Best Performances

1st	CASTLE UNITED	0	EDMONTON ROVERS	10	2nd May 1993
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 5 Match at Grundy Park, Cheshunt
Castle finished 9 points above us in the League and were fielding their ‘normal’ side for this match, whereas we only had 10 men including Steve Beasley in goal and Laurence Hughes as an outfield player ! We played brilliantly though and left Castle shell-shocked. Lee Osborn, Russell Beeden and Conor Mc,Govern also played, with Conor scoring a hat-trick. Undoubtedly our best-ever performance, but unfortunately not captured on video...because the cameraman was playing !!!

2nd	SEWARDSTONE	2	EDMONTON ROVERS	2	21st April 1991
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 4 Match at Larsens Recreation Ground, Waltham Abbey
Sewardstone were top of the Division and packed with players from Waltham Abbey F.C. and Cheshunt F.C. in Senior Saturday football, whereas we were bottom of the table and had only won once in our previous 13 League matches. However, our back four of the ‘black four’ (the Dyer brothers and Demitrius Nurse) defended brilliantly, while Gareth John scored a last-minute equaliser to gain us a point. Russell Beeden and Steve Beasley were both teenagers at the time and played a full game.

3rd	EDMONTON ROVERS	2	SPENNYTOWN	0	31st August 2003
Pre-Season Friendly Match at the Ashton Playing Fields, Woodford
Manager Trevor Hughes rates this game as our best performance during the time he has been in charge. Spennytown had convincingly won Division Three in the Mercury Waltham League the previous season and were reputed to be good enough for the Premier Division even then. However, we fielded Marco Ellerker, Peter Sutton and Eric Ibekwem's mate Leon Green in our line-up (all being quality Ryman League players) and we really 'took the piss' with our skill and passing and should have won by a much bigger margin...apparently, as this match was not captured on video as Laurence Hughes had to play for the Reserve Team as they were short of players ! We therefore only fielded a bare eleven for this game (including Scott Robertson at left-back), it was a baking hot day and Spennytown had plenty of substitutes...which made the performance even more impressive.

4th	EDMONTON ROVERS	2	PERCIVAL	0	30th March 2003
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Premier Division Match at Hazelwood Sports Ground
This game is rated by skipper Stuart Dorward as our best performance of any game he has played in. We came into this match having won eight games in a row and having only conceded two goals during that run, but Percival were also challenging for the Premier Division title (which they eventually won) and were fielding a full-strength side. Steve Cokell scored a superb early goal though, and we dominated the match after that with Percival only having one clear-cut chance in the whole game. This turned out to be Percival's only defeat of the season.

5th	ENFIELD RANGERS OLD BOYS	0	EDMONTON ROVERS	3	13th April 2003
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Premier Division Match at Enfield Playing Fields
This was our next League match after the Percival game (above), but we had key players Stuart Dorward, Marco Ellerker, Peter Sutton, Conor Mc,Govern and John Beasley all missing against an Enfield Rangers Old Boys side who were at full-strength and on a good run of form. However, our 4-5-1 formation worked perfectly with lone striker Steve Cokell and attacking central midfielders Derek Dorward and Chris 'Nugget' Beeden repeatedly tearing the Enfield Rangers Old Boys defence apart on the break while Robin Pryke and Paul Woolston were on top form in defence to help us keep another clean sheet against all the odds. Enfield Rangers Old Boys' Manager Steve Livermore actually admitted afterwards that we had out-done them tactically, and with that coming from somebody who had won 'everything' in Sunday League football, this was most definitely one of our best-ever performances.

6th	HINTON RANGERS	0	EDMONTON ROVERS	4	28th July 2002
Pre-Season Friendly Match at the Riverside Club, Turkey Street
Hinton Rangers fielded a veritable 'who's who' of local Senior Saturday footballers for this match whereas we had numerous first choice players missing because of family commitments and had to field the likes of Paul Rebairo, Lee Osborn, Gary Odell, Scott Robertson, George Bromfield and Lexton Harrison, none of whom had played at that sort of level before. However, Marco Ellerker was in his element and controlled the midfield, while Shaun O'Neill showed his class in goal and Robin Pryke and Tony Speller completely marked two forwards out of the game who were on contract with Ryman League clubs. (They were allowed to play in Pre-Season Friendlies). This result actually sent 'shockwaves' around the League, with Hinton Rangers' 'Semi-Pro level' coaching staff informing everyone that we would walk away with the Premier Division title if we played as well as we did in this match...and they were very nearly right !

