West London Vets’ League Round Up
8 November 2022
The gloom of a wet and windy autumn has descended on the south-east of England, but that’s not putting off the hardy souls of the West London Vets’ League (WLVFL). 12 games took place over the weekend of 4/5 November and as usual there was a fair amount of entertaining fare on show.
AUFC ones have a weekend off, twos win a real knicker-gripper
Ascot United’s first XI were scheduled to travel to West London Rams (WLR) in what looked a mouth-watering top-flight encounter. Pitch and refereeing challenges nonetheless got in the way of that and the game had to be postponed. It has now been re-arranged for 26 November 2022.
That left the twos to fly the Yellamen’s flag and that they did with quite some style. Clapham Old Xaverians were the visitors to the Racecourse on Friday night and the two sides served up a real rip-roaring contest. Xaverians had much more of the play and indeed looked every inch promotion contenders. Had it not been for Lee Perry in nets, a defence well-marshalled by Nigel Gatehouse and Ed Du Bois plus no small amount of luck along the way then Xaverians would have been home and hosed with something to spare.
Ascot’s second string subsequently dug in before developing a rather nice habit of scoring top notch goals. All four of the ones they managed on Friday were excellent; Paul Woodford finished neatly from 25 yards, Garyth Brant chipped the keeper exquisitely, Ed Du Bois smashed a long-range effort from fully 30 yards and Jez Myhan, Ascot’s version of ErlingHaaland, won the game (4-3) with a diving header in the 89thminute. You can see that effort in all its glory here.
Around the League
With Sporting Kitz’s game against Kew Park Rangers going the same way as WLR v Ascot United (i.e. postponed), that left just two matches in the top flight.
Croxley Community Vets used that opportunity not just to get three points on the board but to go top of the table. They played a struggling Poly side and came home from Chiswick with a 2-1 victory in the back pocket. The win puts Croxley on 10 points, one ahead of Chelsea Vets and four ahead of both Ascot United and WLR. Sure, they’ve played a couple more games, but there’s always value in having points in the bag
Bank of England won the other contest, defeating Nottsborough 3-2. Bank of England’s Egyptian talisman, Farouk Ampou El Ela, notched a couple of the goals before Scott McDonald stepped up to grab the winner.
The win takes Bank of England up to sixth. Nottsborough, meanwhile, are still looking for their first point of the campaign. They sit in the relegation zone alongside Poly.
Actonians go top of Division 1
There’s a new name on the top of Division 1; Old Actonianshave taken over there from Claygate Royals’ Hares.
Actonians continue to improve. They’ve now won three and drawn one of their first four games, the latest triumph coming against Claygate in what was a top of the table encounter. Going into the game the Royals were touting a 100 per cent record, so Actonians have every reason to be pleased with their 4-2 win.
Wandsworth Borough have moved in to second. They overcame Jamrock Steppa 7-2. Despite going a goal down the Borough soon moved into cruise control. Phil Westcott helped himself to four of the seven goals. The two sides will have the chance to re-live the experience this coming weekend …. they meet in the first round of the League Cup.
Elsewhere, Civil Service gained their first points of the campaign against Old Tiffs. Civil Service are now out – by just the one goal in their goal difference – of the bottom two. Old Tiffs, meanwhile, slip to the bottom of the pile with just the three points from five games.
The final game in this division was between two middle-of-the-table sides, Laleham & Kempton and West Kensington Kings. That one ended 3-3.
The Abbots go marching on
Both the Prem and indeed Division One are closely contestedwith a number of sides vying for that number one slot. In Division Two, meanwhile, the Hillingdon Abbots are threatening to run away with things.
The Abbots’ latest victory came against Old Meadonians and it sees them stretch their lead to a very healthy looking six points. Pavel Machac and Terry Moloney scored a brace apiece with Ashraf Sakri and Darren Chute adding a couple more as Hillingdon won 6-4.
Meadonians may only have one win to their name this season, but they certainly didn’t give up against their high-flying opponents. 5-1 down at one stage they battled gamely and did a decent job of fighting back and making the final score look much more respectable.
Bank of England II have leapt up into second place. They overcame MMB 2-1 in what looks like a close encounter. The same can be said for the game between Old Tenisonians and Molesey Lighthouse; that ended 1-1 and the point sees both sides tucked in nicely behind the top two in 3rd and 4th places respectively.
Hersham Southside march on
Ascot United’s victory on Friday night saw them move into second place in the Division Three table, three points behind Hersham Southside. By 4pm on Saturday, that margin was back to six points as Hersham claimed three points from their game at Old Tiffs II.
At one stage Tiffs did indeed threaten an upset, taking the lead against the league leaders. Hersham nonetheless rallied in the second half and ultimately came out 4-1 winners. Steve Reddings continued his rich vein of form by claiming a couple more goals. Ash Martin got the other two. Tiffs probably realised it wasn’t going to be their day when Dell Harris then went and pulled off a superb penalty save.
Elsewhere, Croxley rounded off a good weekend for the club, winning 7-2 at Claygate Royals’ Hounds. The win sees Croxley move up to third, Claygate remain eighth in the table, just behind Old Tiffs and just ahead of AFC Hampton.
The Magic of the Cup!
The first round of the FA Cup may well have been last weekend, but cup fever hits the WLVFL this coming Saturday.
With MMB and WLR getting byes into round two, that leaves 14 ties to be completed. The pick of them is probably the allpremier league encounter between Kew Park Rangers and Ascot United. Keep an eye out for Division 3 new boys Clapham Old Xaverians’ visit to Division 1 Claygate Royals Hares. The Xaverians may well fancy their chances of causing an upset there.
The same may well apply to Whippet Wanderers; they play host to top of the table Croxley. Old Meadonians of Division Two have a tricky trip to high-flying Hersham Southside to look forward to and may the ghost of Ronny Radford be with Bank of England IIs as they visit Chelsea Veterans.
Go well everyone.
