WEEK 31 REVIEW: Round-up of all the Corinthian League action from the weekend

LONDON CUP FINAL

It was London Sunday Trophy Final action for one of our league sides on Sunday as AC Milano looked to reverse their fortunes of twelve months previous, facing an Inter Manresa side in the final at Wingate & Finchley. David Alele gave them a lead very early on in the game and doubled that before the break with his second. They held firm in the second half to complete a 2-0 victory and lift the coveted silverware. Many congratulations to all involved on the victory!

DIVISION THREE CUP FINAL

It was also a double finals day at Mayesbrook Park with the first action seeing the conclusion of the Division Three Cup with JP8’s maiden cup final voyage seeing them up against Upshire Forest. After a decent start for JP8, it was Upshire who led on the brink of half-time with Kailem Gayle stroking in to lead. A quick second half burst of goals from Tony Bosher, Marian Costi and Leighton Hughes-Franklin meant the day belonged to Upshire, who won 4-0 to lift the trophy in front of a big crowd.

DIVISION SIX CUP FINAL

The weekend’s late kick-off saw Epping Royals in action against Woodford Town Reserves, the latter going in search of a league and cup double in their first season. The first half was edged by Epping in terms of possession but neither side could break the deadlock, 0-0 at the break. Things turned moments into the second half with Town earning a penalty which Bill Brown fired home to lead 1-0. Town raised their game further and had the better of the second half, Brown netting another penalty late on to complete a 2-0 win and lifting their second trophy of the season.

CORINTHIAN CUP

The Corinthian Cup saw semi-final action on Sunday with Division Two’s East London Ballers taking on top flight opposition with a trip to Critics in Barkingside. An expectedly close game saw the higher ranked side walking away the happier of the teams, Critics 2-1 winners on the day with a goal apiece from Dylan Broadley and Kazim Bishop, sending their side to Dagenham & Redbridge next month.

SENIOR DIVISION

It’s congratulations to the newly crowned league champions, Baiteze Squad, who secured the points they needed on Sunday to move beyond everyone else’s reach in the title race. It was, fittingly, the reigning champions in the other corner, Hatch Lane beaten 4-3 at Mabley Green. Many congratulations to all involved at Baiteze Squad on securing their maiden league honours with the competition this season!

DIVISION ONE

It was dress rehearsal time in Division One where Barking & Dagenham Wanderers took on JK Silvertown in the league ahead of their meeting in the semi-final next weekend. On this occasion, it was the visitors who took the points with JK walking away 4-0 winners to move fifth in the standings with four games to go.

DIVISION TWO

The race for the Division Two title is really hotting up as we move into the final weeks with leaders, Debden Sports Reserves, recovering to take a point in a 3-3 draw versus Condor, a result which saw their lead cut to just a point at the summit. Billy Barr, Joseph Cloake and Tom Osmond were the scorers to keep them ahead in the race.

That result allowed second placed Colebrook Royals Seniors to reduce the deficit and they duly obliged, picking up all three points against Ainslie in a 5-0 scoreline to complete a twelfth league win of the season. Ivan Machado came off the bench to score a hat-trick, Nedret Ozkasim and Presley Evans scoring the others in for Royals.

There was also victory for third placed Belfry who kept themselves in the race for promotion following a comfortable win of their own, beating a Leytonstone Athletic side 4-0 at Fairlop Oak to stay five points off the pace with three games to go. Ryan O’Connell extended his scoring record with two more, Jason Chalk and Reece Robinson also on the scoresheet.

DIVISION THREE

In Division Three, it’s congratulations to everyone involved with City Site who, on Sunday, were up against the one side who could have still caught them with AC Milano Reserves in action. Frederick Mattock struck the all important goal, equalling a Selemani Mohamed goal for the visitors, the game ending in the 1-1 draw which was enough for them to take the title. Well done to City Site on their achievement this season!

DIVISION FOUR

The race for the title in Division Four will go into the last fixture of the season as the two sides gunning for the crown ended 3-3 in their showdown at the weekend, Woodford Town and Warren Senior sharing the spoils. Daniel Ross scored two and Brady Jones one for the visitors but Town goals from Luke Dimond, Sam May-Parrott and Sean O’Regan were enough to earn a point and means that Woodford just need to avoid a big defeat to take the title in three weeks time.

The other game from the division on Sunday came from Hainault where Silencio’s penultimate fixture of the season saw them up against a Kit Out London side who needed a win to avoid the drop. But it wasn’t to be for Kit Out, going down to a 5-0 defeat to the hosts, a result which confirms a bottom two finish this term.

DIVISION FIVE

In Division Five, the action centred around matters towards the bottom of the standings where Hainault Athletic rounded off their season with a final day victory, defeating Ace Athletics in the Forest Road derby to move above them in the table. Luke Sutcliff’s brace plus singles from Adam Newbold and James Wall proved enough with Will Asenso scoring two and Billy Baldry one in reply.

Over in Dagenham, it was also an important morning for Lonsdale, still needing points to retain hopes of avoid the drop but facing an in-form May & Baker EC side. It was derby day win for the hosts however with Lonsdale winning the game 4-2 through a Kalium Fletcher hat-trick and a Denis Hilaj goal, their fifth win of the season.

Two mid-table sides met in the division’s final game where Athletic Newham took on a Mansfield Rangers team in Beckton, Rangers holding a nine point lead heading into the contest. But Newham produced a good performance to cut that gap, winning 5-2 courtesy of a Tim Mason hat-trick and goals from Ronnie Wilson and Jordan Carson. Jake Magson scored both Rangers goals in consolation.

DIVISION SIX

The sole Division Six action of the day came from Parsloes Park where London Legacy were up against cup finalists, Valence United Reserves, the latter seeking a third placed finish to their season. Lucas Tavares and Rommel Wilson both scored for Legacy but Valence were in fine form themselves, scoring four to win it 4-2 and moving up a place in the process.

DIVISION SEVEN

The Division Seven title race will go to the final day following the weekend’s results with Colebrook Royals A taking a one point lead into their last fixture following a narrow 3-2 home win against Epping Forest Falcons. Zak Woolf, Harvey Webb and Oliver West were the Royals scorers to take the vital points and keep things in their own hands.

Debden Sports A, sitting second, will be the other side ready to pounce on any slip-up as they recorded a vital win of their own, sending Ridgeway Rovers to a 4-0 defeat on Sunday to all but end Rovers’ hopes of a title win. That result confirmed win number twelve of the season for Debden with the sides due to meet in the cup final next weekend.

It was a glut of goals in the remaining game from Division Seven where Gatcliffe completed their first season in adult football with an exhilarating 5-5 draw against Ping City Phoenixes, a result which curtailed Ping hopes of the league title. Steven Morton scored all five of the Gatcliffe goals for the hosts to make it seventeen points in their first season.

COUNTY CUP

The remaining London Sunday Challenge Cup quarter-final finally took place on Sunday afternoon as Flyhouse Athletic made the trip around the A406 to take on Mehmetcik Galata in the last eight. It proved to be a fruitless trip as the hosts won the game 4-1 in Enfield to send them through in next week’s last four clash.