Herts Junior Cup Quarter-Finals

The dream of an all-Watford Sunday League final came closer to reality after both Hertfordshire Athletic and Woodside reached the semi-finals, and have avoided each other in the draw for the last four.

Athletic came through an epic encounter against East Herts, which ended in a 4-1 penalty victory after the tie had ended 3-3 after 90 minutes.

East Herts went ahead early on from a penalty, but Athletic soon equalised when Reece Hatherell bundled the ball over the line following a goalmouth scramble.

They then went in front when Josh Anwar played a quick one-two with Henry Gibbor who slotted home from close range.

Early in the second half Jack McLaughlin made it 3-1 from the spot after Luke Sutcliffe was brought down.

It looked like Athletic were safely through but the visitors produced a dramatic late comeback, with two goals in the final ten minutes and the equaliser coming with the last kick of the tie.

What felt like a defeat for Athletic soon turned to elation as McLaughlin, Charlie Ford, Matt Ingram and Dan Linfield all tucked away their penalties, stand-in goalkeeper Linfield the hero after saving a spot-kick in the shootout before stepping up to bury the winning effort from 12 yards.

Woodside also moved within one more win of the final after a 3-2 away victory over Golden Griffin.

The visitors took an early lead in the sixth minute after Josh Towel turned nicely from a Jamie Dunlop cutback to finish well, only for Griffin to equalise immediately from the restart.

Towel got his second when he latched onto a loose ball in the 33rd minute and fired his shot into the top corner from 25 yards.

Ten minutes into the second half, Griffin were reduced to ten men and Woodside soon took full advantage of the extra man through a Tom Garratt header following a Towel corner.

Although Griffin then had another player dismissed, they pulled a goal back soon after following a defensive mistake but Woodside managed to see the game out.

In the semi-finals, Woodside are at home to The Wrestlers FC Hopfields, while Athletic travel to Waltham Abbey Wanderers, with both ties scheduled to take place on March 2.

2023-24 Denis Jackson Intermediate Cup Semi-Final

The clash between two of the current top three sides in Division Two, FC Railway and Chorleywood Club AFC, saw Railway beat their promotion rivals 5-2 to set up a final against Hertfordshire Athletic in April at Oxhey Jets.

It was Chorleywood who went ahead thanks to a goal from Felix Ansah, but their opponents responded well with two quick goals just before the break.

First Domenic Leacock converted a penalty to level before George Impey gave them the lead from a free-kick.

Early in the second half, Chorleywood drew level for the second time in the tie thanks to a left-footed strike from George Blanks.

The game then flowed from end to end but it was Railway who took the lead for a third time when Nathan Tannian pounced on a mistake from the Chorleywood centre back to poke the ball past the keeper.

Impey then netted his second of the game after he cut in on his right foot before bending it into the top right corner.

Kieran Barnard White added the fifth late on in the game to seal the victory.

2023-24 Terry Devereux Presidents Cup Quarter-Final

North Watford emphatically beat Chalfont Saints 9-2 to set up a semi-final against St Joseph’s for the right to face Evergreen in the final.

Ashley Lewis netted five times, supported by a brace from Robbie Fowler, with Omar Vassell and Lee Armitt also on target.

Andre Ford and Will Jones replied with the two Saints consolation goals.

Division One

Watford Town thumped Chess United 7-1 as they moved into third place in the table.

After Alieu Gibril turned and shot into the bottom corner, Town never looked back and soon after Ozzie Ogbebor doubled the lead.

A third followed when Ogbebor added his second by curling an effort into the top corner.

Three became four before the break when Gibril chipped the keeper, who could not get a strong enough touch to prevent the ball from going over the line.

Chess pulled a goal back in the second half when Tom Parry played in Alex Halls to fire past the keeper from close range, but Town then added three more to their tally.

Laurence Manning slotted home from the edge of the box, Gibril completed his hat-trick by scoring from the right hand side into the bottom corner, before Matthew Powell netted his first goal for the club in its various guises since being formed seven years ago.

Old Fullerians achieved just a third league success of the season after they edged out Watford Youth Sports 1st 4-3 following a ding-dong first half in which six goals were scored.

Fullerians took the lead when Ryan Woosley drilled in from the edge of the box.

This was doubled two minutes later when Jake Entwistle caught a defender napping and rounded the keeper to finish from an acute angle.

Sports pulled one back through Leon Mason but Fullerians restored their two-goal advantage when Woosley found Chris Colman out wide on the right and he bent a strike into the top left corner.

However, Sports were level before half-time thanks to goals from Kyle Davies-Taylor and Stevie Dowling.

It was a far cagier affair in the second half, but Fullerians secured the win when Colman squared for Charlie Hailey to tap in the winner.

Division Two

Bottom-of-the-table Frances George gained a second win of this campaign as they beat Inter 4-2.

Lewis Taylor, Dexter Franklin-Beck, Adam Walden and Luke Furlong scored for George, with Ajay Vasanthkumar and Vinusan Vasanthkumar netting the replies.

Batchworth defeated West Herts 3-2, with Mikel Walsh, Marcus Rivers and own goal helping them to the win. Dylan Caton and David Guckian scored for the Stags.

Division Three

Bricket Wood Acorns took advantage of FC Railway and Chorleywood Club facing each other in the cup to move to the top of the table as they thrashed bottom-of-the-table Nascot AFC 5-1.

Harrison Fisher and Conrad Holland both netted twice, with Joe Lock also on the scoresheet. Morgan Osunsedo replied for Nascot.

AFC Watford edged past Abbots Wanderers 4-3.

Daniel Williams, Luke Elbourn, Peter Rock and Tommy Edwards were all on target for the home side, with Sam Breadin, Jack Hoggett and Matt Zanders replying for Abbots.

Dome Bar and Surely Wood shared the points after a 2-2 draw.

Jay Haynes and James Heard struck for Dome Bar, with Danny Linforth and George Barnett netting for their opponents.