WEEK 2 REVIEW: New season continues with some scintillating matches

It was another action-packed and goal-filled weekend in Week 2 of the season as well over 120 strikes found the back of the net on a quite astonishing day of football in the Corinthian League.

PREMIER DIVISION

Kicking off the action was a ten-goal thriller between Repton Park and new boys, Lactico. Both sides had high-scoring opening day draws behind them so there was certainly a hint of what was to come as Lactico prevailed winning 6-4. Braces apiece for Gozling Jenkins and Henderson Browne plus goals from Derryl Yeboah and Karim Flavien cancelled out Repton goals from Jesse Spearing (2), Alex O’Neil and Adam Matthews to bag the points.

Upshire made it two wins from two games with a comfortable 5-0 victory over new boys, Quality Control. Five different scorers secured the points for the leaders as Jack Daveney, John Gregory, Danny Curbelo, Ben Darwin and David Ayres all netted to secure the win.

It was a big day for Downs who secured their first ever competitive win as they saw off newly promoted Flanders in a 3-1 win.

DIVISION ONE

Emerson Park opened their league campaign for the season with a narrow 4-3 win in a thrilling match against Barking & Dagenham Wanderers, two sides tipped for big things this season. Andre Gumbs scored twice for the visitors and Robert Eden once but their efforts were in vain as Emerson secured the win.

Korona Redbridge followed up their opening day draw with a win against Barking in their second fixture on Sunday. Daniel Cook netted twice for Barking but his efforts were cancelled out by goals for Korona from Daniel Bendek, Mateusz Kowalczyk and Dawid Pietras to hand them the points and move second.

Valley Park bounced back well from their opening day defeat as they secured a maiden 4-2 victory over local rivals, Warren United Reserves despite goals from Harrison Slater and Tom Metcalfe for the visitors.

Aldborough Hatch made it two wins from two in Division One and now top the table after following up their opening day win with another victory, this time a 5-1 win against Dagenham United.

DIVISION TWO

If nail-biting action is your thing, Division Two was the place to be on Sunday as we saw some quite fascinating scorelines.

This was most certainly the case in the opening fixture which saw FC Mexico host Waltham Athletic, both sides coming off the back of opening day wins. Waltham raced into a 3-0 lead only for Mexico to come back and lead. But, a topsy-turvy ending saw the match eventually finish at 6-6 in one of the most dramatic of encounters ever witnessed. For FC Mexico, Sam Prince netted a double adding to goals from Matt Stanbridge, Alex O’Halloran, Dean Hendrickson and Matthew Wiles. For Waltham, there was just one goalscorer as Charlie Saywood netted all six goals for a double hat-trick!

The hunger for goals continued into the Lonsdale fixture as they hosted Romford Galaxy, both sides looking to record first victories. And it was the home side who secured the points in a 7-4 victory as Anton Gjergji, Conor Treadwell and Kalium Fletcher all netted doubles adding to Geoffrey Holmes’ single.

Park Tavern remain undefeated and top the division as they followed up an opening day draw with a goal-filled 9-3 win secured over newly promoted side, London Fire Brigade at Castle Green. David Hornsby set the tone with a five-goal star performance with further goals arriving through Greg Saunders, Connor Frost, Kristopher Brown and Jack Blackburn.

Morfdown Elect picked up a first win of the season in their first match as they took on Division Three champions, E4 Rangers, at May & Baker. They eventually came through winning 3-2 to take up fifth position in the league table after their opening game.

In a more sedate game, scoring wise, Docklands Albion picked up their first point of the season as Berhane Joseph netted to help them to a 1-1 draw away at unbeaten Westferry Elite.

DIVISION THREE

Three teams are level on points at the top of Division Three after the first two weeks of the season. Wanstead United are top of the pile as they followed up an opening day win with a victory against Fairlop Rangers. Jason Branche was the hero with a hat-trick, adding to a Stanley Fabowale strike to complete a 4-0 win.

Kevin Davidson was the hat-trick hero for his Alliance United side as he netted all of their goals in a narrow 3-2 win over Partizan CMC in Chigwell. That win leaves them in third place on merely goals scored.

Upshire Reserves’ good start to the season continued with a tightly contested 4-3 win over Ridgeway Rovers as their victory lifted them to second place in the table. Carlo Boamah scored twice for Ridgeway adding to a Jaden Maloney goal which were ultimately in vain. However the result offers plenty of optimism for the Chingford side that they can build on.

DIVISION FOUR

Division Four’s early pace setters are SL Menfica who built well on an opening day victory to win their second fixture against Central Colts. Braces for both Jake Muller and Thomas Rice, added to a Connor Wheatley strike to carry their side to a 5-1 win.

Oak Royals bounced back well from an opening day defeat to beat Grey Area 4-3 in a tightly contested battle at Newbury Park. Ross Travers and Harry Goodman both netted doubles to cancel out Grey goals from Jordan May (2) and Shane Westlake.

There was a maiden victory for William Fitt on Sunday as they secured a first win of the season, beating Chinglow 4-1 despite a Marco Parrello goal for the hosts. That win lifts Fitt to fifth place in the table.

Hornchurch Oakmont remain undefeated after two matches as they followed up an opening day draw with a 2-1 win against Goresbrook. Sean Thomas and Nathan Adams both netted for Hornchurch, cancelling out a Charlie Barrett goal for Goresbrook to secure victory.

Epping Forest Falcons are now second in the table following a goalless draw at home to Heathside with defences on top in Woodford Green. Falcons, who are yet to concede a goal, rise to second place on goal difference following an opening day victory.