It was the turn of SSML Division One and Division Two clubs to begin their league campaigns albeit on three games in Division One die to the FA Vase.
FRIDAY 18th SEPTEMBER/SATURDAY 19th SEPTEMBER/SUNDAY 20th SEPTEMBER
WEEKEND HEADLINES
Ampthill Town shock Dunstable Town in the FA Vase. Colney Heath avoid upset thanks to a penalty shoot-out win. Division One title favourites New Salamis and St Panteleimon continued where they left off last season as both record big wins. Berkhamsted Raiders hit seven while new boys Berkhamsted Comrades are beaten in their debut at Tring Corinthians AFC.
Weekend Stats: 33 games played of which 16 were home wins, 12 away wins and 5 draws.
Weekend Highest Attendances: 182 Winslow United v Risborough Rangers, 171 Ampthill Town v Dunstable Town and 164 Baldock Town v Leighton Town.
Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Premier Division Clubs): 300 Harpenden Town v Aveley (FA Cup), 250 Harefield United v Leighton Town (FA Cup) and 164 Baldock Town v Leighton Town.
Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division One Clubs): 315 New Salamis v West Essex (FA Cup), 285 Winslow United v Newport Pagnell Town (FA Cup) and 236 New Salamis v Colney Heath (FA Cup).
Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division Two Clubs): 103 Codicote v New Bradwell St Peter, 90 Totternhoe v MK Gallacticos and 55 Tring Corinthians AFC v Berkhamsted Comrades.
THE BUILDBASE FA VASE First Round Qualifying
The FA Vase First Qualifying Round saw 24 SSML sides in action and with it brought four all SSML ties, the pick of these seeing Division One side Ampthill Town welcoming Premier Division side Dunstable Town. For the hosts it was to be their first competitive game of the new campaign but they showed no sign of any cobwebs as they brushed aside their higher ranked opposition in front of a large crowd by four goals to one. There were further acts of giant-killing as both Step 5 SSML Premier Division sides Leverstock Green and Wembley were beaten at home by Step 6 sides, Combined Counties League AFC Hayes winning 3-0 at Leverstock Green while United Counties League side Wellingborough Whitworth won 2-1 at Wembley. Enfield Borough (SSML Division One) also pulled off a shock when they defeated higher Southern Counties East Football League side Tower Hamlets by the odd goal in five. Premier Division Colney Heath had a scare when being held by lower opposition Wivenhoe Town before progressing on penalties following a goalless draw. In the other three all SSML ties Potton United took steps to light up the world with a 2-1 ‘derby’ win over Biggleswade United while it was a case of the lottery of penalties to decide the other two battles as Friday night saw Broadfields United winning 5-4 against Aylesbury Vale Dynamos after a goalless game and Tring Athletic won 6-5 at Harefield United following a 1-1 draw. Elsewhere there were wins for Arlesey Town (4-2 at Spelthorne Sports), Edgware Town (3-1 against visiting Irchester United), Milton Keynes Irish (6-0 at Thame Rangers) and North Greenford United (5-1 at home against Chalvey Sports) while London Colney required penalties to progress at former SSML side St Margaretsbury. Departing the competition at this stage were a further seven SSML sides, Amersham Town, Buckingham Athletic, Langford, London Tigers, Rayners Lane, Stotfold and Winslow United, the latter attracting the biggest crowd of the day for SSML clubs as 182 watched them miss out in a FA competition for the second week running against the same opposition, former SSML members Risborough Rangers. Full results and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.
