WEEK 27 REVIEW: Round-up of Sunday's league and cup action

PREMIER DIVISION CUP

The line-up for this season’s Premier Division Cup Final has now been finalised as Flanders joined co-tenants, El Valiente, in reaching next month’s final at Aveley on Sunday 14^th April. Samir Lee was on target for the hosts, Brook Athletic, but his effort proved not quite enough as Naseer Ishanzaden scored a brace with Leon Lewis and Shomari Barnwell efforts completing a 4-1 for Flanders, seeing their side return to the final for a second successive season.

DIVISION ONE CUP

It’s taken a while but the semi-final line-up in the Division One Cup is now finally complete as Ridgeway Rovers finally managed to take on Chingford Athletic in their regularly postponed quarter final tie. In a classically close match-up between these sides, it took just a single goal to pull them apart with Michael Mignot netting for Chingford to secure them a 1-0 win and a place in the last four in a fortnight.

DIVISION THREE CUP

There was not shortage of action in the Division Three Cup competition either where the finalists were confirmed for next month’s showdown at Aveley. A large crowd formed in Plaistow to watch first take on second as Thames Ironworks Community faced Central Colts, the latter storming to a 2-0 half time lead. But Thames rallied to get a goal back early in the second half and missed a glut of chances as Colts held on to make their third cup final in two seasons.

In the day’s other semi-final contest, Hornchurch Oakmont were the hosts as they faced a West Essex side in Chadwell Heath with both sides seeking to add a cup final appearance to their end of season arrangements. Connor Brathwaite and Jayden Baptiste both netted braces for West with Harry Rease scoring the other with James Bailey and George Terry on target in reply for Hornchurch in consolation.

PREMIER DIVISION

In league action, Repton Park have moved to the brink of a maiden Premier Division title as they came from behind against two Joe Oates goals for Ultimate Vision to rescue the points in a 5-2 victory. Jayden Ambrose scored twice with George Johnson, George Pummell and Jack Jeffries netting the others to leave them needing just a single point more to confirm the league title.

The day’s other fixture also came in Chadwell Heath where Romford Elite were visited by Barking & Dagenham Wanderers, a match which culminated in an eight-goal thriller. Tyrone Scarlett and Luke Thomas both scored twice for Elite with Louis Window scoring the other in an eventual 5-3 win, confirming at least a third placed finish with runners-up still a possibility.

DIVISION ONE

In Division One, Korona Redbridge’s late charge continued as they faced local rivals, St Augustines, in the Barkingside derby match. Kyran Allen scored for the Saints but his goal proved insufficient as Redbridge responded through goals from Patryk Jurczyk, Tomasz Cenin and Jacek Miedzak, a result which sees them hop above St Augustines into fourth place in the table.

DIVISION TWO

In Division Two, Dagenham United missed the chance to secure the league title on Sunday as they collected just a point from their two matches against Goresbrook. The first game saw a tight 1-1 draw between the sides as Martin Tuohy cancelled out a Ricardo Teixeira effort for the Daggers. Then in the second game, Goresbrook were 3-0 victors as Martin Tuohy netted once again and two further goals arrived through Steve Butterworth and Alex Duodu. A win for Dagenham next Sunday will be enough to secure the points they need for the title.

The one side left who could still yet chase down the leaders are Royal Albert and they enhanced those credentials with a pair of double-header wins at Lonsdale on Sunday. Shane Wallace scored twice and Lloyd Makhanya once for Albert as they netted a 3-2 win in the first game. It was a similar outcome in match two where Wallace took his day’s tally to four goals with another brace with Bradley Smith netting the third in a 3-1 win to seal maximum points.  

DIVISION THREE

The Division Three action centred around the clash between Masterman and Alpha in Newbury Park where the hosts were desperate for points to boost their relegation safety hopes while third placed Alpha were looking for match preparation ready for their upcoming semi-final. Lewis Foster and Jack Tattingham scored the two goals for the hosts with Kai Brown’s double for Alpha levelling the contest at 2-2 to take a share of the spoils.

DIVISION FOUR

Newham Athletic have moved to the brink of securing the league title in Division Four but were made to work hard for a point in their local derby at home to Custom House Community, James Farmer scored Newham’s only goal of the game in a big week for the club, helping them to a 1-1 draw, and now just a win away from securing the title which they could do next Sunday, less than 48 hours after their cup final appearance at Aveley.

It will be a busy weekend for fellow challengers Asianos Reserves who also appear at Aveley in Friday night’s final. Their cup final preparations took a hit on Sunday however as they went down to a heavy 5-0 defeat at home against East Ham Inter. MIhail Dodon scored twice with Nicolae Apostol, Rayan Bessadi and Harinder Sanghera goals making it a big win for second placed Inter in the promotion race.

A side who have probably now missed the promotion boat this season are AC Milano Reserves who slipped to a harrowing defeat at Oak Royals on Sunday. Oak braces from Bill Gregory and Daniel Gotobed plus a Mitchell Drewe effort did the damage for the hosts, coupled with an ill-disciplined performance from the visiting Milano outfit, the match finishing in a 5-2 scoreline.

The final league action of the day was a real thriller in east London as promotion chasing Monkhams took an early lead in their match at Thames Ironworks Community Reserves through a close range Sam Snell effort. Thames raised their game in the second half with Lee Mpensah levelling and then Kurt Smith’s excellent effort putting them 2-1 ahead. But Monkhams were not to be denied, making the pressure tell, as Snell’s superb leveller made it 2-2 to rescue a crucial point.