloes Park where Philip United reasserted themselves as favourites for the title with a thumping 7-1 victory against third placed Snaresbrook. That result saw the visitors earn an eleventh league win of the season, moving them four points clear in the race for the silverware.

That result also allowed fourth-placed Renegade to make up ground on the sides above if they were to be successful and they duly obliged, producing a hard fought 3-1 home win in the Hackney derby, beating sixth placed Wapping to secure win number nine. That result leaves the hosts three points off the promotion places with eight games to go.

Also taking advantage of results around them were London Cranes who made their way up into fifth spot, jumping three places with a 3-0 home win against Barkingside Under 21s at Flanders, leapfrogging their opponents in the process. That was win number seven for Cranes to keep them in touch with matters above them.

At the other end of the standings, it was a vital day for FC Baresi Reserves as the relegation threatened side were up against fellow strugglers, North East Lions, at Leyton County Ground. The sides started level on points but Baresi moved three clear with a 2-0 success, achieved through goals from Ronnie Karayianni and Khalid Mohammed.

DIVISION ONE

In Division One, things couldn’t be much tighter at the top as Royal Lions pulled off an important victory in Hainault, beating the league leaders, Woodford East Reserves, in a 4-2 success to move to within five points of them. Owen McKelvey scored twice for the Peacocks but his efforts proved in vain as Lions took the win.

Second placed Saint City took full advantage of that result themselves to move to within a point of the leaders, their latest travails seeing them take on Old Esthameians, a club with much history in East Ham. City were the side walking away with the honours however, a 3-0 win courtesy of goals from Leo Gaspar, Denison St Louis and Gasser Hendawi.

Over at the Marshes, it was a vital day for Haringey United who needed all three points in their quest to beat the drop but they were up against a rampant Lymore Gardens Under 23s side who produced a comprehensive win, 11-0 to move onto eighteen points. That result, coupled with others, sees Haringey confirmed in the bottom two.

Also fighting against the prospect of relegation are Freetown, the eighth placed side taking on Chingford Athletic Reserves on Saturday at Castle Green. Marvis Idehen scored for the hosts but Chingford were able to net three times themselves, the visitors therefore walking away 3-1 winners.

DIVISION TWO

The race for the title in Division Two is now separated by just goal difference as Rainham & Barking Phoenix’s tenth win of the season on Saturday a 1-0 away success away at Chadwell Heath Spartans Reserves, saw them move level with Royal Forest in the standings. Cameron Shakes scored the game’s only goal, a vital one it proving to be.

Fourth placed Collier Row Reserves were looking for an upturn in fortunes as they made their way to Walthamstow at the weekend to take on a relegation threatened Chingford Harriers. It was the visitors who left the happier of the sides, Row recording a sixth win of the season with Jordan Lee scoring twice and Cesario Mendes netting the other in a 3-0 scoreline.

DIVISION THREE

In Division Three, fourth placed Glendale ensured they kept in touch with the sides above, recording an eighth win of the season on Saturday against Buckhurst Way at Fairlop Oak. A first half goal from Emmanuel Ejembi was followed by Wesley Antonio’s solo effort in the second half, the Dales winning 2-0.

Over in east London, Beckton Sporting Club were the hosts as they took on a Romford Flyers side sat just two places above them in the table. But the Flyers soared to a big win, beating Beckton 8-0 to pick up a fifth league win. Adam Blake, Tawfit Rahman and Harry Marsh all scored twice, Aakash Limbu, Bubacarr Touray and Joshua Bryant netting the others.

Photo Credit: Kit Out London / Line of Fire Photography