WEEK 20 REVIEW: Rainham take a point at Jolof; Blue Marlin close to promotion

On a cold yet sunny January afternoon, we were lucky to find just a single game falling to the weather as a near full schedule went ahead.

The Premier Division Cup first round tie between May & Baker EC A and Chingford Town ended in a 2-0 win for the visitors as Aaron Gonzalez and John Bricknell scored the goals that take Town into a home quarter-final draw with AAH Romford.

There was a cracking game in the Division One Cup tie between St Johns Deaf and Forest Green as the latter took the game to the high-flying St Johns side and led them 3-1 at the break. St John’s got back onto level terms and then scored a late winner in extra time to confirm a semi final place. Huseyin Er bagged a hat-trick with James Paull also finding the target.

The Division Two Cup quarter final between Cowley Community and Singh Sabha Barking saw Cowley win 3-1 courtesy of goals from Cian Duffy, Mark Farinha and James Wall to book their place in the semi final against either Dagenham United or Northend Res.

Back to domestic league action, result of the day in the Premier Division was secured by bottom of the table Rainham Working Mens Club who travelled to east London to face Jolof Sports Club and came away with a point in a 3-3 draw. The result still leaves Rainham five points away from second bottom Eastside Rangers. Chingford Harriers swapped places with St Francis in the table with a closely fought 1-0 away win secured by a Benjamin Stone winning goal.

Division One sideBlue Marlin are on the verge of securing promotion to the Premier Division following their 4-1 win at Lord Nelson as Matthew Hamilton scored twice adding to strikes from Scott Campbell and Lewis Foreman. They now look forward to a potential title decider next Saturday against their closest rivals, St John’s Deaf. Three Colts maintain their strangle hold on fifth position with a 6-0 win on the road at Chingford Town Res.

In Division Two, Northend Res took leaders Grove United all the way but saw their efforts fall at the last as Grove won by the odd goal in five, 3-2. Roy Jones’ brace and a Sam Naylor goal cancelled out a goal from Tony Sparks in reply. Custom House went goal crazy, knocking Newham Royals for ten in their 10-1 win. A pair of hat-tricks, one from Bradley Routledge and one from Paul Wooster, along with goals for Liam Sullivan, Adam Turner and Tim Mason were more than enough to secure the points. West Essex Res move up to third place with their 4-1 win at home to Dagenham United.