Chelsea 3 Leicester City 1 – FA Youth Cup
Aldershot Town 3 Braintree Town 0 – FA Trophy
Ealing Commoners 4 West Ealing 4 – Chiswick Sunday League
Barnet Ladies 1 Millwall Lionesses 1 – FA Women’s Premier League
Gift 4 Camsom 3 – Islington Midweek League
Chelsea’s Youth Cup tie last Thursday was played at Stamford Bridge and 1,210 fans braved the chilly conditions. Admission was free and so was a glossy 16-page programme. That’s class – well done, Chelsea.
Blues were winning 2-1 in stoppage time when the visitors’ No.9 headed against the bar with the goal at his mercy. Within seconds Chelsea had rushed up the other end to score a third. They haven’t won The Youth Cup since 1960-61, my first season of watching football.
The Trophy’s Fourth Round was played at the weekend and I decided to pay my first visit to Aldershot for a couple of years. I bought a programme just inside the turnstiles and the young chap selling them said: "Thank you very much, sir". How refreshing – and unexpected.
Shots beat Braintree 3-0 to make the last eight and their second goal, a screamer from 30 yards, was probably the best strike I’ve seen this season. It’s a very convenient place to visit, with the ground close to the station. The trains back to London are pretty frequent too.
There was an "Ealing derby" at Perivale on Sunday morning. Ealing Commoners scored after just 55 seconds to send the crowd wild. All seven of us. Then West Ealing went 3-1 up, then it was 3-3, then 4-3 to Commoners, then West Ealing equalised with 20 seconds to go.
After a couple of hours in a biting cold wind, it was tempting to return to the hotel. But instead I sat in a warm waiting room at the tube station, reading a paper, before making the short walk to Hanwell Town’s ground to see Barnet Ladies’ first Premier League fixture of 2008.
I found the usual suspects in the back row of the stand and we tried to stay cheerful as we shivered through an uneventful first half. Then Millwall scored early in the second period and we all cheered like lunatics when the Bees equalised in exciting fashion near the end.
Gift edged Camsom 4-3 in an Invitation Cup Second Round tie to delight an estimated crowd of four at Market Road last night. There should be 89,996 more at Wembley tonight to see if Fabio Capello is the seventh England Manager in a row to start with a win.