SKEW Bridge qualified for the Herts Sunday Senior Cup final following a hard-earned 2-0 win against fellow Herts Advertiser Sunday League side Verulam Arms.
Both sides battled hard in the opening half with Skew having most of the possession, but were unable to break down a determined Arms defence.
The opening goal came 20 minutes into the second half when Ben Warren headed home a centre from the left. With the Arms having to push forward, Skew wrapped up the game with a goal from Dave Keenleyside.
Skew will meet AFC Boars in the final at the County Ground, Letchworth on April 21, kick-off 3pm.
Herts Advertiser Junior Cup
A high tempo, highly charged semi-final fixture was contested between St Albans Royals and Harpenden Colts OB.
Royals dominated the early exchanges before Colts could draw breath. However, a slowly, slowly response enabled Colts to dictate the pace of the game and through careful endeavour impress themselves on the game.
Colts took the lead when a move from centre midfield forced a corner from which Giles Rickett fed Cheng He who side-footed the ball home.
A quick response by Royals drew a top class save from Harry Woods and from the ensuing play Chris Newcombe received a pass from Alex Dennehy to curl the ball into the top corner, 2-0 to Colts OB. Royals continued to press, but Colts stood firm and won a very competitive fixture. Colts’ man of the match was Robbie Barker. Royals’ star man was Ashley Rudge.
In a fourth round tie, Nicholas Breakspear OB Res defeated Wheathampstead ‘89 6-0.
Goals came from a James Juggins brace and singles from Connor Reddy, Robert Browell, Jack Gaffer and Karl Neal. Ben Haines was Breakspear’s man of the match.
Herts Advertiser Intermediate Cup
Herts Athletic’s Intermediate Cup semi-final started dramatically when a Mymms player suffered a broken ankle after a tackle in the opening minutes.
Both teams waited anxiously for the ambulance to arrive and the tie restarted after a 30-minute wait. Herts Athletic wish him a speedy recovery.
AFC Mymms dominated after the restart and were rewarded with an Andy Crump goal within 10 minutes. Herts Athletic had a number of chances to equalise before Joe Meija rounded the keeper to make it 1-1 10 minutes before the interval.
With AFC Mymms under pressure, Joe Meija grabbed his second goal just before half-time to put the away team 2-1 up. Herts Athletic looked to pile further pressure on AFC Mymms with the introduction of Josh Stachini in the centre of midfield, replacing the impressive Josh Meija.
Scott Dalton and Del Cleary exploited the wings and a third goal came mid-way through the second half when Stachini was fouled in the box. Joe Meija stepped up to rifle the penalty kick into the top corner and confirm his status as man-of-the-match.
Athletic quickly made it 4-1 when Cleary powered the ball into the roof of the Mymms net after a rebounded shot.
After an amazing cup run in their first season, Herts Athletic now look forward to a cup final date against Skew Bridge Reserves and continue to push for promotion from Division Five.
Division One
Brookmans Park had their backs to the wall at times against champions elect Harpenden Arms, but defended well with centre-half Trevor Smith in excellent form.
When the defence was pierced, keeper Gary Statham made some great saves including one in the first half which went along way to shape the result. With five minutes left Darren Chillingworth got behind the Harpenden defence, rounded the keeper and earned Park three unexpected points. Jack Cartwright was Harpenden’s man of the match.
Although Six Bells created numerous chances, they went in at half-time 2-0 down against FC Potters Bar, Ben Southan and Gavin O’Donovan scoring. The second half saw some changes for Six Bells which paid off – Aaron Clarke pulled one back which gave Six Bells some initiative and a further two goals by Clarke (hat-trick) saw Bells taking all three points in good 3-2 result.
Division Two
PSV head into their top of the table clash with Skew Bridge with a 6-2 victory over a depleted Colney Heath Rangers side.
Craig Taylor scored a hat-trick and picked up the man of the match award, PSV’s other goals were from Ben Conrad, Billy Phillips and Ryan Houghton. Rangers’ goals came from James Booth and James Gowing.
Church End shared the spoils with Wheathampstead Icarus in a 1-1 draw, thanks to a Billy Barnes goal.
Division Three
Goals from James Newton, Dave Anti and Lee Greenwood gave Colney Heath Rangers Res a 3-1 win against Brookmans Park Res with Luke Watling netting for Park.
O’Neills made it four games on the trot unbeaten when sharing the points in a 2-2 with Blacksmiths Arms. Goals came from Joe Geddes and Scott Willmott.
Division Four
Brookmans Park A came from 2-0 down with two minutes to go against Oaks Res’ to grab a point, both goals coming from Matt Burrow. Oaks scorers were man of the match Connor Arnold and Tom Jackson.
Dukes were without four regular defenders but overcame Ridge 2-1. Dukes scored first through Antony Brown with Ridge equalising before half-time through David Bailey.
Dukes dominated the second half going close half a dozen times, but were thwarted by Ridge keeper Sam Campbell. Eventually, Andrus Burgos finished off a slick interchange of passes to seal the game for Dukes. Kieron Forde was outstanding for Dukes.
Division Five
Both George Redbourn and St Albans IFC Res’ worked hard and produced some good football. The George came out on top 2-1 after Sean Flaherty netted a 25-yard screamer to add to Ben Hutton’s single. John Thompson scored for IFC
Wheathampstead Res’ went ahead early through Scott Rolls, but Jersey Farm pulled level, then two well crafted goals from Luke Tremlett put Jersey ahead. Captain Lee Westrope drilled an outside of the boot rocket shot to make it 3-1 then substitute Max Parsons rounded the keeper to make it a great day for Jersey Farm.
Camp KBK had to reshuffle the pack within 10 minutes and took their time to get going, but Matt Farmer scored an excellent goal to give them a half-time lead against Bricket Wood. Poor finishing kept things tight until a good all-round display from Ryan Woolmer was capped off with a second goal. Things got interesting with Bricket Wood pulling a goal back through Andrew Alsop with two minutes to go.
League leaders Greenwood Park extended their unbeaten run to nine games with a 5-0 win against Athletico Quat. Park had five players on the scorsheet: Rob Barron, Stuart Dempsey, Nick Fanshaw, Troy Petchey and Connor Smith. Alex Hanvey was their man of the match.
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