From a league point of view, that’s us done for 2017. The next time we see a lot of our league teams there will be turkey and (dare we say) a bit of beer that teams will be looking to run off.
LEAGUE NEWS
The NEW MONDAY LEAGUE kicks off on 15th March, with friendlies available for any new or returning teams on 8th January. We will also be looking to add a mini league on a Tuesday evening, starting on 23rd January, also with friendlies available in the run up. Get in touch for details about either of these.
Following the success of our first Christmas Cup of the year this week, we have a second one taking place next Thursday, 28th December, in support of Stroke Information. Spaces are filling up, but there’s still a couple remaining on a first come, first served basis. Kick off is at 7pm, a minimum donation of £5 per player to take part.
MONDAY LEAGUE
This week saw the final night of a slightly disrupted Monday league season, but there was plenty of room for drama in the Premiership as AC Milmanchester and Expected Toulouse went into the final night level on points with Expected leading the way on goal difference. AC were up first. knowing they needed to set a target for Toulouse to chase down, and they went about it in the first half as three goals from Martin Gordon, and one each from Chris Singelton, Callum Jones and Kiarno Samms gave them a 6-1 lead at the break. They stepped on the gas in the second period, with Gordon and Jones adding 4 more each amongst others, as they ran out 17-4 winners meaning Expected needed a 10 goal win in their game with Phantom Brazilians to claim a debut Monday Premiership title. They gave themselves a fighting chance in the first half, as three goals from Liam Mottram and two from Jordan Milne gave them a 5-1 lead at half time. Matt Holbrook made their task harder by pulling one back for Phantom early in the second half, and Toulouse fell just short as three more for Milne and two for Niall Hillen meant they won 10-2, leaving Milmanchester as back to back Monday Premiership title winners.
In the Championship, Not A Chance already had the title wrapped up before they took on relative new boys FC Rhino Ket. It was the new side that took the lead through a Louis Moore goal on 12 minutes, and they came within two minutes of holding that lead until the break, but Kyle Bell struck a leveller for the Chancers. Jack Needham restored Ket’s lead early in the second half, but Not A Chance were the stronger team in the final stages as Bell grabbed another three and Phil Carroll two inside the final 20 minutes to give the Championship winners a perfect 10 for the season.
THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON 15TH JANUARY 2018! GET IN TOUCH TO BOOK IN YOUR FRIENDLY FOR THE 8TH JANUARY IF YOU ARE THINKING IT COULD BE FOR YOU.
TUESDAY LEAGUE
Only a couple of games barely survived in the final Tuesday evening of the year, and title holders Mirror Signal Malouda made it two wins from two heading into 2018 as 5 goals from Josh Morrisey, three from Jake Dean, two from Kieran Hamilton and one from Wez Barker gave them a comfortable enough 11-6 win over Wellspring, for whom Lewis Arden and Jamie Berrisford grabbed three apiece. The other game was an entertaining affair as Oooze FC took on a Cheadle FC team who were fielding a stronger side this week than the last time they turned out. An end to end first half saw Oooze lead 5-4 at the break, before they edged themselves clear to eventually run out 10-6 winners to take top spot as the only team to have fulfilled all of their fixtures so far.
THE TUESDAY LEAGUE MAY CURRENTLY BE FULL, BUT WE DO HAVE SPACE TO GET A MINI LEAGUE STARTED IN EARLY 2018, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.
WEDNESDAY LEAGUE
Just one game in the Wednesday league this week as the final few days before Christmas started to bite, but it was a tight one between Polish Army and Exeter Gently. Dominik and Marcin gave the poles an early two goal lead, but a couple of Kristian Igo goals and a tidy finish from Tom Harrison turned things in Exeter’s favour approaching the break. They couldn’t hold the lead until half time though, as Dominik grabbed his second in the final seconds of the half to see us into the break at 3-3. The Polish style of play was proving to be a distraction to the Exeter players, and their loss of concentration throughout the second period was to cost them dear as goals from Marcin 7 minutes into the half and Slawek two minutes from time gave them the win.
THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, SO FOR NOW IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO JOIN A LEAGUE, MONDAY OR TUESDAY IS WHERE YOU’RE BEST OFF LOOKING!
