Sunday Premier Cup

AFC Hammersmith Town overcome Carshalton All stars in tight Sunday Premier Cup Final

It was a tale of two halves as both teams battled it out

The final was an evenly matched affair before Hammersmith secured the win. 

Both sides started with high intensity, as Hammersmith pressed the Carshalton back line and forced some strong defending, particularly from Aaron Bogle who showed his confidence in the early minutes. 

A free-kick for Hammersmith early on was blazed over, before a golden opportunity for Obinna Ogbonna to put them ahead was halted by Carshalton 'keeper Matt Bishop, who was terrific in preventing the 1v1 chance. 

Carshalton continued to find themselves under pressure as Bishop was called into action once more, Hammersmith’s Azeez Elugushi cutting into the box and forcing a good save, before another chance for Obinna Ogbonna who shot wide.

Despite their efforts to force themselves back into the game, Carshalton struggled to prevent the Hammersmith attack and rarely tested 'keeper Michael Power-Simpson, nevertheless the scores remained level at the interval.

At the start of the second half, a challenge from Carshalton’s Billy Harding was met with a yellow card, though moments later the player was given a glorious opportunity to put his side in front, narrowly shooting wide.

Carshalton continued to assert themselves in the game but were unfortunate when a swift counterattack from Hammersmith led to them taking the lead. Melford Simpson received the ball to feet and slipped in Obinna Ogbonna score. 

Minutes later, the scores were level as Hammersmith’s Stephan Langley gave away a free kick on the edge of the box. The ball was whipped into the and scrambled home by Josh Owen to make it 1-1.

As Hammersmith had been the stronger team in the first interval, Carshalton were now showing their dominance and were unfortunate not to take the lead, as Billy Harding featured again, touching a ball in the box onto his chest and shooting just over the frame of the goal. 

Another chance followed as Daryl Hay played in Josh Owen, who was denied by Michael Power-Simpson coming out to deny him.  

Hammersmith did find themselves deeper in the Carshalton half and an opportunity presented itself for Melford Simpson in front of goal, but the 'keeper was quick to collect the ball. 

However, the goal did come for Hammersmith, when a penalty was awarded in the 81st minute and subsequently finished by Tobi Falodi to restore the valuable lead.

With time running out, an unfortunate outburst from both sides saw poor behaviour and red cards being distributed to representatives of each team.

Carshalton were unable to sway the tie back in their favour and AFC Hammersmith Town did enough to secure the Sunday Premier Cup.