Challenge Cup Final

Old Fullerians won the Challenge Cup for the first time after beating Rifle Volunteer 3-2 in an exciting final at Oxhey Jets on Sunday.

The outcome was particularly disappointing for Rifle, who suffered a second defeat in the final in four seasons, having lost three years ago to Oakview.

It was also the first Challenge Cup Final without either Oakview or St Josephs since Hammer beat Bedmond back in 2001, and it was perhaps justice that Old Fullerians won the trophy having already knocked out both those sides en route to the climax of the competition.

The two sides, who had both finished in a comfortable mid-table position, produced an end-to-end match, especially in the second half.

A strong wind in the opening period didn’t help to produce much quality football in the first 20 minutes, as both sides were evenly matched but looked nervous.

It was Old Fullerians who drew first blood, taking the lead after 20 minutes when Craig Totton saw his free-kick from the right hand angle miss everyone and find its way into the far corner of the net.

That goal brought the game and both teams to life and Rifle drew level 11 minutes later when Nick Kerley broke clear of the Fullers defence to race through and calmly slot home.

It was Kerley who then scored his second of the game to put Volunteer ahead for the first time just two minutes into the second half when he scored with an almost identical goal to his first, racing clear from the wing to slot home.

The same player fired narrowly over 10 minutes later and missed not only a chance for a hat-trick but also to establish clear daylight between the two teams.

Kerley was clearly the danger man for Old Fullerians and they reacted by trebling up on him almost every time he received the ball. This clearly had an effect and after 67 minutes the final was all-square once again.

Sam Parker saw his shot from inside the area well saved for a corner by Rifle keeper Tony Cornick, but from the resulting corner Stephen Pich’s header looped and then dropped into the bottom of the goal.

The game continued to ebb and flow, with Liam Hanley seeing a cross-come-shot loop just over the crossbar with the keeper beaten.

But with 15 minutes left, it was Old Fullerians who scored what turned out to be the winner, and it was from another corner, this time Charles Hailey heading powerfully home.

That was not to be the end of the action though, as the game really opened up with the Old Fullerians goal living a charmed life at times, although with five minutes left it was Fullers who almost put the result beyond doubt when a long clearance struck the crossbar and bounced over.

Despite a string of free-kicks in added-on time, Rifle couldn’t find a third goal to take the game to an extra 30 minutes, although they fully played their part in an excellent final.

Old Fullerians: Richardson, Pich, Woosley, Needham, Knight (Grant 86), Chris Munroe, Parker, Signorini, Totton, Phang, Hailey. Subs not used: Siedler, Charles Munroe, Rylett, Watfa.

Rifle Volunteer: Cornick, O’Neil (Nicholas 81), Hutchinson (Zerpa 72), Froy, Hall, Jackson, M. Lomas, Sears, Kerley, A.Lomas, Killer (Hanley 45). Subs not used: Sellar, Morris.

Premier Division

Champions Oakview ended the season with a 7-1 victory over Met Police Bushey, who finished second from bottom.

Tom Kennedy and Adam Lowton both struck braces, with Tom Inch, Simeon Armstrong and Lee Grace also scoring. Ashley Shanahan netted the Met goal.

Runners-up Reed Rangers and St Josephs shared the points in a 3-3 draw.

Ben Lawrence, Reece Cameron and Ben Cowen scored for Joes with the Reed replies coming from Jamie Speer, Nathan Singh and an own goal.

Division Two

Having wrapped up the title last Wednesday, Fox & Hounds ended the season with two more wins in the double-header against mid-table Compasses North.

The first game ended in a narrow 2-1 success for Fox thanks to goals from Bradley Thompson and Jude Bell netting with Vilson Culaj replying.

But the second match was much more comfortable for the champions as they ran out 8-0 victors; Thompson scoring four times on this occasion. Laurence Burch weighed in with a brace and Michael Edwards and Callum Murchan completed the scoring.

Evergreen finished in third place, ending the season with a 2-0 home win over Rifle Volunteer Reserves through goals from Callum Rimmer and Alek Jokiel.

Oxhey Rangers’ hopes of ending the season outside the bottom two were ended by Cassiobury Rangers, who finished in fourth place after a 9-1 victory.

It looked like Oxhey could be on course for the win they needed when they were given a penalty after just two minutes which Charlie Fordham converted.

But that was as good as it got for Rangers as their opponents ran away with the game; Joe Mortimer scoring a double hat-trick, while Ryan Harris, Tom Norris and Mark Ferguson were also on target.

Division Four

The race for the Division Four title went to the final day and it was FC Woodside who prevailed from Ardent.

The destiny of the trophy was in Woodside’s hands after going top of the table for the first time the previous Sunday and they made sure they stayed there by beating Bushey Rangers 7-0.

Michael Griffin led the way with a hat-trick and Drew Snailham, Joe McCarthy, Glen Coniam and Joe Fox also found the back of the net.

Ardent did all they could by defeating AFC Green Machine 5-2 despite going behind early on.

Dwayne Curtis and Chay Lewis both scored doubles, with Lee Spence netting the other for the runners-up.

Josh Burt and Sam Hailey netted the goals for AFC, who will take third place in the table if they beat bottom-placed Railway Arms in their final fixture on Sunday.