Halloween brought about a weather hit day of action but the SSML only lost a minority if games. For yours truly it was a break from watching Twitter all afternoon as I escaped to Peterborough for the day to catch up with an old friend I had not seen for some thirty years plus and to do some Christmas shopping.
SATURDAY’S HEADLINES
It was ‘Seventh Heaven’ for both Bovingdon and Stotfold while North Greenford United hit six. The weekend brought about 82 goals from the 19 games (an average of 4.68 per game) with Owen Robertson (Stotfold) netted the day’s only hat-trick.
Saturday Stats: 19 games played of which 11 were home wins, 6 were away wins and 2 draws.
100% league record to date: Pitstone & Ivinghoe.
Saturday’s Highest Attendances: 304 Leighton Town v Potton United, 280 Ampthill Town v Walthamstow and 192 Colney Heath v New Salamis.
Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Premier Division Clubs): 320 Leighton Town v Leiston (FA Cup), 320 Leighton Town v Biggleswade United and 315 Leighton Town v Leverstock Green.
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 280 Ampthill Town v Walthamstow (FA Vase).
Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division Two Clubs): 109 Codicote v Berkhamsted Comrades, 103 Codicote v New Bradwell St Peter and 92 Codicote v Pitstone & Ivinghoe.
Saturday 31st October
THE BUILDBASE FA VASE First Round
Nine SSML clubs were involved in FA Vase action with five of them progressing into the next round with Edgware Town and Milton Keynes Irish FC recording their best ever run in the competition while North Greenford United equalled their best ever run in their FA Vase history. Two Division One clubs successfully overcame the hurdles in front of them to progress while in the all SSML tie it was the Premier Division side who saw off their Division One opponents. For both the winning Division One sides it was a case of giant-killing as Milton Keynes Irish FC saw off the challenge of their visiting Step 5 opponents Stansted of the Essex Senior League 2-0 while for Ampthill Town it was in the penalty shoot-out drama that saw them progress at the expense of Step 5 Walthamstow also of the Essex Senior League after a 1-1 draw at Ampthill Park. There were further cup upsets as two SSML Premier Division sides found themselves being slain by lower league opposition, Newport Pagnell Town went down 0-4 at Mulbarton Wanderers while Crawley Green exited at Fakenham Town by the odd goal in three. Hosts Colney Heath ended the spirited hopes of Division One New Salamis with a 3-1 success in Hertfordshire while Bill Hamilton travelled to Gorleston to check on the progress of Baldock Town and more on this later in these Ramblings. North Greenford United and Edgware Town both enjoyed away day successes to advance into the Second Round, NGU winning 6-2 at Sandhurst Town while for the ‘Wares’ it was a 3-0 success at Worthing United that booked their place in the hat for the Second Round draw. Full results and goalscorers (where known) are listed below.
1-1 [4-2 pens] Ampthill Town v Walthamstow (Burton) / (Murphy) Attendance: 280
3-1 Colney Heath v New Salamis (Jessop, Devine, Boodhoo) / (Georgiou) Attendance: 192
2-1 Fakenham Town v Crawley Green (Jarvis, Youngs) / (Andrews) Attendance: 145
4-2 Gorleston v Baldock Town (Ingram [2] [both pens], Finch, Deeks) / (Piggott, Coppin) Attendance: 149
2-0 Milton Keynes Irish FC v Stansted (Uings, Spence) Attendance: 106
4-0 Mulbarton Wanderers v Newport Pagnell Town (Beaumont, Jones, Thompson, Olpin) Attendance: 100
2-6 Sandhurst Town v North Greenford United (Unknown, Limbu) / (Mitchell [2], Harrack, Brosnan, Simpson, James) Attendance: 45
0-3 Worthing United v Edgware Town (Issa, Mooney, White (og)) Attendance: 116
PREMIER DIVISION
Just the two games played in the Premier Division due to FA Vase fixtures and the weather. Leighton Town moved up to fourth spot after a seven goal thriller against visiting Potton United, the hosts edging it 4-3 while in the other game Dunstable Town continued their climb out of lowly positions with a 2-0 win at Tring Athletic with early substitute Stapleton netting the first in the 12th minute just three minutes after coming on, the Bedfordshire club moving up to thirteenth place while Tring remain third from bottom. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.
