Watford Sunday League: St Josephs continue National Cup progress

The two sides previously met in the 2022 Herts Senior Cup final, with Joes winning 6-1, but Sunday’s game was a far closer affair.

The narrow single-goal victory was enough for Joes to move into the last 32 of the competition where they will be at home to Leatherhead Sunday League side ECS Classic XI.

Joes took an early lead through a deep free-kick from Ronnie Blagden as his lofted ball found its way past the Arms keeper and inside the back post.

The remainder of the first half saw Strafford have more of the game and they equalised through Jack Woods.

Joes were awarded a sin bin at the end of the first half which saw them start the first ten minutes of the second period a man down.

The defence was well marshalled by Luke Peerless but they had keeper Lewis Everett to thank for a brilliant fingertip save to keep them level.

Having weathered that storm, Joes restored their lead when a clearance from Paolo Deritis found Lewis Davis for a one on one with the keeper, and he made no mistake as he confidently slotted the ball home for the winner with just minutes remaining.

Everett Rovers pay their respects on Remembrance Sunday ahead of their Challenge Cup win over Batchworth (Image: Everett Rovers FC)

Herts Intermediate Cup Second Round

Old Fullerians went out of the Intermediate Cup after losing a nine-goal thriller 5-4 against Reboxed.

They took the lead early in the first half, a cross from Charlie Hailey on the left found Chris Colman and he found the bottom right corner.

Reboxed equalised soon after when a shot after a short corner was deflected in.

The away side then scored twice more on the break, both finished with rebounds after initial shots hit the post.

Fullerians pulled one back just before half time, Raj Chohan-Jones with a cross-cum-shot from the left which found the net at the back post.

The home side made it 3-3 in the second half when a cross from the right was only half cleared to Colman who made no mistake.

Reboxed again took the lead, breaking forward for an attacker to find the bottom left corner of the net, but Fullerians levelled again when Hailey found Colman, who returned the ball to his teammate to score from the edge of the box.

Chances continued to come at both ends but it was the away side who got the last word when another break forward was finished into the bottom left corner.

Middlesex Junior Cup Second Round

Surely Wood crashed out of the Middlesex Junior Cup after suffering a 6-1 away defeat to North London Colts, Jordan Woodcock netting their consolation goal.

Eric Hand Challenge Cup Second Round

In the league’s senior cup, 71 goals were scored in the 11 ties and there were two upsets.

Second Division leaders Everett Rovers beat top-flight basement side Batchworth 7-2.

The tie was effectively over by half-time as the lower ranked side struck three times in the opening 45 minutes with goals from Jordan Standey, Archie Potton and Michael Dankwa.

Everett made it 5-0 after the break through Standey’s second of the game and a first of what proved be a hat-trick for Lucas Roberts.

Batchworth briefly threatened a comeback as they scored through a tap-in from Greg Campbell and then Hugh Phillips netted following a Matt Hunt free-kick.

But that was as good as it got for the home side, as Roberts scored twice more to complete his treble.

The second upset saw Bricket Wood Acorns, third bottom of the Third Division, beat Watford Youth Sports, who are third in the division higher, 4-3.

Alex Michael hit a double, with Jack Micklewright and Conrad Holland also on target for the victors.

Louie Muncie, Oliver Brown and Oliver Frost netted for Sports.

Five Premier Division teams all came through tricky ties against lower division opponents.

Last season’s beaten finalists North Watford were given a tough game by Second Division Dunnings Bar before running out 5-3 winners.

Lee Armitt opened the scoring for North Watford, but Dunnings soon drew level thanks to a goal from Flynn Duncan.

Ashley Lewis restored the lead for North Watford with a fine solo goal, before Ben Hiney made it 3-1 with a shot in off the post just before the break.

Lewis looked to have put the game beyond the home side when he netted again early in the second half, but Dunnings didn’t give up and pulled another goal back through Barry O'Grady.

Any thoughts of comeback upset win were ended by an own goal, but there was still time for Dunnings to net a deserved third, this time scored by Callum O'Grady.

Like North Watford, Cassiobury Rangers came through a high-scoring tie against a lower-ranked side, edging past First Division CF Watford Continentals 4-3.

Continentals went in front through Alex Bushnell who fired home, but it was Rangers who hit back and looked be to cruising safely through to the next round as first Nathan Page equalised, then Alexi Andreas struck a first-half hat-trick.

In the second half the home battled back, scoring twice through Bushnell to complete his own hat-trick.

