Eric Hand Challenge Cup Round Three

Second Division Dome Bar knocked out First Division opposition for the second round running as they beat North Watford 3-2 to send them the same way as Maple Cross.

Bar went ahead early on after a defensive error allowed Matt Byrne to score and that was followed by a second from Nial McCalyn with a volley from the edge of the area.

North Watford pulled a goal back before the break when Carlos Alberto broke through and scored from 18 yards.

They missed some good chances to level after the break, but finally levelled with 20 minutes left when George Akhtar, who had only just come on, scored with a free-kick from 30 yards.

The game looked to heading towards extra-time until Ben Kelly scored what proved to be the winner for the lower ranked side five minutes from time.

Premier Division Reed Rangers overcame a potential banana skin against Third Division Woodside Wanderers with a 4-0 win.

Woodside worked hard throughout and it took Reed until the half-hour mark to finally break down the away team’s well organised defence when Tom Gibson scored with a volley from 25 yards.

Kingsley Eshun scored two goals in 15 minutes after the break before Dan Taylor wrapped the win up with his team’s fourth 10 minutes from time.

The all-First Division tie saw Cassiobury Rangers edge past AFC Bedmond 2-1.

Rangers took the lead midway through the first half when Conor Callanan set up Taylor Osunsedo to score.

Their opponents equalised after the break when Mario Urgo got on the end of a set piece, but they were unable to capitalise when Cassiobury lost a man for 10 minutes due to a sin bin.

With time running out Rangers won the tie when Callanan found Joe Mortimer, whose touch and turn took him away from a defender who brought him down in the area, and Mortimer duly converted the resulting penalty.

Terry Devereux President’s Cup Round One

Evergreen easily dispatched Old Fullerians 5-1.

The eventual victors started strongly and went ahead when Ryan O'Sullivan steered home a cross shot from Tom Verbena to take an early lead.

However, that seemed to have an adverse effect on them as they allowed Fullers to dominate and equalise through Daniel Woosley.

Just before half-time Evergreen went back in front when a failed clearance fell to Jake Colley to slam home at the near post.

The second half was one-way traffic. First a flowing move saw a flicked lay-off from Al Jokiel fired home by Verbena to double the lead.

Then two substitutes stole the show as Ben Adams fired in the fourth from 20 yards before Hadyn Critchell-Ward went on a mazy run to complete the scoring.

Premier Division

St Josephs gained their first league win of the season with a 3-0 victory over a struggling FC Unicorn side hit by suspensions and injures.

The game was won in the first half thanks to two well-taken goals.

The first saw Daniel Griggs slot home after a slick six-man passing move and that was followed by a second shortly after when Robbie Tocher finished high into the net after a goalmouth scramble.

Unicorn hit back and missed several good chances in the second half, and they were made to rue those when Griggs scored his second from 15 yards.

Leaders Oakview made it seven wins from seven as they beat Rifle Volunteer 8-1.

Once again it was the Lewis Putman show as the striker scored five times, including a penalty. Tyler Cobb netted a brace, with the other goal coming from Adam Lowton.

Elliot Wilson scored Rifle’s consolation late on.

Division One

The top two in the table, Everett Rovers and Fox & Stone, were both triumphant thanks to high-scoring home wins.

A Luke Preedy hat-trick was the highlight of an easy 6-0 victory for Everett against FC Woodside.

Preedy made the breakthrough in the opening 10 minutes followed by goals from Mark Hansard and Jake Knight to make it 3-0 by half-time.

Preedy added his second after the break and completed his treble five minutes from time after Meshach Williams had headed in the fifth.

Fox & Stone kept up the chase at the top with a 5-2 victory over Bushey Rangers.

Fox played the first half-an-hour with only 10 men but managed to keep the score at 1-1.

Matt Elgey put Fox ahead after a lapse in the Bushey defence left him to run through one-on-one and he finished calmly into the bottom corner.

Bushey equalised after Lewis Yates was first to react to a loose ball.

After the interval and back up to their full compliment of players, Ciaran Walsh put Fox ahead with a low finish into the bottom corner.

Josh Noyes then made it three with a well-struck half-volley, Walsh pounced on a rebound for the fourth before Elgey capitalised on a heavy touch from the keeper to tap home.

Bushey did have the consolation of scoring the goal of the game when Stephen King found the top corner with a long-range free-kick late on.

Langleybury CC came out on top in the big game at the bottom of the table with a 4-1 win over West Herts securing their second victory of the season.

Matt Honey could only score once for the home side in a first half that his team dominated.

But that supremacy was converted after the break when Honey completed his hat-trick and Jamie Madden netted the fourth, with Jason Topping pulling a goal back for the Stags.

The mid-table clash between Ardent and AFC Leavesden was settled by a Mark Riddick goal in the first half for the visitors when he tucked home following an Alex Diaz corner.

Lucas Halligan came closest to doubling Leavesden’s lead, heading onto the crossbar in the first half and then striking the post in the second period.

Division Two

Bennetts End Rovers’ superb run of league wins ended in their 11th game as they suffered a 4-2 defeat away to closest challengers Oxhey Spartans.

Jordan Aston-Woods, Jay Jarvis, Joe Brown and Abbas Khan scored the goals for the home side, with Lee Puddephatt and Liam Flaherty replying for Rovers.

The win means Spartans are nine points behind Rovers but with four games in hand.

Ricky AFC enjoyed a 4-0 away win over Croxley thanks to goals from Alex Ungureanu, Mitchell Estep, Jordan Allen and Ludberg Moriera, while Chess United and ER drew 1-1, Matt Hargreaves and Dan Burke netting for each side.

Division Three

Leaders Sun Sports were given a tough battle by Batchworth before winning 3-1.

Dean Alexander fired the home side ahead with a strike from outside of the box that rocketed into the top corner.

Sun were second best in the first half but they managed to equalise when Hamze Ali crossed for Bilal Akram to finish well.

The second period was controlled by Sun, who scored at either end of the 45 minutes

Ben Dunton converted a penalty given for a foul on Ryan Boyle to make it 2-1, and Boyle scored the third with a left-footed strike into the top corner.

Watford Athletic moved above Batchworth at the foot of the table thanks to a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Inter, Conell Russell with the decisive goal.

White Horse held Skyline to a 1-1 draw, with James Redfearn and Dylan Stewart on target.

Hertfordshire Eagles enjoyed a 6-0 away win over RBL Croxley through a Charlie Kimpton hat-trick, Jordan Osbourne’s brace and one from Ed Price.