Challenge Cup

BIRKDALE TROPHIES CHALLENGE CUP 2006/07 PATH TO THE FINAL PRELIMINARY ROUND-SEPTEMBER 3RD The quest for this seasons Birkdale Trophies Challenge Cup started on the first Sunday of the season. AFC Rangers started their defence of the Trophy with an easy 5-1 away victory over Premier Division side Riverside AFC Royals. Headstone Athletic managed to sneak a 1-0 win at Division One side The Vic. The game most had predicted to produce the shock result failed to materialise as Colne Valley cruised to a 5-2 victory against MK Ginder. The Division One clash between Inter and Reed Rangers saw the visitors win by the odd goal in seven although they held a four-goal lead with just fifteen minutes left, Inter were unable to force extra-time despite their late fight-back. Loop Construction had an excellent 5-1 away win at fellow Division Two side FC Boca Seniors and the final tie between Interwood and Ecocall was awarded due to the home side being unable to raise a team. FIRST ROUND-OCTOBER 22ND What makes Cup football great is its ability to produce a result that no one expects. Croxley Green, hosted unbeaten Premier Division side Abbots Langley and caused one of biggest cup upsets in Olympian League history. Croxley, third bottom of Division Two and without a win, turned the form book on its head and emerged victorious after a thrilling 120 minutes of football. Croxley Green opened the scoring through Chris Scott before Abbots Langley romped to a 3-1 lead. However, goals from Glen Burder and Steve Quarrington levelled the game at 3-3. The second half was a tight affair and Croxley thought they had won the game when Simon Botterill put Croxley ahead with five minutes left but there was still drama to come as Lee Smith missed a penalty with just a minute to go but he made up for his miss when, in injury time, he levelled. In the first period of extra time the Premier Division side went ahead again before Chris Scott became a hat-trick hero with two goals in the final fifteen minutes to send the underdogs into the next round. Holders AFC Rangers cruised past Division Twos 3 Lions 6-0. North Bushey needed extra time to overcome Evergreen whilst the game between first and third in the Premier Division produced eleven goals as Dalys edged out Watford Eagles 7-4. The other all Premier Division clash saw Gadeside Rangers edge out Colne Valley 5-3. Four other Premier Division sides made it past lower Division opposition with Leavesden Green easing past Division One side Jarman Park. Selex Green put five past Ecocall and The Old Shepherd hit nine past Loop Construction. Headstone Athletic beat T&F Motors 4-1. Cassiobury Rangers good form continued as they won 7-1 over West Watford Conservative Club and Kings Head edged through against Bovingdon, 3-1. Two sides from Division Two managed to put out Division One sides as Riverside AFC Seniors won 5-2 away at Roundbush and Watford Labour won 7-6 at TOTAL. The Division One game between Reed Rangers and Oxhey Estates produced plenty of goals as the visitors went through 5-4 after extra-time. SECOND ROUND - NOVEMBER 19TH The result of the round saw the exit of the holders AFC Rangers as The Reindeer needed extra time to win 3-2. Starting with nine men, The Reindeer scored an excellent break away goal but the holders soon equalised. Martin Nicholas restored the lead on the stroke of half time. Rangers made it 2-2 with just fifteen minutes left but were unable to find a way past stand in keeper Craig Newman. In extra time, Paul Collet scored a third goal to put the home side through. The other shock result came as Division Two high flyers Riverside AFC Seniors knocked out Selex Green. Riverside went ahead thanks to a Stephen Duce penalty but the lead didnt last long as Selex Green were soon level. Riversides Jason Olcot scored a thirty yard screamer but again Selex Green were level soon. Just before half time the underdogs went back in front thanks to a superb header from Stuart Duce. The end to end nature of the game continued in the second half as Riverside went 4-2 ahead as Duce completed his hat-trick to end a classic cup tie. They were joined in the Quarter Finals by fellow Division Two side Croxley Green who carried on their impressive run with a 7-3 win over Watford Labour. Headstone Athletic