Essex Alliance League Finals Double Header, Saturday 23rd May
As the football seasons winds down for another year, there were plenty of finals to be had still, and I made my way over to Victoria Road, home of Dagenham & Redbridge, for two finals under the Essex Alliance League banner, and it saw the Fenton Trophy & Fenton Cup finals take place on what was a very hot day so both sets of players fitness would certainly be tested, it was hot enough watching!!! Anyway let's see how both those finals panned out.....
Fenton Trophy Final (2pm)
FC Alpha Vs Get Rich Together
This pitted together an FC Alpha side who ply their trade in the Division One East against Get Rich Together who are in Division One West, so they are both at the same level in the EAL, and they both fourth in their respective divisions too, and FC Alpha can still finish third if they win their final league game, Get Rich Together have finished their leage campaign so fourth is were they finished.
So, a close fought contest was expected then, how did both sides reach this final, well FC Alpha got a bye into the Second Round and defeated SP United 5-3 before they then beat Iona Wheels 4-2, they then saw off London Academicals 2-0 in the Quarter Final before they defeated Chadwell Heath Spartans Reserves 3-1 in the semi finals to set up today's final showpiece.
Get Rich Together started in the First Round and saw off Old Parkonians B 2-0 before they defeated Loughton Town 5-2, they then saw off Redbridge Community 4-1 and then their Quarter Final tie against Old Parkonians A finished 4-1 to see them into the semi finals, and in that last four contest they smashed Royal Forest 7-0 to emphatically earn their spot in today's final.
So what of today's final then, well, GRT certainly created the majority of the chances in the opening half, a strong athletic outfit for sure, caused their opponents alot of issues, but their lack of finishing in the final third meant they were unable to turn their possession and quality into goals, and this meant FCA stayed in the contest, and they could easily have led at half time after spurning two great chances themselves late on in the opening forty five minutes, a warning sign to GRT that they had to be wary and had to take those chances if they were to be successful.
Things were made harder for FCA early in the second period when their skipper was sent off for a very high boot on an opponent as he tried desperately to stop him getting in on goal, and then ten minutes into the half GRT finally found the net, and it was an absolute beauty too, Mohammed Malik cutting inside before curling a beauty in off the post, and cue big celebrations amongst them all, and FCA had it all to do now with a man light as well.
GRT continued to dominate thereafter and it was no surprise when they did find a second goal to pretty much clinch this contest with about fifteen minutes remaining, Eni Akinoka bursting through before slotting beyond the keeper, and you felt that this was the killer moment in the game, and you felt GRT would go on to comfortably win the tie and the Trophy from here.
They had more chances to totally the seal the game but wasted them, and then they became sloppy and took their eye of the ball a bit, this allowed FCA to mount one last attempt to get back into the contest, and deep into stoppage they did, Lungu sweeping home from close range, and all of a sudden they had brief hope of an incredible comeback, but GRT managed to keep them at bay in the remainder of stoppage time and take their crown.
Overall GRT certainly deserved this win, they dominated for large parts and could and should have won by more, but credit must be given to FCA who certainly did not give up and managed to stay in the contest right till the end, well done to Get Rich Together, Fenton Trophy winners for 2026!!!
Full time FC Alpha 1 Get Rich Together 2
Onto game two of the day then, the Fenton Cup final, let's see what happened there.....
Fenton Cup Final (6pm)
Chadwell Heath Spartans Vs FC Petrocub
This was an all Senior Division tie, the top level of the EAL and Step Seven in the football pyramid, FC Petrocub finished runners up in the division some eighteen points behind runaway champions London Harts United, but twelve points above today's opponents Chadwell Heath Spartans who finished fifth in the division themselves, so a top five clash this was then, and another closely fought contest you would think.
How did these sides reach this final, and final that was a repeat of last seasons one, Chadwell Heath winning that on penalties so they were looking to defend this cup, well Spartans got a bye into the Second Round and defeated North East Lions 2-0 before seeing off Old Esthameians 5-1 in Round Three, they then won at Athletic Newham U23s 5-2 in the Last Eight and then saw off Waltham Forest Borough 3-0 in the semi finals.
FC Petrocub themselves began in the First Round, netting a narrow 1-0 win over Haringey Borough Reserves before they saw off Manford Way Reserves 3-1 in Round Two, their third round tie saw them thrash Motormen 6-1 before they beat Fairlop Oak 5-0 in the Quarter Finals, and they won their semi final tie against Inter Newbury 2-1 to reach todays finale once again.
The two league matches between the sides had finished 1-0 to FC Petrocub, so this final was likely to be tight, could Spartans get on the right side of the scoreline here today, well they had a great early chance to go ahead when Joshua George headed wide from close range at the far post, but after that FCP were the ones who carved out the majorty of the first half openings.
Spartans keeper Byerley was one reason why FCP didn't hold a half time lead, making some decent stops to prevent his side from going behind, and even when he was beaten, the bar came to his rescue late on in the half as Spartans were kind of holding somewhat, but they did reach the break level and had another forty five minutes to turn the momentum around and try and find a goal themselves.
The second period saw much less in the way of big chances, and you felt that despite FCP having the majority of the play, Spartans would get a chance and maybe pinch the lead, and it so nearly happened in the final twenty minutes when they created a great chance but saw Mucheri's chance thwarted by keeper Buza who had rushed off his line to block the effort, a big warning to FCP for sure.
However, there was to be a winning goal, it came in the 84th minute, and it went to FCP who deserved to have the lead in all honestly, Ghenadie Molsei firing the ball across Byerley and into the far corner, and now Spartans had very little time to find a response and prevent themselves from a third 1-0 loss against this opponent this campaign.
The best they could muster up was a Billy Gipp header but he could not find the target with it, and FC Petrocub saw out the contest and grabbed Fenton Cup honours for 2026, and gained revenge for last years penalty shootout heartbreak in this final against the same opponent, they certainly deserved their win overall, but commiserations to Spartans who lose out here today.
Full time Chadwell Heath Spartans 0 FC Petrocub 1
Well done to Get Rich Together and FC Petrocub then, both worthy winners of their respective competitions today, commiserations to FC Alpha & Chadwell Heath Spartans who finish runners up but both will admit the better sides won on the day, a good day out and a great atmosphere created by the Moldovans who were there supporting boith FC Alpha and FC Petrocub, and over 800 attended the second game, a great achievement for sure for the league and the clubs as well.
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