You remember how when you got into the final few weeks of school before the summer holidays, and you basically switched off? Seems like quite a few of our teams took that approach to the upcoming Ballers holiday this week……
LEAGUE NEWS
There are NO GAMES NEXT WEEK as we take an end of summer break before we go again at the start of September. When we’re back, here’s where we’re up to:
The NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON 2ND SEPTEMBER. At this point, as we haven’t yet finalised the format for the new season, we can still find space for any new teams who want to get involved.
We currently have a space in each division of our MONDAY and TUESDAY leagues, so if you’re up for the challenge of going straight into a top division, or fancy a slightly easier start in the Championship, we can accommodate you.
We’ve set up an SK Ballers Player Pool group on Facebook to help teams look for players and players look for teams. We’ll also be posting about upcoming leagues, spaces, and using the group to put teams together made up of players who can’t get the numbers to form their own team. So head to https://www.facebook.com/groups/441897286297839 and request to join!
SUNDAY LEAGUE
The final night of the Sunday league saw only a handful of games played, as a number of teams struggled with holidays or took the opportunity to have an extra week off rather than play a friendly. The only thing that was yet to be determined in the top flight was the runners up spot, which either Bangers & Pash or Insole could wrap up with a win when they played each other. Insole had two games this week, so they would have a second chance to play for it if this game finished as a draw, but they looked to make it theirs as they edged into a two goal lead at half time, Brad Street and Wayne Reeves with the goals. Half way through the second period Rory Kelly pulled one back for Bangers, and when Alex Fowell drew them level with 5 minutes left they had a chance to nick that runners up spot. Neither team could find a winner though, so it went down to Insole’s second game against Real Maskid. Sam Green gave Maskid the lead in the second minute, but any hopes of them pulling off the result Bangers needed looked over when Aaron Campbell scored 4, Kyle Clarke, Wayne Reeves and Mike Pinder one each before the half time break. Kurtes Curran extended the lead 4 minutes after the restart, but in a more even second period Phil Carratt and Jack Wilson scored for Maskid either side of Clarke’s second. Clarke’s third was quickly followed by a couple more for Maskid from Andy Smith and Carratt, before Pinder completed the scoring with 6 minutes left to play.
No Championship or League One action this week, so it’s straight into League Two, with a couple of games played to finish off the season. Beercalona will jump a division and head straight for the Championship in the new season, and they might have showed why as they comfortably dispatched of SK Six, who will be happy not to play them again next season! Jay and Tom Ratcliffe both scored in the opening minute, and though Steve Blunsten and and own goal saw SK Six back in it early doors, it was 5-1 at the break as Martin Bell and both Ratcliffe’s got on the score sheet. It was an almost entirely one sided second half, as Bell got two, Jay three, Dave Watson two, Tom one and an own goal finished it off. The Veterans and FC AOTS was always likely to be a close one to call given both teams recent form, and they couldn’t be split at the break as two goals from Adam Duty were matched by goals from Ryan Prestwich and Simon Grainger. The Veterans looked to have it won when Grainger added a couple more early in the second period, but AOTS hit back in the final 10 as Eoghan Scott grabbed a couple either side of Duty’s third to give AOTS a win at the end of a season that finished a lot better than it started.
SK Dons were back for a final friendly before the real thing starts in a couple of weeks, and they had a good game with League Two runners up (who don’t want to go up….) Deportivo Lack Of Talent. The Dons lead 3-0 at the break as Kyle Norris scored two and Matt Richardson the other, but three goals from Brad Peet and two from Rob Parker helped Deportivo to a comeback victory as they won 8-4.
THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS OVER! IT RESTARTS ON 2ND SEPTEMBER AFTER THE BALLERS BREAK, AND WE CAN STILL FIND SPACE FOR NEW OR RETURNING TEAMS. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.
MONDAY LEAGUE
Oh boy, it would seem that this Ballers break can’t come soon enough for some of the Monday teams, with Diva Fever, AC Milmanchester, Pathetico Madrid, and even Nice Buns unable to put a team out this week. Having told Kroos Control we couldn’t get them a game after juggling things around, J Stands Barmy Army failed to show for their game with Ruud van Nipplerooy, meaning another game that could have gone ahead didn’t. Can’t wait for this break……
So, we had ONE GAME this Monday, and on paper it was a top of the table Championship clash between Netsix & Chill and Phantom Brazilians. When we say on paper, it was the two teams at the top of the league, who played out a 0-0 draw on the opening night of the season, but Phantom were missing several regular starts this week, and it showed as they went into the break 7-0 down, Warren Yeo and Mike Pinder with two, Aaron Campbell, Wayne Reeves and an own goal the other scorers. Pinder made it 8 before Daniel Clayton got Phantom on the board, but shockingly there was no comeback as James Bamgbose, Campbell and Matty Aked added further goals, with Clayton’s second in the final few minutes nothing more than a consolation.
