Herts Sunday Junior Cup Round Two

Three Watford Sunday League sides won through to the next round, with both RBL Croxley and Watford Athletic progressing by the odd goal in seven on their travels.

Croxley travelled to Waltham Cross to face White Hart from the East Herts Corinthian League and had to battle back from 2-0 down before triumphing 4-3.

After falling behind to a free-kick, RBL worked hard to find a way back to get back on terms but were caught napping at the back when White Hart broke through and scored a second goal. On the stroke of half-time though, Croxley deservedly pulled one back when Phil Molloy headed in a Will Keddy corner.

Early in the second half Aaron Hirst equalised for RBL, firing home a loose ball after the home keeper had twice kept out his earlier efforts.

The game flowed from end to end but it was Croxley who went ahead of the first time when Keddy won the ball on half way and knocked it down the left wing for Reece Gould to run onto, outpace the defence, cut inside and fire home.

Callum Hearn then made it 4-2 after being found by Hearn 10 minutes from time and that proved enough to secure the win after Hart had pulled a goal back with less than five minutes remaining.

Athletic, who have yet to win a game in the league, claimed a second win in this competition but like Croxley they had to do it the hard way, in their case coming from behind twice.

Trailing 2-0 after only nine minutes to Hemel Harriers and then 3-1 at the break, Athletic recovered in the second half and clinched the win with the last kick of the game.

Conall Russell scored a hat-trick with the other goal coming from Alfie Dibble.

The other WSL team to win through was Woodside Wanderers who beat Harpenden Colts Old Boys Reserves 1-0 thanks to a free-kick from Nelson Santos.

SOCA and White Horse were both knocked out 2-1 away at AC Malone and Landrovers respectively.

Harry Chamberlin got the SOCA goal and Floyd Thompson netted for Horse.

ER’s good run of form came to an end with a 5-2 defeat to Excel, Andre Federico and Kevin Fisken scoring.

Herts Sunday Senior Cup Round Three

Oakview are through to the quarter-finals and will face Skew Bridge in January after they easily swept aside Thundridge City 7-1.

The game was far closer in the first half with Oakview only leading 2-1 at the break thanks to goals from Adam Lowton and Lewis Putman.

The second 45 minutes was one-way traffic though, with Putman scoring a second-half hat-trick, Glen O’Malley his first for his new club, and the other through a Lee Armitt lob following a Daryl Brown through ball.

Herts Sunday Senior Cup Round Two Replay

Five weeks after the original game had to be abandoned with four minutes left due to a serious injury with Rifle Volunteer leading 3-2, they finally faced AFC Rangers once again.

Last season’s beaten semi-finalists Rangers ultimately prevailed 6-3 after both sides had to play the majority of the rearranged tie with 10 men following a dismissal apiece after 25 minutes.

In an open game on a heavy pitch, it was the St Albans-based side with won through thanks in large part to Jacob Noonan who scored four times, supported by goals from Harvey Scott and Dan Lovett.

Ishi Ehui, Gary Froy and Terry Cooper replied for Rifle.

Eric Hand Challenge Cup Round Three

Premier Division strugglers St Josephs survived the possibility of an upset as they beat Second Division promotion chasers Oxhey Spartans 2-0.

In front of a large crowd, Spartans gave everything they could before their top-flight opponents won the game thanks to two goals in the final 20 minutes.

First Dan Griggs beat two defenders down the right before crossing for substitute and debutant Joe Gaiger, who planted his header beyond the keeper.

Dean Seabrook sealed the win five minutes from time with a well-taken effort from 15 yards out.

Chairman’s Cup Round One

Maple Cross rediscovered some of their early-season form with a 4-0 win over AFC Bedmond.

Steven Collett gave Cross the lead in the first half, and the game was effectively ended as contest early in the second period thanks to a Tom Horton header.

Andy Pryor made it 3-0 and substitute Dean Brownsell completed the scoring late on.

Premier Division

Tudor Athletic look to have made the title race a three-horse affair after they inflicted a first league defeat on Reed Rangers since May 2018 with a 1-0 victory.

