THE INANE RAMBLINGS FROM UP NORFF #41

SATURDAY HEADLINES
Stotfold and Langford book their places in the Beds Senior Trophy Final. Ampthill Town hit seven on the road. Hadley equal club record at Step 5 for successive league wins.

Saturday brought about 86 goals from the 25 games (an average of 3.44 per game). Dominic Lawless (Milton Keynes Irish), Ashley Kersey (Stotfold), Michael Fullerton (Ampthill Town), Tolu Ikuyinminu (Buckingham Athletic) and Adam Baldwin (Bovingdon) netting hat-tricks.

Saturday Stats: 25 games played of which 7 were home wins, 16 away wins and 2 draws.

Without A League Draw to date: Aston Clinton, Codicote, Risborough Rangers Development and The 61FC (Luton).

Saturday Highest Attendances: 403 Flackwell Heath v Arlesey Town, 382 Leighton Town v Hadley and 103 Harpenden Town v Broadfields United and Winslow United v Thame United Reserves.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Premier Division Clubs): 473 Leighton Town v Broadfields United, 449 Leighton Town v Aylesbury Vale Dynamos and 435 Dunstable Town v Leighton Town.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division One Clubs): 404 Stotfold v Ampthill Town, 392 Stotfold v Bedford and 371 Ampthill Town v Bedford.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division Two Clubs): 212 Bovingdon v Totternhoe, 175 Bovingdon v Berkhamsted Raiders and 134 Totternhoe v Leighton Town (Gladwish Challenge Trophy).

Saturday 22nd January

PREMIER DIVISION
Second placed New Salamis and third placed Hadley took full advantage of table topping Risborough Rangers not playing to close the gap at the top, New Salamis are just two points adrift after winning 2-0 at Holmer Green while Hadley equalled their best league winning run at Step 5 with their tenth successive win at fellow title contenders Leighton Town, the Hertfordshire side winning 2-0. It looks as if any outside hopes of making a challenge for promotion have been extinguished for both Leverstock Green and Harpenden Town after both suffered 0-2 home defeats against Aylesbury Vale Dynamos and Broadfields United respectively. At the other end of the table Crawley Green remain bottom following a 1-3 home defeat by in form Dunstable Town while Baldock Town edged out of the bottom two thanks to a 2-2 home draw with Harefield United. Elsewhere Ardley United enjoyed a 3-0 win over visiting Oxhey Jets while a solitary goal was enough for Flackwell Heath to defeat visiting Arlesey Town. For further details on the day’s other game Milton Keynes Irish v London Colney see later in the ramblings the report from Bob Flight. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

3-0 Ardley United v Oxhey Jets (Courtney, Howards, Benjamin) Attendance: 56
2-2 Baldock Town v Harefield United (Hay [2]) / (Pacquette [pen], White) Attendance: 94
1-3 Crawley Green v Dunstable Town (Tshikala) / (Sellers-West, Creary, Faulkner) Attendance: 75
1-0 Flackwell Heath v Arlesey Town (Shakespeare) Attendance: 403
0-2 Harpenden Town v Broadfields United (Ward, Ellis) Attendance: 103
0-2 Holmer Green v New Salamis (Becka [pen], Michael) Attendance: 68
0-2 Leighton Town v Hadley (Edwards [2]) Attendance: 382
0-2 Leverstock Green v Aylesbury Vale Dynamos (Haule, Baldwin) Attendance: 60
4-0 Milton Keynes Irish v London Colney (Lawless [3], Smyth) Attendance: 56

DIVISION ONE
With leaders Stotfold involved in County Cup second placed Winslow United reduced the gap to two points with a 3-1 home win against Thame United Reserves, the Buckinghamshire side have three games in hand and travel to the Bedfordshire side next month. Third placed Ampthill Town were the day’s biggest winners as they thrashed their hosts London Tigers 7-1 while Northampton Sileby Rangers moved up to fourth after a solitary goal success at Rushden & Higham United. The bottom two both suffered home defeats, Irchester United going down 0-2 against Long Crendon while Burton Park Wanderers were beaten by a solitary goal against Letchworth Garden City Eagles. Elsewhere Bedford remained in play-off contention after winning 4-0 at the side that began the day in 4th place Wellingborough Whitworth while Buckingham Athletic enjoyed a 6-2 success at lowly Kidlington Reserves. Full results and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.

