WEEK 30 REVIEW: Round-up of Saturday's league and cup action

FENTON CUP

The Fenton Cup Final line-up was confirmed on Saturday as an entertaining match saw holders, Chingford Athletic, go two goals down to Grove United in Buckhurst Hill courtesy of strikes from Danny Rumble and Dan Spinks. A second half revival however from the hosts completed a remarkable comeback as goals from Gary Murray (2), Tom Kavanagh, David Livie and Luke Arnold saw them to May’s final where they face London Falcons on 8th May.

DIVISION ONE CUP

Another side who will be adorning the hallowed turf at Dagenham & Redbridge FC will be Three Colts who came through their own semi-final at the weekend, seeing off Kitgum Boys in West Ham by six goals to one. Elliott Brown scored twice for Colts with singles from Richard Blackwell, Jason Fox, Thomas Jakob and Callum Kennedy cancelling out a Mustafa Lubwama strike for the hosts. Three Colts will now face either Cowley Community or Sporting Hackney Reserves in their cup final.

Cowley Community had earlier confirmed their place in the semi-finals with an inspired and hard-fought victory against the league champions, Colebrook Royals. Despite being a man down, the ten men of Cowley pulled off one of the shocks of the season, racing into an early 2-0 lead before Matthew Judge and Mark Wright goals pulled it level again. This didn’t deter the visitors however who led again moments later with strikes from Yusuf Bello (2) and Izunna Ogedi-Uzokwe giving them a 3-2 lead with minutes to go. But cometh the hour, cometh the man as Mark Wright nodded in with literally the last “kick” of the match to level it at 3-3 and take it to penalties. The spot-kicks went the way of Cowley Community who netted all five to send them through to the semi-finals!

PREMIER DIVISION

In the Premier Division, United London have moved up to fourth place in the table in their penultimate game of the season as they beat relegation threatened LOASS 3-1 in Hackney. Billy Teixeira proved the difference between the sides as his hat-trick paved to the way to taking home maximum points.

A mid-table clash saw cup finalists, London Falcons, host Blue Marlin at the Marshes with both sides eager to end the season in positive fashion. In the end it was Blue Marlin who took the points back to Barkingside as they secured a 3-1 victory and moved above London Falcons into sixth place in the table.

DIVISION ONE

A huge game in Division One this week saw two sides go head to head with relegation being confirmed for the losing side as East Ham International hosted St Francis in Buckhurst Hill. And it was the hosts who secured their Division One status with a comfortable 3-0 home victory. That win means that the Saints will be in Division Two next season along with Singh Sabha Barking who not cannot catch the sides above them.

At the other end of the table, the promotion outlook took another twist as St Johns Deaf held promotion chasing West Essex Reserves to a 3-3 draw in a thriller. St Johns led 3-0 at the break but a super second half from West Essex culminated in goalkeeper Michael Bundock netting the late equaliser to spark scenes of jubilation and keep their challenge on track.

DIVISION TWO

In Division Two, Ryan Reserves moved to the brink of confirming the league championship as they secured a 4-0 home victory over Old Barkabbeyans Reserves in Chingford. That win for the hosts means that a single victory from their two remaining fixtures will be enough to take the title having already confirmed promotion.

Colebrook Royals Reserves maintained their outside hopes of the title as they put nine goals past Glendale in a 9-1 victory. Robbie Carter and Dion Bishop both scored hat-tricks for the hosts with Ashley Somers’ brace and a Liam Cullen single completing the scoring for the Royals.

In another important match at the other end of the table, Chigwell Rovers confirmed their place in Division Two once again next season with a 5-2 win on the road at Inter Plaistow. Louis Kane and Danny Vass both scored for Inter but a Will Osmand hat-trick plus goals from Ben Lacey and Charlie Saywood kept the cup finalists in the division.

DIVISION THREE

One of the shocks of the day came in Poplar where Wapping’s title celebrations were put on hold for at least another week as they were taken down 6-2 by Old Esthameians Reserves. Adel Mouaden and Mohammed Hussain scored the Wapping goals but a quartet of strikes from Danny Morgan and singles from Jack Morgan and Shaun Vickers completed a stunning victory for the E’s.

Custom House took advantage of the situation by securing a win of their own in beating Brentwood United Reserves 4-2 in east London. Jamie Wooster netted twice for the Dockers accompany dad, Paul Wooster, and Sam Wilkinson onto the scoresheet. That result leaves Custom House four points off of the pace in the division with two games still to play.