were made to fight all the way by Second Division side FC Sherman. After taking a three goal lead the home side fought back to 3-2 before falling to a goal on the counter attack to send the Premier Division side through 4-2. North Bushey also made it into the last eight thanks to a narrow 3-2 win over Oxhey Estates. The Old Shepherd stormed back from 2-0 down against Kings Head to win 6-2. Likewise, Dalys recovered from being behind as they managed to beat Cassiobury Rangers 3-2. The Premier Division tie saw Gadeside cruise past bottom place Leavesden Green 5-1. QUARTER-FINALS - DECEMBER 17TH The undoubted result came as The Old Shepherd beat Dalys 9-1 and The Reindeer were unable to repeat their heroics of the previous round as they went down 3-1 at home to Gadeside Rangers. Riverside AFC Seniors, despite fancying their luck against Headstone Athletic, were comfortably beaten 3-0 whilst North Bushey booked their semi-final place with an 8-2 victory that ended Croxley Greens run. SEMI-FINALS - JANUARY 14TH The two back-to-back semi-finals produced two differing games. Gadeside Rangers and North Bushey produced a dour, goalless first half. In the second half, Gadeside raced into a 2-0 lead. North Bushey pulled a goal back but it was Gadeside who scored twice more through Russell Popplewell and Ivanz Mani to complete a straight forward 4-1 win. The second semi-final was an all-together different affair as Headstone Athletic produced a classic fightback from 2-0 down. The Old Shepherd looked on course for the Final when after just three minutes of the restart Robert Mohr put them two goals ahead but they paid the price for sitting back as Headstone brought the scores level. In complete contrast to the first half, Headstone were the more composed team and Alex Belchier put his side ahead for the first time in the game before substitute Jonathon Constant added the fourth on the stroke of full time. BIRKDALE TROPHIES CHALLENGE CUP FINAL 2007 Sunday April 1st 2007 GADESIDE RANGERS FC 1 HEADSTONE ATHLETIC FC 4 (HT 1-1) Headstone Athletic completed the first part of a League and Cup double with a 4-1 victory over Gadeside Rangers in the Olympian Sunday Football Leagues Challenge Cup. Headstone took the game to Gadeside from the first whistle and missed a couple of good chances early on with the impressive Adam Gallichan and Brian Jones causing the Gadeside defence of all sorts of problems and it was Jones who put them ahead on twenty nine minutes when he cut inside from the edge of the penalty area to fire home a shot to give them a deserved lead. The goal seemed to rouse Gadeside who had looked nervous and below par, and five minutes before the break they were level when Player/Manager Adam Hills tucked home a penalty after Ivanz Mani had been brought down by keeper Silki Kambila. The start of the second half saw Gadeside improving from their poor first half, but the final turned on a three minute spell. After fifty four minutes, a Gadeside attack broke down and the ball was worked out wide to Adam Gallichan who sprinted round three challenges before slotting the ball past Rob Metcalf for a fine goal. This goal seemed to knock the fight out of Gadeside as they fell apart and just two minutes later Brian Jones shot home a third to put them firmly in charge of the game. Just sixty seconds later, a shell-shocked Gadeside defence failed to clear their lines and Captain Daniel Apaiah scrambled home the fourth. A third goal in as many minutes that effectively killed the game off as a contest. Gadeside were given a glimmer of hope on sixty four minutes when Brian Jones was sent off for a second yellow card but, despite working hard, they never looked like getting back into the game. Teams: Gadeside Rangers FC: Metcalf, Brownhill, Everitt, J.Evans, Freeman, M.Evans (Khan 65 mins), Popplewell (Cook 44 mins), Towle, Mani, Hills, Mitchell. Subs Not Used: Zhou, Higginson, Singh. Goal: Hills pen (40 mins). Headstone Athletic FC: Kambila, K.Choat (Nsunsa 85 mins), Farmer, Hale, Abbe (Belchier 71 mins), J.Choat Jnr, Mowle, Apaiah, Thomas (Harris 90 mins), Jones, Gallichan. Subs Not Used: Smith, J.Choat Snr. Goals: Jones 2 (29 & 56 mins), Gallichan (54 mins), Apaiah (57 mins). Referee: Steve Dignum. Att: 90

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