Another week of picking up new teams as we look for a long and busy Autumn and Winter of Ballers action, just at the time the Champions League comes along to cause us a bit of grief. Ah well, what are you going to do? City might not be a problem for long anyway……. Oh, and we’ve got some BIG NEWS THIS WEEK!
LEAGUE NEWS
You may have already heard, but we’re starting a BRAND NEW THURSDAY 5-A-SIDE LEAGUE at a BRAND NEW VENUE, at Cheadle Town FC. This league can kick off as soon as we’ve got 8 teams to go. More details can be found elsewhere on the site or on our social media pages, but one off trial games are available from as soon as next week for any teams that want to give it a go.
The new Tuesday league kicks off on 9th October, and by our reckoning we’ve got ONE SPACE left to fill. We’re also finding the Monday league spaces are filling pretty quickly too, so to take what few spaces we’ve got left in those nights, get in touch.
We’re still looking to expand the Sunday league, while the Wednesday league is as full as full can be, so you know where to look if you’re wanting to get started.
We’ve also launched a competition to win a FREE MONTH OF FOOTBALL on our Facebook page this week, so have a look and get involved.
SUNDAY LEAGUE
This ‘ere Sunday league is really starting to fall together nicely, especially the top division, which has seen every team drop points in the opening three weeks (apart from Real Maskid, who it seems have left us without playing a game this season. Don’t panic, that space is already filled…..). Duno’s long unbeaten run ended last week, and a much changed team took on Bangers & Pash this week as they looked to get back to winning ways. We were halfway through the first half before we had the first goal and it came from Robbie Fallon of Bangers. Chris Carroll made it two before Jack Cope got Duno back in it soon after, but Bangers were in control at the break as Carroll and Harry Kilmartin struck in the final 5 minutes of the period. There was no way back for the champs as Kilmartin and Matt Toft added further goals without reply in the second half to see Bangers sit top of the early season league table. Wilmslow Whoppers and Stockport Eagles met this week, fresh off the back of their first Ballers Premiership wins last week, and goals from Ray Donnelly and Olly Ford in the opening 4 minutes got us off to a cracking start at 1-1 and the first half barely relented from here. Ford’s second put Whoppers in front on 11 minutes, but within two minutes Lee Clarke and Callum Jones had turned things in Eagles favour. Donnelly made it 4-2 for Eagles 8 minutes before the break, but two goals in a minute from Callum Hewitt and Ford had us level again. Jones second edged Eagles in front again, but Ford got his 4th of the period to send us into the break breathless at 5-5. The 4 second half goals were crammed into 8 second half minutes, as Eagles twice went in front again through another Donnelly brace, but each time Whoppers hit back to pick up their second draw of the season as Liam Delaney and Craig Plunkett scored to give us a final score of 7-7. This top division really is anyone’s at this stage.
Kinky Slipper have been used to being the team to catch over the past couple of years, and that’s where they will hope to stay as the Championship season takes shape. They would have expected three points this week against Polish Army, who were still looking for their first point since the big Ballers return, and after both teams exchanged goals in the opening two minutes, Johnny Dambrosio for Kinky and Pawel for the Army, it was a mostly Kinky half. A spell of 5 goals in a blistering 8 minute spell put them well in control, two from Rob Cresswell and one each from James Radcliffe, Joe Lailey and Dambrosio. Bania gave the Army a glimmer of hope with two in the latter stages of the half, and when he scored again 5 minutes from the end of a quieter second half there was only two goals in it. Radcliffe got his second to pretty much secure the win, with Bania grabbing his 4th as a consolation in the final few minutes. Whoever picked up the win between Ladzio and Sevilla Lacatalent this week would take up the position of nearest challengers to Kinky at the end of play this week, and the top two from last season’s League One couldn’t be separated at the break as Owen McNally scored two late goals to level things up after David Witter and Daniel McDonald had given Sevilla an early two goal lead. A desperately close second half saw Lewis Findlow give Lazdio the lead with just 4 minutes to play, and McNally’s third in the final minute looked to have this one won. They had to see it out after Sam Melling’s headed finish made it 4-3, but there was no time for Sevilla to claim anything from this one.
