Spring is here! The clocks go forward in a few weeks, and before we know it the ‘Beast from the East’ will be a distant memory, having had a fairly major impact on the Ballers action this week.
LEAGUE NEWS
If it wasn’t for this weather we could have been reporting on a bumper week as the Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday leagues are all full, and we are down to just the one space in the Monday league which restarts on 19th March. The Beast From The East finally caught up with us and wiped out the Tuesday and Wednesday leagues this week, but we’re sure everyone will be back at it for next week.
When we say the Sunday league is full, that’s assuming we don’t gain enough teams in the next few days to add a 5TH DIVISION TO THE SUNDAY LEAGUE. It’s worth asking if you might be interested…..
As previously mentioned, we have just the ONE SPACE in the Monday league for the NEW MONDAY DIVISION WHICH STARTS ON 19TH MARCH. Get in touch for details.
sUNDAY LEAGUE
Just the final 4 league games were played this week alongside a batch of friendlies for the teams without games. We will probably mention it again bu the NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE STARTS THIS WEEKEND, 4TH MARCH, last chance to get involved…..
Insole might have lost their title, but second place was still there to be had if they could beat a Kipsta Cobras team who were one of the teams who had taken points off them this season. Liam Atkinson gave Insole the lead in the 4th minute, and doubled that lead 9 minutes later, before Jake Parker grabbed his first Ballers goal and Atkinson scored again to make it 4-0 two minutes before the break. George Carr pulled one back just before half time, and the lead was reduced to two two minutes after the restart as Matt Toft scored. That was as close at they got though, and goals from Brad Street and Aaron Campbell in the next 5 minutes eased them clear again. Atkinson got his 4th of the game and Street his second in the final minute to see Insole finish the season with a win.
The Veterans needed to recapture some of their early season form if they were to avoid taking the drop back to the third tier, a season after they came so close to claiming a Premiership spot. The had to find a win from one of their two games this week, with the first being the toughest test at Championship level as Dench looked to claim the title. There were plenty of goals in this one, and in the early stages it very much looked like being a routine win for the table toppers as Phil Carroll, Dan Jones(2), Marc Jagger and Jonny McAuley made it 5-0 after just 14 minutes. Andy Carrington and Ben Mercer got The Vets off the mark and back in contention with two goals in the following two minutes, but Jones third of the half made it 6-2 on 19 minutes. Simon Grainger got another back for The Vets, McAuley got his second for Dench, before Wes Hodkinson scored the final goal of an action packed first half to leave us at 7-4 at the break. The second half was much more one sided, as Jagger scored a minute into the period, and even though Dean Minshull pulled another back two minutes later, further goals from Jagger(3), Paul Bardsley, Carroll, McAuley and Luke Ashworth meant that Dench head into the Premiership as Champions on the back of an impressive win. It will get harder from next week…… So the final relegation place came down to The Veterans and The McMuffin Men, with the McMuffins having ran into a decent spell of form to give them a chance of saving their season. They had beaten the same opposition last week, but went behind here as the fresh Sam Collicott gave The Vets the lead in the 5th minute. That lead lasted just a minutes as Jack Searle quickly drew McMuffin level, and they took control with two goals in the final 5 minutes of the half from Sam Delgado. Charley Eyre’s goal 5 minutes into the second half looked to have sealed The Vets fate, but Andy Carrington pulled one back a minute later, and they remained in contention when Collicott got his second a minute after Searle had increased the McMuffin lead again. The final stages proved too much for The Vets and McMuffin Men scored three more through Eyre, Searle and Delgado to secure their Championship status.
Polish Army’s debut Sunday season saw them finish in a mid table position that confirmed we’d put them in the right division, but this week they were facing an FC AOTS team who will be disappointed with their showing this season. This was an absolute cracker, and Mateusz scored the first of plenty of goals in the second minute. AOTS turned it around with two in three minutes from Steve Whittle and Adam Duty, but by the break they were three behind as Marcin scored two, Matuesz got his second and Pawel got himself on the score sheet. AOTS needed a good start to the second period and they got it, as a goal from Whittle and two from Eoghan Scott made it 5-5 with 18 minutes still to play. It was a mad 18 minutes, with both teams giving it everything, and the roars that greeted each goal could be heard from miles around! Pawel put the Poles back in front, but Scott and Duty quickly turned it around to put AOTS back in front. Pawel scored again before Duty quickly responded to edge AOTS ahead as we headed into the final 5. Marcin leveled things up yet again, but Duty looked to have won it for AOTS with his 4th two minutes from time. It was probably only fair that this one ended up all square, and it did as Grzegorz scored a last minute leveler, and these two teams will get to do it all again next season!
