Hellenic League – Proudly Sponsored by uhlsport – "Where every game matters"

Day: April 3, 2026

  • Weekly Update 3/4/26

    Weekly Update 3/4/26

    The season continues to provide excitement and drama as the last month of league games arrives.

    The Isuzu FA Vase semi-finals first leg took place last Saturday and UHL team Hallen played AFC Stoneham of the Velocity Wessex League Premier Division. AFC Stoneham scored 3 first half goals to go into the 2nd leg which will be played this weekend down in Hampshire. All the very best to Hallen in their attempt to turn things around. 

    In the UHL Challenge Cup Final on Sunday hosted at Hereford Pegasus a very healthy crowd of 612 watched a fascinating game unfold which turned into a 5-goal thriller. Hereford Pegasus took an early lead before Droitwich Spa came back and led 2-1 at the break. Two second half goals for Pegasus sealed the win and the trophy 3-2, but it was a very close affair, played in a great atmosphere and hosted superbly. Hereford Pegasus’s new hospitality suite was opened for the game and all invitees enjoyed the facilities and refreshments on offer.

    In the UHL Premier Division last Saturday, league leaders Slimbridge hit Cribbs for 6 with 6 individual goal scorers including one own goal. 2nd placed Worcester Raiderswere held 1-1 at home and had to thank Jordan Murphy for their 92nd minute equalizer. Roman Glass St Georgeretook 3rd place with a 2-1 home win v Royal Wootton Bassett Town; their winner coming in the 93rd minute through a Harvey Tierney goal. Play off hopefuls Corsham Town and Cirencester Town shared a 2-2 draw, even though Corsham were leading 2-0 up to the 70th minute. Fairford Town travelled to near neighbour’s Highworth Town and won 1-0. Cinderford Town travelled to Longlevens and also won 1-0. Droitwich Spa and Hereford Pegasus played in the cup final as detailed above. In mid-week we had a very significant result seeing Slimbridge v Droitwich Spa ending 3-0; Slimbridgescoring their goals in stoppage time in the first half and late in the second half (86th and 87th minutes) to gain a valuable 3 points. Fairford Town and Longlevens shared a 0-0 draw, UHL Challenge Cup winners Hereford Pegasustravelled to Thornbury Town and won 1-0 and Highworth Town beat Hallen 3-0. Double fixtures over the bank holiday weekend will surely prove the defining moments in an enthralling season. 

    In the UHL Supplementary Challenge Cup Final on Sunday hosted at Hereford Pegasus, Shortwood Unitedplayed Newent Town and the 269 watching enjoyed a very entertaining game which resulted in a 2-1 win for Shortwood United. Right at the end of the match an attempt on goal for Newent which would have taken the game to penalties looked to have gone in, but the ball looped over the top of the net. Shortwood have been on a real punishing run of games, playing 3 times a week to catch up with games, so their effort in the final was great to see. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, the top three FC Stratford, Wantage Town and Bewdley Town had no games. Cheltenham Saracens travelled to Alcester Townand lost 2-1, Stonehouse Town travelled to Woodford United and were winning 1-0 until a 92nd minute equalizer saw the game end 1-1. Malmesbury Victoria hosted Carterton and won 5-1, Redditch Borough lost 3-0 at home to form side Brimscombe & Thrupp, Ludlow Townhosted Chipping Sodbury Town and lost 3-1 to a Callum Cannings hat trick with his goals coming in the 4th, 8th and 12th minutes. In mid-week leaders FC Stratford gave a commanding performance in their 4-0-win v Redditch Borough. In a battle for the play-off places, 3rd placed Bewdley Town travelled to Stonehouse Town and were beaten 3-1. Malmesbury Victoria, sat just outside the play-off places won 4-1 v Newent Town, Alcester Town beat Shortwood United with two second half goals, Woodford United made the long trip to Clanfield 85 and won 2-0. Bottom side Thame United Reserves hosted near neighbours Carterton and won 2-0. As per the Premier Division, the double bank holiday fixtures should give us a real sense of title winners and play-off places, but there is still time for change with fixture catch-up still going on for some. 

    In the Batemans Sport Alliance Chairmans Challenge Cup on Saturday, we had wins for UDA Glos Dev, Eversley & California Res and Wantage Town U23. 

    In the Alliance East on Saturday, Banbury United Dev beat Marlow Res 3-0 and Hungerford Town Res beatHeadington Amateurs 3-1. Hungerford Town Res are unbeaten in this division and have a 3-point lead overHeadington Amateurs as we go into April. In midweekBanbury United Dev and Hungerford Town Res finished 1-1. 

