Tuesday 1 September - SSML Results/Reports

[Rhodes]

Tuesday evening's fixtures, inexplicably none in Division One:

Tuesday 1 September (all kick off 7.45pm)

Premier Division

Baldock Town v Harlow Town

Cockfosters v Aylesbury Vale Dynamos

Dunstable FC v Biggleswade United

Everett Rovers v Risborough Rangers

Harpenden Town v Sawbridgeworth Town

Kempston Rovers v Tring Athletic

Kings Langley v Colney Heath

Newport Pagnell Town v Potton United

Wormley Rovers v Enfield FC

Division Two

Eynesbury United v Codicote

Milton Keynes College Football Academy v Tring Corinthians AFC

Milton Keynes Irish Reserves v Old Bradwell United

Redbourn FC v Aston Clinton

Sun Sports v London Colney

Winslow United Development v Redbourn Rovers

[Rhodes]

The belated results:

Tuesday 1 September

Premier Division

Baldock Town 2 Harlow Town 0

Cockfosters 2 Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 1

Dunstable FC 1 Biggleswade United 4

Everett Rovers 2 Risborough Rangers 10

Harpenden Town 1 Sawbridgeworth Town 0

Kempston Rovers 0 Tring Athletic 3

Kings Langley 2 Colney Heath 0

Newport Pagnell Town 2 Potton United 4

Wormley Rovers 2 Enfield FC 1

Division Two

Eynesbury United 1 Codicote 3

Milton Keynes College Football Academy 4 Tring Corinthians AFC 0

Milton Keynes Irish Reserves 0 Old Bradwell United 1

Redbourn FC 1 Aston Clinton 2

Sun Sports 2 London Colney 2

Winslow United Development 1 Redbourn Rovers 0

[Rhodes]

23 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 1 September
Premier Division
Everett Rovers 2 Risborough Rangers 10

A groundhopper from another Forum was at Dodd Road to witness this, hardly believable, rout:

Everett Rovers 2 Risborough Rangers 10 (in the style of the Grandstand vidiprinter, TEN). Spartan South Midlands Premier (3rd v 1st). Admission: £8. Programme: Online. Crowd: 75 approx, official 43 (one of whom had ventured out tonight in bare feet, maybe he was counting Risborough's goals on his toes).
The only other time I came here, I saw a 6-6 draw. Another 12 goals tonight. Maybe I should give notice of my next visit so people will know what to expect.
Unbelievably, these teams were level on points at kick-off. League leaders Risborough were visiting a club who have made great strides since I last saw them in the Herts Senior County League a couple of years ago.
Everett Rovers have made a strong start to life at Step 5 and sat third at the start of play. Though how they would survive at Step Four at Dodd Road, a mile or so north of Watford Junction, is open to question.
That is not to say progress hasn't been made; a stand with capacity for 50 backsides and a small shelter have appeared on one side of the pitch. There is only one other side where viewing is possible; behind one goal, though the dimensions are intimate.
There has been further progress with the clubhouse, which is situated outside the turnstiles. A bigger bar is now being used on match days.
However, the array of mini goals lined up on one side of the pitch; the red, yellow and blue markings on the playing surface plus what can only be described as a parted curtain at either end of the halfway line leaves this feeling like a five-a-side complex.
The match began and Luke Preedy for the home side sweetly struck a 20-yard shot straight at keeper Ben Bridle-Card.
On seven minutes, Everett had the lead. Nathan Page surged down the left side and his low cross was converted by Harley Sells. Page again ran down the left channel. This time he blasted a shot but Bridle-Card was in the way.
It wasn't long before Risborough equalised, Rio Connell placed a shot low to the left of keeper Ayaz Kazi. A minute or so later, Connell got behind the home defence and scored again.
Connell almost grabbed a hat-trick with 15 minutes on the clock when he met a Josh Williams cross but couldn't keep his shot down and hit the bar.
It was apparent that Everett could not cope with Connell's runs behind their back line. Almost every ball knocked over the top or along the floor resulted in mayhem.
Again, Connell was at the centre of the action when he chased a long ball but was fouled outside the box by the advancing Kazi who was relieved to be shown a yellow card.
A third Risborough goal arrived on 20 minutes when Williams' shot was palmed away by Kazi but the rebound was headed by Jordan Ajanlekoko into the empty net.
Just inside the half-hour mark, Niko Muir drilled a 25-yard shot past Kazi for goal four. Muir then scored an even better goal - 25 yards out to the right of the penalty arc, he unleashed a venomous strike that flew past Kazi into the far top corner.
Connell then set up David Appiah for a tap-in for the sixth goal. 6-1 at half-time!
The second half started in similar fashion, a twisting run by left-back Exauce Kifwasima ended with him curling a shot into the far corner of the net.
Muir almost repeated his first half wonder goal but this time the ball cannoned off the post. Williams scored number eight. He also got number nine, a lovely goal cutting in from the right and scoring low into the corner.
A rare home attack saw sub George Rice score in off a post.
Finally, on 84 minutes, Williams made sure it was double figures for the visitors.