7th	ENFIELD RANGERS OLD BOYS	1	EDMONTON ROVERS	2	28th March 2004
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Roy Bailey Challenge Cup Quarter-Final Match at Clowes Sports Ground, Palmers Green
Enfield Rangers Old Boys had only lost two matches all season in the Premier Division and were fielding a strong line-up as usual, whereas we had seven first-choice players missing, Manager Trevor Hughes was on holiday in Las Vegas and we were also restricted by not being able to use Reserve Team players as they would have been cup-tied for the League Reserve Cup Final had they played in this match. However, despite having several players almost on their knees at the end due to a lack of fitness and match practice, we battled superbly to hold out for a shock victory with Paul Ellerker particularly outstanding in the midfield holding role.

8th	GOLDSMITHS UNITED	4	EDMONTON ROVERS	6	20th February 1994
London F.A. Sunday Junior Cup 5th Round Match at the Blackheath Wanderers Sports Club, SE12
We were 3-0 up at Half-Time thanks to spectacular early long-range goals from Kevin Dedman (in the first minute !) and Conor Mc,Govern, and then had to battle through Extra-Time against a side who were apparently the favourites for the Cup. Most of our 'legendary' players from the last 10 years or so (e.g. Dedman, Mc,Govern, Steve Beasley, Russell Beeden, Stuart Dorward, 'Willie' Platt and others) were only in their late-teens/early-20's at the time, but they really 'came of age' in this match and passed the ball about superbly against an ageing but very experienced side.

9th	EDMONTON ROVERS	4	BRIMSDOWN ROVERS	1	22nd February 1998
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Divisional Cup Match at Hazelwood Sports Ground
Although this was only a ‘Micky Mouse’ Cup, Brimsdown were treating it really seriously and had won their last 7 matches. The majority of our players were all 'really pissed' (even Treasure 'Tex' MacCarthy !) from a night out at 'Backpackers' in Camden Town, yet we played really well against a side packed with Spartan South Midlands League players from Saturday football. On walking off at Half-Time 2-0 up, Manager Trevor Hughes just said 'No need for a team-talk, lads. Just listen to them arguing !'

10th	B.E.O.E.G.	3	EDMONTON ROVERS	5	3rd September 1995
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 3 Match at the Goodman Centre, Waltham Cross
B.E.O.E.G. were playing their first ever game in the League and were really fired up and confident after having only lost 4 matches in the last 3 seasons in their previous League. Kevin Dedman knew all their players and predicted we would get thrashed, but Treasure 'Tex' MacCarthy (making his debut for us) really turned on the style on a dustbowl of a pitch (just like his native Ghana), while Conor Mc,Govern scored two spectacular goals.

11th	EDMONTON ROVERS	9	OLD STAR RANGERS	2	18th September 1994
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 5 Match at Hazelwood Sports Ground
This match is famous for being our first-ever game shown on Sky. (They actually did a full 10-minute feature !). Another really good passing performance against a side who had been promoted and were not used to losing. We even had the whole of our regular back four missing due to holidays & suspensions. Conor Mc,Govern and Derek Dorward both scored hat-tricks.

12th	EDMONTON ROVERS	4	PERCIVAL	0	7th April 1996
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 3 Match at Enfield Playing Fields
Percival were second in the table, they were fielding a full-strength side including top 'semi-pro' players such as Spencer Knight and Ian Barnes, and they had beaten leaders Wormley in their last match and had to win to stay in contention for the title, but we played really well and were too good for them on the day with Stuart Dorward outstanding at sweeper and 'Tex' scoring a memorable goal after a quality move.

13th	EDMONTON ROVERS	4	OLD BULLS HEAD	3	27th April 1994
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 5 Match at Grundy Park, Cheshunt
We were drawing 3-3 against a fellow mid-table side but down to 9 men after Aaron Dart & James Dyer had been sent off. However ‘Willie’ Platt then scored a ‘screamer’ into the top corner to win the game in fading light. (This was an evening match).

