Fresh as a daisy from our summer break, we’re back and ready for a long autumn and winter of Ballers action. Hopefully all of our teams will be in the same boat and raring to get back to it.

LEAGUE NEWS

With the summer a dim and distant memory (it was a good one though), we hope everyone is ready for the Autumn season. Here’s our current league standings:

SUNDAY LEAGUE: Currently FULL, but with a few other teams milling around we do have the option of adding a mini league in in the next few weeks

MONDAY LEAGUE: SPACES AVAILABLE. We are looking at having a little re-jig of the Monday league as a number of teams have struggled through the summer months. This means we can accommodate new teams for an immediate start

TUESDAY LEAGUE: ONE SPACE AVAILABLE in the Premiership. As it’s near the end of the season any new team that comes in will have the option of dropping into the Championship when the new season starts.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE: New season starts NEXT WEEK, but it’s FULL, so look elsewhere!

We have our Players Pool group on Facebook for anyone who might be looking for a team, or any teams who might be looking for players, click the link and request to join to get involved https://www.facebook.com/groups/441897286297839/

We’ve got our Goal Of The Month competition running on the social media pages, and will be running a Facebook competition over the coming weeks to celebrate our 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Keep an eye out and get involved.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

The brand new Sunday league flew out of the blocks after the summer break with 9 league games played and a friendly on the opening week. We welcomed Wilmslow Whoppers to the top division as they finally followed up their threats to join us that seems to have gone on for most of the past couple of years, and their opening game with former champions Insole always had the look of one that would be tough to call. A tight first half saw Whoppers recover from going behind to Wayne Reeves third minute opener for Insole, to lead 2-1 at the break as Dan Exley and Liam Delaney scored for them. Exley and Olly Ford scored early in the second half to seemingly put them in control, before Insole showed their fighting qualities to score 6 unanswered goals in 10 minutes to go 7-4 up half way through the second period. Delaney and Ford got their second to reduce the deficit to just one, and they looked to have nicked it with two more late goals from Ford. A final twist saw Jack Atkinson score with the final kick of the game to give Insole a point from a breathless 8-8 draw. If only we’d filmed it…… Stockport Eagles have gone from the bottom division to the top flight in no time having spent most of their early Ballers days in the lower divisions, and their first top division game was against Bangers & Pash. They took the lead through a Ryan McAndrew goal in the 12th minute, but trailed at the break as Chris Carroll scored two and Harry Kilmartin the other, while McAndrew kept Eagles in it with his second of the half. Three goals in a 6 minute spell in the second period from Callum Campbell, Rory Kelly and MAtt Sheehan put the game to bed, with Campbell’s second of the game a minute from time securing a 7-2 opening night win for Bangers.

Last season’s Championship was mostly made up of previously reliable teams who struggled through the difficult summer months, but we start the season with a 100% turnout this week and three very close games which bodes well for a good season. The standout tie of the opening week was the clash between former Premiership champions Kinky Slipper, and another former Premiership team in Kipsta Cobras. An own goal gave Kipsta the lead, and Connor Harding doulbed that lead 7 minutes before the break. Kinky are in this division as they missed most of last season, but they were back level before the break as Dale Roberts grabbed a debut Ballers goal and Wesley Harney got the leveler two minutes from the half time whistle. The second half was equally as tight, and it was a late double from Roberts that made the difference between the two sides as Kinky start what should be a promotion campaign with a win. Would have been a good game to film…… Another interesting opening day game was the winners of League Two versus the winners of League One as Beercalona skipped League One and took a spot in the Championship to face Ladzio. A wide open first half saw the teams share 8 goals to go in level at 4-4 at the break, with Ladzio never leading the way. Jay Ratcliffe got three and Tom Ratcliffe the other for Beercalona, with George Cox grabbing two, Sam Findlow and Owen McNally the others for Ladzio. Martin Bell eased Beercalona two ahead with 12 minutes to play, but a frantic last 5 minutes started with Lewis Findlow reducing that deficit to one again. Dave Watson and Jay Ratcliffe looked to have clinched the win for Beercalona, but Sam Findlow scored one and Kai Lawless two in the final couple of minutes to leave Beercalona hanging on for 9-8 win. How good would a 9-8 game have looked on camera? Polish Army were back from their summer break, and took on League One runners up Sevilla Lacatalent on their big return. We were level at 1-1 at the break as Bania scored for the Poles a minute after Daniel McDonald had given Sevilla a 17th minute lead. We went into the final 10 minutes still level, but at 2-2 as Bania got his second to level up again after Jake Riley had restored the Sevilla lead. It was natural that after their break the Polish would be running on fumes near the end, and it was Riley’s second that decided this one 6 minutes from time. Another close game that we’re sure would have looked great on camera…….

