S20-21 Round-ups: Essex Olympian League & Cups (Wk 5 – Sat 3 Oct) [EOFL 20-21 4.10.20]

Image from Catholic Utd 1 – 3 Leigh Ramblers [EOFL Prem 3.10.20]

Written by Scott W [Twitter: @ScottMHC14] – Non-League Writer

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Essex Olympian League round-up, here on my blog, looking at the action from Saturday 3rd October from the Premier Division all the way to Division Four this week, also including sections on the Senior & Reserve League Cup action this weekend. Thanks for reading.

Essex Olympian League – Saturday 3 October

EOFL Premier Division

In the only Premier Division match that took place this weekend, Leigh Ramblers put in a great performance to win 3 – 1 at local rivals Catholic Utd. First-half goals from skipper Ryan Lowe and Harry Haysom overturned an earlier Harley Kee spot-kick for the ‘Super Hoops’ and the win was secured by a late goal by replacement George Moxon. I attended this match and if you’d like more on this good advert for the division, my report is here: https://survivor16b.wordpress.com/2020/10/03/s20-21-match-report-catholic-utd-1-3-leigh-ramblers-sat-3rd-oct/

EOFL Senior League Cup

The EOFL Senior Cup once again involved most of the sides in the top three tiers and although it was curtailed by the elements, we still had some surprise results. In the first of our six featured matches, Epping Town of Division Two defeated Division One side Old Chelmsfordians 3 – 1 at Epping Rugby Club. Strikes from Callum Turner, Kai Bowers and Ben Collier sent the OC’s out of the competition. Premier side Shenfield AFC had to survive with ten men before edging to a 2 – 1 success at Division One side Manford Way. Liam Burgess netted for Trevor Grace’s side but AFC responded through strikes by Tom Blackmur and Ben Carroll to go through.

Elsewhere, in the first of two all top-tier clashes, Bishop’s Stortford Swifts defeated Old Southendian 2 – 0 with both goals for Billy Cove’s side coming through Chris Gibbs. Also, Harold Wood Athletic got a morale-boosting win, dispatching Kelvedon Hatch as Alex Goldstone’s side won 3 – 0 at Harold Wood Park. Robert Whitnell, John Bradley and Jack Baines got the goals on a fine day for Ath. Top-tier Rayleigh Town were too strong for Division Three hosts Lakeside Utd as they emerged with a 5 – 0 victory, with Bailey Moss earning a hat-trick and Harry Talbot netting twice for Paul Higgins’ team.

It wasn’t so clear-cut as Westlands though as Division Three outfit ACD Utd gave Premier side Sungate a scare, holding them to a 0 – 0 draw, with the ‘Gate going through 6 – 5 on penalty kicks. The visitors will be happy to get through but credit has to go to Michael Wade’s side for the progress they have made since joining the EOFL. Buckhurst Hill join them in the next round as they got a home Walkover with opponents Leigh Town unable to field a side for their contest.

Other Results (Senior Cup):

Beacon Hill Rovers  6 – 1  Wakebury 

Herongate Athletic  1 – 1  Runwell Sports (Herongate won 4 – 3 on pens)

Matches Off:

Collier Row  P – P  Roydon

Galleywood  P – P  Basildon Town  

Hutton  P – P Springfield  

May & Baker ‘A’  P – P  Newbury Forest Res

EOFL Reserve League Cup

Finally for the Cup action this week, there was goals aplenty in the Reserve Cup. Old Southendian Res comfortably won 4 – 1 over Wakering Sports Development at Garon Park. Thomas Smith struck twice for Oliver Tatton-Bennett’s team, with Nico Debouchet and Jared Brand also on target as they progressed. Rayleigh Town Res also had a great day, defeating Runwell Sports Res  6 – 0 at London Road. Among their scorers was a double for substitute Samuel Barker, plus goals for Matthew Bampus, Matthew Oaten and Kalvin Armstrong as Dave Gipp’s side went through comfortably. Also, Springfield Ressies went through with a 3 – 1 win against Shoebury Town Res at Arun Close. Harrison Elles, Liam England and James Page strikes outdid the response for Town from Simon Pearce as Peter Ellwood’s side went through to the next round.

Matches Off:

Chingford Athletic Res  P – P  Manford Way Res 

Sungate Res  P – P  Collier Row Res 

EOFL Division One

Returning to league action now and it was kudos all round to the home sides in Division One as all three matches went ahead. Chingford Athletic got their first league win this term with a 4 – 1 victory at Shoebury Town and in doing so leapt out of the bottom two. Snaresbrook went up to third spot after edging to a 4 – 3 win over Ramsden Scotia at Nutters Field, with a pair of spot-kicks from Ife Ogunbayo and goals from Daniel Tesfay and Drew Barbier secured the points for Rob Caine’s team.

