Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday 16/17/18 April - SSML Results/Reports

[Rhodes]

The midweek fixtures:

Tuesday 16 April (kick off 7.45pm unless stated)

Premier Division

Arlesey Town v Potton United

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos v Tring Athletic

Cockfosters v Milton Keynes Irish

Real Bedford v London Lions

Sawbridgeworth Town v Colney Heath

Division One

Irchester United v Cranfield United

Leighton Town Development v Wellingborough Whitworth 

Northampton Sileby Rangers v Northampton ON Chenecks

Raunds Town v Letchworth Garden City Eagles

Rothwell Corinthians v Moulton FC

Royston Town Under 23's v Ampthill Town

Rushden & Higham United v Langford

Division Two

AFC Welwyn v Stony Stratford Town

Caddington AFC v Aston Clinton (kick off 6.30pm)

Old Bradwell United v New Bradwell St Peter (kick off 6.30pm)

Tring Corinthians AFC v Codicote (kick off 6.30pm)

Wednesday 17 April (kick off 7.45pm unless stated)

Premier Division

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos P Shefford Town & Campton

FC Romania v Harpenden Town

Division Two

Berkhamsted Raiders v Bovingdon

Milton Keynes College Football Academy v Totternhoe (kick off 8.00pm)

Thursday 18 April (kick off 7.45pm unless stated)

Premier Division

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos v Stansted

Baldock Town v Leverstock Green

Potton United v Cockfosters

London Lions v Colney Heath (kick off 8.00pm)

Division One

Buckingham FC v Rushden & Higham United

Burton Park Wanderers v Raunds Town

Cranfield United v Northampton Sileby Rangers

Huntingdon Town v Ampthill Town

Langford v Letchworth Garden City Eagles

Leighton Town Development v Winslow United

Division Two

Aston Clinton v Pitstone & Ivinghoe (kick off 6.30pm)

Eynesbury United v New Bradwell St Peter 

[Rhodes]

Division One match programmes for this evening where found:

Tuesday 16 April

Division One

Irchester United v Cranfield United

Irchester United Matchday Programme by David Cockings - Issuu

Leighton Town Development v Wellingborough Whitworth

Devs W:Whitworth 16:4:24

Northampton Sileby Rangers v Northampton ON Chenecks

Raunds Town v Letchworth Garden City Eagles

Rothwell Corinthians v Moulton FC

Royston Town Under 23's v Ampthill Town

Rushden & Higham United v Langford

Langford by Rushden Higham - Issuu

[Rhodes]

On 15/04/2024 at 12:03, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 16 April (kick off 7.45pm)
Premier Division
Cockfosters v Milton Keynes Irish
Real Bedford v London Lions 

The Cold End has previewed the two all important Premier Division fixtures this evening on his Blog:

The Cold End

POS	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF-GA	GD	PTS	FORM	PP
1.	REAL BEDFORD	34	27	6	1	114-23	+91	87	WWWWWD	93
2.	MK IRISH	34	26	6	2	96-24	+72	84	WWLDWW	90

[Rhodes]

Belatedly, this week's results so far:

Tuesday 16 April 

Premier Division

Arlesey Town 0 Potton United 1

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 0 Tring Athletic 3

Cockfosters 0 Milton Keynes Irish 0

Real Bedford 2 London Lions 0

Sawbridgeworth Town 0 Colney Heath 2

Division One

Irchester United 0 Cranfield United 7

Leighton Town Development P Wellingborough Whitworth 

Northampton Sileby Rangers 0 Northampton ON Chenecks 1

Raunds Town 0 Letchworth Garden City Eagles 3

Rothwell Corinthians 1 Moulton FC 1

Royston Town Under 23's 1 Ampthill Town 1

Rushden & Higham United 0 Langford 2

Division Two

AFC Welwyn 3 Stony Stratford Town 0

Caddington AFC 1 Aston Clinton 3

Old Bradwell United 3 New Bradwell St Peter 1

Tring Corinthians AFC 0 Codicote 1

Wednesday 17 April 

Premier Division

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos P Shefford Town & Campton

