WEEK 21 REVIEW: Haver Town confirmed as league champions

Photo Credit: Lamo the Lion

DIVISION FOUR

We start this week’s round-up by offering our congratulations to Haver Town Reserves who were confirmed as Division Four League Champions on Saturday following a 5-0 win away at Brook City. Haver went into the game knowing a win would be enough to confirm themselves as champions, with only Brentwood United Reserves having taken points off them this season so far. Michael Brown, so often a hero for them this season, scored twice with Zak Robinson also getting in on the act with a brace and Jack Phillips scoring once to get the champagne bottles popping!

COUNTY CUP

Docklands Albion have had another weekend to remember as the Walthamstow-based side placed themselves just ninety minutes away from a place in this season’s Essex Junior Trophy final at Aveley with a 4-1 quarter final win against A1 Sports Under 21s on Saturday. This was a third victory against Olympian opposition this season and they will face another as they host a high-flying Corinthians Under 21s in their upcoming semi-final.

FENTON CUP

It was also a memorable day for two clubs in the Fenton Cup at the weekend as the quarter finals got underway with two shock giant-killings. In the first of those matches, Division Two’s ACD United had to overcome a two division deficit as they took on Premier Division’s London APSA in Chadwell Heath. In a tightly contested match, Michael Wade scored the ACD goal that helped them finish level at 1-1, before prevailing 6-5 in an exhilarating shootout to book their place in the last four.

And if that wasn’t enough for you, there was another big result down in Rainham where Division Three’s FC Baresi were the visitors to Rainham Working Mens Club of Division Two with both sides having shown the form of champions this season. Goals from Delano Lloyd and Jayden Fraser gave Baresi a 2-0 lead before seeing the lead cut by a Ricardo Teixeira effort but that proved not enough as FC Baresi secured their slot in the semi-finals.

DIVISION TWO CUP

There was a big win in the Division Two Cup competition as Chingford Athletic Reserves visited St Francis at Wanstead Flats in the first round of the competition. Michael Boahene done most of the damage with a hat-trick for Chingford with further goals arriving through Archie Stojic, Luke Primett, Billy Harding, Umar Ali, Riley Bowers and James Lee-Legan to romp to an emphatic 9-1 win. They now take on Inter Plaistow in the quarter-finals.

In the day’s other cup action from this competition, the reigning champions of this cup, Lymore Gardens, saw they grip on the trophy diminish as they exited with a defeat away at United London Reserves in Romford. Dylan Roberts got his name on the scoresheet for Lymore but this effort proved in vain as United scored two of their to win 2-1 and book a quarter final against Newham United Reserves.

DIVISION THREE CUP

In the Division Three Cup, the remaining first round match of the competition was completed as Redbridge Development took on Frenford A in Ilford with a quarter-final place at stake for the winners. And it was the visitors who will have been the happier with their day’s work as Redbridge ran out 5-0 winners to go through to the next round.

DIVISION FOUR CUP

There was one game played in the Division Four Cup in Group A where Avondale Rangers took to the road to face Dagenham United Reserves with Rangers looking to open their points tally in the competition. Goals from each of Neil Turner, Chris Harper and Thomas Jackson-Lyall were sufficient to confirm a 3-1 victory, cancelling out a Danny Toye goal for the hosts. That leaves four teams poised on three points each with a handful of games remaining in Group A.

PREMIER DIVISION

In the Premier Division, there is no change at the top as United London remain within striking distance of leaders, Colebrook Royals, following United’s victory at the weekend at the hands of West Essex Reserves. There were braces from Scott Truman and Billy Teixeira to hand the visitors a 4-1 win that leaves them five points behind the leaders with two games in hand.

There was a nine-goal thriller in East Ham as the reigning champions, Jolof Sports, saw the visit of Lopes Tavares London with the former looking to improve their league form which has seen a dip in recent times. In a topsy-turvy match, the in-form Lopes caused further anguish for Jolof as they edged this thriller by the odd goal in a 5-4 win that perhaps sees an end to Jolof’s ambitions of retaining their crown.

There was a huge win for Old Esthameians as they travelled to West Ham to take on London Cranes at the weekend. They put on a show with a sparkling seven goal display to dismantle Cranes and bag a sixth league win of the season, securing them a move up the table to fourth place with six matches remaining.

DIVISION ONE

In Division One, Ryan Reserves have moved level on points at the top of the table with Docklands Albion after a stunning comeback win on Saturday against fourth placed East Ham Inter. The Chingford-based outfit made the most of a man advantage late in the game to come from behind to win 3-2 at Parmiters, aiding their rise towards the top.

That change at the top was aided by a recently rare Melbourne Sports defeat as they fell to a 4-3 loss against Singh Sabha Barking at a damp and dreary Hainault. Jordan Green, Scott Lincoln and Luke MacDonald scored for the Mels but a Dylan Gordon-Broadley hat-trick proved key to the Barking victory, adding to a Rajan Sangha effort in a 4-3 win.

There was also a hugely important win at the other end of the table as Forest Green got themselves off of the foot of the table with a 5-3 win away at Sporting Hackney Reserves on the Marshes. Adam Meragan deserves a share of the plaudits for his hat-trick with Marcel Destouche and Gradi Zitu goals rounding off a memorable afternoon. Still lots of hard work ahead for Green with eleven matches still to play.

There was a six goal thriller in Highams Park as Three Colts played host to Colebrook Royals Reserves in a battle between two mid-table outfits. Robbie Carter scored twice for the Royals with Daniel Armstrong also scoring as the sides finished level at 3-3 to take a share of the spoils and the points. That result keeps Colts seventh in the table with Royals still looking over their shoulders in ninth position.

After a difficult period, Wapping made it two wins on the bounce with a spirited 5-3 win at home to Ferns Seniors on Saturday. Wapping stormed into a 3-0 lead only for Ferns to level the game up through goals from Ben Puddick, Liam Coney and Chris Wilby. But the goalscoring wasn’t over as the hosts netted twice late on secure the win, holding on to their fourth position in the standings.

DIVISION TWO

There was a change to the leadership in Division Two following the weekend’s action as Flyers rose back to the summit with a victory away at Custom House. Patrick Junior scored twice with Jason Collins continuing his goalscoring streak with another to cancel out a Bradley Routledge effort for the hosts and confirm a 3-1 win. That moves Flyers top of the table by a point although second placed Rainham do have a game in hand.

Inter Plaistow will be starting to wonder just where they could have finished this season had they started the season with the same form they are showing presently as they made it six wins for the season on Saturday. Their latest opponents were Lionside, themselves running off the back of numerous victories in recent times, but it was it was Inter who won this match 2-0. Izuchi Ijoma was the difference between the sides with both goals.

DIVISION THREE

In Division Three, there was an absolute thriller of a match in Hainault where Kitroom were visited by local rivals Glendale, who popped over the hedge to face their fourth placed opponents. The Dales weathered the first half storm to lead 3-1 through goals from Khari Pobi, Leon Sterling and Seyi Agboola before Kitroom mounted a tremendous comeback to level up the game at 3-3 with minutes to go with Lewis McCarthy, Tyrell Imbert and Denis Karmaj all on target. But despite a draw now looking likely, there was still one key moment as Leon Sterling netted a winner for Glendale.

In the division’s other league action, New Star Soccer were visited by Chingford Harriers in Seven Kings with both sides needing points in their respective battles at different ends of the table. The hosts will have been the happier with the end result however as New Star recorded a 2-0 win to move up two places in the table to eighth and clear of imminent danger for now. Dean Henry and Marvin Sterling got the goals that mattered on the day to help their side to victory.