Meanwhile, Toby continued their good start to the campaign by holding irrepressible Ongar Town to a 2 – 2 draw in Newbury Park. Chris Rowland got both goals for Mark Jones’ side but Aaron Blair made it twelve league goals already this term by grabbing another brace here as Ongar eked out a one-point lead over nearest rivals Runwell Sports, who were in Cup action this weekend.

EOFL Division Two

The weather further limited the Division Two action, though Wakering Sports handed Rochford Town a first league loss this term as Sports won 1 – 0 at Cupid’s. Meschack Kisoka got the decisive goal for the home side as they moved up above their opponents into fourth. Elsewhere, Laindon Orient were held 2 – 2 by an improving Ryan side at Markhams Chase. James Shadwell and Ashley Blackburn both netted for Neil Blackburn’s side but both sides remain in mid-table.

Match Off:  Corinthians  P – P  AS Rawreth 

EOFL Division Three

Unfortunately, all three Division Three matches were postponed this week so It’s ‘as you were’ at the top of the standings with ACD Utd, Collier Row, Buckhurst Hill Res and Basildon Town Res all on six points each, with ACD and Row the only sides with a 100% league record.

Matches Off: Basildon Town Res  P – P  Toby Res   |

Buckhurst Hill Res  P – P  Corinthians Res  |

Leigh Town Res  P – P  Hutton Res  |

EOFL Division Four

This week, we’ll go into more detail in Division Four. Leaders Catholic Utd Res further endorsed their goal difference as well as their 100% winning start with a huge 9 – 0 triumph at Old Chelmsfordians Res. Also on nine points are Laindon Orient Ressies who won 2 – 0 at Shenfield AFC Res, with replacement Olanrewaju Aborisade and Thomas Springer both netting for Kevin Scott’s side, who sit second. In third spot are Hashtag Utd Development, who got their third win in four games, defeating Galleywood Res at Barleylands. William Santos and substitute Michael Parkinson scored for the ‘Wood second side, but a brace for Harry Braysher and goals for Harrison Michaelson and substitute Kai Warren ensured the three points stayed with Denis Simpson’s team.  

Match Off: Ongar Town Res  P – P  Leytonstone Utd (Due to a Waterlogged pitch)

EOFL Division Five 

Old Barkabbeyans  3 – 0  Bishop’s Stortford Swifts Res

Matches Off: AS Rawreth Res  P – P  Herongate Athletic Res

Leigh Ramblers Res  P – P  Epping Town Res

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Season Review 2019-20: Essex Olympian League Division Four [EOFL SR 19/20 22.4.20]

Written By Scott W  [Twitter: @ScottMHC14]

Hello and welcome to the first of a mini-series of blog articles looking back at the ‘void’ Season 2019-20, as deemed by the FA. Sufficed to say, I felt it was important to mark what’s been another fascinating campaign in the Essex Olympian League, Essex Senior League & Eastern Senior League South (leagues I’ve watched mostly this season just gone).

Anyway, we begin the series with a look at Division Four, including an array of statistics compiled from the EOFL FA Full-Time website including top goalscorers & top appearance makers in the League fixtures. Thanks for reading.

 

EOFL Division Four  (as of season cut-off point of March 14th 2020)

As with all the EOFL divisions, the season was halted in mid-March 2020 before eventually being curtailed several weeks later. At that point, Roydon took advantage of a fine run of six wins from their last eight matches to get themselves to the top of the standings, with 39 points from their 15 unbeaten matches played. Ten of those matches were at home and the North West Essex side won eight of them, drawing the other two. They also were the best ‘Entertainers’ in the division this term, scoring 67 goals at an average of 4.46 Goals per game (GpG).

Their nearest rivals in second spot were former leaders Chingford Athletic Development, who if I recall correctly were a new side in the EOFL this season, supporting the club to begin a pathway for the first team (who played in Senior One this term) for players. The Ath ‘second-side’ amassed 38 points from their 19 matches, scoring 61 goals in the process (the second best in the division) and having three entrants in the Top Goalscorers listing but more on that later.

Ongar Town Reserves finished in third spot after a mixed campaign, with 28 points from their 17 matches. Five of their nine wins came away from home interestingly though it is also worth noting that only six of those 17 games were at home. A leaky defence arguably stopped them from being nearer the top two at the cut-off point, though it is certainly a campaign to build on next term.