The win moves Athletic above their opponents into second place in the table, level on points with leaders Oakview and only behind due to an inferior goal difference of eight.

The decisive goal came after 25 minutes when following a Phil Ifil cross, a penalty was given for handball and the resulting spot-kick was slotted home by Karl Bull.

Reed’s best chance to equalise came mid-way through the second half when Louis Stead saw a free-kick crash against the crossbar and bounce clear to safety.

Evergreen beat Chorleywood Club 4-0 to move up into fourth place.

The eventual victors started brightly and went ahead when a long ball bounced over the on-rushing keeper and Ryan O'Sullivan calmly walked it into the net.

They continued to dominate and a second goal followed when Tom Verbena rounded the Chorleywood keeper after he had started the move by receiving the ball from his own keeper, Joss Dunham.

The second half started with Evergreen being wasteful in front of goal until substitute Haydn Critchell-Ward beat the offside trap and smashed home the third.

Evergreen kept pressing and got a fourth through another substitute, Matt Smart, when the keeper allowed his shot to squirm under his body.

Division One

Everett Rovers convincingly won the top-of-the-table clash with Fox & Stone 4-0.

After a cagey start between two well-matched and experienced sides, the ball fell to Harry Panayiotou and he fired home on the half-volley from fully 40 yards out.

The lead was doubled 10 minutes later when Reece Cameron picked the ball up on the left before cutting in past two men and unleashing a shot from the edge of the box into the roof of the net.

A third followed after the break, with Meshach Williams combining with Cameron before slotting home.

Cameron then rounded off his fine performance with his second of the game, firing low and hard into the net.

Bushey Rangers are now level on 19 points with Fox and Maple Cross after a 5-1 away win over bottom-of-the-table West Herts.

West Herts started the stronger and were left to rue some missed chances before Bushey went ahead after half-an-hour through Johnny Vasey.

They never looked back and Ronnie Yerby made it 2-0 five minutes later before Stephen King added a third just five minutes after that, both goals coming with headers from corners.

There was no let-up after the break and Olly Duggan made it 4-0 early in the second half when he bundled into the net from another corner.

The Stags did pull one back 10 minutes from time thanks to Umayyr Anwar, but Bushey completed the scoring late on with Vasey’s second.

FC Woodside secured a second win of the season with a 2-1 victory over AFC Leavesden.

After a goalless first half, it was Everett who broke the deadlock through Callum Hailey, before Adieu Gerbil equalised with a header. Joe Fox netted the winner with a late penalty.

Ardent and North Watford both remain in mid-table after a 1-1 draw.

Watford had the better of the first half, hitting the woodwork four times before their opponents opened the scoring with a diving header from centre-back Andrew Humbles 20 minutes into the second half.

North Watford equalised soon after thanks to a free-kick from Carlos Alberto.

Division Two

Bennetts End Rovers made it 10 wins from 10 with a 2-0 victory over ACS Milan thanks to goals from Josh Burtt and Calum Jones.

The Victoria moved into third place after a 5-3 win over Croxley.

Ben Stallard, Dan Bourne, Jamaine Botchey, Charlie Wharton and Michael Wood netted the Victoria goals, with Samba scoring a brace for Croxley and Pete Behan got their other.

Ricky AFC enjoyed a 4-0 away win over Bushey Sports Club through Alex Ungureanu’s double, John Gyabaah and an own goal.

Chess United have a second win of the season following a surprise 2-1 success over Dome Bar, Dana Anderson and an own goal overcoming a Ben Kelly effort for the home side.

Division Three

Leaders Sun Sports beat Hertfordshire Eagles 4-0.

Michael Adriano started off the scoring with a tap into an empty net after rounding the keeper.

The second followed soon after when a cross from Daniel Moss was finished off by Dion Belle.

Eagles had chances to get back into the game, however two set-pieces converted by a Jordon Sterling header and a Ben Dunton volley sealed the win.

Skyline are in second place, just a point behind Sun, after they defeated Batchworth 1-0.

The struggling visitors once again failed to take their chances before the game was settled by a late solo goal from Jordan Austin.