HARLOW Town Pirates Walking Football teams played a further round of Essex Walking Football League and also Cup fixtures in July.

As earlier in the season, the best performances were recorded by the two Women’s teams.

First up were the Women’s Cup matches. The Blue team from the Championship were eliminated early, but the Red team from the Premiership won their first group match 3-1 over Colchester. The second group stage match against Billericay Blue ended 1-1, but was enough to put the Reds into the semi-final. This proved to be a comfortable victory over Leyton Orient by 3-0.

The final was a return match against Billericay Blue, but this time the Reds won 1-0 to lift the trophy.

In the final round of fixtures in the Women’s Premier League, Harlow clinched the title in emphatic style, winning all five of their matches to move 19 points clear of their nearest rivals and complete the Leage and Cup double. They started with a 1-0 win over Leyton Orient, followed by a 1-0 defeat of Billericay Town Blue. Next up was a 3-0 defeat of Valley Green Rovers Diamonds, 2-0 over Romford Randoms Blue and finally 1-0 over Beacon Hill Rovers.

In the Championship, Pirates were undefeated on the day, drawing 0-0 with Billericay Town White and then winning their next three matches Valley Green Rovers Emerald (4-0), Romford Randoms Yellow (2-0) and Beacon Hill Rovers White (1-0). Their final match was against Hawkwell Athletic and they drew 0-0 with the team that beat them to the title. Pirates only lost one League match in the season and were the only team to beat Hawkwell, but too many drawn games saw them finish 10 points behind the champions.

The Men’s Over 60s played in the Cup and endured a mixed day. Their first match ended with a 0-1 defeat by Chelmsford City Claret. Improvement was made in the second match which resulted in a 1-1 draw with Southend. But defeat to Eastwood Falcons Blue by 0-1 meant that the 1-0 defeat of Billericay Town Blue in the final group stage match, meant that Pirates did not progress to the finals day in October.

The Men’s Over 65s also played their round of Cup group matches. They started by drawing 0-0 with Stones Athletic and followed up with a 1-1 draw with Concord Rangers Yellow. This meant an outside chance of reaching the finals day, but a 1-2 defeat by Chelmsford City Claret dashed their hopes of progress.

The Men’s Over 70s did not play during the month. Their League fixtures were postponed because of the hot weather and the games will be rearranged for later in the season.

If you are interested in playing, please look at the Club’s new web site https://www.harlowtownpirates.org.uk for more information.