Next, three clubs all on 27 points with goal difference proving decisive in separating them. In fourth spot are Wakering Sports Reserves, having won eight of their 16 matches and having a better defence than their nearest rivals. Forest Glade also ended on 27 points though ended up fifth, because of inferior (and zero) goal difference. They won eight of their 19 matches in total, though had a better second half of the campaign as they rose up the mid-table spots. Catholic Utd’s Reserve side finished in sixth, also on 27 points though because a negative goal difference dragged them down. Continuing the mantra of the first team somewhat, the ‘second-side’ scored 52 goals and conceded 58, the second worst defence in the division. Also, five of their eight wins at their home pitch at the Len Forge Centre [3G].

There lays a gap of seven points before we reach the bottom half sides. Firstly, Galleywood Reserves are in seventh spot, having won six of their 14 matches to end on 20 points. A hard-earned quirk of their season is that they have the fourth best defensive record in the division, with 26 goals conceded. Only three of the top four sides are above them in terms of having a more miserly defensive record. Leytonstone Utd are a point behind them in eighth place, having grabbed six wins from their 15 matches which isn’t bad going when you factor in they were the second weakest in terms of scoring goals in Division Four in 2019-20. Laindon Orient Reserves are just behind in ninth spot, with six wins and nine losses from their 15 matches. Unfortunately, the O’s second-side do have that poorest goal-scoring record this term, along with the third-worst defence. Club Chairman Neil Blackburn will hope for better next term, you feel.

Rounding off the division are Old Chelmsfordians Reserves (10th, 17 points from 15 matches), Shenfield AFC Reserves (11th, 12 points from 16 games) and lastly, Canning Town Reserves who amassed two wins  from their 18 matches to end up with ten points, whilst also conceding sixty goals, the worst in the division.

 

EOFL Division Four – Top Goalscorers 2019-20 Season

 

	Player	Club/s	League Goals	League Starts
1	Franklin Craik	Catholic Utd Res	19	13
2	Lewis Watson	Roydon	17	12
3	Tom Vine	Wakering Sports Res	16	12
4	Lewis Page	Roydon	15	9
5	Frankie Goodhall	Ongar Town Res	14	10
=6	Zak Robinson	Galleywood Res	12	10
	James Medlock	Leytonstone Utd	12	15
=8	Luke Dimond	Chingford Athletic Dev	11	7
	Jack Zielinski	Ongar Town Res	11	7
	George Burton	Chingford Athletic Dev	11	9
	Scout Bown	Roydon	11	11
12	Dean Peck	Galleywood Res	10	7
=13	James Warder	Catholic Utd Res	8	10
	Matthew Gauci	Forest Glade	8	16
15	Umar Ali	Chingford Athletic Dev	7	12

 

Finally, here’s the top page of the Leading Appearance Makers in Division Four (focus on League Starts)

			Appearances
		Club/s	League Starts	Bench	Total
1	Kian Burton	Chingford Athletic Dev	18	1	19
=2	Joseph Edwards	Forest Glade	17	0	17
	Shaun Warren	Forest Glade	17	0	17
=3	Nathan Ackie	Chingford Athletic Dev	16	2	18
	Patrick Clarke	Chingford Athletic Dev	16	1	17
	Billy Calder	Shenfield AFC Res	16	0	16
	Matthew Gauci	Forest Glade	16	0	16
	Charles Simpson	Forest Glade	16	0	16
=8	Jayson De Araujo	Canning Town Res	15	1	16
	Harry Holt	Ongar Town Res	15	1	16
	Trevor Kabuchu	Ongar Town Res	15	1	16
	James Medlock	Leytonstone Utd	15	0	15
	Lee Pellin	Laindon Orient Res	15	0	15

Round-up: Essex Olympian League (Sat 29 Feb) [EOFL 19/20 1.3.20]

Image from OS 4 – 1 Basildon Town (Image by Scott)

Written by Scott W  [Twitter: @ScottMHC14]

Hello and welcome to this week’s Review of Essex Olympian League action from Saturday 29 February. A lot of matches were stifled by weather but there were important wins in the matches that did take place. Thanks for reading.

