Is anyone concerned that we might just never have a summer again? I think Sunday was the coldest night I have ever known……. In positive news, in case you didn’t see the MASSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT on Facebook on Thursday, we do have a new ball bag……

LEAGUE NEWS

There’s not a massive amount to report in terms of league spaces at the minute, as everything seems to be going rather well, but here’s where we could find some space.

The new Monday Championship was added this week, but in the overall MONDAY LEAGUE we will still have space for a couple of new teams when the brand new league starts in April. Spaces are available for friendlies for any potential new teams in the meantime.

We will be aiming to add a 5TH DIVISION to the SUNDAY LEAGUE when the 11’s season finishes for the summer (and hopefully beyond). Again, friendlies will be available for potential new teams.

For information on any of the above, fill in an enquiry form on the ‘Join A League’ page.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Duno are looking to step up from last season’s nearly men to Premiership kings, and they’ve got themselves off to the perfect start again this season with two wins out of two going into this week’s clash with champions Kinky Slipper. The pretenders to the crown scored first as Liam Watson put them in front in the 8th minute, and they looked like hanging onto that lead until the break until two goals in two minutes from Adam (just Adam) and Wesley Harney turned things in Kinky’s favour. Just Adam added his second 4 minutes after the break, and Rob Cresswell put Kinky out of sight with their 4th with 18 minutes remaining. The same two players added to the score sheet again in the final 10 minutes to leave Duno in no doubt that they’ve still got a little way to go if they hope to challenge for the title. Insole will have been smarting from last week’s narrow defeat to Duno, and were looking to take out their frustrations on a much changed Kipsta Cobras team. Jack Atkinson made the break through on 12 minutes, and doubled the lead two minutes later before Brad Street made it 3-0 just before half time. Kipsta rallied after the break and goals from George Carr and Jack Horgan reduced the deficit to just the one goal, but Insole regained control with three goals in the final 10 minutes from Atkinson, Aaron Campbell and Jordan Cunningham to get Insole back to winning ways and back to the top of the table. The game between Dench and Team Tom already had a look of a game between two teams who will be fighting for their Premiership lives this season, with both teams looking to get their first points on the board. It was Dench who struck first as Jonny McAuley converted a penalty in the 5th minute, but the Tommers had turned it around before the break as Rob Jordan leveled up 5 minutes from half time before Tom Hornsby headed home their second three minutes later. Dench were level again 6 minutes after the break as Paul Bardsley scored a rare goal, but THE Tom of Team Tom got his second of the game 12 minutes from time to give them a narrow, hard fought win.

Real Maskid have taken to Ballers life like a duck to water and were looking to maintain their 100% record against a Step Brothers team who lost two of their key players less than an hour before kick off. Alec Pattinson gave Maskid the lead in the 5th minute, but Gaz Sumner leveled up for the Brothers a minute later. From here on in it was all Maskid as they smashed in 8 more before the half time break. Jack Wilson restored the lead on 9 minutes, before 4 from Jack McConnell, one from Jordan McConnell, another from Wilson and a 5th of the half for Jack McConnell put Maskid well in control at the break. Shockingly there was no way back for Step Brothers after the break as Kieran O’Connell and Jordan O’Connell added to the Maskid total. Rob Sheldon did pull one back for the Brotherhood, but Jack McConnell and Pattinson added a couple more each in the final 10 minutes to give Maskid a comfortable victory. The rest of the teams can only hope to cling onto Maskid’s coat tails, and El Caliente will be one of the teams who will be looking for a top two finish and a place back in the Premiership for next season. They faced a winless McMuffin Men this week, and started well as Nathaniel Kingsley and Jay Berrisford gave them an early two goal lead. Charley Eyre halved the deficit for McMuffin half way through the period, and Mark Bailey made it 2-2 4 minutes before the break. Eyre’s second put McMuffin in front for the first time two minutes into the second half, but Berrisford quickly drew Caliente level again before Fidelis Eberegbe and Kingsley restored their two goal lead with 17 to play. This topsy turvy game still had more twists to come, as goals from Sam Delgado and Ryan Bradley (2) turned things back in McMuffin’s favour and in with a sniff of their first win of the season with 7 to go.Both teams picked up a point in the end, as Ross Grealey made it 6-6 with two minutes left, so Caliente sit in second place but lose ground on the leaders. Inter Row Z and Wellspring FC took the step up from League One this season and faced each other with Championship points on the line this week. Callum Donnelly gave Inter the perfect start in the first minute, but Lewis Arden and Shane Bridges scored for Wellspring to put them 2-1 up by the 15 minute mark. We were level at the break as Michael Winn made it 2-2 three minutes later, and the opening of the second half was a cagey affair before things burst into life in the latter stages. Gaz Sumner put Inter back in front with 16 minutes to play, but Bridges made it 3-3 4 minutes later. As we headed into the final 10 minutes Arden put Wellspring 4-3 up, but Brandon Byers-Wilkes made it all square again two minutes later. Jake Hamilton restored the Wellspring lead again with 6 minutes left, but it looked like ending in a draw when Ryan McAndrew leveled up yet again for Inter 4 minutes later. It was Wellspring who claimed a first win of the season through Arden’s winner a minute later, as the Championship season looks like being a competitive one.

