15 October 2024 - COUNTY CUP SUCCESSES

The weekend of Friday/Saturday 11/12 October saw plenty of WLVFL sides in cup action, one game in Division one and a full house of Supervets’ fixtures.

COUNTY CUP SUCCESSES
The WLVFL lost three teams – Kew Park Rangers (KPR), Old Meadonians and Civil Service – from the County Cup at the weekend, although all of them came in second to other WLVFL outfits. Division One Nottsborough provided what was probably the shock of the round, defeating premier league KPR 3-2. Meadonians were a clear second to a strong Claygate Royals side whilst Actonians won the all Division One encounter with Civil Service (3-1).

Elsewhere Chelsea Vets and Wandsworth Borough didn’t even need to play to get through to the next round (both of their opponents dropped out), whilst West London Rams gave Old Thorntonians a bit of a thumping.

Latimer Road and Acton Ealing Whistlers were the only sides in O40s’ league action. Latimer Road are once again looking strong this season; two promotions on the bounce and who is to say that a third wouldn’t be beyond them; they won 12-0 against a Whistlers’ side playing its first league game of the campaign,

ASCOT LEAD THE WAY IN THE SUPERVETS
Elsewhere, the Supervets were out in style.

Ascot United were the first to hit the ground running. They comfortably beat Stonehouse at the Racecourse Ground, the indomitable Chris Ferdinand helping himself to an impressive second half hat-trick. Stonehouse, however, were very competitive in the bar afterwards, respect due to them there.

Elsewhere, Cheam bounced back from a heavy defeat in their previous game to beat Old Lyonians. A 6-2 win away from home is always impressive.

Croxley and Chelsea, two of the sides with realistic title ambitions, met over in Rickmansworth and the spoils were shared (2-2). Claygate and Nottsborough also ended up with a point apiece as they drew blanks in a 0-0 draw.

With a fifth of the season now gone, the early league table sees Ascot United two points clear at the top. Chelsea are second, with Claygate, Nottsborough and Croxley all nestled in three points further back.

LOOKING AHEAD
Looking ahead, there are some exciting fixtures on the agenda for 18/19 October.

In the Prem the game of the day will be on the 3G at King’s House in Chiswick. Chelsea Vets host Ascot United. Neither side has been beaten in 2024-25, so something will have to give.

West London Rams host Wandsworth Borough in what looks like another potentially intriguing contest. Second placed Croxley will be looking to build on their decent enough start when they host Kew Park Rangers whilst the Bank of England – fresh from taking a point off Chelsea – are entertaining the Whippets.

FOUR GAMES SCHEDULED IN DIV 1
Top of the table Latimer Road will be looking to build on their solid start in Division One when they entertain West Kensington Kings. The Kings lost to Ascot United last time out, but they showed enough in that game to go into the contest with a positive mindset.

Second placed Actonians hit the road. They are off to play Ascot United. Actonians have started the season impressively; two games, two wins. That sees them just a point behind Latimer Road but with a game in hand.

Third placed Army Crusaders are also on the move; they visit Polytechnic. Poly have won one and lost two, but a win on Saturday will see them leap up the table.

The final game in the division sees the bottom of the table Whistlers host Nottsborough. Time for the Whistlers to get up and running points-wise? We shall see.

RUISLIP V JAMROCK GAME OF THE DAY IN DIV 2
The game of the day in Division Two sees top-of-the-table Ruislip Rangers host Jamrock Steppa. Both sides are unbeaten and both have genuine promotion ambitions.

Second placed Old Meadonians – three wins from three so far – welcome Old Lyonians to Duke’s Meadow, whilst fourth placed Thames Ditton are off to face bottom of the table Laleham FC.

The final game in the division sees Clapham Old Xaverians play Old Tiffinians. Both sides have started slowly, but Xavs did manager to win convincingly last time out.

THREE ENCOUNTERS SET TO TAKE PLACE IN DIV 3
There are just the three games in Division Three on 19 October.

Claygate Royals Hounds are currently league leaders and they’ll be looking to build on that when Croxley’s second string roll into town.

The Bank of England’s twos were relegated from Division Two at the end of 2023-24 but they have bounced back impressively from that. They’ll be defending a 100 per cent record when they travel to Double H.

The final game of the day sees Lighthouse Molesey host MMB. MMB are played one won one so another three points will see them ghost ever closer to the top of the table.

Go well everyone!