SATURDAY HEADLINES
Saturday brought about 98 goals from the 26 games (an average of 3.77 per game). Naheer Nawaf (Holmer Green) netting the day’s only hat-trick

Saturday’s Stats: 26 games played of which 9 were home wins, 13 away wins and 4 draws.

(Most League Wins – all Divisions):
25 New Salamis
24 Stotfold
23 Risborough Rangers

(Most League Draws – all Divisions):
9 Harefield United, Leighton Town
8 Ardley United, Penn & Tylers Green
7 Arlesey Town, Dunstable Town, Harpenden Town, Milton Keynes Irish, Ampthill Town, Bedford

(Most League Defeats – all Divisions):
26 Irchester United
23 Burton Park Wanderers
22 Crawley Green, London Colney.

Without a Draw:
(Division Two League):
Aston Clinton and Codicote

Most Goals Scored:
(Premier Division League):
98 New Salamis
(Division One League):
97 Stotfold
(Division Two League):
83 Pitstone & Ivinghoe

Most Goals Conceded:
(Premier Division League):
100 Holmer Green
(Division One League):
103 Burton Park Wanderers.
(Division Two League):
74 Buckingham United

Fewest Goals Conceded:
(Premier Division League):
17 Risborough Rangers.
(Division One League):
24 Stotfold.
(Division Two League):
16 Old Bradwell United

Fewest Goals Scored:
(Premier Division League):
32 London Colney.
(Division One League):
31 Irchester United.
(Division Two League):
23 The 61FC (Luton).

Saturday’s Highest Attendances: 211 Harpenden Town v Tring Athletic, 201 Risborough Rangers v Leighton Town and 181 Ampthill Town v Northampton Sileby Rangers.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Premier Division Clubs): 868 Leighton Town v Luton Town (Beds Senior Cup), 491 Leighton Town v Tring Athletic and 473 Leighton Town v Broadfields United.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division One Clubs): 1904 Long Crendon v Wycombe Wanderers (Berks & Bucks Senior Cup), 533 Stotfold v Winslow United and 404 Stotfold v Ampthill Town.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division Two Clubs): 212 Bovingdon v Totternhoe, 175 Bovingdon v Berkhamsted Raiders and 155 Bovingdon v Sarratt (Division Two Cup).

Saturday 19th March

PREMIER DIVISION
New Salamis remain top of the standings after the last round of results on Saturday after they secured a 3-1 home success over Dunstable Town a result that extends their lead to three points after second placed Risborough Rangers drew 1-1 at home against fourth placed Leighton Town however Rangers do have two games in hand. Hadley remain third following their 2-2 draw at Ardley United. At the other end of the table bottom club Crawley Green overturned a half time deficit to win 4-2 at London Colney a result that drops the hosts into the bottom three while second from bottom Holmer Green enjoyed a 4-1 win at Oxhey Jets to keep their hopes of avoiding the drop alive, it will be a lot of nail biting over the coming weeks. Elsewhere in form Flackwell Heath recorded a solitary goal win at Leverstock Green while Harpenden Town ended a three match winless league run with a goal in each half to defeat visiting Tring Athletic. The day’s other Premier Division fixtures saw Harefield United and Milton Keynes Irish share the spoils following a 2-2 draw while Baldock Town eased their relegation worries with a 3-1 win at Broadfields United. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

2-2 Ardley United v Hadley (Ngathe [pen], Williams) / (S Edwards, Davis [pen]) Attendance: 98
1-3 Broadfields United v Baldock Town (Ward) / (Hay, Furness, Aldridge) Attendance: 67
2-2 Harefield United v Milton Keynes Irish (Schofield, Jordan) / (Lawless [2]) Attendance: 80
2-0 Harpenden Town v Tring Athletic (Scott, Robinson) Attendance: 211
0-1 Leverstock Green v Flackwell Heath (Higgs) Attendance: 68
2-4 London Colney v Crawley Green (Odetola, Slama) / (Racine [2], Borval [2] [1 pen]) Attendance: 35
3-1 New Salamis v Dunstable Town (Krasniqi, Ogunseye, Asamoah) / (Stirling) Attendance: 87
1-4 Oxhey Jets v Holmer Green (Giordmaina) / (Nawaf [3], Odumosu) Attendance: 57
1-1 Risborough Rangers v Leighton Town (Yearwood) / (Khan) Attendance: 201

DIVISION ONE
Stotfold continue their march towards the title with another fine performance on the road, the Bedfordshire club winning 4-1 at relegation threatened Burton Park Wanderers while second place Winslow United kept up the pressure with a 2-1 success at play-off chasing Bedford. Third placed Ampthill Town dropped two points after surrendering a 3-0 interval lead at home against Northampton Sileby Rangers and more on this one later in the ramblings. At the bottom Irchester United were beaten by a solitary goal at home by Rushden & Higham United and now could be relegated this coming weekend if they fail to win while both Amersham Town and London Tigers did their chances of avoiding the drop a big favour with wins, Amersham defeating visiting Raunds Town by the odd goal in five while Tigers won 3-1 at Penn & Tylers Green to move out of the bottom three at the expense of Kidlington Reserves who were beaten 2-3 at home by play-off hopefuls Wellingborough Whitworth. Elsewhere it was mixed fortunes for two of the other clubs pushing hard for the play-offs, Long Crendon suffered a 2-5 home defeat by mid-table Letchworth Garden City Eagles while Shefford Town & Campton won by a solitary goal at Thame United Reserves. The day’s other fixture saw Buckingham Athletic defeat visiting Langford 2-0. Full results and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.

