WEEK 26 REVIEW: Northend take pole position in race for promotion to Premier Division

On a bright and sunny March afternoon, it certainly felt like Spring had arrived as we managed a full fixture schedule without any interruptions.

In the Premier Division, Chingford Athletic had to come from two goals down at half time against Newham Res to finally come through, winning 4-2. Anton Trice was the hero with two goals with James Clarke and Matt Thompson notching the other goals. Chingford’s rivals, May & Baker EC A, were also victorious as they strolled to a comfortable 4-0 win against Chingford Harriers, a result which maintains their thirteen point lead over Chingford Athletic. Melbourne Sports move up to sixth position, replacing their opponents this weekend, Chingford Town, who fell to the Mels 4-0. Goals from Greg Justham, Antony Hawe, Ryan Lincoln and John Schubert were enough to secure the points. Cranes United were 4-1 winners at St Francis to keep them eighth in the table and Saints remain second bottom in eleventh despite a strike from Callum Kennedy. Eastside Rangers took advantage of Saints dropping points to extend their lead over them to four points in a 1-1 draw with AAH Romford however Eastside have played three more fixtures that St Francis.

Division One saw Northend continue their late surge for promotion with a 3-1 win on the road at St Johns Deaf as Ryan Leddra, Reece Simpson and Shomari Barnwell strikes took them to victory. Despite their early season form, St Johns have now dropped points in their last four matches leaving Northend in pole position to take the runners-up spot if they can maintain their form. The result also means that Blue Marlin are a single point away from securing the league title. Vittoriosa Falcons move up to second place in the table with a 2-0 home win against Glendale with Nathan Scarborough and Graham Reeves the men hitting the target for the Falcons.

Grove United have returned to the top of the table in Division Two with a 7-0 win over Dagenham United. John Hughes scored a hat-trick with a brace apiece coming from Harry Chalk and Rob Arundall to round off the scoring. West Essex Res drop to second in the table despite a goal from Otis Gatehouse after a first league defeat of the season. Leyton Green were the side to claim the scalp, winning 2-1, as they move up to third place and continue their excellent run of form which has seen them back into the mixer for the promotion places. Newham Royals secured an excellent point as they held early runaway leaders Cowley Community to a 3-3 draw with Conor Harrington (2) and Mark Farinha netting for Cowley to keep them fourth in the table. Lee Giles’ goal leads Northend Res to a 1-0 win against St Francis Res to close the gap on their opponents to a single point and, in the final game, Custom House were 5-0 winners against Singh Sabha Barking as Bradley Routledge (2), Robert Wooster, Joshua Thompson and Damien Williams netted to secure maximum points for the hosts to confirm at least a fifth place finish.