Chairman’s Cup Quarter-Finals

Three of the four semi-finalists were decided with the pick of the ties seeing Cassiobury Rangers defeat AFC Leavesden 5-2 after all seven goals came in an action-packed second half.

Rangers had the better of the first-half exchanges, but failed to take three good chances as the opening period ended goalless.

The tie exploded into life early in the second period and it was Cassiobury who struck first when Mark Ladmore won a 50-50 tackle and played in Mark Fergusson, who had been introduced at half-time and his first contribution was to slide the ball past the keeper.

Leavesden equalised soon after through a Terry Piper penalty, but Rangers regained the lead when Joe Mortimer set up Corum Chase, who tapped in from close range.

Cassiobury soon made it 3-1 when, after some good work between Chase and Sam Mortimer, the former pulled the ball across the area to the back post for Joe Mortimer to finish.

The game was not over though, and Alex Diaz halved the deficit from a free-kick, only for Cassiobury to rally again as a long throw from Paul Frost was flicked on by Mark Fergusson for Joe Mortimer to net his second.

He then completed his hat-trick after getting his foot in when a Leavesden defender sought to shield a Chase through ball to round off a goal-laden second half.

Maple Cross enjoyed a 4-0 win over North Watford, who had the better of the opening exchanges and missed some gilt-edged chances to take the lead.

They were made to rue these just before the break when Cross scored twice in quick succession, before adding two more in a second half which saw their opponents continue to be wasteful.

Calum Lee scored a brace with Tom Horton and Nathan Davis netting the other goals.

Langleybury CC might be struggling in the league, second from bottom in Division One, but they produced a late comeback to defeat Bushey Rangers 2-1.

Rangers had led the game from the first minute following Steve Dowling’s goal.

They spurned a golden chance to book their place in the semi-final when they missed a penalty 20 minutes from time.

This seemed to give new life to Langleybury and they produced a late comeback.

Oliver Ilott equalised with 10 minutes to go and he fired home the winner five minutes later.

Junior Cup Quarter-Final

Batchworth reached the semi-finals after convincingly winning the battle of the bottom two teams in Division Three with a 6-0 victory over Watford Athletic.

Both sides looked nervy in the first 15 minutes, but Athletic had the first chance when a corner to the back post brought a good save from keeper Bart Kazmierczak who tipped a header onto the crossbar.

That proved a wake-up call for Batchworth who went through the gears and took the lead minutes later after Mikel Walsh rounded off a team move by cutting in from the right-hand side to score.

Walsh then doubled the lead after running onto a Ben Chambers through ball to finish emphatically.

Ben Chambers turned from provider to scorer after the break, heading in a Sam Hollis free-kick.

Moments later, Walsh made it four to complete his hat-trick with a left-footed strike into the roof of the net.

Walsh was once again in the right place at the right time to apply the finishing touch from six yards following a goalmouth scramble from a corner.

Player-manager Hugh Philips came on for the last 20 minutes and he sealed the win with his side’s sixth goal when he headed in a Dean Alexander cross to set up a semi-final with White Horse.

Premier Division

The big relegation clash saw St Josephs register only a second league win of the season with a potentially crucial 4-0 victory over nearest rivals Old Fullerians.

Although the win was not enough to move Joes above their opponents in the table, it has closed the gap to just a single point with a game in hand.

Fullerians were given a chance to take the lead from the penalty spot near the end of the first half, but home keeper Charlie Patmore was able to redeem himself after conceding the spot-kick by not only saving the first kick but the rebound as well with the help of defender Lee Tonner.

Midway through the second half, St Josephs finally broke the deadlock with a long-range strike from Ellis Douglas.

The advantage was soon doubled when substitute Lionel Simoes slotted home after good work from Robbie Tocher and Dan Griggs.

Griggs then completed the scoring with two late goals.

Tudor Athletic moved back into second place in the table with a 5-0 victory over Rifle Volunteer who could only field ten players.

The win moved Athletic level on points with leaders Oakview, although they have played four games more.

Tudor took an early lead when new signing Lee Inch fired into the corner. His cousin Tom Inch doubled the lead soon after.

Athletic then lost two players to injury, including keeper Adam Carpenter, but it didn’t make much difference as James Fisher headed in a Phil Ifil cross just before the break.

Tudor continued to dominate in the second half, with Tom inch scoring his second before Ifil completed the result with a 20-yard strike.

Division One

Separated only by goal difference at the lower end of the table, FC Woodside and AFC Bedmond produced a 3-3 draw.

Woodside could only field the bare 11 players but they had the better of the first half and established a two-goal advantage by the break thanks to a Tom Dettmer double.

Bedmond turned the game around completely after the restart with a brace from Jordan Toomey and a Dexter Franklin-Beck strike, but Woodside were not beaten and with time running out Dettmer salvaged a point when he fired a volley in off the post to complete his hat-trick.

Division Two

Ricky AFC missed the chance to retake the lead after they were surprisingly beaten 2-0 at home by ACS Milan.

The visitors seemed to adapt better to the windy conditions and went ahead after 20 minutes when a Dave Donnelly shot from just inside the area was deflected in.

Ricky did improve in the second half, but couldn’t find a way through a well-organised ACS defence, and the win was sealed 12 minutes from time when Liam Finnegan turned the ball home at the far post following a corner.

Division Three

Sun Sports now have a 17-point lead at the summit after a 3-0 victory over SOCA, who really needed a win to have a realistic chance of catching their opponents.

There was little to choose between the two sides in the first half, but Sun went ahead just before the break when Drew McFarland’s through pass allowed Ryan Boyle to race through and score.

The advantage was doubled early in the second half when Hamze Ali latched onto a Boyle corner, and after missing several chances to made it 3-0 Bilal Akram rounded off the win late on.

Woodside Wanderers didn’t let a late change of pitch affect them as they defeated Inter 5-1 to move into third.

The breakthrough came shortly after Woodside had two efforts cleared off the line, with Aarron Crawford charging his way into the area before firing home a left-footed effort.

Wanderers doubled their advantage at the start of the second half when Curtis Seaward was left unmarked at a corner to head in from ten yards.

Two quickly became three as Laurence Brown released Crawford down the right and his cross-cum-shot went over everybody’s head and ended up in the top corner.

Relentless pressure soon saw Woodside score a fourth when David Flannery capitalised on a Nelson Santos through ball.

Connor Powell tapped in at the back post to make it five before Ben Harris lobbed in Inter’s consolation at the end.

White Horse moved above opponents Hertfordshire Eagles in mid-table with a single goal win after a hard-fought encounter between two well-matched sides.

Eagles went down to ten men with a sin-bin offence in the second half, and it was during this ten-minute period that Horse scored the only goal of the game when Craig Putman tapped in a cross after good work from Humza Khan.

Putman was himself then dismissed but his side held on for the remaining minutes.