WEEK 13 REVIEW: Review of Sunday's league and cup action

CORINTHIAN CUP

The Corinthian Cup action continued on Sunday as Asianos made the trip to Barkingside to take on Valentine United in their first round clash. It took just a single goal to separate these well matched sides with Ayaz Qureshi grabbing it to secure passage for his side into the second round of the competition, winning 1-0.

The second round action saw a real humdinger of a match at the same venue as St Augustines’ returned to their spiritual home town saw them take on Korona Redbridge. A Jacek Miedzak brace had seemingly seen Korona over the line but Saints equalised in the dying moments before then sealing a 3-2 win late in extra time. Jordan Charles, Matthew Scarsbrook and Luke Millard got the all important goals.

Elda secured a more routine route through to the quarter finals of the competition as they overcome a potential banana skin tie on the road at Brook Athletic. Tommie Turner, Calvin Poku and Joey May were the men on target for the top flight outfit as they booked their place in the last eight of the competition for the new year.

TROPHYLAND CUP

There was a huge shock in the second round of the Trophyland Cup on Sunday as Division Three’s Chigwell United succumbed to a Division Five side as Ridgeway Rovers Under 21s Reserves’ great start to the season continued. Regan Marshall scored twice and Matt McDowell once as they moved through in the quarters with this 3-1 win.

Roneo Colts Reserves are also safely through to the last eight of the competition as they avoided any kind of surprise in their clash at home to Singh Sabha Barking. Jordan Hamilton grabbed the goal for Barking but a Dwayne Francis-Riley hat-trick for Colts plus efforts from Ryan Bussey and Bobby Port confirmed a 5-1 win.

In the remaining Preliminary Round action, the tie between Epping Forest Falcons and East Ham Inter finally beat the elements with Inter securing a comfortable 4-0 win against their co-tenants. Sofyan Khalfi scored twice with Harinder Sanghera and Russ Seth efforts rounding off the win, booking a tie against Cobra.

PREMIER DIVISION

With their rivals all in cup action this weekend, Repton Park missed the chance to increase their lead at the top of the table as Warren United returned home with all three points following a seven goal thriller in their local derby. Sean Green scored twice for United with Jamie Lynes and Harry Agombar netting the other goals to earn a valuable 4-3 win.

DIVISION ONE

There was a thriller in Division One where second met third with Colebrook Royals playing host to fellow promotion chasing Chingford Athletic. With both sides showing a keen eye in front of goal, this was also going to be a classic and so it proved. Michael Mignot scored twice with Ross Curtis and Jamie Lyndon scoring the others for Athletic but Royals scored five goals of their own to win this epic encounter 5-4.

There were also plenty of goals of the day’s other game at this level where FC Mexico A were the visitors to face Oceana, just two points keeping the sides apart prior to kick off in the mid-table region. Dean Hendrickson-Garrett and Gary Adams were both on fire for the Mexicans, each netting a hat-trick to earn their side a 6-0 win, moving fourth in the process.

DIVISION TWO

The leaders in Division Two, Walthamstow Avenue, got back to winning ways following a shock defeat last time out as they ran out 5-0 victors away at Frenford on Sunday. Bradley O’Donovan scored a hat-trick with Michael Kemp’s brace doing the damage against an improving and young Frenford side.

Also demonstrating some bounceback-ability, Central Colts were another side who needed a win to get things back on track and they duly delivered, overcoming a difficult start to the game to run out 6-2 winners at Chingford Athletic Reserves. Tunde Olagunju scored a hat-trick, Gabriel Ogunwomoju scored twice and Donovan Reynolds netted one too to take home the three points.

Wanstead Albion have moved up into the top half of the table following the weekend’s results after they earned a hard-fought win at home against fellow mid-table Roose side. Kane Parson scored the only goal of the game for Albion who won 1-0 to pick up a fourth league win of the campaign, leaping above their opponents on goal difference.

The day’s final game at this level saw a hugely important result for one of the sides at the wrong end of the table as FC Mexico B took on fellow strugglers, Barking, in their match in Hainault. Mexico will have been the side the most happiest as they ran out 4-0 winners to leap above their opponents into ninth place in the standings.

DIVISION THREE

It’s certainly close at the top of Division Three standings with just a single points separating the sides in the promotion places. Barking Riverside are really hitting their straps in front of goal, evidenced by their 13-0 victory on Sunday against Newham Athletic. Oussama Bennani, Hamid Ibrahim and Bukele Mukudi all scored hat-tricks while Kimani Foster, Ansalem Obi and Stephen Osho goals completed the scoring.