The rotating door continued to rotate for Inter Your Sister this week, as their much changed team took on The McMuffin Men, who are always the model of consistency. That consistency showed in the first half as they went into the break 6-0up , with Charley Eyre’s opener being followed by doubles from Sam Delgado and Logan Sherer, and a Mark Bailey strike to finish the first half scoring. Matt Kealy got Inter off the mark three minutes into the second period, but only after Eyre had added McMuffin’s 7th, and there were more McMuffin goals from Delgado and Bailey before Kane Malone got Inter’s second. Three more McMuffin goals followed to complete a more than comfortable victory, Delgado with two and Eyre with another. Nice Buns Sunday opener ended in defeat to Inter last week, while Team Tom’s solitary win from the opening two games had come against the same opposition when they only had 5 players, so a comfortable victory should have been in store for them this week. This League One seems to be a funny one though, and Jimmy Williamson scored two to put Buns in front by the 20 minute mark. Carl Carter pulled one back for the Tommers, but Williamson added two more before the break to give Buns a comfortable half time lead. Carter got another for Tom early in the second half, but Charlie Williamson got in on the act before Jimmy added his 5th with 15 to play. Phil Partakis gave Team Tom a hint of a chance with a goal two minutes later, but Charlie grabbed the final goal of the game in the final few moments to ease Buns to a first Sunday win. Under Rated continued to ease themselves back into Sunday action with an interesting looking game against Murder On Zidane’s Floor. Chris Leah gave Under Rated the lead on 5 minutes, but Dan Evans scored three to put Murder in charge at the break. Leah grabbed two in three minutes early in the second half to bring the scores level again, but goals from Jake Barnes and Karl Mason inside the final 10 minutes secured a win for Murder, with Jimmy Nation grabbing a reply for Under Rated with the final kick of the game.
Step Brothers have found that a settled team has helped them early on this season, and their promotion push saw them take on a Stront Bakken team this week who will also be hoping to have a bash at getting back into League One next time around. Chris Moore scored the only goal of the opening period to send Step Brothers into the break in front, and after Tom Cioffi had doubled that lead 5 minutes into the second period they took a firm grip on proceedings. An own goal and Moore’s magical second pretty much secured a third straight win for the Brotherhood, with Chris Sinclair adding a 5th as Step Brothers ensured they maintined their 100% record after three games. The Veterans and FC AOTS both look capable of putting together a promotion push this season, but only one of these teams lived up to that in the first half. Two goals from Simon Grainger, an own goal and one each from Adam Pinder and Dean Minshull meant that AOTS winning record with their new shirts was in danger with only Eoghan Scott getting on the score sheet for them in the opening period. His second after the break reduced the deficit to three, and after Pinder got his second for The Vets, AOTS threatened a comeback as Steve Whittle and Adam Duty got two with one Paul Atherton goal sandwiched in between for The Vets to leave them just 7-6 in front. Grainger got his third with 5 minutes to play to give ease The Vets to a narrow win, and they go second. Deportivo Lack Of Talent and SK Six were both pointless going into this week’s game, and 7 Deportivo first half goals meant it looked like being their night. Rhys Moult got the opener, Brad Peet and Rob Parker grabbed two apiece, with Josh Jackson and Alex Babcock scoring the others while Steve Blunsten replied with two and Henry Cooke another for SK. The second half goals came late, too late for SK to claim anything as Parker got three more, while Cooke, Brad Bent and Max Blunsten Shepherd got the goals for SK in a more even second period.
THE 4 SUNDAY DIVISIONS REMAIN FULL. SPACES CAN BE CREATED FOR A DIVISION 5 TO START ON 7TH OCTOBER WITH FRIENDLIES AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW OR RETURNING TEAMS IN THE MEANTIME. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.
MONDAY LEAGUE
There are tentative signs of the green shoots of recovery after a tricky summer for the Monday league, with two more new teams playing their first games this week, and another lined up for a Ballers debut next week. We’ll be turning teams away before we know it….. As is fairly standard, there was only one game in the top division as Kroos Control looked to continue their quest for a debut Monday crown against J Stands Barmy Army. It was the Army that took the lead on 5 minute through Reece Nuttall’s goal, but Kroos were in control before the break as Calvin Alexander got two, Ray Donnelly and Liam Watson the others. Watson’s 4th two minutes into the second half put Kroos 4 clear, and in a second half where J Stands applied plenty of pressure to try and get themselves back into this one, Kroos picked them off in the final 10 minutes as Donnelly and Watson grabbed two more each and Stevie Whetham got the other as Kroos ran out 10-1 winners in a surprisingly one sided game.