It’s been a tough few seasons for Team Tom, who struggled to field a side throughout much of last season despite having been small sided football regulars for most of this millennium. Having finally been given a break and dropped down to the 3rd tier of the Sunday league, it looked a tough ask again as they could only field 5 players for their first game against Inter Your Sister, the first time these two teams have met in a long while. The lack of players didn’t seem to affect them that badly as they lead 3-1 at the break as Rob Jordan, Tom Hornsby and Adam Priest got their goals, with Dave Smythe replying for Inter. They remained on top in the second half, as Jordan added two more, Priest and an own goal the others as they ran out 7-2 winners with Curtis Rothwell scoring the only other Inter goal on a bad night for them. Team Tom will obviously be fancying a run at some trophies this season….. Murder On Zidane’s Floor started their first full season with an interesting looking game against Pat’s Giants, another team who struggled through most of last season in the Championship. This was the actual game we picked to film, so it must have been an absolute doozy, right? It was a tight game from the off, with Dan Evans early goal for Murder the only goal until Danny Brookes and Matt Sands turned things in Giants favour in the latter stages of the half. Carl Harratt made it 3-1 early in the second half, but we were back level with 15 to play as Evans and Tommy Schofield got themselves on the score sheet. Both teams went for it in the final stages but there were no more goals, so both teams get off the mark for the season.

How the mighty have fallen. In the blink of an eye, Step Brothers have gone from Premiership to League Two as they look to rebuild after several seasons of struggle. The Veterans are also in the basement for another season having been close to reaching the Premiership just a few seasons ago, but they were well behind at the break in this one as every Step Brothers outfield player got their names on the score sheet in the opening period. Chris Moore produced a couple of magic finishes to go along with goals from Chris Sinclair, Rob Sheldon, Tom and Dom Cioffi, with just a solitary Paul Atherton goal in response for The Vets in the first half. The result was in the bag when Sinclair, Dom and Tom Cioffi added further goals in the opening 10 minutes of the second period to make it 9-1. The game wasn’t as one sided as the score suggested, with The Brothers ‘keeper Gaz Fay claiming the man of the match award, but he was beaten by two more goals from Atherton and one each from Simon Grainger and Adam Pinder to give the final scoreline a more favourable look. SK Six are determined to pick up a genuine, bonafide victory of their own this season, but faced a tough opening game against FC Stront Bakken who were back in the bottom division after a season in the third tier. They started off well with Brad Bent giving them an early lead, but they didn’t hold onto it for long as Declan Matthews quickly drew the Bucket Boys level. Danny Robinshaw put Bakken in front and Matthews added his second before the break to put them in control, and Patrick Mitchell looked to have put them out of sight with their 4th three minutes after the restart. SK hit back, and Harry Bridge struck an 8 minute hat trick to make it 4-4 with 13 minutes left on the clock, but Stront Bakken responded with two more goals from Lukas Voveris inside the final 10 minutes. Bridge got another three minutes from time, but there was no sharing of the spoils as Stront Bakken held on for the win.

FC AOTS were rocking their new shirts this week, but only in friendly action as the recently withdrawn Wellspring dragged the lads back down for a Sunday game. The new shirts are off to a winning start as 4 goals from Zac Jamieson, and two each from Adam Duty, Charley Hutchinson and Eoghan Scott were more than enough to secure a comfortable 11-3 victory.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL AT 4 DIVISIONS, BUT WE SEE THE CHANCES FOR ADDING TO THIS LEAGUE IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE AS ENQUIRIES CONTINUE TO COME IN. DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK….. 

MONDAY LEAGUE

The Monday league as at the other end of the spectrum to the Sunday league at the minute, with a number of teams struggling which is making us consider a change of format at this stage of the season. Only two games were played this week, both in the Championship, and one consisting of one of our new Random teams. Firstly, Netsix & Chill were looking to maintain their promotion push against a Nice Buns team who were still looking for their first point of the season. They did strike first through a 9th minute own goal (naming no names…..), but Netsix hit back with three quick goals from Mike Pinder, Matty Aked and James Bamgbose to lead 3-1 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining. Buns looked like they fancied this one though, and they were quickly level again as Jimmy Williamson and Dale Kirkham made it 3-3, three minute before the break. Netsix lead at the break as Aaron Campbell made the most of a mix up at the back for Buns, and the leaders ran away with it as Buns ran out of steam in the second half. Bamgbose got two more, Warren Yeo bagged a couple and Pinder got his second ease Netsix to another win. Phantom Brazilians took on the new team, looking to keep in touch with Netsix at the top, but they fell behind to Shaun Mulverney’s 6th minute opener for the new team. Daniel Clayton leveled up for Phantom 5 minutes before the break, but a Wez Hodkinson penalty put the new boys 2-1 up at half time. Andy Ingleson made it 3-1 two minutes into the season half, but Connor Harding quickly responded for Phantom, who went on to spend most of the second half peppering the Randommers goal. Random keeper Danny Robinshaw held them at bay though, and the new team were able to clinch the win with a couple of late goals, one each for Mulverney and John Brookes.

