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

CORINTHIAN CUP

It was semi-final weekend in the Corinthian Cup as two close games saw, firstly, East London Ballers Reserves pull off a big cupset with a 1-0 victory against their own first team as Ronaldo Naddah’s strike confirmed victory for the visitors.

The opponents in the final will be AC Milano who secured their own place with a narrow, hard fought win against Yeni Bogazici. Sertan Kirman struck with the goal for Yeni but that proved not quite enough, Milano scoring twice themselves in a 2-1 win.

DIVISION ONE

A big result at the top end of Division One saw JK Silvertown leapfrog opponents, Upshire Forest, on Sunday with the hosts winning 3-0 in east London, a result which gave a big advantage to leaders,  Woodford Town, who now need four points from their remaining games to take the title.

DIVISION TWO

The sole game in Division Two saw a big win for Colebrook Royals Reserves at Old Parks, winning 8-0 against Endurance Athletics. Makai Fray scored four goals with Harley Lewis, Jason Lewis, Jamie Meakin and Thomas Smith adding the others.

DIVISION THREE

The gap between the leading sides in Division Three was reduced on Sunday with Manford Way having the best of the results in a 3-0 success over Turkmenkoy London where Ollie Scott was the difference between the sides with his hat-trick performance.

That result was made all the more important as second placed challengers, Byron Red Star, were held to a 1-1 score draw in their game at Prospect Protege. Charlie Dillon scored for the hosts with Sion Daley’s effort meaning the teams shared the points.

At Noak Hill, it was victory for Debden Sports Reserves who all but secured their Division Three status with a 3-1 victory over bottom of the table Condor Reserves. Henry Sewell, Elliot Betts and Zachariah Appauh goals proved too much on the day.

DIVISION FOUR CUP

The Friday night cup final action from Parkside saw a terrific contest between East London Ballers Under 23s and Colebrook Royals A. Goals from Mohammed Malik and Jan Desai had twice given Ballers a lead but Royals fought back and two late goals saw them win 3-2 and lift the trophy at full-time.

DIVISION FOUR

On Sunday, East London Ballers Under 23s were back in action as they took on promotion chasing East End United. It was a case of defences on top in this one with neither side able to break the deadlock, the match ending in a rare 0-0 draw.

DIVISION FIVE

There were plenty of goals in Division Five where a big game towards the top saw Newbury Drive taking on Ping City Phoenixes in a cup final dress rehearsal. This one ended in a 3-3 draw with Billy Happe scoring two and Luey Young one for Newbury, William Hunt’s double and a Jack Flood goal accounting for Ping’s responses.

Over at Parsloes Park, Athletic Newham took advantage of that other result to move second as they left with a 4-1 win under their belts against London Legacy. Esley Liwala, Charlie Morgan, Mahmoud Yagob and Jamie Brandon goals were the difference between the sides, Lucas Tavares scoring for Legacy in reply.

DIVISION SIX

The sole match from Division Six saw two sides take home a point each as Charlie Monaghan and Elliot Kaye goals helped Emerson & Upminster draw 2-2 with Lonsdale, Denis Davti scoring twice for the latter to earn his team a share of the spoils.

DIVISION SEVEN

The theme of goals continued into Division Seven where Highams Park Rangers produced a stunning end to their maiden campaign, beating Barking Colts 8-0 at Forest Row. Harry Dunn and Dawid Wiercinski both scored two with Joey Isaacs, Liam Angel-Amoros, Frankie Westland and Brandon Smith notching the other.

Collier Row Under 23s also concluded a successful season with a solid 4-2 home win over Hainault Athletic where Ernest Peka, Samuel Donegan and Chris Kipoy goals overcame Hainault efforts from Jamie Howes and Ryan Stacey.

COUNTY CUP

There were two London finals over the weekend, beginning on Friday evening where a gallant AC Milano Reserves were edged out in a seven goal thriller against FC Trent Park, the latter lifting the London Sunday Trophy at Wingate & Finchley.

Attentions then moved to Sunday evening’s London Sunday Junior Shield final from Chislehurst where Chingford Athletic conceded a couple of early goals against FC Porto to put them on the backfoot, the south London opponents netting twice more to complete a 4-0 win.