WEEK 17 REVIEW: Round-up of Saturday's league and cup action

FENTON CUP

The weekend saw two further second round ties in the Fenton Cup as Woodford East booked themselves a massive third round clash, beating Newham Royals 6-2 to confirm a tie at Division One side, Tower United. Billy Barr and Frank Glock scored twice each with Reece Beaumont and Ben Smith goals rending Royal strikes from Andre Peters and Philip Norman as just a consolation.

Also confirming a place in the third round of the competition were Old Esthameians who came through a tough clash at home to fellow Division Two side, Royal Forest. A single goal was sufficient to separate these sides with Tom Terry’s strike earning E’s a 1-0 win, a result which sets up a third round clash away at top flight Lymore Gardens in the coming weeks.

SENIOR DIVISION CUP

The opening Senior Division Cup action of the season saw two close games with FC Petrocub’s debut in the competition seeing them confirm a quarter final place as they ran out eventual 3-1 victors away at Chingford Athletic Reserves in Waltham Abbey. Ghenadie Moisei scored twice and Vasilica-Cristinel Ilie once for the visitors with Warren Isoka’s goal accounting for the hosts’s effort in consolation.

The day’s other tie in the opening round saw a close game between FC Baresi and in-form Blue Marlin, the latter following up a good performance last time out with another this week. Mark Matthews got on the scoresheet for Baresi but Marlin also scored through Jordan Mills-Smith to end the game at 1-1 and send it to a shootout. Marlin held their nerve from the spot to win it 5-3 and secure a quarter final spot.

SENIOR DIVISION

Chigwell have opened up the gap at the top to six points in the Senior Division as they came from behind against fellow title contenders, London Cranes, to secure a massively important 5-3 at Fairlop Oak. Eric Godfrey, Pius Lutaaya and Mathius Sendawula were all on target but their efforts proved not quite enough on the day for Cranes.

CSM London returned to action in 2020 and continued where they left off in 2019 as they picked up a 2-1 away victory in their game against East Ham Inter. James Henry and Keifer Cole were both on the scoresheet to pave the way to victory, a result which sees them move up a place to fourth in the league standings.

DIVISION ONE

The title race in Division One remains close and Tower United remain a point clear of their rivals, aided by a solid win on Saturday away at London Park City. Goals from Zacariya Derria, Asad Yousef and Liban Mahamoud were sufficient to earn United a 3-0 away victory to stay top.

The race is being kept alive by Chingford United who remain a point back but with a game in hand after they came through a tough challenge in the day’s late kick off in Dagenham against All Prospects. Chingford were 3-1 winners in the end to pick up an eighth league win of the season.

Moving up to fifth place, Tower Hamlets Reserves made up ground on the sides above them, leapfrogging their opponents, All Real, in the process as they picked up a 4-1 victory. Arnold Mengi scored twice and Hussein Sharif got the other to earn the victory and commence 2020 in positive fashion.

Sporting Hackney Development will be hoping that the new year brings about a change in fortunes and they started it well over the weekend with an important win against their relegation rivals, Forest Green. Piango Kossa and Richard Balogun both scored twice for the Parrots to help them to a 4-2 win, clear of the drop zone on goal difference for now.

DIVISION TWO

Sungate Reserves’ gap at the top of Division Two is four points as they approach the halfway mark in their campaign. They had a tough game ahead of them on Saturday as in-form Upshire Forest visited Hainault. Gate were solid 3-1 winners on the day as Luke Macdonald, Thomas Drayton and debutant Harry Chalk scored the all important goals. Leighton Hughes-Franklin got the Upshire consolation goal in reply.

There is a change just below the leaders as Three Colts move up to second place in the standings on the back of an excellent performance over the weekend. They were up against Unitey at Fairlop Oak and ran out 4-0 winners with Jason Fox scoring twice and a goal apiece from Sam Gents and Tom Jacob.

Rainham Working Mens Club remain well in the frame but drop back a place as they were held to a draw in a thrilling six-goal encounter against Melbourne Sports. Sean Tormey scored twice for the Workies, adding to a debut strike from Surjan Limbu but Dexter Stuart’s brace in reply plus a Ryan Lincoln effort helped Melbourne to a 3-3 draw and a precious point.

DIVISION THREE

The gap at the top in Division Three is down to just a single point as Newham Wanderers continued to demonstrate their title credentials but had to overcome a real battle against Glendale. A seven-goal thriller saw Marcelino Rodriques score a hat-trick and Amir Patel a single for Newham, overcoming Dales goals from Valter Correia, Maryis Shamku and Paul Oriakhi to win 4-3.

FC Galaxy are now third in the table on the back of a superb run of form but had it all to do as they came through a tight contest against Debden Park. Ross Densham and Bradley Wyatt goals for Park made this a real battle but Galaxy goals from Butnaru Daniel, Mihai Marencium and Iulian Udriste ended it 3-2 in their favour.

There was a massively important result for Avondale Rangers over the weekend as they played host to promotion seeking Flyers Development. Rangers came through the match however with all three points as Tom Lyall scored a brace and Adam Friend grabbed the other to edge the game 3-2.

Another of the promotion chasing sides, St Francis, saw their hopes dented as they were held to a draw for the second time this season against tenth placed Custom House United. The prolific Glenn Levy was on target for the Dockers once again with Saints only able to score once themselves as the teams finished 1-1 and shared the points.

DIVISION FOUR

Lymore Gardens Reserves have moved back into the Division Four promotion picture, earning a massively important away victory at fellow challengers Fairlop Rovers. Lymore were 3-1 winners on the day, moving above their opponents and into second place as the race hots up.

Loughton Lions have kept themselves in the frame too and, with games in hand, could still pose the biggest threat. They moved up to third in the standings following their match at the weekend, beating Dagenham United Reserves 3-1 at Castle Green to secure a fifth league win in nine.

Those results played a part in Together United making a big climb up the table, moving up  three places on the back of a 2-0 home win against local rivals, Chingford Harriers. Joshua Henderson scored both of the United goals to return home with maximum points and move up to fifth in the table.

The final league game of the day was the clash between an eighth placed Prospect Protégé side who were up against Flyers B, a side still seeking a first league win. In a game of six goals, two from Richard Akinyebo plus one apiece from Reece Anatole-Liburd and Tommy Burke were enough to give Prospect the points in a 4-2 win.

LONDON JUNIOR CUP

It was London Junior Cup quarter final day on Saturday where Rapid Chingford’s excellent efforts to date had taken them through to an away clash against previous winners, FC Hamlets. With plenty of prowess in this competition, Hamlets were able to run out 4-0 winners on the day, ending Rapid’s great run.