The League One season also looks set to be a good one, with all teams having lost at least one game in the opening three weeks at close of play this week, and FC AOTS were looking to get back to winning ways as they took on The Veterans. It was a fairly frantic opening 25 with plenty of goals and the lead changing hands several time. Adam Duty gave AOTS the lead on 7 minutes, but Jay Willingham and Andy Carrington turned things in The Vets favour within 4 minutes. Steve Whittle leveled up for AOTS, but The Vets hit the front again through Willingham’s second 10 minutes before the break. Duty and Sam McDonald scored two in a minute to put AOTS back in control, but Wez Hodgkinson made it 4-4 with just 20 minutes on the clock. Two more from Duty in the final 5 of the half gave AOTS a two goal lead for the first time, and in a much tighter second half, Carl Buckley’s goal three minutes into the period was surprisingly the final goal of the game as AOTS pick up a second win to go top of the table. SK Dons are technically no more, as a shift in power sees them under new management in an SK Dons-esque takeover (how ironic!) with a name change to Pat’s Giants but no relocation (thankfully). Their ‘debut’ was against Polish Army who have started the season well, but they didn’t start this game well as Jack Emmerson gave the Giants a second minute lead. Robbie Menzies doubled the lead on 12 minutes, but the Poles hit back with two in a minute to find themselves level 9 minutes from half time as Bania scored both. The Giants did lead by one at the break as Paddy Bannister scored 5 minutes from the interval, and they restored their two goal lead a minute after the restart as Emmeerson got his second of the game. His third looked to have put Pat’s in control, but Bania also got his third two minutes later to keep the Poles in touch. Emmerson got a 4th to restore the three goal lead, and Danny Brookes increased that to 4 a minute later, but this time Mateusz was the one to keep the Army in the fight with their 4th. The Giants scored three more goals in three minutes in the final 10 minutes to kill this game off, Brookes and Bannister with their second and Max Bradwell his first, meaning Grzergorz’ goal two minutes from time was just a consolation.

Beercalona made their Ballers Sunday league bow this week, and in this division it doesn’t look like there could have been a tougher test as they faced an FC Stront Bakken team who look serious contenders for the title this season. The new team scored first as Ste Bowler put them in front on 8 minutes, and they held that lead for 11 minutes before Shaun Jemison drew the leaders level. Dylan Marginarisa put the Bucket Boys in front three minutes before the break, and they took charge in the second half as three goals from Darius Forbes and one from Declan Matthews were enough to ease Stront Bakken to a third straight win, and they’ve only conceded two goals in those three games so far, impressive stuff! The team formerly know as Lads On Toure and Expected Toulose returned as SK Six this week, and having failed to pick up a point in either of their previous incarnations, what would change about them this time around? They fell behind to a Pathetico Madrid team who have struggled for numbers recently, Adam Norton and Ashley Ellis-Quirke with the goals in the opening 4 minutes, but they hit back with 4 in 6 minutes from Max Shepherd (2), former boss Harry Bridge and new boss Brad Bent. Their lead at the break was reduced to one as Michael Winn scored for Pathetico, and the same player scored again two minutes into the second period to make it 4-4. Ethan Giles, Bridge and Shepherd scored three more quick goals to give SK a significant three goal lead with 17 minutes left, but that was reduced to two when Norton and Sam Johnson scored. Shepherd stepped up again for SK with two goals in the last two minutes to secure a first win for the new team at the third time of asking. Following this game Pathetico have left us, hopefully for just a little while as the numbers game has proven just too much for them. They were one of the Ballers originals so we hope to see them again somewhere down the line.

SPACES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN A NEW 5TH DIVISION WHICH WE WILL BE LOOKING TO START OVER THE SUMMER. FRIENDLIES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE MEANTIME, SO IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED, POINT THEM IN OUR DIRECTION.