Forza Watford beat Langleybury 4-2, with both teams only able to field a bare XI players.

Clayton Blake, Evans Owusu, Ellis Brown and Jordan Durant were the four different scorers for the home side, with both of the Langleybury goals coming in the second half from George Piekarczyn and Kuran Sanghera.

WD Bushey were given a tough fight by First Division Chess United before running out 3-1 winners.

Chess went ahead in the first half when a Alex Halls cross was deflected into the net off a defender.

They held that lead until the hour mark when the home side equalised when Gianluca Demare smashed home from close range following a goalmouth scramble.

That broke the visitors’ stiff resistance and two minutes later WD went ahead when Stephen Ward laid the ball off to Hamze Ali who finished first time with a curled effort.

Tommy Twelves confirmed the win after he was put through by Daniel Moss and slotted home.

Abbots Langley Club beat Second Division Hertfordshire Athletic by a single goal in the second half through Eli Kefas who slotted home after the home defence failed to deal with a high ball into the box.

Athletic battled hard throughout the tie, and struck the woodwork twice, but otherwise couldn’t find a way through the Premier Division side’s well-drilled defence.

Two games produced ten goals, with an all-Third Division affair seeing Carpenders Park Royals easily overcome PTH United 10-0.

Tedi Prushi hit a hat-trick, supported by a double from Robert Da Silva, with Joe Perrin, Aidan Maguire, Liam Coles, Bradley Foot and Jordan Woods also on target.

Watford Sports on the ball in their win over Frances George (Image: Watford Sports FC)

There was a far closer contest as First Division Watford Sports beat Second Division Frances George 6-4.

Tom Minton gave George an early lead but an equaliser followed when Taylor Kemp scored.

Harry Bennett continued his scoring run by adding a brace before Nick Wing netted in the top corner for his first goal since his debut to put Sports 4-1 up.

The second half saw Minton pull another one back with a strike into the top corner, but that goal was well and truly matched in quality as Luke Carter scored a stunner to make it 5-2.

Kemp added one more for his brace, however George struck back with two more goals from Minton to complete his hat-trick, and another from Dexter Franklin-Beck.

Second Division Sparta Phoenix easily swept aside Third Division Abbots Athletic 6-1, Ralph Thompson hitting a hat-trick, with the other goals coming from Floyd Thompson, Josh Bulley and Sam Groves.

Another Second Division side, Inter, came through a far tougher game as they edged past Third Division AFC Watford 2-0.

Inter struggled to break through a well-organised AFC side, but finally managed to do so with two goals in the second half.

Gabriel Casagrande's neat footwork saw him take on two players in the box and strike the crossbar from eight yards and Sam Conway, fresh off the bench, found the rebound for an easy tap in.

The second goal came again thanks to Casagrande who again hit the post, this time the rebound came back off of a defender and fell kindly for Dan Kenna to score on the turn.

Division One

The Cross defeated SOCA 3-1 to move up into fourth place in the table, and with Chalfont Saints also dropping points in a 2-2 draw against Watford United it means just five points separate the top four sides.

It was an impressive performance from The Cross, who took the lead when Sabir Noor thumped in a half-volley from the edge of the area.

They doubled the lead at the start of the second half when Theo Soares broke through to score a one-on-one chance.

The third goal came when Chima Ejiogu tapped in from close range before SCOA scored a late consolation through a Michael Coffey penalty.

Saints opened the scoring against United thanks to an early penalty from Finn Watson, but their opponents then scored twice with goals from Adam Anwar and Aneurin Newcombe.

However, they were denied the victory when Saints were awarded a second penalty in the last minute which this time was scored by Tom Sugrue.

Division Two

Dome Bar have a second league win of the season on the bounce as they beat West Herts 3-0 thanks to a brace from Ben Kelly and one from Ben Davis.

Division Three

Woodside Reserves made it eight wins from eight as they thrashed fourth-placed Mill Hill Village 9-0.

Lui Potiuk struck a hat-trick, Elliott Smith a brace, with a goal each for Dane Weimar, Joe McCarthy, Tyrone Brandy and Alex Faur.

FC Railway are Woodside’s closest chasers as they moved up into second place, although some six points behind them, leapfrogging over their opponents Chorleywood Club AFC with a 5-3 away victory.

Rob Barron’s brace and one for Catalin Piritaiche were not enough for the home side, as Railway took all three points thanks to goals from James Barnett with a double and one each for Henry Capell, Arran Bhad and Tom Coleman.