J.A.P. Build On County Cup Run

Nirankari Sports Sabha’s dream of Anfield died at the last 32 stage as they were beaten at the death in the FA Sunday Cup. There was no score after an hour - but then there were seven goals, two penalties and two red cards as St Andrews progressed. Saints took a lead on the hour when Dan McGonnigle tapped in. Nirankari skipper Ricky Case sprinted clear down the left and chipped the 'keeper to level things up on 74 minutes.Hat-trick hero of the last round and substitute Craig Tomkins put the home side ahead again a minute later. They were only five minutes away when Scott Orphanou had his run into the box blocked by a defender and Ben L'Honore shot low into the corner. Two minutes from the end of normal time, David Iwedino was red-carded for a comment directed towards the assistant referee. Most of the drama was reserved for extra-time. Orphanou gave Nirankari a disputed lead after knocking the ball down with his hand on 106 minutes before Paul Killick thumped in a penalty to equalise after Tomkins had been shoved three minutes later. Right at the end, substitute Dean Sylvester netted a Saints winner from close range and team-mate James Lynskey was dismissed for violent conduct.

Twin Foxes remain the only Stevenage side to make the final, losing finalists in both 1980 and 1982.

Yet again the Dun Cow seem to keep their best for the Senior Cup, putting paid to Bottles’ hopes for another year. Despite having lost to them a fortnight ago, they started the better and Rikki Doyle converted from close range after just ten minutes. They missed chances, the worst being Dave Kiddie from eight yards. Bottles rallied early in the second-half and missed chances to equalise, but having survived, the Cow became more confident and pressed for the second. This came with ten minutes left as Adam Furness rifled in from distance. Soon after, a good break led to Scott Mahoney crossing for old campaigner Shaun Marshall to complete the scoring and a convincing win.

J.A.P. Builders knocked out Enfield side Apoel. After a goalless 90 minutes, the away side took the lead. However, a good passing move culminated in Michael Hatch netting the equaliser almost immediately. J.A.P. won the tie when the impressive James Brewster went on a run, which started in his own half, his thunderbolt strike flew into the net for a glorious winner.

Tom Henry, Andy Pilgrim and Barry Hazleton netted as Mallard were beaten after extra-time. They hit the post twice in the second-half and looked the better side, they then gave away two sloppy goals in extra-time and IML progressed to face J.A.P.

The solitary KLM Cup tie saw Division Four heavyweights Stevenage Fencing and Nirankari Sports Sabha Res go head-to-head. Mick Sandford, Garry Smith and the prolific Marvin Hall each netted a brace as Fencing progressed to a round one meeting with J.A.P. Craig Gilbert, Liam Castle and Russ Tyrer were on the mark in defeat.

In the Premier Division, DC Out Bar made light work of Broadhall. Si Wagstaff prodded home the opener after Alan Kenney’s corner came back off the post. Kenney then finished a superb cross from Josh Dance before grabbing his second, heading home Gav Bowler’s deep cross.

In a really physical game Bedwell Athletic took the lead when Joel Mason sent in a lobbed volley after a neat one two with Steve Underwood. The lead was soon doubled as Mason pounced on some sloppy play in the Probuild defence and slotted home from 8 yards. As the half was drawing to a close, Lee Allinson converted a penalty in reply. The second-half started with a flurry of hard tackles and the man-in-the-middle John “Batch” Batcheldor was doing a great job in trying to keep a lid on things. Bedwell extended their lead after some great strength in the middle by Dean Wylie saw him shrug off his marker and play a delightful ball for Mason to slot home for his hat-trick. A great team goal followed as a crunching tackle from Jim Blythe stifled the attack, a quick pass to Wylie saw him feed Mason, he delivered a peach of a cross which was met with a thunderous diving header from Underwood. A second yellow card meant Wylie was sent-off before Jamie Campany got a very late consolation. A real gritty performance by Bedwell, but a special mention goes to makeshift right-back Gary Hewlett.

Division One leaders Pied Piper were four-up inside an hour after a Lee Kitching deflected strike as part of a brace, Steve Teale’s magnificent 35 yard effort after a defensive header fell to him, and Tony Waters’ strike. Emperors Head pulled one back when a corner was cleared to Tony Goodman who, with a nice bit of skill lifted the ball clear of the defender and volleyed toward goal, Piper keeper Paul Saunders could only get fingers to the ball.

