F.C Bracknell win the Slough Town Junior Cup

PICTURE: F.C. Bracknell celebrate with the Slough Town Junior Cup after beating Hype Train 2-1 in the Final at the Arbour Park Stadium in Slough last Wednesday.

F.C Bracknell have won the Slough Town Junior Cup after a 2-1 win against Hype Train in the Final at the Arbour Park Stadium last Wednesday.

History was going to be made inside the heart of Slough as neither team had won the famous competition before. In fact, both were entering the Junior Cup for the very first time this season.

A goal from Ben Poynter gave Bracknell the lead midway through the first half, and player-manager Bailey Gandolfi doubled that advantage less than 10 minutes into the second period.

Hype Train halved the deficit through Mitchell Saunders with 20 minutes still to play in the Final match, but his side could not find the all important equaliser to keep the game alive.

Old Windsor F.C have returned back to the top of the East Berkshire League Premier Division table after a 3-2 win against Frontline on Saturday.

The Os have been chasing their rivals and long-time leaders Britwell for most of the season and finally got their noses in front ahead of a title-deciding clash on Saturday 31 May.

PICTURE: Ben Poynter celebrates after his goal gave F.C Bracknell the lead in the Slough Town Junior Cup Final.

The defending champion secured three crucial points thanks to goals in the first half from Shane Qoloni, Harry Farnan and captain Lee Short.

An eighth straight league victory leaves Old Windsor one point ahead of Britwell, although The Steamteam do have the advantage of a game in hand.

The defeat is a third loss in a row on the road for Frontline and they remain in fourth position in the table, but still with a very strong chance of taking third place at the bronze medal this year.

Old Windsor made it a magnificent seventh win in a row with a 3-1 success away at Cookham Dean last Wednesday evening.

A James Walton strike gave the visitors to Alfred Major Recreation Ground a first half lead, before Tyler Robinson struck twice in the second period. Sean Inkpen came off the substitutes bench to pull a goal back for Cookham inside the last six minutes of the game.

Cookham have had a successful first season in the East Berkshire League and guaranteed sixth place in the standings with 11 wins from 20 league matches in the campaign.

Caversham United have almost guaranteed promotion to the Premier Division after a 2-1 win against F.C Bracknell, a defeat that puts one nail in the coffin of Bracknell’s chances of winning the Division One title

PICTURE: F.C. Bracknell player-manager Bailey Gandolfi celebrates with a knee slide after his effort gave Bracknell a two-nil lead in the Slough Town Junior Cup Final.

Matthew Thomas scored a first goal for Caversham after 70 minutes at Mapledurham Playing Fields, and Bevan Van Wyk scored the all important winner two minutes into time added on at the end of the match.

The result means The Billygoats need a single point from their remaining three matches to secure promotion to the top flight for the 2025-26 season.

In the battle for the championship, Bracknell remain two points behind leaders Slough Heating Laurencians F.C Reserves and have now played one game more than their rivals for the crown.

Bracknell Aces returned to winning form with a 11-2 success away at HKRG United to move up one place to eighth in the table.

Alfie Hills was the chief destroyer at Ryeish Green Sports Hub with an incredible seven goals haul, with further strikes from Abdulrasaq Aremu, Owen Hannis, Lewis Lancaster and Harvey Webber.

Hype Train have won the East Berkshire League Presidents Cup competition for the second time in their history after a 4-1 win against Old Windsor F.C Reserves.

The Final match at the 1878 Stadium in Burnham last Friday was billed as a clash between two previous winners of the competition, and Old Windsor Reserves made history by becoming the first-ever team to appear in three consecutive Finals.

A goal from Conall Gorman have Hype Train a slender lead heading into the break, but it was full steam ahead for the Reading-based side in the second half. Phil Newport bagged a brace and Nadim Gharabli was on target just after the hour mark.

Lewis Hewitt came off the substitutes bench to pull one back for Old Windsor, but they were ultimately unsuccessful in their bid to retain the famous silverware.

Both teams were reduced to 10-men in the second half: Lewis White seeing red for The Os and Ashley Rockall dismissed for Hype Train.