Essex Olympian League
Premier Division
Tuesday 19th April 2022
Kick Off 18.15 Actual 18.33
Sungate 4 Harold Wood Athletic 0, attendance 36
29’ 1-0
56’ 2-0
66’ 3-0
78’ 4-0
@ Ilford Wanderers R.F.C.
Forest Road
Hainaut
IG6 3HJ
No Admission or Programme.
This was 7th versus 15th (bottom) in the league table. I am always concerned at this time of the season when watching matches involving teams at the bottom end of the table, that they might call off the game at short notice, but no such problem here, and good to see that the visitors even had five substitutes. There didn’t seem too much urgengy in actually getting the game started, but we finally got underway eighteen minutes late, which meant it was getting gloomy when the game finished.
Harold Wood were well in the game early on. They hit the bar, with a volley that the ’keeper was nowhere near, minutes before Sungate opened the scoring, scrambling in from close range, after a powerful downward header had been saved by the ’keeper, following a corner on the right. Sungate hit the bar themselves, with a lob, but it remained 1-0 at halftime. The second half was more one sided, as Sungate ran in three more goals, the pick of the bunch being a thirty yarder that rounded off the scoring.
The Ilford Wanderers R.F.C. ground is at the far end of the lane when entering off Forest Road and has three pitches. The Sungate pitch is the middle of the three, flanked by a floodlit rugby pitch and another, unenclosed, football pitch. It now completes visits to the three grounds on this lane that runs northwards off Forest Road. I had seen Manford Way lose 1-2 (AET) to Frenford Senior in an Essex F.A. Premier Cup Quarter Final on 5th March 2011, which was played on the London Marathon Sports Ground, which is on the left hand side of the driveway. Then on 3rd December 2011, I saw Westhamians beat tonight’s visitors Harold Wood Athletic 1-0 in an Essex Olympian League Premier Division match. That was played on a railed off pitch on Fairlop Oak Playing Fields, which is to the right of the driveway, behind the Fairlop Powerleague centre.
