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WEEK 32 REVIEW: Round-up of Sunday's league and cup football action

WEEK 32 REVIEW: Round-up of Sunday's league and cup football action

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Premier Division

The Premier Division football action resumed on Sunday with a double as Romford Elite and Flanders performed a dress rehearsal for next weekend’s cup final. The sides shared six goals in the opening clash with Elite strikes from Ben Bickford, Chris Bird and Joshua Thompson levelling up Flanders goals from Charles Ofor, Abraham Opoku and Shomari Barnwell to make it 3-3.

And if that goal-fest wasn’t enough, a mirror image of the first game transpired to the second with the sides once again finishing 3-3 – what’s the odds on that?! Ben Bickford once again got on the Elite scoresheet along with a Paul Scott goal but Shomari Barnwell’s class showed with a hat-trick to give the sides a point apiece heading into a well poised cup final showdown next Sunday.

Division One

In Division One, the season will go to the almost the last kick for a second successive year as East London Old Boys won their crucial penultimate match against Valentines United, securing a 4-0 victory to moves them level with the leaders with a game to play. Jack Stevenson scored twice and one each from Gaz Dauti and Thomas Quinn were enough to put them on the edge of a league and cup double in their first season. They now need at least a point from their remaining match against Barking & Dagenham Wanderers this coming Sunday but that won’t be an easy task with both sides in decent form.

Continuing a theme of 3-3 scorelines in the league on Sunday, a third of the day saw two of Division One’s sides shared six goals and the points with Korona Redbridge travelling to face Park Tavern. Tavern goals from Nick Tormey, Gozie Ndukwe and Rodney Sarsah-Wilson were evened up by Redbridge goals from Konrad Mroczka, Dawid Pietras and Dawid Smolarek.

Division Two

In Division Two, Steve McQueen has started auditioning for a place in the Masterman side as the Great Escape remains on. The Newbury Park side edged a thrilling encounter by the odd goal in seven as they overcame a Tom Neale brace and a David Fitzgerald goal with four of their own to win 4-3 against St Augustines. They now trail the ninth placed Dagenham United by five goals with still enough points on offer to climb to safety.

At the other end of the table, there was another huge result in the title race as Upshire dropped crucial points at home to London Fire Brigade as Fire goals from David Ellis, Yomi Popoola and David Moore helped their side to a 3-0 win on the day. That result hands the advantage to Wanstead United in the race for the silverware but they will still need three wins from their last four matches to guarantee it.

Division Three

The Division Three battle for the league title goes on and this will be another which heads deep into May. Dagenham United Reserves stay top of the league as they faced a difficult trip to Morfdown Elect on Sunday. Adam Davis scored twice for Elect but a Sean Thomas hat-trick and a Gary Adams goal handed United a crucial 4-2 win as they prepare for a battle with second placed FC United of Hornchurch next Sunday.

The division’s other match saw one of the other title contenders, Goresbrook, put in a fairly comfortable performance as they saw off Asianos Reserves in Chadwell Heath. Charlie Barrett netted his customary hat-trick with further strikes arriving from Samuel Berry, Liam Coney, David Webster and William Cox in a 7-2 victory. Goresbrook can win the league with their matches in hand although many of these are against the sides around them so it will be an intriguing run-in.

Division Four

Defending went out of the window in Division Four on Sunday as the small matter of 31 goals were scored in just three games in that division. Emerson Park Under 21s were involved in a twelve goal thriller of a match as they entertained East Ham Inter in the latter’s last game of their debut campaign. Ronnie Hobbrough, so often the hero for his side with a stack load of goals, scored four adding to a Jack Lakey strike. But their tally proved not enough as Inter ran in seven goals of their own in a quite remarkable game.

And if that wasn’t enough for you, Epping Forest Falcons and Newham Athletic were another fixture who decided that attack was the best form of defence as these sides also conjured up a twelve goal tally between them. Michael Girling scored twice for Falcons which added to strikes from Ryan Lawless, Sam Avery and Adam Brewer, you might have imagined that to be enough for victory. Newham had other ideas however as they put seven goals past Falcons to win it 7-5!

In the day’s remaining league match, you would have been disappointed to have only seen seven goals in this one as Oak Royals travelled to Beckton to face Custom House Community Reserves in the latter’s final game of a long season. And it would be the hosts who ended the happier of two teams, earning themselves a 5-2 win to finish a likely eighth in the standings.  

Charity Cup

It was West Essex Sunday Charity Cup semi-finals day on Sunday with two of our sides competing in the two fixtures with a view to taking their place at Aveley in May. In the first of those two matches, Barking & Dagenham Wanderers faced a daunting tie against Essex Senior League Reserve title favourites, Waltham Abbey Reserves, who had already sent two Premier Division sides spiralling out of the competition. But a truly sensational performance from the Newbury Park based side saw them run out 5-1 victors to book their place in the final.

Meeting them in that final will be the reigning champions of the competition, Eva Hart, who have defended their crown well so far and will attempt to keep their hands on the trophy after seeing off Leyton Celtic on Sunday in the other semi-final. Eva Hart were also 5-1 winners to send their side off to Aveley next month.

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