League Two was all done and dusted last week, so all that remained of the week was a series of friendles. Stockport Eagles put up a decent showing against the Premiership winners Kinky Slipper, who may have been on a comedown after their unbeaten Premiership season, the game finishing 9-8 in Kinky’s favour. The ‘local derby’ between League One winners Inter Row Z and Duno finished in a competitive 5-5 draw as Inter will be looking to join Duno in the top flight in a seasons time. Rooneytunes and Deportivo Lack Of Talent will be swapping places this season, and Rooneytunes will be looking to mount a promotion campaign as they won this one 7-2 against an admittedly weakened Deportivo side. League One runners up Wellspring picked up a 6-1 win over Pathetico Madrid, who will remain in the bottom division and be looking to mount a more sustainable promotion campaign this time around.
THE NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE STARTS THIS WEEK. CHANCES OF US GETTING TO A 5TH DIVISION ARE PROBABLY MINIMAL, UNLESS YOU AND SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE WHO DON’T CURRENTLY PLAY THINK ABOUT ENTERING A SIDE……. ALL YOU CAN DO IS ASK!
MONDAY LEAGUE
Following a fairly late cancellation from their opposition, AC Milmanchester missed a game for the first time this season, so Expected Toulouse had the chance to claim top spot as they played two to catch up games that were previously missed. The first was a potential banana skin against Phantom Brazilians, who were hampered by an injury in the warm up to Paul Wilkinson, and it showed in their first half performance as Expected dominated the opening 25. Jordan Milne put them in front on 5 minutes before Jack Grundy doubled the lead in the 8th minute. Liam Mottram, Niall Hillen and Milne added to the total, and though Ryan Clayton pulled one back a minute before the break, Milne grabbed his third of the half to make it 6-1 at the interval. Matt Barton toe-bunged Phantom back to within 4 at the start of the second half, and though the second half was a much more even half of football, it was an own goal three minutes from time that sealed a fairly comfortable win that saw Toulouse go top on goal difference. They would have expected to increase that advantage in their second game against bottom side Murder On Zidane’s Floor, and without wanting to dwell on this one too much, they did. ‘Keeper Nicolas Appleton joined the Golden Gloves list as he kept a clean sheet while his team mates spread the goals about as they fired in 16. Liam Mottram top scored with 6, Jordan Milne got 4, and Jack Grundy, Niall Hillen and Jack Taylor got two apiece as Murder sit tight on the league splitting at the half way point. Strikeforce found fielding a team to be a bit of a struggle, but they got 6 on the pitch again as they took on struggling Pathetico Madrid. Pathetico are another side who are awaiting the split, but they had the better of the opening period as goals from John Peneveyre, Liam Needham, Nathan Thomson and Craig Moss saw them into the break 4-2 up as Matty Aked and Matthew Ricketts responded for Strikeforce. Mike Pinder made it a one goal game when he scored 5 minutes after the break, but the man they call Dale made it 5-3 two minutes later. Strikeforce finished the stronger though, and goals from Pinder and Joey Carruth drew this one level with 10 to play. Grant Gregory put them in front for the first time before Carruth and an un-named scorer finished this one off as Strikeforce, quite surprisingly, sit in third place. Nice Buns were back for a second week as they patiently await the start of the Monday Championship, and they faced off against a mix’n’match team made up primarily of Duno and Inter Row Z players. The first half was end to end, and it was 4-4 at the break Buns goals from Charlie and Jimmy Williamson and two from Tom Dempsey were matched by three from Liam Watson and one from Calvin Alexander. The Buns controlled the second half though, and Jimmy added 4 more, Charlie two more, and Dale Kirkham and Tom Hall a pair of goals each to ease them to a 14-6 win with Lee Clarke and Ray Donnelly grabbing a couple back.
THE NEW MONDAY CHAMPIONSHIP STARTS ON 19TH MARCH. THERE IS CURRENTLY A SPACE TO BE HAD, BUT IT WON’T BE THERE FOR LONG…….
TUESDAY LEAGUE
After a mid afternoon pitch inspection showed no settled snow on the hallowed turf, we looked set for a decent night of Ballers Tuesday league action. But a heavy half hour of snow an hour before the games were due to kick off buried the pitch in snow and made the roads around the centre a little dicey, so we had no choice to but to call off our Tuesday action for this week.
WE CURRENTLY SEEM TO HAVE A COUPLE OF TEAMS ‘FIGHTING’ OVER THE ONE CURRENT SPACE IN THE NEW TUESDAY CHAMPIONSHIP, SO IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO SIGN UP, MONDAY IS YOUR NIGHT!
WEDNESDAY LEAGUE
Ha, no chance…..
THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, CAST YOUR EYES AT MONDAY IF YOU WANT TO BE A BALLER.