FC Romania 0 Harpenden Town 2

Division Two

Berkhamsted Raiders 1 Bovingdon 1

Milton Keynes College Football Academy 3 Totternhoe 1

[Rhodes]

On 16/04/2024 at 16:39, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 16 April 
Premier Division
Cockfosters 0 Milton Keynes Irish 0

A groundhopper from another Forum was at Chalk Lane:

Cockfosters 0 Milton Keynes Irish 0. Spartan South Midlands League Premier (7th v 2nd). Admission: £10. Programme: £2 (stupendous amount of content). Crowd: Officially 146, looked about 60.
A jaunt to the furthest extremity of the Piccadilly Line to Chalk Lane, which is a pleasant setting despite the roar of the neighbouring A111.
The main interest of this fixture was to see if the visitors could maintain the pressure on financially-doped league leaders Real Bedford.
The Cockfosters manager in his programme notes was bemoaning the heavy schedule his side have had recently.
Despite this, it was the home side who made the early running with many long throws and set pieces launched into the visitors' box.
A blow for Cockfosters when striker Harrison Rookard had to be replaced when he pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury.
A strange moment when a long throw by Cockfosters' Jay Lovell bounced and skidded towards the goalmouth rather like a delivery from the late Derek Underwood. MK Irish keeper Tom Ladyman seemed off balance as he juggled the ball with home players insisting he had transported it over his own goal line.
MK Irish finished the half without posing any threat to the Cockfosters goal. Clearly that had to change after the interval.
The second half began with more long throws launched at the MK Irish box. One was cleared to home skipper Matt Thomson. His lob into the area found sub Kuelle Weekes but he shot wide.
A series of substitutions relatively early in the second period by the visitors showed a growing sense of urgency to break the deadlock.
Home sub Joe Entwhistle pulled the ball back to Weekes but his powder puff shot was palmed away by Ladyman. Moments later Ladyman had to save an effort by George Lutaaya. The same player then fired over from inside the box. No sign of tiredness from Cockfosters - in fact they were getting stronger.
The match closed as it had begun, with long throws by Cockfosters. MK Irish had survived the bombardment but this draw means their title hopes have probably now gone.

[Rhodes]

On 16/04/2024 at 16:39, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 16 April 
Division Two
Tring Corinthians AFC 0 Codicote 1

A groundhopper from another Forum was at Icknield Way:

Tring Corinthians 0-1 Codicote
Spartan South Midlands Division Two
Admission - £3, Attendance - 42 (that’s the official but I counted half of that)
Venue: Icknield Way - A lovely setting surrounded by fields, this ground has a tiny social club with beers on top and some food items. There is a small covered standing for around 6 people in the bottom corner of the pitch. Uniquely the changing rooms are in a block two yards offset behind the goal. No hard standing but you are permitted to stand on the touchline which again only has about 2 yards to a border fence. There isn’t much room for ground improvement if Corinthians want to step up as both touchlines are less than two yards from perimeter fencing or bushes.
Game - a fast start from both teams but the home side looked more threatening shooting down hill. The pace continued and the first big chance of the game came for Codicote whereby a half volley was excellently saved by the Tring keepers feet. Codicote pretty much looked the likely team to score from then on in but no concrete chances were made. The main focus of the visitors was to hit diagonal balls through to their tricky left winger. Half time 0-0. Codicote took the lead around 10 minutes into the second half with a well worked throw in and played into the box for the arriving central midfielder to slot into the bottom right. 0-1. Tring made the Codicote keeper make a smart save low to his right after a period of pressure. From a throw in shortly after, the Codicote keeper pulled off two fantastic saves. The fast pace continued to the very end but Codicote ran out probably deserved winners. Both teams impressed and played some good football.