    In the Alliance West on Saturday Bourton Rovers Dev v Newent Town Dev finished 3-0 and Carterton Dev v Clanfield (85) ended 2-2. University of Bristol who are currently 7 points ahead of the pack in this division travelled to Evesham United Res on Tuesday evening and won 7-0. 

    In the Vets Premier Division Rotherfield United v Icarus Masters finished 1-0.

    Team of the month for March has just been announced:

    Premier Division – Cinderford Town

    Division One – Cheltenham Saracens

    Alliance – Headington Amateurs

    Congratulations to you all and you will be presented with your trophies in the near future. 

    Enjoy the bank holiday weekend and the bumper fixture schedule, 

    Regards,

    Ian

  • Neutral View….

    Neutral View….

    Matthew Rickwood was in attendance for the recent clash between Slimbridge and Droitwich Spa, offering a grounded, observer’s perspective on a game that turned dramatically on its head. Watching closely from the stands, he had the best view of the night.

    Have a read of his report!

    Droitwich suffer Slimbridge blues!

     

    Slimbridge continue promotion form.

     

    Slimbridge, on a six-game winning run before start of play and free scoring with a total of 23 goals in total. Currently, they are six points clear at the top of the table ahead of second place Worcester Raiders. 

    The visitors, Droitwich Spa, have had an excellent debut season in the Hellenic league. However, they have had mixed fortunes in their last six games collecting 10 points from a possible 18, making them lose ground on the teams around them. 

    The two teams played recently in the UHL challenge cup with Droitwich coming away with a 1-4 win. The reverse fixture resulted in a 0-6 win for Slimbridge back in August.

     

    The game started with the visitors showing some early signs of intent with captain James Lemon having a shot over the bar. The first five minutes Slimbridge were struggling to settle as they showed nervous signs on the ball. 

    The home side grew into the game over the next five minutes or so to even up to the tempo Droitwich had started with. 

    In the 13th minute the away side showed their first good bit of play with James Lemon with a great run and shot towards goal, luckily it was straight at Stephen Sarkodie in the Slimbridge goal.

    In the 21st minute the game got stuck in a rut with both teams seeming to turn to the long ball, which resulted in a compilation of head Tennis. However, this resulted in Slimbridge showing their first attack with Jack W Smith having a good run and cutting inside the full back but fired his shot wide of the goal. 

    The best chance of the game fell to the visitors in the 33rdminute with a long throw into the box, a miscue header from Slimbridge full back Bogdan Mara, fell kindly for Alex Dugmore who tried an overhead kick but it just went over.

    The deadlock was broken in first half stoppage time with Olly Sully. A fantastic individual effort in weaving in and out of four Droitwich defenders to fire past Joe Stockton in the Droitwich goal. 

     

    The second half took a while to get going with the first chance coming from the home side six minutes into the half. That man Olly Sully got free down the right and whipped a great ball into the box but unfortunately there were no takers in the centre.

    Just before the 60-minute mark we had a bad challenge on the Slimbridge goalkeeper by Perry Moss which resulted in a yellow card. This seemed to lead to a bit of ill discipline from the visitors and another two yellow cards followed shortly after. 

    With twenty minutes left of the game Shiyak Sutherland created a great individually chance with quick feet but he fired straight at the goalkeeper. The home side continued to try and find the second of the game with great play with intricate passing resulting in a volley by Sam Blackie, which was well blocked by the Droitwich defence.

    However, the second goal did come in the 84th minute with that man Shiyak Sutherland showing his quick feet to turn the centre half inside out and fire a shot into the goal. No sooner had we kicked of and the third goal followed a minute later. The Droitwich defence all at sea let a through ball from Joe Stokes go unchallenged and Jack Smith runs one on one with the goalkeeper and calmly takes it round him to pass into an empty goal.

     

     

    Slimbridge line up: 

    Sarkodie, Mara, Matthews, Kang (C), Giles, Haswell (Hitchings), Sully (Blackie), Stokes, Smith (Barnes) W Smith (Bell), Sutherland. Unused Rodgers.

     

    Droitwich Spa line up:

    Stockton, Brighton, Phillips (Levy), Rudd (Jackson), Saunston, Tilbury, Moss (Taylor-Randle), Tilley, Dugmore (Baldwin), Binner (Dallaway), Lemon (C)  

     

    Attendance: 248.

    Slimbridge 3-0 Droitwich Spa 

    Written by Matthew Rickwood

    @Mattrickwoo1