Chasing on the coattails of Barking are E4 Rangers who remain just a point behind their closest rivals but had to work hard for their win as they took on Blackwall Rovers on Sunday at the Flats. Eli Fanga and Remi Awosamya both netted for Rangers to overcome a Luke Samuels effort for Rovers in a 2-1 scoreline.

An in-form Alpha side are now up to fourth in the table, moving up an incredible four places on the back of their most recent win as they picked up a 5-0 home victory against Lonsdale. With the middle area of the table very tight, they took full advantage of sides around them not being in action with Kai Brown scoring twice, accompanied by Paul Jones, Humza Qamar and Stefan Kilron goals.

DIVISION FOUR

With the division’s top two sides in Division Four not being in league action, Inter Ladzio took the chance to slash the gap on the promotion places as they moved level with second place on goal difference. They returned home to Dagenham with maximum points, winning 6-0 against Asianos Reserves through a Jay Crews brace plus goals from Neil Andrews, Wasim Patel, Matthew Hunt and Rhys Parkin.

There was an equally important result for a side at the other end of the table where Upshire Forest Reserves pulled themselves clear of any imminent danger after beating seventh placed United Amateurs 4-1. George Oake pulled up some trees in front of goal, scoring a hat-trick with Sam Tulley’s effort adding to the tally. Jamie Randall grabbed a goal in reply for United.

In the entertainment stakes, you can’t beat a nail-biting and high-scoring draw, a feat witnessed in the day’s clash between Titans United and Ping City Phoenixes at Old Dagenham Park. Despite Ping being bottom of the table, they certainly know where the goal is with the third highest tally in the division but, defensively, both sides will be looking to improve with the game ending 4-4.

DIVISION FIVE

There was a huge result in the race for the silverware in Division Five as leaders Total Football slipped to just a second league defeat of the campaign, ironically against the same opponents as the previous occasion. Eastern Avenue’s Cieran Lennon-Hunte was the man to do the damage, netting the only goal of a close game to win 1-0 and keep his side third.

Where the first game lacked goals, there was no repeat in either of the other two fixtures where Cobra kept up their chase for promotion with a thumping 7-1 home win against Keith Park Rangers in Dagenham. Todd Bolger, Aaron White and Henry Sleigh all scored twice with Jamie Morris netting the other to win it for their side, keeping them fourth and well in the hunt.

Trumping the scoring feats of everything else at the weekend, Custom House Community and East Tilbury Town went berserk in front of goal with Custom House running out incredible 11-4 winners. That result saw them move up to sixth place in the table, this being Custom’s fourth league win of the season to date.

ESSEX SUNDAY JUNIOR CUP/TROPHY

It was fourth round day in the Essex Sunday Junior Cup at the weekend and result of the day has to go to Goresbrook who had the unenviable task of a trip to Clacton in front of them to take on Sokretez. But they did what was needed, returning home from the seaside with victory under their belts, booking a quarter final against Emerson Oak with a 4-3 result.

A similarly tough task was in front of Hornchurch Oakmont who travelled to the south of the county to take on a high-flying and goal-filled Leigh United. Despite Oak having strong pedigree in these competitions, they couldn’t see off the efforts of their hosts who won 5-2 to end Hornchurch’s excellent run once again in the competition.

In the Essex Sunday Junior Trophy, the only surviving tie involving our clubs saw Monkhams facing a trip to Laindon where they took on Sceptre League-based Power Town. An under-powered performance from Monkhams saw them disappointingly exit the competition, losing 8-0 on the day.

LONDON SUNDAY CHALLENGE CUP

El Valiente’s run in the London Sunday Challenge Cup saw them reach the quarter finals with an away tie against Kizilirmak at New River Sport Centre on Sunday. Having bounced back well from early goals in each half, in front of a vocal and partisan home crowd, they were beaten by two late goals, losing 4-2 to exit the competition.

WEST ESSEX SUNDAY CHARITY CUP

There was an exciting tie in the day’s West Essex Sunday Charity Cup tie where two of our top flight sides met once again with Ultimate Vision hosting Barking & Dagenham Wanderers. Despite Wanderers losing to the same opponents just a week ago in the league, they turned things around to win it 6-4, booking a quarter final away to either Debden Sports or SL Menfica.