MONDAY LEAGUE

We’ve been banging on about the return of the Monday Championship for a little while now, and finally it arrived this week! There’s still a Premiership title to be decided this season though, and both of the contenders were in action this week with AC Milmanchester up first against Phantom Brazilians. The opening 15 minutes were pretty tight, with chances at either end, but AC quickly took control after Jason Singelton opened the scoring 10 minutes from half time. He added another three to make it 4 in 10 minutes before half time, with Chris Singleton scoring the other as Milmanchester went into the break 5-0 up. Phantom did get the first goal of the second period three minutes in through Max Paterson’s finish, but apart from that the second half pretty much followed the same pattern as the first. Jason Singleton grabbed two more either side of goals from BIlly Gallagher and Simon Hackney, before Gallagher got his second to make it 5 goals in 5 minutes. Hackney’s second and Martin Gordon’s goal in the final minute capped a convincing win for ACM which did their goal difference the world of good. Expected Toulouse were looking to open up their three point lead as they took on a Not A Chance team who are looking to be the best of the rest for this season. Things were tight throughout the opening period as Paul Bardsley leveled up after Jack Taylor’s opener inside the first 5 minutes, but tow goals from Liam Mottram either side of Callum Rahman’s goal seemed to have put them in control. Callum Wild pulled one back 11 minutes from the break, and we were all set up for an exciting second half when the returning Dom Andrew (who just happened to be back as Not A Chance won a free month of football…..) made it 4-3 just before half time. Niall Hillen scored in the first minute of the second half to ease Toulouse two goals in front again, and his second 10 minutes later, followed by Jordan Milne’s goal 10 minutes from time settled any nerves Toulouse might have had about dropping points. Phil Carroll got a goal back for the Chancers in the last minute, but Toulouse stay top ahead of next week’s game with Milmanchester .

FC Rhino Ket are a funny team, and we were border line as to whether to keep them as part of the Premiership, so they were always going to provide a tough task for struggling Pathetico Madrid (in terms of player availability as well as performance). Louis Moore scored the only goal of the opening 15 minutes for Rhino Ket, but they took control in the final 7 minutes of the opening half as Jake Shaw scored a quickfire hat trick to make it 4-0 at the break. Liam Needham pulled one back for Pathetico three minutes into the second period, but in truth Rhino Ket were always in control and Ben Pawsey made it 5-1 before Shaw got his 4th and Mike Hennessey added two more to give Rhino a comfortable win. Jeremy Cheadle made their Ballers return in an interesting looking clash with Nice Buns who had had a mixed bag of results in their friendlies with us so far. It took 18 minutes before Dan Pauls broke the deadlock for Cheadle before Ballers newbie Joe Rogers made it 2-0 three minutes before the break. The same player made it 3-0 8 minutes after the restart, and Alex Whelan’s goal 10 minutes from time followed quickly by Rogers’ third put the result beyond doubt. Jimmy Williamson did pull a couple back for Nice Buns in the final 6 minutes, but Jack Whelan scored the final goal of the game a minute from time to give Cheadle a victorious return. The renamed Netsix & Chill took on Monday new boys Pique Blinders, but in truth both teams contained several Ballers veterans. One of them, Michael Jennison, gave Pique the lead in the 7th minute, and Nathaniel Kingsley scored the only other goal of the period to make it 2-0 at half time. Jennison’s second of the game three minutes into the second half looked to have put Pique well in control, but Matty Aked gave Netsix a glimmer of hope when he pulled one back 18 minutes from time. That glimmer became much more than that when Matthew Atkinson and Mike Pinder scored in the space of a minute to draw Netsix level with 13 minutes left on the clock. Kingsley’s second 5 minutes from time edged Pique back in front, and Callum Jones scored a minute later to give them a two goal cushion. Atkinson’s second two minutes from time meant we had a big finish on the cards, but Pique held on for their debut win.

THERE ARE SPACES FOR US TO ADD TWO MORE TEAMS TO THE MONDAY LEAGUE FOR THE NEW SEASON IN APRIL. FOR MORE DETAILS, GET IN TOUCH.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

