(Photo by Scott W @ScottMHC14)

Saturday 23^rd October

Buildbase FA Vase 1^st Round

Clapton 0 Beckenham Town 2

Hoddesdon Town 0 Gorleston 0 (Gorleston Win 5-4 Pens)

Holmesdale 1 Athletic Newham 1 (Athletic Newham Win 6-5 Pens)

Ilford 0 Shefford Town & Campton 1

Newmarket Town 2 Redbridge 1

Saffron Walden Town 3 Kirkley & Pakefield 1

Stansted 1 Wivnhoe Town 1 (Stansted Win 4-1 Pens)

Whitton United 2 Cockfosters 4

Premier Division

Enfield 0 St Margaretsbury 0

Sporting Bengal United 2 Sawbridgeworth Town 2

Takeley 4 Southend Manor 1

Walthamstow 2 FC Clacton 0

White Ensign 1 Stanway Rovers 1

Clapton had one of their best Vase runs last season which earned them an exemption until the 1^st Round; and that’s is where this season’s Vase campaign came to a grinding halt as they found Cherry Red Combined Counties Premier Division South opponents Beckenham Town too hot too handle. Stevie Townsend and Shameek Farrell scored in the second half to see their side progress with a 2-0 win. Ilford also found home advantage to be nothing of the sort as Jonathan McNamara’s 28^th minute goal was enough to see Shefford Town & Campton leave Cricklefields with a 1-0 win. Redbridge also came up short at Newmarket Town who won the game 2-1 with both their goals coming in the first half: Ben Robinson opening the scoring on 7 minutes, then Joe Robinson added a second just before the break. The Motormen managed to get a consolation via Timothy Ogurinde but it came in the final minute of the game and thus too late for their to be a turnaround. Hoddesdon Town were held to a goalless draw by Gorleston, with the Thurlow Nunn Premier side then winning the penalty shootout 5-4. However two ESL sides managed to hold their nerve to win on penalties. Athletic Newham took a 29^th minute lead at Holmesdale, with Richard Kone supplying the goal, but the host equalised midway through the second half via James Shield. But Athletic Newham went on to win the tie 6-5 on penalties. Stansted also go into Monday’s draw after they won their tie with Wivenhoe Town via the penalty route. Michael Salako handed the Airportmen an 80^th minute lead, but George Hart levelled up in the 86^th minute, but the hosts then won the tie 4-1 on penalties. Saffron Walden Town made it three ESL teams into the 2^nd Round when they beat Kirkley & Pakefield 3-1. Scott Piggott handed the Bloods the lead in the 24^th minute, and that was followed fiv minutes later by a Jacob Noble goal. Piggott scored his second of the game in the 51^st minute, which gave the Bloods a 3-0 lead. It proved to be an unassailable lead, although Jack Herbert was able to pull one back in the 67^th minute. And one other ESL side will go into the draw on Monday as Cockfosters secured a 4-2 away win at Whitton United. The hosts had taken the lead in the 11^th minute when Ethan Clarke broke the deadlock, but they held the lead for a mere six minutes as George Beattie levelled up. The hosts scored again in the 37^th minute through Josh Hubert and took that 2-1 lead into the break. Cockfosters however were back on terms on the hour, Reece Mosanya supplying the goal and from then on the scoring all came from Fosters with Mosanya notching again in the 74^th minute to put his side ahead for the first time in the encounter, and then Frederick Agyemang scored in stoppage time to see Cockfosters through with a 4-2 score line.

Stanway Rovers came away with a point at White Ensign as they were held to a 1-1. Joe Gregory scored the White Ensign goal, with Sean Bartlett doing likewise for the league leaders, whose lead at the top has now been cut to only two points as Walthamstow got a better result in their home game against FC Clacton. Stow won that game 2-0 with goals coming from Charlie Edwards and Harrison Carnegie, with Amarildo Cekrezi collecting his tenth clean sheet of the season to prove that Stow’s challenge for the title this season is built very much on keeping it tight at the back and then using that as a springboard to go on and win matches. That formula sees them end the day 2^nd, with five games in hand over Stanway. Takeley move up to 10^th after a 4-1 over lowly Southend Manor. Elliott Long handed the hosts an 8^th minute lead, but Manor were able to equalise just before the break with Isla Acquah putting his side back into the game. However the hosts added three goals in the second half, starting with Kieran Southgate who hit the target on 65 minutes; ten minutes later Glen O’Hanlon extended the lead with a penalty; the win was then secured when Charlie Allum added a fourth five minutes from time. Manor remain down in 19^th after this result. More worryingly for Southend Manor is that their conquerors last weekend, Sawbridgeworth Town, managed to close the gap a bit further after getting a point at bottom placed Sporting Bengal United – but they might feel like it was points dropped as they had been 2-0 up at one point. The Robins went in leading 1-0 at the break courtesy of a 24th minute strike from Harry Davidson, and when Billy Purdie extended that lead in the 56th minute it looked like Sawbridgeworth had secured back to back wins. However Sporting Bengal, who have been shifting goals at the wrong end in recent games, showed some resilience as they managed to get themselves a point after a spirited fight back. Shiblu Miah started it when he pulled one back on 65 minutes, then Oscar Onuorah equalised on 79 minutes to get Sporting Bengal a point when they were looking like getting none. Sawbridgeworth Town and Sporting Bengal United both remain in the bottom two despite this result, but have gained a bit of ground on Southend Manor who sit just above them in the table.  Enfield and St Margaretsbury share a point each as their game ended in a goalless draw.