0-1 Burton Park Wanderers v Letchworth Garden City Eagles (Sanni) Attendance: 84
0-2 Irchester United v Long Crendon (Warwick, Ashworth) Attendance: 24
2-6 Kidlington Reserves v Buckingham Athletic (McCormack) / (Ikuyinminu [3], Tappin [pen], Power, Brazier) Attendance: 35
1-7 London Tigers v Ampthill Town (Unknown) / (Fullerton [3], Cerminara [2] [1 pen], Holmes [2]) Attendance: Unknown
0-1 Rushden & Higham United v Northampton Sileby Rangers (Lyons) Attendance: 71
0-4 Wellingborough Whitworth v Bedford (Travell, Rogers, McLeod-Bentley, Bamford) Attendance: 75
3-1 Winslow United v Thame United Reserves (Khan, Williamson, Brown) / (Sagar) Attendance: 103

BEDS SENIOR TROPHY Semi Finals
The Beds Senior Trophy Final will be an all SSML affair following Saturday’s semi-finals, Division One table toppers Stotfold won convincingly with a 5-0 success at Beds County League side Queens Park Crescents while the Shefford Town & Campton v Langford tie saw the visitors edge it with an odd goal in five success. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

0-5 Queens Park Crescents v Stotfold (Kersey [3], Bagge, Amaning) Attendance: 120
2-3 Shefford Town & Campton v Langford (Snee, Ingham) / (Younger [2] [both pens], Gilmartin) Attendance: 101

DIVISION TWO
Division Two leaders Old Bradwell United extended their lead at the top to five points as won 3-0 at Buckingham United while Bovingdon climbed to second extending their run to eighth league games without defeat with a 3-1 win at Milton Keynes College Football Academy. Tring Corinthians AFC remain bottom after losing 1-4 at home against Codicote while Sarratt swapped places with The 61FC (Luton) after beating them by the odd goal in five. Elsewhere a strong Risborough Rangers Development side which included several first team players saw off visiting Eynesbury United 2-0 while New Bradwell St Peter had to settle for a goalless draw at home against Berkhamsted Raiders. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

0-3 Buckingham United v Old Bradwell United (Smith, Cooke, O’Neill) Attendance: 48
1-3 Milton Keynes College Football Academy v Bovingdon (Asante) / (Baldwin [3]) Attendance: 35
0-0 New Bradwell St Peter v Berkhamsted Raiders Attendance: 30
2-0 Risborough Rangers Development v Eynesbury United (Osbourne, Yearwood) Attendance: 42
3-2 Sarratt v The 61FC (Luton) (Bircham [2], White) / (Polson [2]) Attendance: 46
1-4 Tring Corinthians AFC v Codicote (Hill [pen]) / (Kimber [2], Barker, O’Dell) Attendance: 25

BERKS & BUCKS CHARLES TWELFTREES TROPHY Third Round
Aston Clinton’s run in the Berks & Bucks Charles Twelftrees Trophy continued as they booked a quarter-final place with a 3-2 over Hellenic League side FC Beaconsfield. Full result and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.

3-2 Aston Clinton v FC Beaconsfield (Banert, Williams, MacDonald) / (Unknown) Attendance: 20

COMMITTEE AWAYDAYS
Bob Flight was at Milton Keynes Irish and sends the following report:-
A mid table encounter between MK Irish and visitors London Colney saw the Irish triumph as a Dom Lawless hat trick sealed a valuable three points. The Irish had an early scare as the ball somehow evaded their net in only the third minute of the start. But they soon were in front on 6 minutes when following a free kick Liam Smyth picked up the loose ball to score from close range. Colney responded and saw a couple of shots go wide and one that drew a smart save from Jack Taylor in the home goal. The game was effectively secured within just two minutes of the break when Dom Lawless quickly scored twice in the 43rd and 45th minutes. Colney made a double substitution at half time which saw them improve as they pressed forward, but they failed to breach the home defence. The fate for Colney was sealed when Lawless scored his third goal on 69 minutes from a pass by George Shrieves. Whilst Colney still pressed for a goal, they were denied by an excellent save from Taylor in the final few minutes. The 4-0 scoreline was a little harsh on Colney as they played some attractive football but without any penetration in the final third of the pitch. The result gets the Irish back to winning ways and keeps them comfortably in mid table. If Colney can solve the attacking aspect of their passing game, then they should keep clear of any threat of entering the relegation zone. All in all it was an enjoyable afternoon.

AND FINALLY
Don’t forget that every Sunday afternoon the Non-League Show on Three Counties Radio (Herts, Beds & Bucks), a show all about local non-league football. The popular show presented by Ollie Bayliss has been increased to two hours each week and is the perfect opportunity to catch up with our local non-league scene at all levels. For those who missed it then you can catch up here:-

Ollie Bayliss Non League Show

The result of this week’s Team of the Day Poll with 375 votes cast is:-
Bovingdon 34.1%
Dunstable Town 30.9%
Ampthill Town 22.9.0%
Broadfields United 12.0%

Hadley receiving their recent November Team of the Month award