WEEK 26 REVIEW: Chingford Athletic seal place in county cup final
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Chingford Athletic have booked their place in the Essex Junior Cup Final this season following a magnificent 4-1 thumping of Basildon-based, Pro Athletic, on Saturday. What looked a tricky away tie on paper against a side who were runners-up in the Junior Trophy last season turned out to be a comfortable victory for the men from E4 as goals from Gary Murray, Michael Mignot, Matty Roberts and David Livie proved more than enough. The win sees Chingford through to their first county cup final which will be held at Billericay Town FC on Wednesday 20th March where they will face Iona FC of the Mid Essex League Premier Division.
Making it a day to remember for the club, Chingford Athletic’s Reserves were also in semi-final action as they entertained Newham Royals in the Division Two Cup showdown with both sides just 90 minutes away from booking a place at Dagenham & Redbridge FC. There were certainly plenty of goals in this too and it was Chingford once again who did the business, running out 8-3 winners with Michael Boahene netting a hat-trick along with braces from Josh Trainor and George Watmough and a single strike from Tom Kavanagh to confirm their place in the final. They will face either Leyton Green or Custom House in the final with those sides meeting for their own semi-final in April.
In the Fenton Cup quarter-final, Rainham Working Mens Club secured their place in the semi-finals with a narrow 2-1 win at Chingford Town as, despite Luke Giddings levelling things up for Town, Rainham grabbed the all important winner. They will now face either Melbourne Sports or Grove United in the semi-finals.
Blue Marlin maintained their outside chances of Premier Division title glory this weekend as they ran out 1-0 winners against Buckhurst Hill Under 21s. The result leaves them two points off the pace setters, Jolof Sports, but with Chingford Athletic still with plenty of games in hand to continue their own challenge. There was also a good win for third placed May & Baker EC A who won 2-1 at London Falcons courtesy of goals from Joshua Gill and Shane Messenger.
The big game of the day in Division One saw leaders Grove United travel to West Ham to take on second placed Kitgum Boys in a top of the table encounter. It was Kitgum who secured a vital win, coming away 1-0 winners through a goal from Musa Kizito to open up the title race once again. The result leaves Kitgum two points behind the leaders but with only a single game left to play while Three Colts are now best placed to catch Grove United with four games in hand and a 12 point gap meaning an enthralling end to the season. Also victorious in Division One were Glendale who move up to sixth place following a 4-1 win at home to Flyers as John Taylor and Terry Allen both netted twice to secure the points.
The Division Two title race is finally narrowing down following another Custom House upset this Saturday as they travelled to Inter Plaistow and came away 1-0 winners. Daud Abdi scored the only goal of the game meaning Inter are unlikely to finish in the top two on goal difference. It’s now all in the hands of London APSA who grabbed a narrow 2-1 win at home to Northend, despite a goal from Ryan Leddra for the visitors, to move to within striking distance of Singh Sabha Barking. A win on the final day against St Francis Reserves will be enough to overtake Singh Sabha and take the title. St Francis Reserves and Leyton Green shared the spoils in a goalless draw on Saturday with defences on top, the point enough for Green to move up a place to fifth in the table.