WEEK 28 REVIEW: Review of all of the weekend's league and cup action

DIVISION ONE CUP

One half of this season’s Division One Cup final line-up has been confirmed as Aldborough Hatch booked a place at Thurrock FC in May with a 4-2 win over co-tenants, Barking & Dagenham Wanderers in Newbury Park on Sunday. Ashton Lord and Daniel John-Baptiste both scored for Wanderers but their efforts proved in vain as Hatch marched on to face either Barking or Chingford Celtics in the final.

DIVISION TWO CUP

Making it another fruitful season on the cups front are FC Mexico who booked a second final for the season on Sunday with a win on the road at Lonsdale. Alex O’Halloran, Ian Tucker and Tom Terry scored the crucial goals to lead the Hornchurch-based side to a 3-0 victory and into the final where they will face rivals, Park Tavern.

DIVISION THREE CUP

Another side who will be making plans for a trip to Thurrock are cup holders Wanstead United who travelled up to Waltham Abbey to face title rivals Upshire Reserves in Sunday’s semi final. And it was United who came away victorious in a 3-1 victory as they secured their spot in April’s final where they take on FC United of Hornchurch.

SPRING CUP

Booking a place in the final of this season’s Spring Cup are Goresbrook who put in a solid performance to see off Oak Royals in Sunday’s semi-final, winning 4-0. Liam Coney scored twice with Ricky Cripps and William Cox also on the scoresheet as they secured a spot in April’s final against Epping Forest Falcons.

PREMIER DIVISION

Warren United have moved up to the heady heights of third in the Premier Division table as they beat rivals Repton Park in a 3-0 scoreline on Sunday in Barkingside. All three goals came from the boot of James Peagram as he moved level at the top of the league’s scoring charts with just a few games to go.

Flanders move up to fifth place in the table with their sixth win of the season so far, courtesy of a 5-2 home win over Ainslie Wood at the weekend.  Ben Harmsworth and Eric Kelly both scored for the cup finalists,  Ainslie, but their goals were not quite enough as the home side took maximum points on the day.

Also moving up in the Premier Division table were Quality Control who secured a sixth league win of the season, seeing off the efforts of Lactico in a 4-1 victory in Hainault.  That win sees Quality move up to sixth place in the table with three games remaining in their season.

DIVISION ONE

The Division One schedule saw an important win for Chingford Celtic who moved to within striking distance of the title chasing sides with a narrow and hard fought 2-1 win against Korona Redridge. Goals from Jack Ironside and Tom English cancelled out an Adam Waclawczyk goal for the hosts as Celtic moved to within five points of the leaders with games in hand still.

DIVISION TWO

One of the highlights of the day came in Division Two where the top two met in Walthamstow with Docklands Albion facing title rivals Park Tavern. Kristopher Brown gave Tavern an early lead but Albion goals from Wilson Diogo, Anthony Okadigbo and Kamal Creary confirmed a 3-1 win and sent the home support into raptures. Four points from their remaining games will be enough to secure the league title.

A cracker of a game was witnessed in Rainham where Romford Galaxy came through a seven-goal thriller by edging a 4-3 victory against Morfdown Elect. The win wasn’t quite enough however for Galaxy who were already relegated prior to their final day endeavours.

DIVISION THREE

In Division Three, AC Milano Reserves brought some revenge to FC United of Hornchurch as they reversed their cup disappointments last week with a 3-2 win away at FC United. Shaun Farrow and Thomas Pidgeon both scored for the hosts but their efforts proved in vain as the visitors ran out winners to keep their chances of avoiding the drop alive.

Alliance United moved second in the Division Three table on Sunday as they saw off Asianos Reserves in Leyton, winning 2-0. Nick Hornsby scored both of the United goals to move above Ridgeway Rovers and into second. Wanstead United could and probably should still catch both of those sides above them as they attempt to overhaul Upshire’s points tally.

DIVISION FOUR

In Division Four, SL Menfica warmed up for next week’s cup final in good style as they beat Epping Forest Falcons 8-2 in Woodford Green. Rory Fairweather and Peter Andrew were the Falcons scorers but hat-tricks from Thomas Rice and Jake Muller, plus goals from William Sheehan and Joshua Troy proved too much and Menfica took the points back to Thurrock.