SPACES ARE AVAILABLE FOR AN IMMEDIATE START IN THE MONDAY LEAGUE. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Gangs Of Dwight Yorke don’t look like being stopped this season and after a comfortable win over Stroke Titty first time around there would have been quite long odds on their run ending this week. The first half was far more even than the half time scoreline of 6-0 in Gangs favour suggested, with the main difference being the quality of the finishing at either end, Wez Barker and Callum Jones grabbed three apiece to all but end the game by the break. Joe Lailey finally took one of the many Stroke chances just after the break, and while he added two more throughout the half, Gangs had a firm grip on the result by this point and scored 7 more in the second period, Jones with another three, Barker and Josh Morrissey with two each. A win for much changed Total Bala over a much changed Shaka would see the Bala boys go clear in second place, and after a pretty tight first half they lead 3-2 at the break . Lee Manion had opened the scoring for Bala before Shaka drew level through Dan Kitchener’s goal. Ethan Kaye restored the Total lead but Jake Tyler struck again for Shaka before Manion’s second on the stroke of half time sent them into the break ahead. Manion’s third opened up a two goal lead for the first time with 15 minutes left, and two goals from Paul Thornton quickly followed to secure the result, which was finished off with two more from Kaye in the final couple of minutes.

The renamed collection of randommers, henceforth known as Show Me Da Mane, faced another uphill challenge this week as they took on league leaders Beercalona with another couple of new players on board. There was only one goal in it at the break though, as Jay Ratcliffe and Martin Bell ensured the leaders went in 2-1 up, with Chris Murray pulling one back for Mane. Craig Scanlon and Tom Ratcliffe scored to put Beercalona three up, and though Mane pulled one back to stay in contention, goals in the final 10 minutes from Scott Williams, Scanlon, and the pair of Ratcliffe’s ave them an 8-4 win, with Murray grabbing a couple in response for Mane.

In friendly action, possibly the game of the night saw Championship side  Wellspring head towards the break in their game against top flight side Michu At De Gea Ba with a 3-0 lead given to them by Jack Philliips, Lewis Arden and Jamie Berrisford. Paul Mazzitelli grabbed one back for Michu just before the whistle, and we headed towards the final 10 minutes level at 3-3 as ‘un-named man’ and Fidelis Eberegbe scored in the first 10 minutes of the second period. The top division team edged it as Alex Brady and Eberegbe scored late on.

WE HAVE ONE SPACE FOR ANY TEAM WHO FANCY THEIR CHANCES IN THE TOP FLIGHT, BUT AS WE’RE HEADING TOWARDS THE END OF THE SEASON THERE’S A CHANCE FOR THAT TEAM TO DROP INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE END OF THE SEASON. GET IN TOUCH

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

The Wednesday league drew to it’s conclusion with one league game and a couple of friendlies, and with the title already decided it was all about third place and preparations for the new season which starts next week. Magpie could have nicked third place with a big win over Exeter Gently, and they struck first through Stanislaw Cierpiatka’s 8th minute goal. Exeter leveled up through Kristian Igo’s goal two minutes before the break, and they looked to have third place secured when Tom Harrison scored in the first minute of the second half. Magpie needed a 9 goal win to claim third, which was extremely unlikely, but they did level up again through Mariusz Koszla’s goal 4 minutes later, but a slightly controversial Igo goal 15 minutes from time gave Exeter a final day win .

Champions Ajax Treesdown (trophies next week!) ran out comfortable winners against the newly named Unprotected Cesc, who are trying to nail down a settled squad ahead of the new campaign. Jordan Hardman and Evan Farrell scored three each in a 9-2 win, with both of Cesc’s goals coming from Scott Norris. A very hastily thrown together random team came in to give Stockport Eagles a game this week, and it was a comfortable night’s work for them as Ray Donnelly scored 6 and Paul Waugh 4 as they ran out 15-3 winners.

THE NEW WEDNESDAY LEAGUE START NEXT WEEK, BUT THERE’S NO SPACE FOR NEW TEAMS AS THINGS STAND! HAVE A LOOK AT MONDAY AND TUESDAY FOR CURRENT SPACES FOR AN IMMEDIATE START