[Rhodes]

31 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 1 September
Premier Division
Newport Pagnell Town 2 Potton United 4

A groundhopper from another Forum was at Willen Road:

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division
Newport Pagnell Town 2-4 Potton United
Admission £9, Programme £2 (bring a magnifying glass), Att: 206
Given the earlier report by Kendo Nagasaki I picked the wrong SSMFL Premier match this evening, but, in fairness, this was a really decent game. The home side are struggling at the bottom end of the table, coming into the game having picked up just one win and four defeats from their opening five games, while United had one win, two draws and one defeat from their four.
Arrived at around 7pm, but the car park was pretty busy with a kids game or training session seemingly just finishing. I managed to find a space though. The clubhouse and changing rooms are outside of the ground, I did have a quick look in the former before venturing into the ground, which was quite decent - with cover on three sides.
The hosts began brightly, dominating the early possession and territory, but they had no answer to Potton's pacy forwards who caught them on the break time and again.
The opening goal came on 18 minutes, and began with a NPT attack. The home right winger, pressurised by the Potton left back, was forced back towards his own goal, where he hit a poor backpass towards his keeper, only to watch in horror as number 9, Forde, raced in to intercept, rounded the keeper and sidefooted into the vacant net.
5 minutes later it was 0-2, when number 7, Bangura went on a mazy run beating several defenders before chipping the keeper. 24 minutes gone and the visitors had scored with their only two attacks.
On 34 minutes, the home side got a lifeline, when a clumsy trip by Osei-Bonsu on Small, allowed Watkinson to halve the deficit from the spot. Their hope was short lived though. On 41 minutes they had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down and Potton broke immediately, with Forde lobbing the keeper. 1-3 at the interval.
Newport Pagnell reduced the arrears on 51 minutes, when Watkinson headed in for his second of the game from close range, only for number 11 Johnson Standley to make it 2-4 on 64 minutes from the edge of the 6 yard box after good work by Bangura.
I had hoped the final 26 minutes or so might have added a few goals, but, though we saw the woodwork struck, and an effort cleared off the line, it wasn't to be. So, for the second consecutive match, Potton were involved on a 2-4 scoreline, having lost at home to Kings Langley by that score on Saturday
Various roadworks and HS2 works on the route, but no holdups in either direction, and was back in 1 hour 25.

[Rhodes]

56 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 1 September
Premier Division
Cockfosters 2 Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 1

Well known groundhopper Tales From The Riverbank from another Forum was in attendance at Chalk Lane:

Travelling much further than our esteemed Cockfosters resident to Chalk Lane for a lively evening involving.
Cockfosters 2 v 1 Aylesbury Vale Dynamos - Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division.
Programme 28 pages £2.00 - Admission £5.00 (c) - Att. 103.
An evening that was certainly not enjoyed by the visitors as they managed to lose an early lead, having a player sin binned and then failing to take advantage of a numerical advantage when Cockfosters were reduced due to a straight red. To finally conclude the visitors descent, they let their collective emotions get the better of them, also being reduced to ten and also having a player who had been previously substituted dismissed from the dug outs. Yet despite the fact that previously AVD had lost all seven of their previous matches, for long periods they gamely battled away and were probably a little unfortunate not to gain a point.
Cockfosters as previously mentioned when they were viewed earlier in the season losing at Sawbridgeworth have seen most of their very successful team from last season plus their Management team depart for the 'greener pastures' of Welwyn Garden City where they have won all but one (typically the one that I attended) of their matches thus far. It would be fair to say that the assembling a new team with only three players (Jandir Da Cruz, Junior Mubiayi and Max Jessop) remaining from the team that played at Wembley in the Vase final, is very much a work in progress. However, two recent wins are showing that they are heading in the right direction.
Despite AVD's lowly position, this was a hard fought win which was made the more difficult by a clear infusion of confidence that occurred when the visitors had taken an early lead. This gaining of confidence would been much more difficult to generate if it had been the hosts that took an early lead but Jessop's through ball which reached the advancing in space Reece Jacobs ended up being a missed opportunity when the latter lobbed over the advancing Daniel Turner but also over the hedge behind the far goal.
Two minutes later and Joe Glister's attempt to pass Christian Tchouya-Maliago just inside the penalty area saw the latter's clumsy challenge leading to Glister falling to the ground and the referee adjudging that it was a foul, pointing to the spot. Larry Kagwa's subsequent penalty showed great confidence and accuracy completely sending the diving to his right Jake Anderson the wrong way as Kagwa's spot kick nestled in the right hand corner.
Taking the lead most certainly provided the visitors with a boost and initially they had few difficulties dealing with a home attack that failed to generate much in the way of threat and also had a tendency to stray offside. AVD could have doubled their lead when Kagwa's angled drive was well saved low down by Anderson and the hosts breathed a sigh of collective relief as the following up David Brown rushed his effort from the rebound and shot high over the bar.
There was an element of surprise though when the hosts levelled as a result of a low cross from Da Cruz that travelled through a packed AVD defence and being touched in at the far post by Antonio Michael. As the first half ticked towards its conclusion, it was clear that the Cockfosters leveller had led to a much improved display and they were unfortunate not to take a lead into the interval when a low cross from Jessop was forced goalwards by Da Cruz, our vision were deceived as the initial indications was that the ball had rebounded back into play after crossing the line. The referee was of course much better positioned and the Da Cruz's shot had in fact rebounded off of Terry Griffiths situated on the line.
For much of the second half there was little to differentiate between the two battling teams. There were the occasional openings namely when Jacobs lifted his shot a little too high over the AVD bar but the teams at this stage were very closely matched. The visitors evening commenced its descent into the depths when Kyle Davison-Gordon said one too many unnecessary word in the direction of the referee who sent him to the sin bin for ten minutes. It was when the visitors had a numerical disadvantage that they fell behind for the first time when Mubiayi's corner from the right was headed across by Jacobs and Da Cruz on the six yard line headed down and wide of Turner's dive.
Soon after Cockfosters were reduced to ten when Keagan Cole's scything challenge on the far touchline looked even from our far away position like the sort of foul that would have the referee reaching for red. This turned out to be the case and suddenly there was a chance for the visitors to rescue the game, however despite their initial numerical advantage AVD were unable to provide a consistent threat with their only chance to level being a well directed effort from James Young that Anderson did well to push away.
The evening was becoming one of frustration for the visitors and the recently substituted Jake Baldwin obviously said something out of turn in the way of the referee who banished him from the dugout levying a straight red. The situation further deteriorated when a further scything challenge from Terry Griffiths similar in nature to the one that led to the dismissal of Cole earlier led to an identical outcome and the hosts clung onto their lead over the remaining minutes. Win raised the hosts to lower mid table and kept AVD rooted at the bottom with nul points with it being the case that the visitors lack of discipline was a factor in their defeat.
Chalk Lane is an increasingly visited venue in midweek if only for the fact that it is just a few steps away from Cockfosters station, there is always paper available and also the rustic nature of the venue provides an individual feel to the environs with it being remarked that if you took away the office block from the nearby skyline and the hum of traffic from the adjacent A111 then you could be watching from a venue in a rural corner of East Anglia. The perennial issue at the ground is that it is very hemmed in and with virtually no room for enlargement with it being exceptionally difficult to bring the ground up to the standards required if they had been able to cross the Play Off threshold once over the past two attempts.
There were plans to venture elsewhere until I was easily swayed towards Cockfosters by Invicta Buck who suggested a pre match meet at The New Crown (JDW) in nearby Southgate where the El Dorado from Twickenham Brewery was very good. Always a pleasure to meet up with Mr Buck apart from the fact that when he mentioned that a German symphonic metal group that he follows, 'd'Artagnan' had covered a certain Sally Oldfield song as part of a recent covers album, then that set off the train of the personal Moonlight Shadow ear worm which from this angle is particularly difficult to remove from the psyche and as yet has not been fully dislodged.
Whilst Pokalo was turning his nearby lock four minutes after the conclusion of proceedings, we were just about reaching the nearby station. From there onwards the journey was without difficulty apart from just missing an earlier connecting service from Blackhorse Road. Thankfully, with the 'ammas at home, C2C/GBR/GA ran eight coach services and the claret and blue hordes had largely travelled back by the time that the connection at Barking was boarded. Indoors with twenty one minutes of Tuesday remaining.