The Herts Ad Sunday League kicked off a new campaign – but there were still some matters from the previous campaign to sort first.
The cup competitions which were halted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic have now been restarted and Harpenden Colts OB Res took full advantage, their 4-0 victory over Forza Watford sending them to the final of the Herts Ad Junior Cup.
Both sides attacked from the off but two goals from Sam Jones and one each for Oscar Bolton and Sam Spranger set up a final with Welwyn Warriors.
The other cups were at the quarter-final stage.
Skew Bridge will now face AFC London Road in the semi-final of the Knockout Cup after an 8-2 win over Six Bells.
Ben Warren led the way with four goals, followed by two apiece from Stuart Brown and Mark Hitchcock. Harry Seeby and Chris Griffin netted for Bells.
And Blacksmiths are through in the Intermediate Cup by beating New Greens 5-1. Josh Rolls got a hat-trick, Jamie Sharp and Nathan Lock getting the others, while George Irving scored for Greens.
The league season was a new one, with some new clubs taking part for the first time. One of the older ones though returned to the Premier Division with an excellent win.
Brookmans Park had to come from 3-1 down at half-time to beat Blackberry Jacks 4-3. Pedram Samadi (two) and Lewis Cocomazzi had put Jacks in control but Park fought back and goals from Adam Davies, Callum Baylis, Scott de la Fuente, who has now scored in all of the five divisions, and James Clark gave them a winning start.
Plough & Harrow won 6-3 against Beehive with Dominic Learoyd (two), Aykan Gurgur, James Riley, Christopher Dunn and Josh Panther on target.
Ben Hammond and Martin Wooldridge goals gave AFC London Road a 2-1 win over Phoenix.
In Division One, Edi Bokciu and Alex Dennehy helped Harpenden Colts OBs to a 2-1 win over Hilltop Res, Trevor Golder scoring for them, and new team FC Welwyn enjoyed a winning start, defeating Blacksmiths 3-1 with two goals from Joe Brunt and a Matt Standen single. Jack Faulder scored for Blacksmiths.
Billy Lobjoit bagged four as Borehamwood Rovers won 7-1 against Herts Lions. Jack Skinner (two) and Mehmet Ismail got the other goals while Ellis Constantinou replied for Lions.
Verulam Old Boys lost 3-1 to London Road Res. George Head scored for them and Teylor McCarthy, Finley Lafbery and Luke Hatchett for the Road.
Player Packs started their first season by beating AFC Mymms 7-2 in Division Two. James Smithson, Sam Bugg, Ross Parsons, Adam Mead, Keith Smith, Jay Champkins-Drein and an own goal were their scorers with James Salmon and Michael Adeyemi on target for Mymms.
Little Heath also made an impressive start, beating Wheathampstead ‘89 6-0. Spencer Hunt and Matt Cagnetta both got two with one each for Xavi Sweeney and Michael Woods.
Welwyn Warriors won 4-1 against St George’s with goals from Adriano Gil (two), Tyler Douglas and Jack Hutchinson. Billy Farmer scored for George.
Division Three saw Hanburys open with a 5-1 win over Borehamwood Raiders, James Hart (two), Liam Gauthier, Montel Robinson and Michael Taylor on target, Brandon Green scoring for Raiders, and so did Mermaid, goals from Carl Fadhel (two), Stephen Maitland (two) and Chris Wilding helping them beat Beehive Res. Alex Murphy got their goal.
Royston Rangers won 4-0 against Wishing Well with goals from Ashleigh Robinson, Luke Fountain, Ryan Lawler and Cameron Ferguson, while Steve Orchard, Jonny Tanton and George Hoar were on target as TNF beat Phoenix Res 3-2.
There were a few excellent starts to the season in Division Four.
Newcomers Welwyn Pegasus beat St Albans Warriors 6-2 with Jack Kendrick-Gibson hitting a hat-trick and Ben Lawrence, Jake Patton and Ryan Grant one each. Connor Reeves and Jason Nicolaou replied for Warriors.
Two goals each from Greg Mackintosh and Curtis Warner plus a Matt Noot single gave Hatfield Seniors a 5-0 win over Wrestlers and Welwyn Warriors Res hit eight in their win over Royston Rangers Res.
Josh Jordan hit four and Chris Draddy three with Daniel Sears getting the other.
And Marshalswick Rovers won 3-1 against Brookmans Park Res with goals Jack Messam, Ax Messam and David Hudson. Darren Chillingworth replied for Park.
Results, Herts Ad Sunday League
Premier Division: Blackberry Jacks 3 Brookmans Park 4, Phoenix 1 AFC London Road, 2 Plough & Harrow 6 The Beehive 3.
Division One: FC Welwyn 3 Blacksmiths 1, Harpenden Colts OB 2 Hilltop Res 1, Herts Lions 1 Borehamwood Rovers 7, Verulam Old Boys 1 AFC London Road Res 3.
Division Two: AFC Mymms 2 Player Packs 7, St George’s 1 Welwyn Warriors 4, Wheathampstead ‘89 0 Little Heath 6.
Division Three: Hanburys 5 Borehamwood Raiders 1, Mermaid 5 The Beehive Res 1, Royston Rangers 4 The Wishing Well 0, TNF 3 Phoenix Res 2.
Division Four: Hatfield Seniors 5 The Wrestlers 0, Marshalswick Rovers 3 Brookmans Park Res 1, Phoenix A 1 Hatfield Mosquito 5, St Albans Warriors 2 Welwyn Pegasus 6, Welwyn Warriors Res 8 Royston Rangers Res 0.
Herts Advertiser Challenge Cup quarter final: Hilltop 1 Oaks 0.
Herts Advertiser Knockout Cup quarter final: Skew Bridge 8 Six Bells 2.
Herts Advertiser Intermediate Cup quarter-final: New Greens 1 Blacksmiths 5.
Herts Advertiser Junior Cup semi-final: Forza Watford 0 Harpenden Colts OB Res 4.
(cup competitions carried over from the 2019-2020 season)
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