Junior Cup Final

The first Watford Sunday League Cup final since May 2019 saw AFC Bedmond claim the Junior Cup with a convincing 4-0 victory over St Marys Harefield at Sun Sports ground to claim the fist silverware of a Covid-ravaged season.

It was a family affair for AFC Bedmond as goals from Jordan Toomey, Lewis Toomey, and Connor Toomey with a brace, sealed the win in a match that was closer than the scoreline suggests.

The match started with Bedmond looking the brighter team and putting pressure on their opponents, and it paid off in just the third minute when cross from the right ran across the six-yard box for Connor Toomey to tap home at the far post.

Watford Observer:

Jordan Toomey dives to head home

Bedmond seemed determined to get a firm grip on the match and continued to press forward at every opportunity, and in the tenth minute another driving run down the right flank resulted in cross which Jordan Toomey met with a diving header in the centre to double the lead.

With St Marys slowly edging back into the game, Bedmond were being restricted to occasional breaks and from one of these a resulting corner was put over by Jordan Toomey and met by David O’Connor who headed just wide.

Shortly afterwards Bedmond were at it again, and this time it was Connor Carney who powered in shot from just outside the box which thumped against the post.

A few minutes later and a little against the run of play, St Marys pushed forward again, this time hitting the post themselves after a shot by Karl Swan, then four minutes later Charlie Travers hit a shot that was well saved by Joe Gallagher in the Bedmond goal.

Five minutes before the break though, Bedmond added a superb third goal when Connor Toomey picked pick up the ball on the right wing, cut inside and curled in a glorious shot into the top left corner of the St Marys net giving keeper Perry Brown no chance.

Watford Observer:

A Bedmond attack is thwarted by the Harefield keeper

The second half started as the first had ended and with both sides making a couple of early substitutions each, play was switching between the two teams before a sustained 15-minute period of pressure from St Marys as they battled to get back into the game.

With St Marys pushing players forward, the chances were there for Bedmond to catch them on the break and that’s exactly what they did with 16 minutes left when, from a break on the right, the ball was crossed to Lewis Toomey who flicked the ball into the net from six yards out to score the fourth.

There then followed a series of substitutions which saw both sides use all of their remaining players on the bench before Bedmond were able to celebrate their triumph.

AFC Bedmond: Gallagher, Growley (Hansard), Pratchett (St Cyr), D. O’Connor, Davison, Perman (M. O’Connor), Carney (Poulter), Twelves, C. Toomey (Freenstra), L. Toomey, J. Toomey.

St Marys Harefield: Brown, Taylor, Newman (Lord, (Bentley)), Peake (O’Donovan), Malin, Mathieson, Travers (Thornhill), Johnson, Omerod (Newman), Swan, Fullbrook.

Watford Observer:

The victors celebrate

Invitation Cup Semi-Final

Oakview reached the final with a 5-1 win over North Watford.

The first 25 minutes was a close hard-fought affair before Tom Kennedy broke the deadlock with a penalty after Lewis Putman had been brought down. They soon doubled the lead when Putman himself fired in from 15 yards.

Early in the second North Watford pulled a goal back when Daryl Brown scored with a free kick from 25 yards out, but any hopes of a comeback were ended when Putman again fired into the bottom left-hand corner. He then broke the offside trap to go clean through and slot home to complete his hat-trick.

Lee Armitt completed the scoring in the final minute when he rounded the keeper before slotting into an empty net.

Oakview will face the winners of this Wednesday’s tie between Sun Sports Athletic and Fox & Stone in the final, scheduled to be played Queens School this Sunday.