SUNDAY LEAGUE
There were still 7 games on this week in the Sunday league (should have been 8…..) as our biggest league night showed little sign of slowing down heading into the festive period. Duno had got off to a decent start to life in the top flight, but they faced their toughest test of the season so far against reigning champions Insole. They got off to the ideal start when Steven Whetham gave them the lead in the third minute, and Roberto added a second for them 9 minutes from the break. Jack Atkinson reduced the arrears a couple of minutes later, and Insole were level with 14 minutes remaining when Liam Atkinson grabbed a goal. Duno hit straight back as Calvin Alexander scored a minute later, and in a frantic final few minutes Duno were able to hold on for an impressive win that sees them clear at the top of the table at Christmas. Kinky Slipper were playing only their second game of the season after a fairly disrupted start to the Sunday Premiership season, and they faced El Caliente this week. Rob Creswell gave them the lead in the 7th minute, but Michael Jennison leveled things up on 16. Joe Lailey restored the Kinky lead two minutes before the break, and they looked to have killed the game off with two Jordan Hutchinson goals in the opening 4 minutes of the second period. Matthew Kealy (we think) did pull one back for Caliente with 20 minutes still to play, but that was it as far as the scoring went, as Kinky set themselves up to be the nearest contenders to Duno in these early stages.
The only game in the Championship saw family members go up against each other as Step Brothers took on The McMuffin Men. The McMuffins were in just their second game at this level having skipped League One, and they were looking for their first points of the campaign. They got off to the better start as two Jack Derbyshire goals gave them the advantage in the opening stages. A piece of magic by Chris Moore got Step Brothers back into it, and they were level 7 minutes before the break as Rob Sheldon scored. The McMuffins lead at the break though, as Sam Delgado scored three minutes from the interval, but things quickly turned in the Brotherhood’s favour early in the second period. Goals from Gaz Fay, Tom Cioffi and two from Josh Armitage saw Step Brothers take a three goal lead in the first 9 minutes, and though Derbyshire pulled one back for McMuffin, further goals from Cioffi and Sheldon took the game away from them. Derbyshire added another two to reduce the deficit to two goals again, but Moore ended any thoughts of a comeback before Delgado grabbed the final goal of the game to leave Step Brothers with a 9-7 victory.
Rooneytunes had done ok since they joined the Sunday league a couple of weeks ago, with one 5-4 win and one 5-4 defeat in their first two games, but they didn’t have quite as strong a team out this week and boy did it show! Inter Row Z look set to claim a promotion place at least as they remain unbeaten so far, and when 5 goals from Ray Donnelly helped them to a 10-0 half time lead this week, there was no danger of that run ending. The eventually ended up running out 16-2 winners as Donnelly added another three in the second half, while the rest of the goals were spread around the team. The other game in the division saw SK Dons, who were still looking for their first League One point, take on a Wellspring team who had started the season well before taking a hammering against Inter last time out. Mike Devitt seemed to have put Wellspring on the way to s comfortable win when he scored twice in the opening 10 minutes, but Kyle Norris halved that lead and we went into the break at 2-1. Nathan Wilkinson made it 3-1 a couple of minutes into the second half, but two goals in a minute for the Dons made it 3-3 with 14 minutes left. George Quayle and Wilkinson grabbed the decisive goals in the final 10 minutes as Wellspring returned to winning ways as they sit second in the Christmas standings.
With Pathetico Madrid picking up a forfeit win this week as SFC Club failed to recover from their Christmas hangovers, Deportivo needed to pick up a win to keep pace with the leaders. No one can remember the last time Inter Your Sister picked up a point, but they were level at 1-1 10 minutes into this one after Craig Johnson cancelled out Jake Riley’s opener, but Deportivo lead at the break as Chris Cunliffe and Brad Peet added goals towards the end of the half. The goals flowed a little more in the second period as Rob Parker grabbed 4 for Deportivo as they eased to an 8-5 victory to join Pathetico on 9 points. Stockport Eagles and FC Stront Bakken would both be expecting to push towards the promotion spots, but having dropped points already this season they both needed points from this week’s game. The Eagles soared into a 3-1 half time lead as Ben Waugh grabbed a first half hat trick, but Declan Matthews second of the game early in the second half meant it was game on again going into the latter stages. Ryan McAndrew grabbed the final goal of the game in the final 5 minutes to give the Eagles the win, and they go third, three points behind the leaders.
THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL! WE CAN ALWAYS LOOK AT THE OPTIONS FOR ADDING A 5TH DIVISION IN THE NEW YEAR, SO FEEL FREE TO ASK AWAY……