[Rhodes]

31 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 16 April 
Premier Division
Cockfosters 0 Milton Keynes Irish 0

Another groundhopper from another Forum was at Chalk Lane on Tuesday evening:

And another at Chalk Lane for Cockfosters 0 v 0 Milton Keynes Irish. A reasonable enough contest despite the lack of goals but it became clear early on that this was a tired performance from the second placed visitors who could easily have lost over the course of a second half where they were often having to defend in depth and what also was a feature of the visitors was the amount of times that they conceded possession on the edge of the Cockfosters area in positions that they could have made far more advantageous. It was also the case that both teams struggled on the well grassed but uneven pitch which gave the impression that it was very soft underneath.
The obligatory huge amounts of expended player effort which had little effect in the early minutes and it took over twenty minutes for either team to have a shot on goal and even this in the form of a very softly struck chip from Nathan Smith for MKI was one that did not mean that Tiernan Parker in the home goal had to move an inch before safely gathering. The only other incident of note over the course of the first half was the long throw from Jay Lovell for Cockfosters as outlined in Mr Nagasaki's excellent resume which caught Tom Ladyman in the MKI goal unaware and he was fortunate that he managed to gain control literally on the goalline with the surrounding home players all claiming that the MKI keeper had carried the ball over the line.
The second half was much more watchable but there was little indication throughout that we were watching a MKI team that had the slightest of chances of winning the SMLP title at start of play and had only lost two league matches this season. Barely a chance created over the course of the duration and the closest that they came was when a clearance from Parker rebounded off of the back of Andre Olukanmi and fortunately for Cockfosters travelled at ninety degrees along the six yard line rather than towards the goal.
In contrast the hosts were increasingly the more positive going forward with MKI defending deeper and deeper as the second half progressed but for all their efforts in the final third they could not find a way past Ladyman whose saves kept the scores level. The best opportunity for Cockfosters arrived on the hour when a deft chip forward from Matt Thomson was met by an equally deft shot from Quelle Weeks but travelled narrowly wide of the far post. In the final fifteen minutes the more likely outcome was for Cockfosters to take the lead but further saves from Ladyman ensured a goalless outcome, one that means that the SMLP title was won by Real Bedford who won 2-0 against London Lions.
At the start of play it required a very unlikely set of scores for MKI to overhaul their title rivals advantage and their performance here gave the impression that they had acknowledged that the title race was over. Of greater concern for MKI is that over the past few weeks there has been a dip in form with a number of drawn outcomes meaning that the title race concluded prior to the final day of the season, a little worrying in that the twenty plus points advantage that they have over the other teams contesting the Play Off's counts for nothing when the additional matches get under way.
Due to its propensity to waterlog, Chalk Lane is rarely visited as a midweek venue even though it is an easy journey barely five minutes walk from Cockfosters LU station. As was stated in the earlier report, the programme is truly a labour of love with huge amounts of information and statistics crammed into its pages. Probably the best seen this season and commendable given that there are many clubs in that division that no longer produce even an online edition. Like our esteemed Japanese correspondent, I had to do a double take when the crowd of 146 was stated on Full Time, there might have been nearly a hundred watching but of course a proportion would not have paid to gain admission.
Easy journeys in both direction, especially the return which was expected to be problematic due to a fallen tree leading to an earlier suspension of c2c services. All clear by the time of return and good connections at Finsbury Park, Highbury & Islington and Stratford meant an unexpectedly trouble free journey with The Riverbank locks being turned at 23.30.