14th	NORTHAW	3	EDMONTON ROVERS	10	14th April 2002
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division One Match at the Old Owens Sports Ground, Potters Bar
Northaw eventually finished bottom of the table but they fielded a number of quality players from Senior Saturday football in this match, including brothers Paul & Neil Jordan, who had both played for Boreham Wood in the Ryman League Premier Division. However, we fielded a really strong side with Conor Mc,Govern and John Beasley only named as substitutes and we tore their defence apart with some brilliant moves and clinical finishing, with even Robin Pryke getting on the scoresheet ! Steve Cokell scored a hat-trick while Marco Ellerker had an excellent battle in the centre of midfield with the Jordans, with Marco coming out on top (of course).

15th	A.F.C. BREDA	1	EDMONTON ROVERS	12	30th October 1994
London F.A. Sunday Junior Cup Second Round Match at the Molesey Hurst Recreation Ground, Molesey, Surrey
Although A.F.C. Breda were one of the worst teams we have ever played, our players didn’t get greedy and won the match with brilliant two or three-touch ‘taking the piss’ passing moves. Really entertaining to watch. Shamus Mc,Govern scored five and his brother Conor grabbed a hat-trick, while Kevin Dedman took goal kicks and deliberately swerved and chipped them with backspin over opponents heads. The referee (from South London) said it was the best football he had ever seen from a Sunday League team.

16th	EDMONTON ROVERS	9	CLUB EMIGRANTE PORTUGUESE	1	1st October 1989
London F.A. Sunday Junior Cup First Round Match at Hazelwood Sports Ground
This was the match when Wayne Lewis scored one of Rovers greatest-ever goals (a la Pele in the 1970 World Cup when he dummied the keeper but shot wide...only Wayne actually scored and then celebrated by running behind the goal to kiss his girlfriend in front of the ‘cow-shed’ !). However, 15-year-old Russell Beeden had the video camera at the time (before games were filmed properly) and filmed the grass and the sky instead of both the goal and Wayne's subsequent celebration ! (Got a bit too 'over-excited' !). The Portuguese team (from Camden) were not a bad side but we played really well, despite having a poor season in the League.

17th	FORD ZETEC	1	EDMONTON ROVERS	8	18th November 2001
London F.A. Sunday Junior Cup Second Round Match at the Ford Sports Ground, Romford
This was yet another London Cup match where we demolished the opposition with quality passing football, but Ford Zetec were actually top of the Premier Division in their League (and reigning Champions) ! However, Marco Ellerker and John Beasley both scored outrageous 'taking the piss' goals and Steve Cokell scored a hat-trick.

18th	EDMONTON ROVERS	5	NORTHAW	1	22nd December 1996
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 2 Match at Hazelwood Sports Ground
Northaw fielded a strong side full of players from Senior Saturday football, whereas we just had a bare eleven. However, we produced an excellent team performance with everybody getting an 8 out of 10 (or more !). Stuart Dorward scored four of our goals from a right-midfield position ! This was a 'revenge' match for a previous defeat in which a few 'verbals' had been flying about, so we were really fired up to do well.

19th	THE CIRCUS	1	EDMONTON ROVERS	3	30th January 1994
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Intermediate Cup Quarter-Final at Enfield Playing Fields
The Circus were top of Division 3 and had won their previous 7 matches, whereas we were only a mid-table Division 5 side, but we played so well that we could have won by even more ! Marcello Devizio, Darren Rorie and Kevin Dedman had all recently joined from Lea Valley Royals and made a big difference.

20th	EDMONTON ROVERS	4	ST. MARY'S (EDMONTON)	1	26th September 1993
Mercury Waltham Sunday League Division 5 Match at Salisbury School, Edmonton
St. Mary’s had a very strong side out and went on to finish Runners-Up in the Division, but we beat them convincingly with really good two and three-touch football. Kevin Dedman scored twice (in only his second game for us) and Marcello Devizio made a number of spectacular flying saves at important times in the game.