4-3 Leighton Town v Potton United (Foulger [2], Calcutt, Frederick) / (Maxwell [2], McArdle) Attendance: 304
0-2 Tring Athletic v Dunstable Town (Stapleton, Hankins) Attendance: Unknown
DIVISION ONE
St Panteleimon climbed to the top of the standings as they took full advantage of morning leaders Milton Keynes Irish’s involvement in the FA Vase. The ‘Saints’ beating second placed Shefford Town & Campton 3-1 on their travels. London Lions moved above Buckingham Athletic into fourth place as they swept aside the challenge of visiting Hillingdon Borough 5-0 while Buckingham suffered a 0-2 defeat at Rayners Lane. At the bottom London Tigers remain in search of their first league points of the new campaign following a heavy defeat at Stotfold, the hosts winning 7-0. The day’s other action saw Langford return home from their long trek to Park View with the full quota of points after their 3-2 success. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.
5-0 London Lions v Hillingdon Borough (Kyte [2], Austin Lipman [2], Gershfield) Attendance: 49
2-3 Park View v Langford (F Williams, Arkoh) / (Ali, Bamford, L Osborne) Attendance: 0 (Behind Closed Doors)
2-0 Rayners Lane v Buckingham Athletic (Blagden [pen], Zaheer) Attendance: 76
1-3 Shefford Town & Campton v St Panteleimon (King) / (Massay, Tajbakhsh, Miezou) Attendance: 53
7-0 Stotfold v London Tigers (Robertson [3], Bradshaw, Fehmi, Ryan, Coleman) Attendance: 102
DIVISION TWO
The big game of the day saw the top two meet as leaders Old Bradwell United welcomed their closest challengers Codicote. At the final whistle there was to be no change at the top as the two clubs shared the points following at 1-1 draw. At the other end of the table bottom club The 61FC (Luton) were left still looking for their first points of the new campaign following another heavy defeat this time losing 1-7 at home against Bovingdon. Elsewhere New Bradwell St Peter enjoyed a 5-0 home success against visiting Mursley United while MK Gallacticos overcame the threat of visiting Tring Corinthians AFC by the odd goal in three. Full results and goalscorers listed below.
2-1 MK Gallacticos v Tring Corinthians AFC (Daminabo [2]) / (H Bennett) Attendance: 30
5-0 New Bradwell St Peter v Mursley United (Hawkins [2], Bosoka, Hunt, Davey) Attendance: 59
1-1 Old Bradwell United v Codicote (Darryl Smith) / (Gutzmore) Attendance: 41
1-7 The 61FC (Luton) v Bovingdon (Ikponmwonvia) / (Baldwin [2], Burge [2], O’Flynn [2], Dowling) Attendance: 29
STOP PRESS
Edgware Town have been ordered by the Football Association to replay their FA Vase game at Worthing United.
AND FINALLY
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/programmes/p08thps4
The Mad Scot Bill Hamilton headed north to Norfolk where Gorleston of the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League Premier Division decided to boost the attendance for their FA Vase tie with Baldock Town by hanging skeletons and ghostly figures from the roofs of their stand and enclosures. Unfortunately for their Spartan South Midlands visitors, Halloween 2020 will be an occasion they will want to wipe from their collective memory as they were well and truly ‘spooked’ by their hosts. Braving a howling gale and driving rain, Baldock must have thought they were in dreamland with just half an hour on the clock thanks to expertly taken goals by Scott Piggott and Alex Choppin. But conceding too many free-kicks close to the penalty area were to prove costly for the Hertfordshire side as first Connor Deeks and then Christie Finch took full advantage to send Gorleston in level at the break. Alas, in the second half, Baldock lost their discipline and the match. A penalty kick in the 61st minute allowed Connor Ingram to put the home side in front with Charlie Rome being sent to the sin bin for his verbal protest. Gorleston had their keeper Joe Mac to thank for two excellent saves before Baldock felt they should have had a penalty of their own. The referee consulted his assistant but the answer was ‘no’ …. cue for Baldock to push the self-destruct button. First Manager Rob Bates was dismissed for his touchline protests followed by Tommy Reynolds who picked up a second yellow card. Just to rub salt in the wounds, Connor Ingram converted a second penalty in injury time … 4-2 to Gorleston and a miserable 100 mile trip back home for a crestfallen Baldock.