Fred Quibell Junior Cup – Round Two
Today saw the Fred Quibell Junior Cup take centre stage for those teams hoping to progress into the quarter finals of this year’s competition.
The outstanding result of the day came at Waddington where the home side went down 4-6 to a team that plays its football one division lower. The Sports Bar from Division Three will be delighted to have taken the tie after a 10 goal thriller, however the home side’s cause was not helped by the fact that they played the last 30 minutes with just 10 players.
I visited Nettleham today and witnessed an excellent game of football between Nettleham FC and Lincoln High Street, again one division separated the two teams with the visitors, Lincoln High Street, playing one division higher than their hosts. The home side took the lead in the first minute in a game that saw the goals ebb and flow first one way and then the other. With the game locked at 3-3 and looking destined for extra time it was the visitors who claimed the tie with a late winner thanks to a superb run and finish by a player from midfield. The referee, Tim Leffler, also deserves a mention as his willingness to let the game flow whenever possible contributed greatly to an excellent game to watch. Lincoln High Street progressed to the next round thanks to a 4-3 win on the day.
St Helens FC recorded a comprehensive 5-0 win away at AFC Harpars, whilst Coningsby FC ran out just one goal shorter with a 4-0 home win against Saxilby Sports FC.
There was a cracker of a game at Ravendale drive where North Lindum Hawks took on Cherry Willingham FC in a game that produced 7 goals. The home side ran out 4-3 winners despite Cherry Willingham’s gallant efforts. Plough Sturton came through a tight game that needed extra time against Queen in the West FC with a 2-1 home success, and the other Queen named team, namely Queen Athletic, needed penalties to progress into the next round after their game finished 2-2 against Birchwood United after extra time. Queen held their nerves to win the penalty shoot-out by 4-3. Shakespeare Athletic and Morning Star FC had a ding dong game down at Birchwood where the home side, Shakespeare Athletic, did just enough to win the game courtesy of a 3-2 score-line.
The draw for the next round of the competition will be made at the League Management Committee meeting on Monday 4th December 2017 with the quarter final ties to be played on Sunday 21ST January 2018.
Premier Division
Ruston’s United remain at the top of the League’s Premier Division after recording a very impressive 3-0 home win against Lincoln Moorlands/Railway FC, a team who many fancy to be challenging around the top of this division come the end of the Season. Ruston’s remain unbeaten after inflicting the first League defeat of the Season on their visitors today.
Anglers FC maintained their 100% League victory today making it 4 League wins out of 4 courtesy of a 3-2 home win against New Swan FC, a result which saw the visitors suffer their 4th defeat in 5 starts this time round. This result sees the boys from the Anglers move up to third place in the League in their first Season in the League.
Hykeham Town remain in second place and hard on the heels of the leaders after their comprehensive looking 6-1 win away at Saxilby Athletic, whilst the other Hykeham team, Hykeham Memorial, went down 0-2 away at Metheringham FC, a result which sees the home side maintain their mid-table position after 5 League games.
Division One
AFC Golden Eagle maintained their excellent start to the Season by recording their 7th straight League win thanks to a 3-2 home win against Wishing Well Cherry FC. Welton Sports AFC have adjusted well to life in Division One after stepping down from the Premier Division at the end of last Season. Today saw them record a 7-3 home win over AFC Lincoln Green, a result whish now sees them climb to second spot in the table. They replace Trent Valley in that position after Trent went down to a 1-3 away defeat to Old Boys United out at Fen Road Washingborough, this being the host’s first League win of this campaign.
The other two games in this division today saw the points shared with FVA Jerusalem and Bassingham Bugle Horn FC sharing 6 goals in a 3-3 draw, whilst Railway Inn AFC and Wragby FC shared 4 goals at North Scarle with the game ending 2-2.
Division Two
There was just one game played in this division today due to the Fred Quibell Junior Cup demands on some of the division’s teams and this was at Dunston where the home side, Dunston FC fell to a 3-5 loss against Newton United Reserves.
Division Three and Four
There were no games played today in Division Three, again due to the Cup draws, and just 2 games were played in Division 4. This saw second placed Nosey FC looking to go top with current leaders Morning Start FC otherwise engaged in cup action however when they visited Shakespeare Imps today the home side had other ideas and ran out 3-2 winners to deny their opponents the chance to move into top spot. The other game played in this division today saw HBW United defeat The Blue Lion 1-0 at Branston to move up into 5th position in the League table.
Ian Stephenson