CUP FINALS PREVIEW: Corinthian and Trophyland Cups conclude on Sunday in double header special

This Sunday sees the next set of cup finals take place as we head to Dagenham & Redbridge FC for a busy double header, our inaugural finals at the prestigious venue. The day will comprise of both the Trophyland Cup Final at 11am, followed by the Corinthian Cup Final at 3pm.

There will be bar and refreshment facilities available at the ground on the day which you are all welcome to make use of.

Each club involved has been allocated tickets which they are required to sell so please contact your clubs for tickets in the first instance. We also have a supply of tickets at the turnstile on the day at a cost of £5 each.

We now look ahead to the games and provide some insight into who might be crowned cup winners at full time.

Trophyland Cup Final – 11.00am Kick-Off
Dagenham United vs East Ham Inter

On Sunday morning, we will witness the climax of this season’s Trophyland Cup as the Division Two champions, Dagenham United, go in search of a league and cup double with Division Four’s runners-up, East Ham Inter, standing in their way to spoil the party.

For Dagenham United, this has been yet another successful season for the team who, following their Division Three league title last season, have followed that up with the Division Two honours this time around. Cup honours have always been the one thing to elude them so far in their stay with the league but they will be looking to put that right at the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday. They also had a great run in this season’s Essex Sunday Junior Cup where they reached the semi-finals of the countywide competition but were removed from the competition on a technicality and would more than likely had gone on to win that competition this year having actually beaten the eventual winners, Concord Rangers, 8-1 in the quarter finals!! Putting that disappointment aside, United started their run in this competition at the second round stage where they beat Woodford 5-3, following that up with a big 8-0 win against Alpha in the third round. As quarter finals go, you’d have to go some way to beat their goal-fest of a contest with Hornchurch Oakmont which astonishingly ended 7-7 after extra time! Dagenham won the resultant shootout 5-4 to eventually send them through to the semi finals against Barking. Despite twenty goals in those preceding three matches, it took just a single goal in that semi final with Sean Thomas, so often the hero, popping up with the winner to win 1-0 and book their place at this showpiece final. As a side who look to move the ball quickly in the forward areas of their side, their key man is the impressive Sean Thomas who has scored the small matter of 32 goals in just 23 appearances so far this season. Ricardo Teixeira has also contributed strongly in the scoring stakes with 12 goals of this own and those two represent the main danger for Inter on Sunday.

The other club involved in this Sunday’s final is East Ham Inter who are also making their cup final debut in the Corinthian League following the conclusion of their second season with the competition. Inter have had a terrific season in Division Four with the side having been locked in an engaging battle with a number of sides in the top half of the table for the promotion places, with the battle taken right to the wire of the final weeks. Ultimately, they were able to finish three points clear of the third placed side and only missed out on the league title by a single point in the end, completing a decent season in the league. They had a good run in the divisional cup but were eventually knocked out by finalists, Newham Athletic, but the disappointment of that exit drove them to success in this competition. They started their run in the competition with an away tie at Oak Royals in the second round where it took an extra-time winner to see them narrowly through in a 4-3 scoreline. In the third round, they were on the road once again with a trip to West Ham Park to face AC Milano Reserves where another close match was won by Inter, 4-2. The action really ramped up in the quarter finals where they had to overcome a division deficit against Division Three’s E4 Rangers, coming through that difficult test with a 2-1 win and booking a semi final away at Division Two side Ferns Seniors in the semi-finals. Another top Inter performance saw them beat a side both in-form and placed two divisions above them, winning it 4-2 through a Michael Kemp brace and efforts from Alex Ceobanu and Amalraj Kakumanu to secure their place in Sunday’s final. Looking at the star men for East Ham Inter, it has really been a team effort with not a single player having reached double figures in terms of goals scored. Nonetheless, there have been significant contributions from Harinder Sanghera (9 goals), Adam Bessadi (8), Michael Kemp (7), Barjinderpal Singh (7) and Delphin Xavier (7) identifying them as a side not to be underestimated.

Looking at how the sides might fare, on paper, it’s tough to look past a Dagenham United side who have romped to victory in their two-division higher league competition and performed well in all of their cup competitions. They’re a side who score a lot of goals against every team so Inter’s handling of their forward line is paramount to the result of this match. What is certainly true is that East Ham Inter have it in their “locker” to pull off a big performance, as demonstrated by their performances in the latter stages of the cup so anything is possible.