WE HAVE A SPACE IN BOTH DIVISIONS OF THE MONDAY LEAGUE, AND ANY TEAMS WANTING TO START HAVE A WEEK AND A HALF TO GET THEIR SQUADS SORTED. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.
TUESDAY LEAGUE
Fortunately not as many teams were in holiday mode in the Tuesday league, and we were able to get 4 games on this week. Only one of them was in the Premiership though, and it saw Michu At De Gea Ba looking to bounce back from last week’s shock defeat to Stroke Titty as they looked to cling onto Gangs Of Dwight Yorke’s coat tails in the race for the Premiership title. Their race looked run int the first half as two goals from Ryan Green and another from James Holden gave a Shaka team, without a point this season, a 3-0 half time lead. Any thoughts of a second half comeback were dealt a blow when Jonny McAuley tapped in a 4th two minutes after the break, and the game was well and truly over when Tom Hannan and Green added two more half way through the period. The only thing worthy of note from the final 10 minutes was whether Will Hudson could rack up his 6th Ballers clean sheet, which he did on a night to forget for Michu.
Wellspring are making a real effort to put themselves in a position to claim a Premiership place this season, and went up against the still new Team Randommer (join the new SK Ballers Player Pool group on Facebook to vote for a better name…..). Things looked relatively promising for the Random lads in the early stages as they trailed 3-2 half way through the opening period as Chris Murray scored twice to keep them in it after goals from George Quayle and two from Jack Hartley. The leaders ran away with it towards the end of the half as Steven Whetham, Quayle and Lewis Arden scored to add to an own goal to make it 7-2 at the break. It didn’t get much better in the second half as Quayle added three more, Arden and Jack Phillips two, Whetham and Hartley one each, with Fidelis Eberegbe, Andy Carrington and Chris Murray replying for the soon to be renamed Randommers (assuming they still want to come back after this…..). Wellspring have benefited from playing teams at the ‘right’ time this season, so they lead the table on goal difference from Beercalona before the games kicked off tonight, and it was unlikely that they would make any headway into that goal difference from their game with Black Jack this week. They did lead 3-0 at the break as Jay Ratcliffe grabbed a first half hat trick to put them in control, but Black Jack fought their way back into it in the second half as Jack Roberts and Ryan Alderson scored in the opening 4 minutes of the period. Roberts got a second 12 minutes from time and the game as anyone’s, but within 9 minutes it was Beercalona’s again as Ratcliffe got his 4th before Martin Bell added two more in the final 5 minutes to ease them to a 6-3 win.
The ever reliable Stockport Eagles came in to give the now runaway leaders Gangs Of Dwight Yorke a game this week, and after remaining in touch at 4-2 at the break, three goals each from Josh Morrissey and Matty German were enough to give Gangs an 11-4 victory.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE A SPACE IN BOTH DIVISIONS OF OUR TUESDAY LEAGUE. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SIGN UP, GET IN TOUCH
WEDNESDAY LEAGUE
The title was up for grabs this week as Stockport Eagles needed to avoid defeat against Ajax Treesdown to take the title race down to the last couple of games. The leaders got off to a flyer with two goals in the first three minutes from Josh Batch and Evan Farrell, but the Eagles hit back with three goals of their own in 4 minutes, two from Callum Davies, the other from Ray Donnelly. They couldn’t hold on til the break, as Batch got his second on the stroke of half time to take us into the break all square at 3-3. The second half started in the same manor as the first, with a freak goal from Ajax ‘keeper Will Hudson and another from Daniel Kitchingham putting Ajax two up in the opening three minutes again, before Eagles hit back again with two of their own from Ryan McAndrew and Michael Winn. It was the leaders and now champions who struck the final blow as Farrell got his second of the game 10 minutes from time to give Ajax the narrow win and the title. Random Ballers were here for a second week with a couple of changes from the teams who were beaten last time out. One of the new recruits, Scott Norris, scored three in the opening 10 minutes to go alongside a Kyle Norris (no relation, as far as I know) goal to give them an early 4-0 lead against Magpie. Magpie were back in it before the break as Pawel Klimczak and Dawid scored before the break, and they were really back in it when Klimczak and Milosz Zawila scored in the second period to make it 4-4. The Randoms got themselves a first Ballers win as late goals from Scott Norris and Christos Christofidis finished off a cracking game.
New team Bandit Athletic were here for a game against Exeter Gently while they wait for a space to come up, and two goals from Kyle Clarke wasn’t enough to give them anything from this one as a double from Tom Harrison helped them to a 4-2 win.
THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE HAS GONE FROM HAVING A COUPLE OF VACANCIES TO HAVING TOO MANY TEAMS! MONDAY AND TUESDAY ARE THE BEST MIDWEEK NIGHTS FOR IMMEDIATE AVAILABILITY