Thames Valley Sunday League: Maidenhead Crown Shepherd Hut out of the Roy Lester Cup

Despite taking the lead Shepherds Hut were eventually ground down to a 3-1 defeat by Maidenhead Crown in the Roy Lester Cup.

Danny Battimelli fed Greg Sanderson for an early chance which the Crown keeper saved, but, from the resulting corner the Hut got their noses in front when Steve Eaton turned the ball into his own net.

They should have doubled their lead when the outstanding Simeon Gumbs created the chance for Battimelli to double their lead but the striker poked his attempt from eight yards out wide.

Excellent defence from Sam Mudge, Jake Quantrill and Josh Murray kept the Crown at bay but they wouldn’t be denied and equalised in strange circumstances when Tom Horn’s header rebounded off their forward and into the net.

Crown now developed a stranglehold over the game and undid the Hut from a couple of balls slung into the box. From the first they were first to the ball to turn it home to make it 2-1 and, after Karl Haggan had gone close for The Hut, they killed the game with another finish from a long throw in.

*Real Milan warmed up for their Berks & Bucks semi-final with a big 5-1 win over title chasing Windsor York Club.

Both sides came into the match in good form, and having qualified for the semi-finals of the Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup, something had to give and, fortunately for Milan it was the Windsor club.

Riccardon Cannon smashed Milan in front after seeing his initial header saved and the team then went route one for their second goal as Cheyenne Cripps ran onto a long clearance from keeper Hassan Hussain to score his 20th of the season.

Hussain raced out of his goal to make a superb last ditch tackle, as Windsor made a fast start to the second half, but their hopes of a comeback were derailed when Nadir Shafi collected a pass from Conrad Joseph and finished expertly. Shafi got on to the scoresheet again a few minutes later, this time turning the ball home from a Cripps pass before the goal of the game saw Cripps roll the ball home after a fine team move.

Windsor did get a late consolation through John Walters after the Milan defence switched off but the side look in good form ahead of Sunday’s trip to Bracknell to face FC Fernhill in the Berks & Bucks semi-final.

*Roy Gumbs secured legendary status at Datchet Village FC on Sunday when he became the club’s oldest ever scorer in a 4-2 win for the second team over Jagz FC.

Dominating the first half they raced into a 3-0 lead through Jack Boddy’s hat-trick before Jagz pulled two goals back.

But, Datchet weren’t about to let the points slip through their grasp and Gumbs rounded off a good move to score at the age of 47.

Datchet Village’s 3rds fantastic County Cup run was brought to an end by a 7-3 loss to Penfold Rangers on Sunday.

Datchet led twice but were made to play catch up and paid the price for pushing men forward and throwing caution to the wind in the latter stages.

They were the last remaining Thames Valley Sunday League side remaining in the Junior Trophy competition.