SATURDAY HEADLINES
Irchester United win in the league for the first time since August. Shefford Town & Campton record their biggest win in the SSML whilst for opponents Burton Park Wanderers it was their heaviest SSML defeat. Tring Corinthians AFC record their first clean sheet of the season.

Saturday brought about 68 goals from the 23 games (an average of 2.96 per game). Jonathan McNamara (Shefford Town & Campton) netting the day’s only hat-trick.

Saturday Stats: 23 games played of which 8 were home wins, 8 away wins and 7 draws.

Without A League Draw to date: Aston Clinton and Codicote.

Saturday Highest Attendances: 333 Leighton Town v Ardley United, 109 Aylesbury Vale Dynamos v Arlesey Town and 101 Tring Athletic v Hadley.

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 5th February

PREMIER DIVISION
The Premier Division has new table toppers following Saturday’s fixtures, New Salamis took full advantage of morning leaders Risborough Rangers not playing to move above them after winning 2-0 at Leverstock Green while Leighton Town moved bac to third after edging out visiting Ardley United by the odd goal in three in front of another 300+ crowd at Bell Close. At the bottom Tring Athletic recorded back to back league wins for the first time this season when defeating their visitors the high flying Hadley by the odd goal in three, the winner coning late in the game while Baldock Town drew 1-1 at home with fellow strugglers Holmer Green and bottom club Crawley Green were beaten 0-2 at Harefield United. Elsewhere Flackwell Heath won by a solitary goal at London Colney while Arlesey Town drew 1-1 at Aylesbury Vale Dynamos. The day’s other fixture saw Harpenden Town travel to local rivals Oxhey Jets and return with the full quota of points after a 3-0 win. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

1-1 Aylesbury Vale Dynamos v Arlesey Town (Baldwin) / (Cameron [pen]) Attendance: 109
1-1 Baldock Town v Holmer Green (Rome [pen]) / (Daio) Attendance: 89
2-0 Harefield United v Crawley Green (White, Bircham) Attendance: 70
2-1 Leighton Town v Ardley United (A Campbell, J Campbell) / (Blackstock) Attendance: 333
0-2 Leverstock Green v New Salamis (Ogunseye, Lemba) Attendance: 32
0-1 London Colney v Flackwell Heath (Driffill) Attendance: 47
0-3 Oxhey Jets v Harpenden Town (Scott, Plowright, Allman) Attendance: 61
2-1 Tring Athletic v Hadley (Hutchins, Butler) / (Edwards) Attendance: 101

DIVISION ONE
Division One table toppers Stotfold maintained their one point lead at the top with a 2-0 win at Amersham Town while a last minute goal was enough for second placed Winslow United to defeat visiting Bedford. Third placed Ampthill Town lost ground on the leading two as they were held to a 1-1 at Buckingham Athletic (more on this one later in these ramblings). At the other end of the standings bottom club Irchester United recorded their second league win of the campaign with a 5-1 success at Kidlington Reserves to move to a point behind the club immediately above them Burton Park Wanderers who suffered a 1-9 defeat at the ever improving Shefford Town & Campton. Elsewhere Long Crendon remained very much in the battle for the play-off places with a 2-1 home win over one of their rivals Northampton Sileby Rangers while Wellingborough Whitworth are also in the race for the promotion play-offs following their 3-1 success against visiting Thame United Reserves. The day’s remaining Division One action saw London Tigers pick up a useful point with a 1-1 draw at Letchworth Garden City Eagles while Langford enjoyed a 3-0 success at Rushden & Higham United. Full results and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.

