Local Football Roundup

LOCAL football round-up

John Ablett Cup

ELY Crusaders squandered a two-goal lead against Chatteris Town Reserves to loose 3-2 in a thrilling semi-final.

Luke Schunmann got Crusaders off to a great start with two fine headers but Town hit back three times to reach the final. Ali Msabaha thought he had equalised for Crusaders near the end but it was disallowed to leave them ruing their luck.

Kershaw Premier League

ELY City Reserves had a fine 3-1 to celebrate at home to local rivals Newmarket Town Reserves.

Matthew Keys scored twice for the Robins and Adam Salmons got one as City consolidated their mid-table position.

Littleport Town had a week to forget as they lost twice at home in the space of five days first in a close game 2-1 to one to mid-table Hundon and then by a whopping 6-0 scoreline to a rampant Histon 'A' side.

Senior A

SOHAM Town Rangers Reserves will no doubt be in buoyant mood this week after claiming four points from their two fixtures.

In their first match in midweek, Soham grabbed a creditable draw at Somersham Town after being down to ten men for 75 minutes of the game following Kentoth Gray's dubious sending off.

Tom Crawford put Soham one up and Tom Benjamin put the Greens 2-1 ahead before Somersham pegged them back twice.

At the weekend, Soham dispatched Castle Camps 6-1, racing to a three-goal lead through 17-year-old debutant Tom Taylor (twice) and Benjamin only for Camps to pull one back before half-time.

Soham ran away with it in the second-half as new signing Michael Reynolds notched a brace and Mark Allen scored the goal of the game with a super chip.

Senior B

ELY City 'A' had a week of mixed fortunes as they beat March Town United Reserves in midweek at home in a game of six goals and six yellow cards.

Stephen Pollard struck twice with Matthew Brodie and Simon Farrow giving them a precious 4-2 victory. They did not fare so well at home on the Saturday however, as promotion chasers Soham United put them to the sword, 2-0.

Dan Symonds nipped in to round the keeper for the first and added another after a Jonathon Brown header from a corner to keep up Soham's challenge at the top.

Haddenham Rovers shared a point at home with Swavesey Institute after going one behind straight after half-time. Aaron Spencer equalised though, after sixty minutes with a 35-yard opportunist lob as the keeper strayed outside his penalty area, before the game meandered to a 1-1 stalemate.

Div 1B

SUTTON United secured only their second win of the season at home to Fenstanton as they ran out 2-1 victors.

The win came after going a goal down but Billie-Joe Tillard soon equalised to give Sutton hope before newly positioned centre forward, Sam Oliver netted the winner five minutes from time.

Div 2B

RICHARD Martin was the hero for Witchford '96 as they walloped Burwell 5-0.

Martin's treble made it six goals in three games for him and helped Witchford to a great win over a usually strong Swifts outfit. Michael Ward and Adam Richardas added the extras on a good day for '96.

Pymoor made it 15 goals in two games as they obliterated Wisbech St Mary Reserves 6-0 at home. Rob Parker led the way with a treble and Steve Tuck rolled back the years to strike twice with Lewis Chambers adding one.

The Vine suffered a heavy defeat against runaway league leaders Tuddenham Rovers. Two goals on the counter attack from Tuddenham separated the sides at half time, and a further three in the second half put the game beyond doubt. Goals from Kinder Mann and David Martin (penalty) were scant consolation for the Vine.

Div 3B

MEPAL Sports scored first against promotion hopefuls Chatteris Town Reserves in midweek through a Lewis Hall header following a corner, but were on the back foot for most of the second half against a skilful Town outfit.

Eventually Mepal's resolve was broken with ten minutes remaining as Chatteris leveled and both sides settled for a point apiece.

Sports could not come back from one down at Little Downham Swifts on Saturday though, as Arron Hodson netted the only goal of the match from the edge of the area.

A young Fordham Reserves outfit featuring seven teenagers recorded a vital 3-1 home victory against Stretham Hotspurs in the second local derby in this section.

They went behind after fifteen minutes but Rob Leigh leveled it up for Fordham. Nathan Feetham got their second as they went 2-1 up at half-time. A fine passing move from the back to the front rounded matters off for Fordham as James Seymore added the third.

Isleham ran out 3-2 winners at bottom side Cottenham United 'A' to keep their promotion interest alive in this Section.

Div 4B

SOHAM United Reserves put last week's defeat behind them to punish Gransden Chequers 4-0 at home.

Aaron Lee got Soham off to a great start as he netted twice in five minutes, beating the keeper with a brace of one-on-ones and it stayed 2-0 until the half-time whistle blew. Stand -in keeper Bobby Fenn saved a penalty and Steve Dalby then crossed for Ben Reid to fire in from close range before Shaun Allen converted another one-on-one effort to gain all three points for United.

Haddenham Rovers Reserves had a lovely away day at Outwell Swifts Reserves as they chalked up a fine 4-1 victory.

Wicken Ameteurs also enjoyed a great afternoon away as they triumphed 3-0 over Barton Mills. Joshua Woodroffe opened the scoring in the first half and Graham Hickmott and Dane Turner completed the scoring in the second-half for a great Wicken win.

Div 5C

MEPAL Sports Reserves kept their hopes of promotion alive with a fine 2-1 victory at home to Elsworth Sports.

Top scorer Mark Finbow's, second-half double strike was enough to give Sports the points in this tight encounter.

Isleham United Reserves lost narrowly by the odd goal in seven to second placed Girton United 'A' in a close game to dent their hopes of going up from this section.

Witchford '96 Reserves stormed to an excellent 3-1 win against third placed Willingham Wolves and went 1-0 up after a penalty from Chris O'Connor was saved and Matt Monteith slammed in the rebound.

It stayed this way until half-time but Willingham equalized moments into the second-half. Witchford went straight down the other end though, and Dave Fleming put them ahead again. Duncan Turner's excellence in goal helped keep that lead and the game was safe when sub Shaun Marsden scored the third from just outside the box.

Little Downham Swifts Reserves made it two wins from two matches as they fought back from an early goal down to beat Swavesey Institute Reserves 2-1. A sloppy first goal was leveled by Dan Hines with a good finish and with time running out in the second-half, Gareth Draper volleyed in from the edge of the area to give Swifts another win after another excellent team performance. The entire defence and skipper Nick Marsh were superb in midfield for the resurgent Swifts.