[Rhodes]

A reminder of this evening's fixtures:

Thursday 18 April (kick off 7.45pm unless stated)

Premier Division

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos v Stansted

Baldock Town v Leverstock Green

Potton United v Cockfosters

London Lions v Colney Heath (kick off 8.00pm)

Division One

Buckingham FC v Rushden & Higham United

Burton Park Wanderers v Raunds Town

Cranfield United v Northampton Sileby Rangers

Huntingdon Town v Ampthill Town

Langford v Letchworth Garden City Eagles

Leighton Town Development v Winslow United

Division Two

Aston Clinton v Pitstone & Ivinghoe (kick off 6.30pm)

Eynesbury United v New Bradwell St Peter 

Edited April 18 by Rhodes

[Rhodes]

24 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

Thursday 18 April
Division One
Leighton Town Development v Winslow United

The match programme:

Devs Winslow UTD 18:4:24

[Rhodes]

Last night's results:

Thursday 18 April 

Premier Division

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 1 Stansted 0

Baldock Town 1 Leverstock Green 2

Potton United 1 Cockfosters 4

London Lions 1 Colney Heath 2

Division One

Buckingham FC 1 Rushden & Higham United 2

Burton Park Wanderers 3 Raunds Town 0

Cranfield United 1 Northampton Sileby Rangers 3

Huntingdon Town 2 Ampthill Town 3

Langford 1 Letchworth Garden City Eagles 1

Leighton Town Development 1 Winslow United 3

Division Two

Aston Clinton 0 Pitstone & Ivinghoe 3

Eynesbury United 0 New Bradwell St Peter 2

[Rhodes]

Just now, Rhodes said:

Thursday 18 April 
Premier Division
Baldock Town 1 Leverstock Green 2

Leverstock Green secure their play-off place, either in second or third position in the Division, with two fixtures still to play, Saturday's home fixture with Shefford Town & Campton and next Tuesday's encounter with Tring Athletic, also at Pancake Lane. See a match report from last night:

(A) Baldock Town - Leverstock Green F.C. (levgreenfc.co.uk)

[Rhodes]

24 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

Thursday 18 April 
Division Two
Aston Clinton 0 Pitstone & Ivinghoe 3

A groundhopper from another Forum was in attendance last night:

Spartan South Midlands 2
Aston Clinton 0-3 Pitstone & Ivinghoe
Att 20
A lovely sunny late afternoon in the foot of the Chilterns turned into a grey and wet evening for the duration of this 6.30 kick off, and we did well to get a full 90.
Less than five miles separate these clubs, both of whom were upper mid-table coming into this. It was a decent game for its level, fairly even until two goals in three minutes around the hour mark put the visitors in the driving seat. They never looked back, scored another and had an effort disallowed too. Aston Clinton thought they’d scored with an effort that bounced down off the underside of the bar - might’ve been 2-0 at that point but I can’t properly remember - but the visitors were good value for their three points.
The ground is in a public park, with the pitch next to the big car park, so I decided to have an executive seat (i.e. in my car) during the second half! A roped off pitch, a pair of dugouts, a few benches dotted about and a nice view of the hills in the middle distance. Very Step 7, very silly season, and very enjoyable.

[Rhodes]

On 18/04/2024 at 13:55, Rhodes said:

Wednesday 17 April 
Premier Division
FC Romania 0 Harpenden Town 2

Over eighty photographs from this affair between two play-off hopefuls at Theobalds Lane, courtesy of groundhopper and photographer 'Local Bus Driver':

[Rhodes]

On 18/04/2024 at 13:55, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 16 April 
Division One
Northampton Sileby Rangers 0 Northampton ON Chenecks 1

Photographs from this affair at Fernie Fields courtesy of photographer Richard Eason:

Sileby Rangers v ON Chenecks - 16 April 2024 - Richard Eason Photography (smugmug.com)

[Rhodes]

On 19/04/2024 at 12:14, Rhodes said:

Thursday 18 April 
Division One
Huntingdon Town 2 Ampthill Town 3

The belated match programme:

Hunters vs Ampthill #5 (huntingdontownfc.com)

[Rhodes]

On 18/04/2024 at 13:55, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 16 April 
Division Two
AFC Welwyn 3 Stony Stratford Town 0

Highlight from this affair:

[Rhodes]

On 19/04/2024 at 12:14, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 16 April 
Division One
Irchester United 0 Cranfield United 7

Highlights from this rout at Alfred Street and the match programme:

Irchester United Matchday Programme by David Cockings - Issuu