0-0 [5-4 pens] Broadfields United v Aylesbury Vale Dynamos Attendance: 163
0-6 Thame Rangers v Milton Keynes Irish FC (Spence [4] [1 pen], V Shrieves [2]) Attendance: 75
1-4 Amersham Town v Cogenhoe United (Ankrah) / (Speight, Ansu, Cirelli, McDonald) Attendance: 33
4-1 Ampthill Town v Dunstable Town (Cerminara [3] [1 pen], Burton) / (Daniels) Attendance: 171
0-2 Buckingham Athletic v Holmer Green (Dimitrzjevic, Odomuso) Attendance: 80
0-0 [4-2 pens] Colney Heath v Wivenhoe Town Attendance: 91
3-1 Edgware Town v Irchester United (Mooney, Issa, James) / (Dengel) Attendance: 48
3-2 Enfield Borough v Tower Hamlets (Ennin [2], Chandler) / (Carvalho [2] [1 pen]) Attendance: 38
1-1 [5-6 pens] Harefield United v Tring Athletic (Clifton) / (Salmon) Attendance: 95
3-2 Hoddesdon Town v Langford (Sharman, Rookard, Wing (og)) / (Elkington-Soan, Cliss) Attendance: 69
0-3 Leverstock Green v AFC Hayes (Wheeler [2], Ponder-Brown) Attendance: 67
2-1 Little Oakley v Stotfold (Rodger, Mann) / (Fehmi) Attendance: 106
5-1 North Greenford United v Chalvey Sports (Brown [3], Mitchell, Mills) / (Coomber [pen]) Attendance: 83
2-1 Potton United v Biggleswade United (Pyman, McArdle) / (Taylor) Attendance: 158
2-4 Rayners Lane v Hanworth Villa (Blagden, McKay) / (Simpson, Kamara, Tingle, Merson) Attendance: 130
2-4 Spelthorne Sports v Arlesey Town (Kokurinkov, Lee [pen]) / (Miller [3], Dimov) Attendance: 79
1-1 [5-6 pens] St Margaretsbury v London Colney (Stevens) / (Coulibaly) Attendance: 83
1-2 Wembley v Wellingborough Whitworth (Laws-Cochrane) / (Ncube, Daldy) Attendance: 68
0-3 Winslow United v Risborough Rangers (Wyllie, Haule [pen], Griggs) Attendance: 182
0-5 London Tigers v Northampton ON Chenecks (Garuck, Watkins, Thomas, Unknown, Unknown) Attendance: 60
PREMIER DIVISION
With the FA Vase taking centre stage there were just three Premier Division fixtures, Newport Pagnell Town moved a point clear at the top after being held 1-1 at home by Oxhey Jets. Title favourites Leighton Town opened their new league campaign with a 3-1 win at Baldock Town thanks to a hat-trick from Archie McClelland. The day’s league action saw Eynesbury Rovers pick up their first points of the new campaign with a 3-1 success against visiting Crawley Green. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.
1-3 Baldock Town v Leighton Town (Coppin) / (McClelland [3]) Attendance: 164
3-1 Eynesbury Rovers v Crawley Green (Brown, Hatch, Hyde) / (Younger) Attendance: 112
1-1 Newport Pagnell Town v Oxhey Jets (O’Brien [pen]) / (Blunden) Attendance: 105
DIVISION ONE
The opening day of the SSML Division One season saw just six sides in league action due to the FA Vase. Last season’s top two showed they mean business again as both recorded wins, New Salamis recording an excellent 5-1 home success over another of this season’s expected front runners Shefford Town & Campton while St Panteleimon ran out 3-0 winners at Hillingdon Borough in a game played behind closed doors due to the current Covid situation. The other fixture saw Bedford coming out best by the odd goal in five against visiting Park View. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.