With the Premiership title already won, the only thing left for Gangs Of Dwight Yorke to focus on was completing a perfect season. The latest obstacle in their way was an Oooze team who have rebuilt themselves following the hammering they took at Gangs hands earlier in the season. It still looked like being Gangs night when they went three up inside the opening 5 minutes as Callum Jones, Aden Jones and Jason Singleton scored in quick succession. Jago Stackhouse quickly got Oooze on the score sheet to keep them in touch, and Callum Bullock reduced that lead further on 13 minutes as the game turned out to be providing as much entertainment as we were expecting. It was 4-2 at the break as Chris Singleton scored 6 minutes before the break, but we were all square 6 minutes into the second period as Adam Corr scored a minute in and Bullock got his second 5 minutes later. Gangs hit back again as Callum Jones restored their lead with 15 to play, and Connor Harding looked to have finally ended Oooze resistance with their 6th 5 minutes later. Stackhouse got his second two minutes later to put the result in doubt again, and a breathless game had one final twist as Bullock completed his hat trick 5 minutes from time to end Gangs 100% record. Oooze somehow still sit 5th and could drop through the trap door if their other results don’t pick up. Inter Mi Van were asking how long it would be before they could drop down a few weeks ago, but a win this week against Only Kruls & Horses would see them go into second place in the race for runners up. Only Kruls were the team in possession of that slot at start of play, and they went in front through Seb Etchell’s first minute goal. Inter, who were sporting their smart new shirts, leveled through Karl Robins 11th minute goal, and Simon Royle put them in front on 18. Jack Mullern made it Desmond at the end of a tight first half, but it was Inter who made the decisive move with two goals in three minutes from Lee Boshir and Gary Wood to give them a 4-2 lead with 15 minutes to go that they held onto til the full time whistle. Inter Row Z are another team who would find a season in the Championship beneficial in getting the lads motivation levels up again, but they were also still in the shake up for second place and took on a Turkish Delight team who had surprisingly given Gangs a decent game last week. Ryan McAndrew gave Inter the lead in this one on 4 minutes, but Omur drew Delight level 10 minutes before half time. In those 10 minutes Inter took control as Ray Donnelly scored two and McAndrew his second to give Inter a 4-1 half time lead, and Donnelly’s third half way through the second period was the final goal of the game as Inter eased themselves into 4th place, level on points with Kruls. We think Turkish Delight will be fine once they settle into Ballers life, maybe it was asking a lot from us to throw them straight in at the deep end…..

Shaka won the early top of the table clash with Black Jack last week, so now look favourites to join the top flight for the new season. LQ FC picked up a first win since returning to Ballers last week, and they got off to a flyer in this one as Sam Holland and George Springer scored in the opening two minutes. Shaka settled down and two goals from Krisstian Ebanks-Perrin drew them level by the half way point of the period. Ryan Green put Shaka in front 6 minutes before the break, but Matthew Brierley scored two minutes before half time to end an entertaining first half all square. The second half started tentatively, and it was 12 minutes in before things kicked into action after Springer put LQ back in front. Liam Paull and Tom Hannan quickly turned things back in Shaka’s favour, before LQ quickly drew things level again. Hannan and Andrew Cadwallader scored the 6th and 7th goals in 8 breathless minutes to edge Shaka 7-5 in front, but we looked set for a big finish when Brierley scored his second with three to play. Hannan scored his third of the half a minute later to end any doubts, and Shaka make it 4 straight wins. Black Jack were looking to bounce back after last week’s first defeat against a Wellspring team who’ve struggled of late, and they looked in control early on as Kev McClean and Alex Harper gave them a two goal lead in the opening 12 minutes. Chris Murray halved the deficit just before the break, and drew Wellspring level just after it, before scoring again just after Jake Whitehead had restored Black Jack’s lead. Wellspring went in front for the first time as Murray got his 4th with 20 minutes to play, but Alex Morell-Cooke and Ryan Alderson turned it back Black Jack’s way. Morell-Cooke and Murray both scored within seconds to keep it as we were, before Whitehead and Jack Roberts eased Black Jack three goals up with three minutes to play. Lewis Arden scored with the last kick of the game, to ensure that both Championship games played this week finished 8-6. What are the odds?!

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL! FEEL FREE TO ENQUIRE AS WE DON’T HAVE ALONG WAITING LIST, BUT FOR AN IMMEDIATE START CAST YOUR EYES OVER TO OUR SUNDAY AND MONDAY LEAGUES

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

A MASSIVE shock in the Wednesday league this week, as only two games took place, one of them a friendly as we approach the end of the season. The league game saw Exeter Gently continue their unlikely campaign to finish second after a disastrous start to the season, and they faced a Magpie team that has been struggling of late. It was the strugglers who hit the front as Pawel Klimczak scored for them in the 6th minute, but Exeter, who were also sporting shiny new shirts this week, took control before the break as Jacob Gough scored two and Kristian Igo three to put them in comfortable control. Once the same two had added to the Exeter lead early in the second half, it became a case of seeing how much they could do to improve their goal difference to improve their chances of a second placed finish. Three more goals arrived in the final 10 minutes as Brad Robison, Tom Harrison and Gough completed a comfortable win. They will now be relying on Magpie to do them a favour against Polish Army next week. In the friendly, Polish Army and Stockport Eagles went at it for the 400th time, and this one was as competitive as any league game. Eagles lead 2-1 after 5 minutes, and at the break as Ryan McAndrew scored twice before Marcin pulled one back, and the Poles turned it around within 6 minutes of the start of the second half as Bania scored two. Un-named player made it 3-3 with 16 to play, but Dominik put the Army back in front three minutes later. The Eagles produced a big finish to this one, as Paul Waugh leveled up three minutes from time, and Matty Aked scored the winner with one of the last kicks of the game.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, BUT AGAIN WE DON’T HAVE MUCH OF A WAITING LIST, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR LEAGUE NIGHTS!