Lions edge amazing 11-goal semi-final (From Watford Observer)

Olympian League review.

4:16pm Tuesday 5th March 2013 in Sport By Mark Bunn

Chairman’s Cup Semi-Finals

Another week and another remarkable cup semi-final as Headstone Lions edged out Pavilion Rangers 6-5.

Pavilion, who had inflicted a 5-0 defeat on their opponents seven days before, must have thought that they were on the way to a similar result when they took the lead through Ross Longmuir in the first minute. But any notion that it would be an easy game for Rangers was dispelled when Joe Manfredi equalised after nine minutes.

With the tie approaching the half-hour mark and still deadlocked at 1-1, the game exploded into life with a remarkable sequence of five goals in just 14 minutes.

Sam Clark put Lions ahead and then scored his second and his team's third from the penalty spot, and straight from the re-start Manfredi added a fourth.

The action was not over as three minutes later, Rangers were back in the game when Roy Farmer headed a corner into his own net, but two minutes before the break Clark completed a first half-time hat-trick to restore his team's three-goal advantage. There was no let off in the second period when Joe Perrin pulled a goal back in the first minute; the game was then end-to-end with both sides missing good chances before Scott Longmuir reduced the deficit back to a single goal after 68 minutes.

It looked like Headstone had finally put the tie to bed five minutes from time when Manfredi completed his hat-trick following a swift counter-attack. But with the game already a minute into added-on time, Rangers gave themselves a lifeline through Ryan Walsh.

Despite a further six minutes of heavy pressure on the Lions defence, they were unable to find a equaliser as Headstone held on to reach the final.

The morning match was a much more straightforward affair, with Amici beating Inter 4-0.

It took Amici until ten minutes into the second half to finally break through thanks to a goal from Josh Noyes. Diogo Maciora added a second after 72 minutes, and two goals in the last eight minutes by Mitch Weiss and Scott Reid gave the scoreline a slightly flattering appearance.

Birkdale Trophies Challenge Cup Quarter-Final

Second division Evergreen Olympians upset Old Danes Athletic, from the top flight, 3-0 thanks to Darren Brady, Jack Garratt and Lui Potiuk.

Premier Division

Headstone Athletic and Cassiobury Rangers fought out a goalless draw, which allowed Woodside to open up a six-point lead at the top of the table after they defeated Tudor Arms 3-2.

Woodside raced into a three-goal lead after 20 minutes thanks to Dom David, Dan Campbell and Nathan Gullin.

An own goal following a Harry Jones corner brought Tudor back into the game before the break, and in the second half they pulled back a second thanks to a Ben Collins penalty.

Reed Rangers beat Colne Valley 3-0 with all the goals coming in the last 20 minutes from Adam Crassweller, Lucas Gibbons and a penalty from Ashley Lawrence.

Division One

Aquis took advantage of Amici’s cup commitments to go top of the table following a narrow 2-1 win over bottom-placed WD Athletic.

Aaron Spink put Aquis ahead in the first half, Alex Gilmaney equalised before Adrian Arrighti netted the winner.

Division Two

Bovingdon kept in touch with the top two with a 5-1 win over Roundbush.

They took the lead through a Bradley Davies 35-yard strike. Matt McMahon scored from the spot and then added his second and his team's third early in the second half.

Chris Truman made it four before Roundbush pulled a goal back thanks to a penalty from Joe Girvan. Substitute Matt Tamplin completed the scoring late on.

Brookside beat Cassiobury Revolution 2-0 thanks to a brace from Johnny Armitt in the second half.

Colne Valley Reserves thumped Ebury Olympians 8-2.

Chris Day and Jack Wilson both scored three times for Valley, with the other two goals from Perry Rogers and Tom Shand. The Ebury replies were netted by Gabriel De Marco Harvey and a penalty from Dev Patel.