3-2 Bedford v Park View (Barron, Bamford, Jones) / (Waite, Williams) Attendance: 40
0-3 Hillingdon Borough v St Panteleimon (Ayub, Courtney, Opposition Own Goal) Attendance: 0 (Behind Closed Doors)
5-1 New Salamis v Shefford Town & Campton (H Georgiou [2], Sanderson, Ademiluyi, Mehmet) / (McNamara) Attendance: 52
DIVISION TWO
The opening day of the SSML Division Two season brought about a full league programme with seven fixtures. Title favourites Old Bradwell United picked up from where they left off last season and opened with a fine 4-0 home success against Sarratt. Berkhamsted Raiders were the day’s top scorers as they rattled in seven against visiting The 61FC (Luton), the visitors who grabbed a consolation goal look set for another struggling season. Codicote attracted the Division’s biggest crowd as 103 were in attendance as they overcame visiting New Bradwell St Peter by the odd goal in three. There were also 2-1 home wins for Totternhoe and Tring Corinthians AFC, the former beating MK Gallacticos while the latter overcame new boys Berkhamsted Comrades. Elsewhere Aston Clinton enjoyed a 3-0 win at Mursley United while Bovingdon edged a five goal thriller at home against Buckingham United after coming back from 0-2 down. Full results and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.
7-1 Berkhamsted Raiders v The 61FC (Luton) (Bullock [3] [1 pen], Byrne [2], Shaw, Boswell) / (Mills) Attendance: 40
3-2 Bovingdon v Buckingham United (Baldwin [2] [both pens], Elson) / (Dickmann-Peata, Adam) Attendance: Unknown
2-1 Codicote v New Bradwell St Peter (Price [2]) / (Webb) Attendance: 103
0-3 Mursley United v Aston Clinton (Doncaster, Williams, Desmond) Attendance: 42
4-0 Old Bradwell United v Sarratt (Cribb [2], Darryl Smith [pen], Green) Attendance: 54
2-1 Totternhoe v MK Gallacticos (Dem, Smith) / (Unknown) Attendance: 90
2-1 Tring Corinthians AFC v Berkhamsted Comrades (H Bennett [2] [1 pen]) / (Wootton) Attendance: 55
AND FINALLY
Tweet of the Weekend goes to Craig Hope, Football correspondent for Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday/MailOnline with ‘The government have advised against needless journeys. Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan has travelled 350 miles to Newcastle today for absolutely no reason’.
If you thought your club have a leaky defence then spare a thought for Stoke Gabriel of the SWP Premier East Division who followed up 0-15, 0-13 and 0-8 defeats with a 0-14 loss on Saturday so it came as no surprise the club have relieved the manager of his duties.
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 moves to a new day and time, every Sunday afternoon from 2.00pm – 4.00pm 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:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08qvdzh
The result of this week’s Team of the Weekend Poll with 49 votes cast is:-
Ampthill Town 75.5%
North Greenford United 16.3%
Berkhamsted Raiders and Eynesbury Rovers 4.1%
Some FA Vase First Qualifying Round stats for you:-
Debut clubs into Second Qualifying Round
Milton Keynes Irish
First time in Second Qualifying Round in a while
3 years – Ampthill Town
Into Second Qualifying Round and long time since last KO as early as First Qualifying Round
18 years – Edgware Town (10 campaigns)
9 years – Colney Heath
8 years – Tring Athletic
7 years – London Colney
5 years – Broadfields United
Never KO as early as First Qualifying Round (Min 3 campaigns)
Enfield Borough (4 campaigns)
First time knocked out in First Qualifying Round ever (Min 3 campaigns)
Wembley (22nd campaign)
First time Knocked Out as early as First Qualifying Round for a while
7 years – Biggleswade United
Avenged Previous FA Vase Defeat
Hoddesdon Town 3-2 Langford
Biggest Wins of the First Qualifying Round
Thame Rangers 0-6 Milton Keynes Irish (Debut Win and Record Defeat)
North Greenford United 5-1 Chalvey Sports (Record Defeat)
Hat-tricks and more
4 – Mason Spence (Milton Keynes Irish)
3 – Jamie Cerminara (Ampthill Town), Jalen Miller (Arlesey Town) and Georgie Brown (North Greenford United)
Miscellaneous
Only a dozen or so clubs have posted a bigger FA Vase debut match victory than the 6-0 win by Milton Keynes Irish over Thame Rangers.
Source FA Vase Factfile