0-2 Amersham Town v Stotfold (Ryan, Smith) Attendance: 51
1-1 Buckingham Athletic v Ampthill Town (Power) / (Beasley) Attendance: 68
1-5 Kidlington Reserves v Irchester United (McCarthy) / (Clayson [2], Bolton, Stimpson, Sylvester) Attendance: 33
1-1 Letchworth Garden City Eagles v London Tigers (Bates) / (Unknown) Attendance: 18
2-1 Long Crendon v Northampton Sileby Rangers (Chappell, Warwick) / (A Taylor) Attendance: 39
0-3 Rushden & Higham United v Langford (James Younger, Hares, Jacob Younger) Attendance: 33
9-1 Shefford Town & Campton v Burton Park Wanderers (McNamara [3], Ingham [2], Snee [2], Metcalfe. Opponent Own Goal) / (Clarke-Knowles) Attendance: 58
3-1 Wellingborough Whitworth v Thame United Reserves (Bivens, Judge, Ncube) / (Lynn) Attendance: 43
1-0 Winslow United v Bedford (Khan) Attendance: 94

DIVISION TWO
The big game in Division Two saw the top facing each other and it was no surprise the game finished even, hosts and leaders Old Bradwell United fell behind to a 89th minute penalty before levelling in the 98th minute to deny second placed Bovingdon closing the five point gap at the top, the OBU goal being scored by Tommy Cooke, his 100th for the club. Third placed Eynesbury United got back to winning ways after going three games without a win with a 3-1 success at home against Berkhamsted Raiders. At the bottom Tring Corinthians AFC entertained The 61FC (Luton) and the sides battled out a goalless draw, the point for the visitors enabled them to climb to third from bottom at the expense of Buckingham United who were beaten 0-3 at home by improving Codicote. Elsewhere Risborough Rangers Development were held 3-3 by visiting Milton Keynes College Football Academy, the hosts led 3-0 at one stage while Aston Clinton continued their recent good form with a 2-0 success at New Bradwell St Peter. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

0-3 Buckingham United v Codicote (O’Dell, Kimber, Figueroa) Attendance: 37
3-1 Eynesbury United v Berkhamsted Raiders (Fox [2], Jennings) / (Mulholland) Attendance: 67
0-2 New Bradwell St Peter v Aston Clinton (Banert, Jaiyeola) Attendance: 25
1-1 Old Bradwell United v Bovingdon (Cooke) / (Beckwith [pen]) Attendance: 82
3-3 Risborough Rangers Development v Milton Keynes College Football Academy (Lamboh, Clark, Osborne) / (Ward [2], Kalek) Attendance: 46
0-0 Tring Corinthians AFC v The 61FC (Luton) Attendance: 15

COMMITTEE AWAYDAYS
Bob Flight was at Buckingham Athletic and sends the following report:-
Old rivals Buckingham Athletic and Ampthill Town met at Stratford Fields and in an entertaining match and each finished with a point apiece. In an even first half, it was Athletic that had the best chances and only two excellent saves from the Town keeper Ross Tomkins ensured that Town survived the half without conceding a goal. In the second half Town began to dominate and an early chance flew over the home bar. But Athletic also had a good chance and this was once again well saved by Tomkins. The first goal came as a bit of a surprise to the watching crowd as a long clearance from the home penalty area caught the Town defenders flat footed which allowed Oliver Power to streak clear and score past a stranded Tomkins on 54 minutes. Town pressed for the equaliser and only a good save from the home keeper kept them out. Another effort was somehow missed by Glenn Cooksley who hooked his shot over the bar when it seemed easier to score. However, the equalising goal was not long in coming and when following a free kick, the ball fell to Tom Beasley, he smashed the ball into the Athletic net on 65 minutes. The final quarter of the game saw the play swing from end to end with Town having the best of it but they failed to trouble the home goal. Both teams used their substitutes in an effort to secure the win but the game petered out to a draw which was about the right result on the day. The draw does not really help Ampthill in their quest for promotion but suited Athletic who played the match with several youngsters in the side.

AND FINALLY
Remember SSML football can seriously damage your health especially match officials as the Tweet of the Day goes to Aylesbury Vale Dynamos for this gem at the weekend – 60’ Asst Referee down injured after a great challenge by Stapleton !!!

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 285 votes cast is:-
Tring Athletic 46.3%
Shefford Town & Campton 35.8%
Irchester United 9.8%
Tring Corinthians AFC 8.1%