Watford Sunday League: WD Bushey and SOCA into Herts cup semis

WD went ahead in the first half after a shot from Hodje Almeida-Joaquin deflected into the path of Hamze Ali who made no mistake from close range.

The visitors should have taken a bigger lead into the break, with Almeida-Joaquin striking a shot just over the bar before a Gianluca Demare header came back off the post.

Glenn came out with a point to prove in the second half and dominated the majority of it until a moment of madness led to a player being sent off.

Despite going a man down, it seemed to inspire the home side and they finally got back on terms when Ollie Salami netted with an effort that took a heavy deflection, leaving the WD keeper stranded.

WD rode their luck but with just three minutes left they got the decisive breakthrough when Alemeida-Joaquin was brought down in the box and Stevie Ward dispatched the penalty.

WD will now face Lord Haig at home in the semi-final.

Herts Intermediate Cup Quarter-Final

SOCA are now just one game away from the final at Letchworth after winning through a tight tie against Albury Saints 3-2.

The victors took the lead in the first half after concerted pressure was rewarded when Conor Chapman curled in a goal straight from a corner kick.

They kept creating chances and went 2-0 in front when Jake Howell volleyed home from 20 yards.

Albury battled back in the second half, scoring twice and the game looked like it was heading for penalties until Chapman made a surging run up the wing and sent the ball across the face of the goal to Jordan Austin who slid it into the path of George Coffey to smash home his finish through a crowd of players.

Herts Junior Cup Semi-Final

Sparta Phoenix’s impressive run in the competition came to end as they were beaten 5-3 by Northaw Reserves.

Northaw took an early lead following a long ball over the defence, but Sparta soon levelled when Ralph Thompson headed home to leave the tie level at the break.

Northaw had a dream start to the second half and went in front again when an effort went through the keeper, but their opponents again responded well and levelled for a second time when Nelson Gomez scored from around 30 yards out.

The pattern of the game continued as Northaw soon went 3-2 in front, only for Gomez to score his second almost straight from the restart.

However, Phoenix were unable to respond to their opponents’ fourth goal despite throwing everything at the last ten minutes, and their fate was confirmed when they were caught on the break and Northaw scored their fifth.

Action from Watford Sports' President's Cup defeat to Chalfont Saints (Image: Watford Sports FC)

Terry Devereux President’s Cup Second Round

Holders St Joseph's had a straightforward morning with a 4-0 win over First Division Langleybury.

Joes broke the deadlock after half an hour thanks to fast reactions by Keane Fullwood following a save by the opposition keeper.

The victory was secured with three goals in the final 20minutes.

First Fullwood got on the scoresheet again after a deft touch from Daniel Griggs put him through on goal.

A third followed after Lewis Smith struck from a great delivery by Taylor Cobb.

The last goal saw Dean Brinton pick out Jake Swain with a neat cross for him to volley home.

All the goals came in the first half in the all-Premier Division tie between Abbots Langley Club and Forza Watford which Forza won 2-1.

David Pobbe put Forza ahead before Abbots levelled when a Tyler Douglas shot took a deflection into the bottom left corner, but Clayton Blake scored what proved to be the winner.

The all-First Division match up between third-placed Watford Sports and leaders Chalfont Saints ended in a 2-1 Saints victory.

Michael Dorran put Sports ahead after five minutes following a corner, but Will Jones equalised with a lob before the break.

Saints’ winner came in the second half when Kennedy Newbert scored for the second time this season with a goal direct from a goal kick.

Premier Division

The only top-flight action of the morning saw a double header between North Watford and Cassiobury Rangers.

The first game ended in a resounding 4-1 win for North Watford after they built up a 3-0 first-half lead.

North Watford added a fourth after the break before Rangers netted a late consolation goal when Corey Botten put a deep free-kick to the back post from the right wing, which the keeper spilled and James Craggs was able to turn home.

Ben Alexander scored a hat-trick for North Watford with the other goal coming from Sam Afolabi.

The second game was a totally different affair as the teams shared the points after a 3-3 draw, this time North Watford coming back from 3-0 down to take what could be a vital point at the end of the season.

Rangers went ahead when Nathan Page was fouled on the edge of the box and Botten struck the free-kick over the wall into the bottom left corner.

The advantage was doubled when Page crossed for Jayden Chamberlain, who met it with a perfect touch to score.

Rangers started their second half in the same fashion they had played the first, and added a third when Botten set up Rob Ladmore who took the ball down well and on the spin and from an angle fired into the bottom corner.

But North Watford have not been champions for the last two seasons for no reason and they rallied, scoring three times late on through Alexander, David Castanho and Youssef Enaja.

Those four points leave North Watford 11 clear at the top of the table.

Everett Rovers get set to take a free-kick (Image: Everett Rovers FC)

Division Two

Everett Rovers took another significant step towards the title with a thumping 6-0 win over Watford Youth Sports.

Everett found themselves 2-0 up at half-time following goals from Charlie McNally and Sam Waller.

Rovers added four more unanswered goals after the break through Lucas Roberts, Jordan Standley and two more for Waller who completed his hat-trick with a well-taken effort from a free-kick.

St Jospeh’s Reserves are Everett’s closest challengers, although they are eight points behind from the same number of games played after they beat Francis George 5-3.

Robbie Tocher and Ross Shorton netted a brace each for Joes, with the other goal coming from Dillion Hemmington.

The George replies came from Elliot Kay-Jessop, Gary Hennicke and Brett Beaumont.

West Herts are a point behind Joes Reserves after they won the battle of the division’s two highest scoring and conceding teams, beating Hertfordshire Athletic 4-3.

Jason Topping, Ryan Whitehurst, Brandon Whitman and Chesney Jacobs were the four different goal scorers for the Stags, with Evan King netting a brace for Athletic and James Hicks getting the other goal.

Abbots Wanderers gained a second win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Dunnings Bar thanks to a Johnny Vassey goal.

The first game of a planned double header saw Inter beat Dome Bar 1-0 thanks to a Sam Conway goal.

The second game was abandoned when Dome Bar walked off the pitch after 25 minutes. This incident will now be investigated by Herts FA.

Division Three

With leaders Woodside Reserves not in action, FC Railway cut their lead at the top of the table to five points after a 5-2 win over Bricketwood Acorns.

James Barnett netted a hat-trick, with the two other goals coming from Danny Wallis and Nathan Tanian.

Harrison Fisher and Alex Michael replied for the Acorns.

The two other games in the division were double headers.

Chorleywood Club AFC gained six points from their matches against bottom-placed PTH United, winning 3-1 and 6-0.

Eli Russell struck twice in the first game along with Jordan Allen, with PTH replying thanks to an own goal.

The second game saw Chorleywood win 6-0 through a hat-trick from Ebenezer Essian, with the other goals coming from Russell, Allen and Nick Nolan.

There were two hard-earned wins for Carpenders Park Royals as they beat AFC Watford 2-0 and 2-1.

Jay Jarvis and Joe Brown scored in the first game, while in the return fixture Tedi Prushi and Richard McCrossan netted, with Tommy Edwards replying for AFC Watford.