Challenge Cup Round One

Fourth division Hertfordshire Lions provided a major upset as they defeated first division Colne Valley 4-2 as the Watford Sunday League Challenge Cup got under way at the weekend.

Louis McNamara was the star man for Lions, as he struck with a first half hat-trick. He scored twice to put Lions in control of the tie and although Valley did pull a goal back through Paul Craig, McNamara completed his hat-trick just before the break.

At the start of the second half, McNamara had a chance to net a fourth but saw his penalty well saved by Bradley Bonnick. Craig then scored his second for the game for Valley, but with five minutes left Sam Crafts ensured the Lions advanced with his side’s fourth of the tie.

Lions’ fellow Division Four side Ardent also defeated first division opponents in RD FC, 5-3.

Charlie Savage and Lee Spence both scored a brace each with the other goal scored by Jon Tiley. The RD replies came from Joe Ellis, Al Hammouda and Elliot Myrants-Wilson.

Fourth division AFC Batchworth, who have made a fine start to the season, edged out second division Rifle Volunteer Reserves 3-2.

In an end-to-end tie, Rifle took the lead through Lewis Smith, Ollie Cattle equalised and then Batchworth went ahead through Dylan Cooke.

Rifle pulled level thanks to a solo goal from Ron Blagden and with ten minutes left Alan Palmer scored the winner with a fine strike from some 30 yards out on the touchline.

Several other upsets saw third division Ripstone beat first division leaders West Herts 4-0; Matthew Elgey with a double, while Matthew Sharkey and Dan Churchman were also on target.

There were goals a plenty as fourth division The Compasses got the better of Green Dragon Reserves 7-5.

Stuart Henderson led the way with four for Compasses, Peter Oakley-Smith added a brace and there was one from Chris Oakley-Smith. Green Dragon’s replies came from Matthew Byfield with two, Luke Cole, Jack Lumsden, and Alfie Palmer.

A Joe Mortimer brace and one from John Harris saw Division Two outfit Cassiobury Rangers knock out a West Watford side from a division higher 3-0.

Fourth division AFC Green Machine edged past Oxhey Rangers 2-1 to continue the second division team’s losing start to the season.

Dom Clarke and Joe Boggins were on target for the visitors, with Ade Akindeinde pulling one back for Rangers.

Second Division Compasses North put out one of the two Premier Division sides in the first round, Met Police Bushey 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw after extra-time.

Vilson Culaj and Kris Shpati netted for the home side, with Dean Ciaburro and Dan Branch replying for the higher division side.

The other Premier Division side in the opening round Chorleywood Club beat fourth division Roundbush 3-1.

Martin Clancy struck for the home side with Aaron Whittingham getting two for Chorleywood, who also had Ryan McMahon on the scoresheet.

Second division Langleybury Cricket Club continued their winning start to the campaign, putting out first division Croxley 6-2.

Harry Lock netted twice for the victors, with Mark Edgar, Jamie Madden, Matt Honey and Greg Cook also on the scoresheet, while Jack Wilson responded on two occasions for Croxley.

First division North Watford also won by the same scoreline to knock out Rickmansworth Athletic from division two.

Ionut Nedelea and Paul Davidson got the home side’s goals, with North Watford replying through Shoiab Ali with a hat-trick, Aamer Khan and Liam Fowler.

The all-Division Two tie between Evergreen and Fox and Hounds saw the home side through 3-1.

Two-goal Ant Benvenga and Jake Colley scored for Evergreen while their opponents’ consolation was netted by Bradley Thompson.

The other games produced plenty of goals, not least with The Tree putting 12 for no reply past Garston Rangers in the all-Division Five tie.

Andy Pryor struck a hat-trick, with Rob Mair, Craig Horwood, Craig Brownsell all scoring twice and Connor Bantin, Leigh Horwood, Marc Brownsell one each.

The other double-figure hitters were first division AFC Oddfellows, who hit ten against P&P Social as Flanagan scored four times, with Webble (2), Wilson, Henicke, O’Connor and Kepple also notching.

The all-Division Three tie between Tudor Athletic and Woodlands United saw 13 goals, as Tudor just managed to prevail 7-6.

Matt Winyard (3), Gary Wicks, Dave Herbert, Chris Herbert and Andy Grierson were all on target for Athletic, while Darren O'Brien and Ricky Fletcher both struck twice for Woodlands and there was apiece from Klevis Dervishi and Daryl Marshall-Tarling.

Bedmond also scored seven times but they had a much easier morning, beating AC Little Silhouette of Milan 7-1.

Jordan Davies led the way with five goals and there were also singles from Jack Barr and Jack Browes. David Donolly got the Milan goal.

Oxhey Lions beat William Morris 5-1 in the South Oxhey derby tie.

Efforts from Ben Woodham (3), Stephen King and Stephen Howard saw Lions through, with an own goal registering for their opponents.

AFC Woodside beat Inter 8-0 in a Division Four league game the previous week, but seven days later their next meeting was far closer with Woodside winning through 5-4.

Joe Fox struck twice for the victors and there was a goal each from Tom Dettmer, Steve Stratford and Drew Snailham. Jordan Heggie netted twice for Inter with Chris Stead and Alec Thompson also on target.

Bushey Rangers beat Woodlands Laurels 3-1; Nicholas Jesse Bromilow scored for the home side but Rangers won through thanks to a brace from Charlie Keeble and one from Lewis Yates.

The remaining two ties both ended 4-2 as Bell Rangers beat Revolution and Croxley Community Centre knocked out Railway Arms.

Matt Owen with two, Danny Warwick and Max Halcomb registered for Rangers, with David Marcyniuk and Khizer Bandari responding.

Aaron Davies, Andy Avis, Martin Bartlett and Bradley Brunt were the four different scorers for Croxley, with Jordan Aston-Woods and Adam Angell scoring for Railway.

Premier Division

Reed Rangers are the new leaders of the division as they took advantage of Chorleywood Club’s cup action to thump Green Dragon 9-1.

It was a strong first-half performance which won them the game as they scored five times, with two from George Hobson and a goal each for Jamie Speer, Nathan Singh and Chris Blunden, while Martin Stevens replied.

The second half was a similar story as Hobson added a third to complete his hat-trick, while Dominic David was introduced to the game with 30 minutes to go and went onto to score his own treble in just 15 minutes.

Rickmansworth Town saw off Rifle Volunteer 5-1 thanks to Jake Entwistle’s double and singles from Bailey, Adams and Wallace. Mark Lomas fired Rifle’s sole reply.

Two of the league’s giants, St Josephs and Oakview, shared the points in a 1-1 draw. Elumefemi scored for the home side and Tom Kennedy replied for the current champions.