3-2 Amersham Town v Raunds Town (O’Connor [2], Clifford) / (Clark, Goodman) Attendance: 47
3-3 Ampthill Town v Northampton Sileby Rangers (Swaby, Cooksley, Burton) / (Burrows, Taylor, Freitas) Attendance: 181
1-2 Bedford v Winslow United (Joseph) / (Brown, Williamson) Attendance: 50
2-0 Buckingham Athletic v Langford (Holmes, Ikuyinminu) Attendance: 42
1-4 Burton Park Wanderers v Stotfold (Gilbert) / (Clarke, Bagge, Kersey, Sears) Attendance: 54
0-1 Irchester United v Rushden & Higham United (Hunt) Attendance: 50
2-3 Kidlington Reserves v Wellingborough Whitworth (McCormack, McCarthy) / (Bailey [2], Brittain) Attendance: 28
2-5 Long Crendon v Letchworth Garden City Eagles (Brownsword, Warwick) / (Zekri [2], Bates [2], Charles) Attendance: 32
1-3 Penn & Tylers Green v London Tigers (Hurst) / (Unknown, Unknown, Unknown) Attendance: 37
0-1 Thame United Reserves v Shefford Town & Campton (Dillon) Attendance: 55

DIVISION TWO
The Division Two title race continues to be a tight affair with no less than six teams in the running, with leaders Old Bradwell United involved in cup action the attention turned to the chasing pack. Second placed Bovingdon hosted bottom club Tring Corinthians AFC and one was expecting a comfortable home win however the visitors had not read the script, Bovingdon were pushed all the way and indeed secure a win in front of another large crowd thanks to just a solitary first half goal to move level on points with the leaders. Third placed Pitstone & Ivinghoe remain two points off the pace after a 3-0 home success over Risborough Rangers Development while fourth placed Milton Keynes College Football Academy are just three points behind the top two after recording their best ever SSML result, a 7-1 home success against second from bottom Buckingham United. Aston Clinton, who have several games in hand on those above them, made it seven wins from their last seven league games with a 3-0 win against visiting Codicote and now sit fifteen points behind the leaders. The day’s other league action saw New Bradwell St Peter win in the league for the first time since October with a 2-0 success at The 61FC (Luton). Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

3-0 Aston Clinton v Codicote (Mitchell [2], MacDonald) Attendance: 30
1-0 Bovingdon v Tring Corinthians AFC (Beckwith) Attendance: 140
7-1 Milton Keynes College Football Academy v Buckingham United (Boyce [2], Davis, Blanco-Martinez, Lodder, Summers, Asante) / (Kpolley) Attendance: 20
3-0 Pitstone & Ivinghoe v Risborough Rangers Development (Hall [2], Okolie) Attendance: 41
0-2 The 61FC (Luton) v New Bradwell St Peter (Goodluck, Stokes) Attendance: 8

DIVISION TWO CUP Quarter Finals
The first two Division Two Cup Quarter Finals took place on Saturday and the two ties served up eleven goals, table toppers and current holders Old Bradwell United saw off a spirited fight back from hosts Eynesbury United to edge through 3-2 after being 3-0 at one stage and their reward is a trip to either Pitstone & Ivinghoe or Milton Keynes College Football Academy next month. The other tie saw Totternhoe defeating visiting Berkhamsted Raiders 4-2 after being locked at 2-2 at the interval, the Bedfordshire side will now travel to Bovingdon or Tring Corinthians AFC next month. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.

2-3 Eynesbury United v Old Bradwell United (Carberry, Fox) / (Maxey, Green, Valentine) Attendance: 79
4-2 Totternhoe v Berkhamsted Raiders (Capehorn [2], Gutzmore, Kent) / (Seodi [2]) Attendance: 45

AND FINALLY

COMMITTEE AWAYDAYS
Bob Flight was at Ampthill Town and sends the following report:-
It was almost shirt sleeve weather at Ampthill Park when Town hosted visitors Northampton Sileby Rangers last Saturday. In front of almost 200 fans, a topsy turvy game saw both teams have dominate halves in a high scoring 3-3 draw. Despite missing several first team regulars, Town started well and scored in just 6 minutes when Geo Swaby headed in a left wing cross. Worse was to follow for Rangers when Glen Cooksley headed in a left wing corner kick on 10 minutes. Town finished the half in style when Lawrence Burton scored with a shot that went into the far corner of the visitors net right on 45 minutes. Rangers made two substitutes at half time and this greatly improved their play. They pulled a goal back on 55 minutes when Nathan Burrows converted a cross from close range. The two substitutions bore fruit as they both scored to level the game. Firstly Giuseppe Freitas scored on 57 minutes and then Lewis Taylor scored the equalising goal as he headed the ball into the Town net on 66 minutes. Town looked to have thrown the game away as Rangers pressed forward and only an amazing last minutes open goal miss by Rangers ensued that both teams earned a point each. During their periods of dominance, both teams had several excellent chances to have won this match but none were taken and perhaps a draw was a fair reflection of the whole 90 minutes.

The result of this week’s Team of the Day Poll with 298 votes cast is:-
Holmer Green 30.9%
Milton Keynes College Football Academy 26.5%
Flackwell Heath 22.8%
Letchworth Garden City Eagles 19.8%

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