WEEK 31 REVIEW: Round-up of Sunday's league and cup football action

TROPHYLAND CUP

Aside from the weekend’s cup final action, there was also a huge Trophyland Cup semi final in Chadwell Heath which saw Division Four’s East Ham Inter looking to be giant-killers once again with a trip to face Division Two’s Ferns Seniors. George Evans and Liam Coney found the back of the net for Ferns but their goals proved in vain as Michael Kemp scored twice for Inter with Alex Ceobanu and Amalraj Kakumanu netting the others in a stunning 4-2 win. East Ham Inter will now face another Division Two outfit as they tackle Dagenham United in the showpiece final at Dagenham & Redbridge on 5^th May.

DIVISION ONE

There was just the one game in Division One over the weekend as SL Menfica moved themselves to the brink of the league title with a cup final dress rehearsal win against St Augustines. David Hornsby netted twice for his side with Kristopher Brown scoring the third to hand them a 3-0 win, a result which leaves them a point away from mathematically securing the title, albeit it’s already likely they’ve done enough.

DIVISION TWO

The race for promotion in Division Two is heading to the wire with Royal Albert still in the box seat with three games to play. They were 4-2 victors over the weekend with a trip to E17 to face Walthamstow Avenue with the sides due to meet again in May in the West Essex Trophy Final. David Mercer and Tamas Nagy were on target for the hosts but Albert’s responded with four goals of their own to move fourth in the standings.

The newly crowned champions, Dagenham United, completed their penultimate league match of the season with a trip to Lonsdale on Sunday, a huge match for the hosts who needed a point at least to avoid finishing in the bottom two. And a point was what Lonsdale earned as Leo Suta and Arjan Gjergji efforts countered Daggers goals from Charlie Perry and Garry Shea in a 2-2 draw.

DIVISION THREE

In Division Three, the big game of the day was at Westlands where third placed Hornchurch Oakmont took on second placed Thames Ironworks Community with Thames needing points to continue their quest for the league title. A close game saw just one goal separating the sides with Liam Tracey-Cesay’s effort for Thames the crucial moment in the game. That 1-0 win for Thames, coupled with the points awarded from their upcoming clash against Masterman is now enough for Thames to secure the league title! Congratulations to all involved at the club.

In the day’s other action from the division, E4 Rangers completed their season in a strong fashion with a clash at home against co-tenants Ping City Phoenixes. Rangers goals from each of Charlie Parry, Tim Dye, Macauley White and Jimmy Turner were the difference between the sides as they helped their side to a 4-0 victory. That result saw them edge into their final position of fourth place on goal difference.

DIVISION FOUR

In Division Four, Woodford completed their maiden season in the league with the visit of fellow Wanstead based side, Asianos Reserves. The two sides, both solidly positioned in the top half of the table, had little to separate them on the day, settling for a share of the spoils in a 2-2 draw.

The other action from the division came in Woodford where Oak Royals were the visitors to face Epping Forest Falcons. Daniel Gotobed scored a hat-trick for Royals with Daniel Lister, Jack Revell and Ryan Mitchell efforts rendering an Alex Cachia goal as just consolation for Falcons in a 6-1 scoreline.