Berko 7 Up

WANTAGE TOWN 0 BERKHAMSTED 7

Report by Grant Hastie

The Comrades raced into a four-goal lead in the opening quarter of the match as they celebrated being Greenfields Team of the Month in the division for August. Jonathan Lacey (pictured) helped himself to a hat trick and the home side also had no answer in the air, with Berko heading home three goals from dead balls.

Ryan Kinnane opened the floodgates with a powerful header from a Lacey corner in just the fourth minute. Daniel Akubuine played a good long ball and the home defence dithered over a back pass and Lewis Toomey had the pace to win the ball and double the lead with a lob over Charlie McCready, the young goalkeeper who had come out in the hope of collecting the ball, in the 14th minute. Another Kinnane header from a Lacey corner made it 3-0, this time the centre back headed low into the net. It was 4-0 in the 25th minute as Lacey beat his man on the left wing and cut in to score with a low shot into the far corner of the net.

Shots from the home side were a rarity and Berko’s keeper made comfortable saves towards the end of the first half from James Glover and Shemar Pettet. At half time Wantage made a double substitution to shake things up but it made little difference. Saul Williams was making some probing passes and he released Akubuine who laid the ball back for Lacey for the fifth goal in the 55th minute.

Will Summerfield has been out injured for most of the season to date and his comeback continued off the bench. However, a mistimed tackle got him a yellow card. Lacey grabbed his hat trick, this time cutting in to score from the right wing after a cross field pass from Danny Murphy cracked the defence open.

With 20 minutes left and the points in the bag Berko gave game time to Josh Chamberlain and Stephen Dodd. Chamberlain won a free kick on the left, which he took himself, crossing for the tall Dodd to thunder in a header to put Berko in seventh heaven.

Wantage have yet to collect a league point and are rebuilding after losing their manager and most of the team that won the Hellenic League last season. Berko by contrast stay top on goal difference, above Corby, who won the midlands derby at Halesowen in front of a crowd of over 600.

Berkhamsted 1. Xavi Comas-Leon, 2. Daniel Akubuine, 3. Danny Murphy, 4 Alex Taylor, 5.Ryan Kinnane, 6. Steve Hatch, 7. Saul Williams, 8. Ben Spaul, 9 Lewis Toomey (Stephen Dodd), 10. Jonathan Lacey (Josh Chamberlain), 11. Marley Hamilton (Will Summerfield). Unused subs - Darren Locke & Lee Stobbs.

Berko are hoping for a bumper crowd on Saturday, when they return to Broadwater after a run of three consecutive away games. The unbeaten Comrades entertain mid –table Didcot Town in a match sponsored by HP4 Recruitment. It is the final game of Max Farrelly’s three game ban, but otherwise the Comrades could be at full strength.

Last season Berko had a good run into the quarter finals of the Southern League Cup. In this week’s draw they got a tie away to Beaconsfield Town in a game scheduled for Tuesday 1st October.

P W D L F A GD PTS
1 Berkhamsted 6 4 2 0 18 2 +16 14
2 Corby Town 6 4 2 0 12 6 +6 14
3 Aylesbury United 6 3 3 0 8 1 +7 12
4 AFC Dunstable 5 4 0 1 12 6 +6 12
5 Barton Rovers 6 3 2 1 16 11 +5 11

Youth round up

Harley Sells was the hero for Berko with four goals as the under 16’s came from behind and scored a flurry of late goals to beat Norsemen 5-2 at Broadwater to stay top of the table. Gene Elliott got the other goal. The under 14s won 4-0 at Whitton United to progress in the cup with goals from Dom Williams 3 and Sean Saunders. The under 13s slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Potters Bar Town with Iain Kanu getting Berko’s goal.

Berko’s under 18s drew 3-3 in midweek at Aylesbury Vale Dynamoes in the league. They are in cup action next and are due to play Reading City at home in the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday and then entertain Leighton Town in the League Cup on Tuesday 24th.

The under 16s are at home to Potters Bar Town on Sunday morning. but the other EJA fixtures for young Comrades are not yet known.