Congratulations to our appointed match officials on this final, a reward for the continued hard work put in by our referees across the season. The young and upcoming Charlie Roberts is the man appointed to referee, his first cup final “middle” with the Corinthian League. He will be ably supported by two promotees in the shape of Grant Conway and Oliver Walker from the touchlines, with the experienced Scott Leather completing the fourth official duties.

Corinthian Cup Final – 3.00pm Kick-Off
Repton Park vs Warren United

As we roll into the afternoon on Sunday, this season’s showpiece Corinthian Cup competition will reach a conclusion as last season’s finalists, Repton Park and Warren United, go to battle once more in the 2019 version of the competition.

For Repton Park, there aren’t going to be many better seasons than the one they have experienced this season as they were crowned Premier Division league champions a fortnight ago having suffered just two defeats. Couple that achievement with this run to the final, another final to come later in the month in the West Essex Sunday Charity Cup plus a semi final defeat in their divisional cup, they will certainly look back on 2018/19 as a memorable year. Their move this season to their new permanent home at Roding Valley High School’s 3G surface has seemingly coincided with a far more consistent run of results, something which their rivals had struggled to match over the course of a full season. Their run in this season’s Corinthian Cup started at the second round stage with a home clash against Division One’s Valentine United, a tie which they won 4-2 to secure their place in the quarter finals. Their quarter final tie saw the visit of fellow title chasing Romford Elite and a twelve-goal thriller ensued between the teams with Park edging an incredible match 7-5 to book their semi final slot. That semi-final saw them up against their biggest rivals as El Valiente made the trip to Loughton for another goal-fest of a match. Jayden Ambrose scored four goals for Park with Stanley Dady, George Johnson, Ross Fraser and Joe McEvoy netting to earn their team an 8-3 win and sending their side to Dagenham! When you analyse the key threats within their ranks, their goal scoring prowess is undoubted with Jesse Spearing (22 in 16), Jayden Ambrose (15 in 10) and Charlie Henry (10 in 10) all hitting double figures and indicating that goals could arrive from anywhere on the field.

Taking on the Repton juggernaut are one of their local rivals in the shape of Mark Dawkins’ Warren United outfit. Last season’s league champions go into this final as the underdogs despite their recent achievements in past seasons but that will perhaps be the way they’d prefer it. In the league, it’s been a largely inconsistent showing in their title defence with a fourth placed finish confirmed for the Barkingside-based team. When they’ve won, they’ve done so quite convincingly but six defeats took their toll and saw them finish twelve points off the pace of the champions. They remain one of the big forces however in the league having made their march up the divisions over a period of time, establishing themselves as one of the elite sides in the competition. They began their run in the competition with a second round tie at home against Upshire back in the early stages of the season and they were big 7-3 winners on the day as they booked a place in the quarter finals. They faced a stern test in that quarter final as top-flight bound SL Menfica were the visitors to Old Parkonians but Warren managed to come from behind to edge the tie 3-2 and go through to the semi-finals. It was another opponent from Division One in that semi-final as an in-form and experienced Chingford Athletic side were the visitors. Warren put in a big performance however with stalwart James Peagram on target along with Harry Agombalor, Daniel Bell and George Cranfield too in a terrific 4-1 victory. Warren are another side who are not shy in front of goal with a lot of non-league experience amongst their ranks. Daniel Bell is their leading scorer this season with 17 goals to his name, edging out James Peagram who has 16 himself and Agombalor with 11 too. You’d expect these gentlemen to be well involved in the action.

There has been little between the sides in the two league games so far this season with a narrow 4-3 for Repton followed up by a 2-2 draw in the return match in February. This indicates that the match will be a close affair with both sides keen to play attractive football, something which will suit the professionally manicured surface down at Dagenham & Redbridge. In last year’s final, it was also a tight affair and you’d put the destination of this year’s silverware down to the availability of the big players for both sides, albeit with Repton starting the match as slight favourites with the bookies.

Congratulations to our appointed match officials on this final, a reward for the continued hard work put in by our referees across the season. The ever improving and highly respected, Mike Iddenden-Smith, takes the whistle on Sunday and he will be ably supported by Gavin Bailey and Howard Brown from the touchlines.

We wish everybody the very best of luck in their respective finals and look forward to some terrific matches!