Pig and Whistle are still second after a big win over Putterills (Dave Banks). John Johnston (two), Ricky Lawrence (two), Ryan Chilcott, Declan McMahon and Alec Thomas were on the mark.

James Khakpour-Smith (two), Michael Bunker (two) and Jordan Dineen netted in Peartree’s win over Stevenage Colts Old Boys (Rob Hulley and Dan Grosch).

Steve Bannister (two), James Dillnutt, Danny McIver, Michael Gregory and Keith Coughlin netted as Division Two leaders Dun Cow Reserves strolled to victory over Aston Athletic.

Both Bryan Every and Dave Pateman bagged hat-tricks in Royal Oak’s thrashing of the re-formed Tom Tiddlers Tavern. Albie Stafford was also on the mark again.

Old Social made it four league wins in a row against struggling White Horse, despite going behind in the opening 10 minutes courtesy of Pete Summers. They replied with two quick goals, a header by Ryan Palmer and a good strike by Stuart Archer. Archer added another during a tight second-half.

After being fairly comfortable for the first 15 minutes, A1 Trophies took the lead when the ball broke to the outside of the box for Garry Brown to rifle home. They soon doubled their lead with a Si Longman far post header. As in the previous weeks, they took their foot of the pedal and Rapidsource punished them in quick concession, firstly from a free-kick when Ben Coles netted, and then when a quick break down the left saw Daniel Nash capitalise. The second-half started of with a fair amount of pressure from Rapidsource before Greg Bradbury slotted home to restore the lead. Some good work saw Brown provide Longman with his second with a flick. Brown then produced another great peace of play to get his second. The final nail was put in the coffin when a poor clearance from the ‘keeper fell to the feet of Lewis Benn, who made no mistakes and fired home a powerful shot.

Stevenage Leisure were missing key striker Jamie Drackford but Greg Bambrick jigged through the defence to open the scoring in the first-half. This was cancelled out with just five minutes left after Stuart Purvis handled in the box and Jason Smith pulled Chequers level from the spot.

MC Racing raced into a two-goal lead from an unmarked header from Dan McAlpine following a corner and a defensive mix-up, which allowed for a simple chip by James Cox. Paul Jones got Twin Foxes back in the game with a close range header from a corner just before the break. They managed to dominate the game more and won out quite easily in the end thanks to a hat-trick from Sam Lawrence and goals from Daniel Olley and Tony Davies. Jones then followed up a saved penalty to complete the scoring.

Dave Herbert grabbed Athletico Timebridge’s goal in their draw with Rileys (Dean Haskins).

North Herts Celtic took a fifth minute lead thanks to an own goal by the Woolmer Green Foxes goalkeeper. They increased the lead ten minutes later with a superb 30 yard strike by Darren Curry. A string of missed chances saw no more goals before the break. However, young Woolmer striker Tony Cook latched onto a ball over the top to tuck away. However, despite more missed chances, the last 15 minutes saw two more from Curry, one from Aidy Cocks off the shin pad from three yards and another great strike from winger Paul Cockburn. He cut in from the right hand side and smashed one in from the edge of the box, giving the goalie no chance what so ever.

Roebuck Gate took an early lead through Matt Jackson with a shot across the goalkeeper. However, Coach and Horses were level with a back-post header from Marvin Miller. Stuart Rowe restored the lead from the spot after Daniel Swales was hauled down in the area before Mark Hollis lobbed the ‘keeper from just outside the box two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

In the Invitation Cup, King Pin United hit Bottles Res for double-figures, in addition to their goal start. Captain Danny Lingwood scored the pick of the goals with a 25 yard strike into the top corner. Also on the mark were brother Carl Lingwood, Dave Holmes (two), James Wyatt (two), Perry Maranian, Robbie Duckworth, Derek McGivern and an own goal. They look good for a semi-final berth already, but will still need a result in their decisive third qualifying match.

Broadhall Reserves earned a well-deserved point as they were only beaten by Steve Stapleton’s solitary solo-strike on the day for MBDA.

This Sunday sees Nirankari Sports Sabha look to increase the CSSFL qualifiers of the last 16 to three teams, they should win comfortably at The Marne to be fair.

Pitch News: We lost two pitches on Sunday due to the rain in midweek, Peartree Park 3 and 5. We’re also without two more at present, Shephalbury Park 1 is still out of action as a new pavilion is due to go up, whilst we’ve lost Chells Park 1 for good due to the surprise erection of some rugby posts!

Committee News: League Chairman Richard Dowden has taken over as Referee Secretary.