Another fine victory for Men's 1's

COP did not know what hit them in the first 10 minutes of this game and were 3 goals down before they could bat an eyelid. With only a few seconds gone Glen Noller launched a quick attack down the left, squared the ball to Harry Andrews who picked out Alex Simpson for Havering’s first. There was hardly the time to restart before Havering’s Paul Dover hit a ball directly into COP’s dee; the ball was deflected but Alex Defroand read play impeccably from midfield, attacked the free space and smashed the ball into COP’s goal for Havering’s second. It did not take long before Havering extended their lead even further. Ollie Cipa was unfortunate to see his attempt go wide but a few moments later Harry Andrews hit the ball in from the left towards Paul Dover who deflected in with a sublime finish. Game over.

The rest of the game became purely academic with Havering’s defence keen on holding onto another clean sheet and their forwards trying hard, but in vain, to score more goals. Havering did create a few good chances but these all went begging due partly to over eagerness and partly to lack of composure in crucial areas. The most clear-cut chance of all fell to Ollie Cipa following the best move in the second half but his shot went agonisingly wide.

Havering travel to Ipswich next week for an eagerly anticipated top of the table clash. Results achieved by the two teams this far in the first round have been pretty even and this should make for a tightly contested match.