The Monday Randommers (potential new name ‘Insert Joe Kinnear’) made their Ballers debut a few weeks ago with a victory over Phantom Brazilians, but both teams were much changed when they went up against each other again this week, and two players who didn’t play last time put Phantom in early control as Matt Holbrook and Paul Wilkinson gave them an early two goal lead. Ryan Clayton made it a three goal cushion at the break, and a pretty comfortable win for the Brazilians was complete when Daniel Clayton and Wilkinson scored in the final 10 minutes. The potentially soon to be renamed Garvins Ballers made their debut against Monday mainstayers Nice Buns this week, and the difference in the style of football they had been previously playing was there to be seen in the early stages as Buns went two up through goals from the Williamson boys, Charlie and Jimmy. Josh Welsh got the Ballers first Ballers goal, but Jimmy restored the two goal lead before the break. He got another along with a goal from Tom Hall in the first 5 minutes of the second half to move Buns 4 clear, but Welsh got his second to keep the new team in touch. Christoper Wellings pulled two back for Ballers in the final 10 minutes, but Jimmy got his 4th, while Paul Cheetham and Tom Dempsey also added to the Buns total, with a mystery goalscorer getting on the board for Garvins, who lost 8-5 on their first night. There’s always next week!
Another new team, currently known as CA FC, made their first Ballers appearance as well this week, and at half time it looked fairly ominous as they trailed 3-0 to FC AOTS. THey shook off the first half rust to put up a decent fight to give them some hope in the second half, with John Roberts scoring two of their goals, but three from Adam Atherton and two from Eoghan Scott ensured AOTS held on for a 7-4 win. A mish-mash friendly between Netsix & Chill and Wellspring ended up being a tight affair with the Monday regulars running out 4-2 winners after a goal-less second half, Aaron Campbell scoring two of their goals.
WE CAN STILL FIND SPACES FOR NEW TEAMS IN OUR MONDAY LEAGUE, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS. THE NEW SEASON STARTS AT THE END OF OCTOBER.
TUESDAY LEAGUE
The Tuesday review won’t take long this week, as it seems that more teams were interested in watching Liverpool than they were United or City on the Wednesday! Beercalona needed a win, and probably a big one if they were to hold out much hope of overtaking Wellspring at the top of the Tuesday Championship in this week’s only league game. Show Me Da Mane had a few different faces in from the last time these two teams met, and one of those new faces, Mark Carruthers, gave them the lead after 5 minutes. Beercalona hit back to lead at the break as Scott Williams and Tom Ratcliffe replied for them, but Mane started the second half very strongly to race into a 4-2 lead with 15 minutes to go, Carruthers second followed by two from Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley. With Beercalona’s hopes of overturning Wellspring’s goal difference advantage well and truly done, all they could do was to try and win the game to at least make Wellspring play for it next week, and even if they don’t end up being champions at the end of this, they showed the stuff of champions as Ratcliffe’s second was followed by two more from Williams as they fought back to nick this one 5-4.
In friendly action, a patched up Premiership Total Bala faced a patched up Championship Bandit Athletic. In horrific conditions, 4 goals from Rick Kelly were the difference as the top division team beat the newcomers 7-3.
THE NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON 9TH OCTOBER, AND BY OUR CALCULATIONS WE CURRENTLY HAVE SPACE FOR ONE MORE NEW OR RETURNING TEAM. FOR MORE DETAILS OR TO REGISTER, GET IN TOUCH
WEDNESDAY LEAGUE
They might not both have been league games, but the fact that we were able to get two games on on the same night as United and City’s opening Champions League games is a very good sign! The one league game that took place was between last season’s runners up Stockport Eagles and new boys CSKA Cheadle, with both sides looking to make it two wins from two to start the season. We were even after 10 minutes as Ben Waugh drew Eagles level after Tom Weaver had grabbed an early goal for CSKA, but the new team lead at the break as Chris Kennedy and Andy Whitelegg got on the score sheet. It looked a long way back for Eagles when Karim Slouti scored with 15 minutes to go, and they quickly restored their three goal lead when Whitelegg got his second a couple of minutes after Ray Donnelly had pulled one back for the Eagles. It was game on with 6 minutes to go as a ‘controversial’ Donnelly goal, 4 minutes after Paul Waugh’s finish meant it was 5-4, but Whitelegg quickly got his third to end any hopes of an Eagles comeback, and gave Cheadle a second straight win to start their Ballers life.
In friendly action, the 5 men of Wellspring fell to a respectable 8-4 defeat to Unprotected Cesc, with debutant Will Hartley scoring 5 of their goals.
THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL. THE OTHER LEAGUES ARE YOUR BEST BET FOR AN IMMEDIATE START.