Bishop’s Stortford 3-1 Leamington Match Report

September 17, 2026

12/09/26

Pitching In Southern League Premier Central Division

Hamish Arnold

Jackson Chukwu-Nsofor scored his first Bishop’s Stortford goal to secure back to back league wins for the first time since February, with a 3-1 victory over 10-player Leamington on Saturday at the Grundon Community Stadium. Frank Norris scored Stortford’s 100th Southern League goal at home, with the win moving the Blues into 13th place in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central Division table.

Tyrone Baker led an early counter attack for the hosts, cutting in from the right his low left-footed shot was saved by Cian Tyler, before a cross was headed clear to Jack Smith on the edge of the box but he dragged a shot wide. Tyler was then required to push Smith’s free kick from the left around the far post as the ball looked to be curling into the top right corner. Smith floated the corner kick into the box, a miscued clearance gave Jake Thompson a shooting chance but his wild effort went well wide, out to Smith on the wing, he cut the ball back to Brad Russell but his shot went over the crossbar. Cameron Eubank had the first shooting chance for the visitors, but he was off balance as he shot when he received the ball from a right wing cross and missed the target, and he failed to test debutant goalkeeper Calum Barnes from his next shot, when he let fly with a volley from a cross that had been headed clear by Thompson. Smith’s corner from the left was headed clear to Alfie Wellens on the edge of the box, the debutant then worked the ball back out wide to corner-taker Smith whose cross was punched by Tyler, but the ball ricocheted off Thompson’s face at close range and into the net. From a right wing corner, Thompson headed the ball clear but Owen Farmer hit the post with a volley from 20 yards and the ball was cleared. Farmer’s next shot was on target but Barnes made a full length dive to tip the ball onto the crossbar from the powerful shot and Alfie Thornett cleared the ball. In the final minute of the first half, Farmer shot high and wide of the target but there was still time before the break for Chris Wreh to find the equaliser. A low cross from the left was cut out by Joe Nardelli but Wreh latched onto the loose ball and rattled the net with a powerful strike into the top left corner with the last kick before the break.

HT 1-1

Wreh had the ball in the net again early in the second half but was flagged offside when he headed in a left wing cross, before Kyle Belmonte saw his shot deflected wide by Wellens, but the resulting corner was over hit and went out for a throw in. Kyle Finn curled a left footed shot wide from the right side of the box before Norris slammed his header off the post from Oliver Reeve’s left wing cross, Smith hooked the ball back in but a defender cleared. Baker cut in off the left wing and crossed into the middle where Norris restored the lead with a first-time finish into the bottom right corner, Nathan Kabeya’s shot went over the bar at the other end. Rajdeep Palit saw his free kick go over the wall but wide of the goal, and from the next attack the substitute shot into the side netting from a tight angle on the right side of the box. Chukwu-Nsofor sealed the win with a header from Charlie Johnson’s deep cross on the right, the forward beat the punch of Tyler with a great leap to get his head on the ball first in a central position. Having been booked inside five minutes, Nat Kelly was cautioned again in injury time and sent off for an altercation after a foul by his team-mate.

FT 3-1

TEAMS

Bishop’s Stortford XI

Starting Eleven

1 Calum Barnes

2 Joe Nardelli (Colletti 84’)

3 Oliver Reeve

4 Alfie Thornett (Yellow card 90+6’)

5 Jake Thompson (c) (Goal 24’)

7 Tyrone Baker (Assist 67’)

8 Harry Titchmarsh (Johnson 40’)

9 Frank Norris (Goal 67’)

10 Bradley Russell (Chukwu-Nsofor 86’)

11 Alfie Wellens (Lawson 64’)

14 Jack Smith (Assist 24’)

Subs

6 Mark Haines

18 Sha’mar Lawson

19 Jackson Chukwu-Nsofor (Goal 86’)

20 Dylan Colletti (Assist 86’)

22 Charlie Johnson

Leamington XI

1 Cian Tyler

3 Callum Cockerill-Mollett

4 Nat Kelly (Yellow card 5’ 90+5’) (Red card 90+5’)

5 Ruben Freeman

6 Cameron Eubank (Walters 72’)

9 Chris Wreh (Goal 45+2’)

10 Kyle Finn (c)

11 Owen Farmer (Palit 72’)

14 Koby Arthur (Yellow card 29’) (Kabeya 61’)

19 Kyle Belmonte

22 Byron Wilson (Fridye-Harper 35’)

Subs

2 Jahdahn Fridye-Harper

12 Dexter Walters

20 Rajdeep Palit

21 Nathan Kabeya

23 Ajay Weston

Attendance 325