PICTURE: Singh Sabha has a proud and rick winning history in Cup competitions including being two-times winners of the League Cup. Sabha travel to old rivals, Old Windsor in the Quarter Finals this Saturday.
The Quarter Finals to the East Berkshire League Cup will take centre stage with four mouthwatering ties this Saturday.
The pick of the four matches is a repeat of the 2022 Final as Singh Sabha take on Old Windsor at the Recreation Ground. Sabha lifted the famous trophy after a 3-2 win against The Os two years ago to become two-times winners of the competition having first won it in 2019, beating Wraysbury Village in the final that year.
Old Windsor have had the better hand in the more recent meetings of the two teams however, with a win and a draw in their two matches in the Premier Division this season.
The Os, surprisingly, have never won the League Cup competition but could not be in better goals scoring form ahead of the Quarter Finals tie, bagging an impressive 26 goals in their last three matches. Joseph Allen is the star striker at Old Windsor and scored six times, two hat-tricks, in those three games. The goals scoring threat at Singh Sabha could be two fold, with Mubarak Bashir netting 16 times in 15 matches, and Pritpal Raju 12 goals in 15 games so far this season.
The second all-Premier Division tie sees Virginia Water Reserves welcome Southcote to The Timbers. The two sides actually met in the league just two weeks ago with The Waters running out 3-0 winners on that occasion. The home side are unbeaten in six matches in all competitions while Southcote have won just twice in their last eight games. Rocco Sofroniou could be a key player for the visitors having scored 12 goals in 13 appearances so far this season. Southcote reached the Quarter Finals in the League Cup last term but where eliminated by eventual winners, Britwell.
The remaining two ties present intriguing clashes between a side in the Premier Division and a team pushing for promotion in Division One. Frontline are the current leaders of the Premier Division and travel out to Sandhurst Town Royals, who currently stand in second position in the second tier. The visitors to The Memorial Park will be a hard force to stop with Imran Kassim, Zabi Vakili and Luqman Kassim scoring 37 goals between them so far this season. Frontline do not have a great record in the League Cup however having not made it past the Quarter Finals stage since 2015. Sandhurst are in cracking form, winning in each of their last three matches, scoring 22 goals in the process, and unbeaten in their last five games. Thomas Nower has found his scoring boots with 12 goals in 11 appearances.
Hype Train will make an attempt to become the first team to eliminate South Reading from a Cup competition this season in an all-Reading tie at Calcot Recreation Ground. The Train will have to derail both Louie Soares and Jay Wiltshire, who have scored a combined 25 goals this term, and hope that their own talisman, Phil Newport with 16 in 12 appearances, will recover from an injury to feature. South Reading are on an incredible nine-match unbeaten streak dating back to 7 October with seven wins and two draws in that run. Hype Train have not won in their last three games since eliminating FC Riverside in the previous round of the League Cup.
League Cup Previous Winners
1979-80 - East Burnham
1980-81 - East Burnham
1981-82 - Cox Green
1982-83 - East Bracknell
1983-84 - Wokingham Town A
1984-85 - Bracknell Boys Club
1985-86 - Wooding Windows
1986-87 - Wooding Windows
1987-88 - Windsor Great Park
1988-89 - SYCOB
1989-90 - Britwell Hawks
1990-91 - Windsor Great Park
1991-92 - CBS (Bracknell)
1992-93 - Bracknell Boys Club
1993-94 - Spital Old Boys
1994-95 - Chalvey (WMC) Sports
1995-96 - Running Horse
1996-97 - Iver Heath Rovers Reserves
1997-98 - Vansitart Wanderers
1998-99 - Condors 94
1999-00 - Ascot United
2000-01 - Vansittart Wanderers
2001-02 - Chalvey (WMC) Sports
2002-03 - Spital Old Boys
2003-04 - Spital Old Boys
2004-05 - Running Horse Vets
2005-06 - Spital Old Boys
2006-07 - Waltham
2007-08 - Waltham
2008-09 - New Windsor Old Boys
2009-10 - Waltham
2010-11 - Bracknell Forest
2011-12 - Eton Wick
2012-13 - Chalvey (WMC) Sports
2013-14 - Langley Wanderers
2014-15 - Iver Heath Rovers
2015-16 - Iver Heath Rovers
2016-17 - Langley
2017-18 - Delaford
2018-19 - Singh Sabha
2019-20 - No winners - Coronavirus
2020-21 - No winners - Coronavirus
2021-22 - Singh Sabha
2022-23 - Britwell
To enter the East Berkshire Football League ahead of the 2024/25 season, or for further information about the league, or an entry form for the upcoming season, please email the team at contactebfl@gmail.com
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