WEEK 5 REVIEW: County cup competitions get underway

FENTON CUP

Ryan Reserves provided the shock of the round so far in the Fenton Cup as the Division Two leaders knocked out Premier Division side, Old Esthameians, in the first round. In a topsy-turvy game that could have gone either way, a late, late winner from the Chingford side saw them steal a 5-4 win and book a place in the next round.

Cowley Community made safe passage into the second round with a victory of their own on Saturday. The Division One outfit travelled to Hainault to face Division Three’s new boys, Royal Forest, and came away with a 3-1 win with Mark Farinha, Rodney Capemba and Gabriel Onireti all netting to secure victory.

Also booking a place in the second round were St John’s Deaf who, in the first part of a weekend double header for them, saw off Division Three side Wanstead Warriors in a 7-1 win. Debutant Daniel Aliey netted four goals with Huseyin Er and Darren Dunne also on target. They go on to face Custom House in the next round.

COUNTY CUPS

There was mixed levels of success in the county cup competitions this weekend as some of our sides started their campaigns in the opening rounds of both the Essex and London competitions.

Reigning Essex Junior Cup champions, Chingford Athletic, faced a tough opening draw in their defence of their title as they travelled to Olympian side, May & Baker Reserves. And it was the Dagenham side who prevailed in a 3-1 win and ending the champions reign at the first hurdle.

One of the EAL’s new sides, Chigwell Rovers, made their county cup debut with a trip to Mid Essex to face Baddow Athletic of the Mid Essex League in the Essex Junior Trophy first round. Rovers went down 4-1 eventually to see their participation in the competition ended.

Three of our sides made it through in the London Junior Cup competition with United London the biggest winners of the day, defeating Clapham-based Bayern Merchant 6-2 at the Marshes to take their place in the second round.

Also victorious were St Francis who scooped a first competitive win of the season with a 4-1 home victory over south-east London based Christ Church Chislehurst. They now travel away to face Clapham-based side, FC Lokomotiv Lavender, in the second round in November.

Forest Green were the league’s only casualties of the opening round as they were beaten on their travels south of the river by Crayford Arrows 3-1.

PREMIER DIVISION

Grove United have moved level on points at the top of the table following a 3-1 home win on Saturday against Lopes Tavares London. A Harry Chalk brace led the way with Aaron Scott also netting to leave them second on goal difference alone.

The day’s biggest winners were Melbourne Sports who made it two wins from their opening two league matches with a 9-1 victory over Rainham Working Mens Club. Wayne Matthews led the way with a hat-trick with Jamel Walters scoring twice and one apiece for each of Rene Moret, Jordan Green, Luke Newson and Greg Justham. Lucas Adeyefa was on target for Rainham with their consolation goal.

Jolof Sports Club edged a tight encounter against Blue Marlin by just the odd goal on Saturday as a pair of goals from Jesus Paniagua proved the difference for the visitors in a 2-1 victory. Nathan Desnoes was the man on target with Blue Marlin’s strike. That win takes the east London side to just a point off the leading pack.

DIVISION ONE

Colebrook Royals have moved second in the table after a second league win at the weekend beating old Romford League rivals, Ferns Seniors, in a 5-0 scoreline. Chris Stowe was again the man to watch as he netted four of their goals with Bertie Brayley accounting for the fifth goal.

Colebrook’s seemingly closest rivals, Three Colts, remain top of the pile in Division One and unbeaten following a 5-2 win at the weekend against Singh Sabha Barking. Taranjit Birring and Oswald Nyahunda were the Barking scorers but those strikes proved mere consolation as Colts continue their stranglehold on top spot.

In another top end of the table clash, Kitgum Boys and Sporting Hackney Reserves met in an enthralling match in West Ham with both sides sharing the points in a 4-4 draw. Mhon Kebell, Boris Backer, Mathius Sendawula and Shafik Walusimbi were the Kitgum goal scorers with Barry Charalambous (2), Andrean Kostadinov and David Walsh netting in reply for Hackney. The sides remain third and fourth placed respectively, maintaining their unbeaten starts.

DIVISION TWO

Inter Plaistow have risen to second in the table in Division Two after an exciting 3-2 win on Saturday against Avondale Rangers. Goals from Ben Nyman, Danny Vass and Rasheed Allen saw the West Ham based side edge past the visitors by the odd goal and move to within two points of the leaders.

Securing a first competitive win of the season on Saturday were Glendale who travelled to Chingford to take on an in-form Chingford Harriers side and came away with maximum points in a 2-1 victory. Dales goals from Ricky Hall and Mouhamed Gueye were enough to secure victory, cancelling out an Edwin Jabbari strike for the hosts.

Lymore Gardens scooped an impressive 2-1 win this weekend as they beat local rivals, Chingford Athletic Reserves, 2-1 on the road. Michael Konis and John Mensah both found the back of the net for Lymore as they secured victory with George Watmough netting the Chingford consolation goal.

Colebrook Royals Reserves continued their fine start to the season as they recorded a 2-0 win over Old Barkabbeyans Reserves on Saturday to maintain their perfect start to the campaign. Goals from Ashley Somers and Luke Haydon proved the difference between the sides on the day with the winners up to fifth in the table.

DIVISION THREE

Flyers got back to winning ways at the weekend in Division Three as the leaders maintained their hold on top spot with a narrow 3-2 win against Upminster Reserves at King Georges. Jack Swaby, Lee Hattam and Tony Hirst found the back of the net to secure the points and keep their perfect start in the league.

A great start to the season for Newham Royals continues with a third successive win seeing the side up to the heady heights of third in the table. Their latest victory, a 4-2 home win over St Francis Reserves, was secured with a brace from Sam Stichbury plus goals from Richard Smith and Peter Crouch (not that one!). Ryan Jewell and Josh Hunt were the Saints’ goalscorers for their side who remain ninth in the table.

Kitroom stay second in the table and just a couple of points behind the leaders as they beat Brentwood United Reserves 3-1 at the weekend. The winning side’s goals arrived through Lukman Hasan, Kamel Zaiter and Hristo Sirakov to bag the points.

Rounding off the Division Three action was another thrilling game which saw Old Esthameians Reserves and Wapping share the spoils in a 3-3 draw. Wapping goals from Fuad Ibrahim (2) and Yusuf Khan were equalled by E’s goals from George Coffey (2) and Lee Vickers to take a point each.

BRITISH DEAF FOOTBALL NATIONAL CUP

Making their second cup competition appearance of the weekend were St Johns Deaf who hosted Charlton Deaf on Sunday in the second round of the national cup. In what looks to be one of the most one-sided matches in history, St Johns rattled 27 goals past their opponents for no reply to book their place in the next round.