 

Essex Olympian League – Saturday 29 February

Premier Division

In the top-tier, Catholic Utd were held 2 – 2 by a revitalized Bishop’s Stortford Swifts side in an early kick-off at Len Salmon Stadium. Eamon Pyne and Bryn Thorpe got the goals for Billy Cove’s side as they rise up to 9th. , five points off the bottom. Finally, in the match I attended at Garon Park 3G, Old Southendian put in a fine display with a 4 – 1 win over Basildon Town. Ed Gould, Riley Oliver, Luke Moloney and Matt Wilson all struck for Connor Lane’s team, with replacement Barv Walkuaika getting a late consolation for Gareth Cleverly’s side. If you’d like more on this match, my report is here: survivor16b.wordpress.com/2020/03/01/match-report-old-southendian-4-1-basildon-town-sat-29th-feb-eofl/

 

Matches OFF:

Springfield  P – P  Leigh Ramblers  |

Sungate  P – P  Kelvedon Hatch |

 

 

Senior Division One

Into Senior One now and the highlight of the day saw Toby defeat fellow strugglers Herongate Athletic 3 – 1 in Newbury Park. A brace from Larry Asare and one from Marc Porter-Brown saw the hosts to their first win this season and reduce the gap to Herongate to just a single point. Herongate have lost seven on-the-reel now. Elsewhere, Ongar Town won 1 – 0 at Lakeside in their top-four clash at Lakeside Sports Ground 3G. Joe Lilly got the decisive goal as they continued their unbeaten run for the 3rd-placed side and they went five points clear of their opponents here in 4th.

Matches OFF:

Chingford Athletic  P – P  Old Chelmsfordians  | (Flooded 3G pitch)

Manford Way  P – P  Galleywood   |

Ramsden Scotia P – P  Shoebury Town  |

Rayleigh Town Res  P – P  FC Hamlets  |

Snaresbrook  P – P  Runwell Sports  |

 

 

Anagram Records Trophy

In the surviving Anagram Records Trophy Quarter-Final, Buckhurst Hill made it to the last four with a powerful 5 – 2 victory over fellow Olympian League Premier side Rayleigh Town at Roding Valley Sch 3G. Suley Zuhdu got a first-half treble to lead the way, with Sam Sollosi and Tyler Dolan also scoring here for Mark Williams’ side. Town responded after the break but ultimately had too much to do. Fellow Non-League blogger Pete Dudley was there & here is his report: pedroslocalfootiefix.blogspot.com/2020/03/buckhurst-hill-5-rayleigh-town-2.html

 

Match OFF: Sandridge Rovers  P – P  Hutton

 

Essex Junior Cup

Collier Row  3 – 1  FC Clacton Res   | Forest Row Centre

Hutton Res  3 – 1  Bowers & Pitsea U23  | Billericay Sch 3G

 

 

Senior Division Two

Only one match survived in Division Two, and that was moved to 3G. Leaders Leigh Town edged to a 1 – 0 win over Epping Town in a battling affair. Harry Payne got the only goal for Jack Pearman’s side who have racked up nine straight wins and also extended their lead at the top to seven points. Epping’s new-look side fought hard and remain 7th.

 

Matches OFF:
AS Rawreth  P – P  Wakering Sports  |

Harold Wood Athletic Res  P – P  Old Southendian Res  |

May & Baker Res  P – P  Beacon Hill Rovers  |
Rochford Town  P – P  Corinthians |

Ryan  P – P  Laindon Orient  |

 

Senior Division Three (All Matches OFF)

Basildon Town Res  P – P  Lakeside Res  |

Buckhurst Hill Res  P – P  Hullbridge Sports ‘A’  |
Corinthians Res  P – P  ACD Utd  |

Leigh Town Res P – P  White Ensign Res |

 

Senior Division Four

Given that Division Three was wiped out because of the weather, we have a one-off round-up of Division Four. Leaders Roydon maintained their unbeaten streak this term with a 4 – 2 win at Catholic Utd Res, played at the Len Forge Centre 3G. Lewis Page struck a treble, to which Lewis Watson added the other goal to see their side three points clear at the summit. Utd’s Ressies remain in mid-table. Laindon Orient Res won 2 – 0 over Shenfield AFC Res in an early kick-off moved to St Martins Sch 3G. Tommy Wolfe and Carlos Dias got the goals to see Laindon’s second-side go up to 8th place. AFC’s Reserve side remain second-bottom, three points ahead of Canning Town’s second-team.

Matches OFF: Galleywood Res   P – P  Old Chelmsfordians Res

Ongar Town Res  P – P  Forest Glade

Wakering Sports Res  P – P  Leytonstone Utd

 

Senior Division Five (All Matches OFF)

Bishop’s Stortford Swifts Res  P – P  Springfield Res

Herongate Athletic Res  P – P  Old Barkabbeyans

Newbury Forest Res  P – P  Roydon Res

Runwell Sports Res  P – P  Shoebury Town Res