Everyone enjoying the World Cup? The last couple of days have been a bit dull, haven’t they…..? Much more excitement in the Ballers games this week, apart from on Monday……

LEAGUE NEWS

The NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE kicks off a week on Tuesday, 1st July (unless England finish second in their group, in which case we’d expect a wash out…..). We currently have TWO SPACES AVAILABLE for any new or returning team. Friendlies are available next week for anyone wanting to give it a go before the real thing starts.

The 4th and final heat of the BALLERS WORLD CUP takes place on SUNDAY 1ST JULY at 3pm. If you want to be Brazil, Germany or Costa Rica you best get registered early while there’s still spaces.

We’re still getting enquiries about our Sunday league, so we could yet still add a mini league on to start in the next few weeks to run alongside the second half of the main season, so limited spaces available there.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, OR ANY GENERAL INFORMATION ON ANYTHING ELSE WE DO, GO TO THE HOMEPAGE AND FILL IN A ‘JOIN A LEAGUE’ FORM

SUNDAY LEAGUE

What a night! A night free of any bank holiday / Parklife / SoccerAid distractions meant we ended up with an almost full night, with just League Two’s FC AOTS missing (booooo). It was a spectacular night in the Premiership with three ridiculously well contested games taking place. Following last week’s shock defeat to El Caliente, Kinky Slipper needed to get something from this week’s game with champions Duno to avoid going 5 point behind the leaders in the early stages. Adam Seddon gave Kinky the lead, somewhat against the general run of play 16 minutes into the first half, and when Joe Lailey made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half, they looked well on their way to picking up a much needed win. With Duno having failed to beat Kinky’s keeper Luke Braden by themselves, Kinky gave them a hand by beating him for them to make it 2-1 with 17 to play. Ray Donnelly leveled things up for Duno with 5 minutes left, and a minute later they were in front for the first time as Callum Donnelly prodded home from close range. It was far from over there though, and James Radcliffe made it 3-3 with two minutes to go, only for Ray Donnelly to convert a penalty in the final minute to give Duno the extremely hard fought win. El Caliente were looking to follow up last week’s win as they faced another tough test against multiple time winners Insole. After a quiet opening 10 minutes the game burst into life as Jack Atkinson and Danny King scored within a couple of minutes of each other to make it 1-1. Ross Grealy and Kyle Clarke did likewise as we headed into the final 5 minutes of the half at 2-2, before Grealy and Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley grabbed a couple to make it 4-2 to Caliente a minute before the break. That minute was enough time for two more goals as King and Atkinson scored to make the half time score 5-3. Insole were back in the game 4 minutes after the restart as Jordan Cunningham pulled on back, and they were level again when the same player scored with 16 minutes to play. Rather than going on to win the game, as might have been expected, it was El Caliente who won it through Kingsley’s 45th minute goal, a goal that sees Caliente go second in the Premiership table. Real Maskid were looking for their first Premiership win at the third attempt, while Bangers & Pash were looking to maintain their 100% start to the season. From one game. 4 goals in the opening 13 minutes saw Bangers twice come from behind as Kieran O’Connell and Zac Ferguson scored for Maskid, Chris Carroll and Alex Fowell for Bangers. Bangers were in front for the first time 4 minutes before the break as MacKenzie Hope scored, but Jack Wilson’s goal on the stroke of half time saw us go into the break level at 3-3. Hope’s second two minutes into the second half put Bangers back in front, and his third, 12 minutes from time gave them a two goal lead for the first time. O’Connell’s second 7 minutes from the end gave Maskid hope of taking something from the game, and Jack McConnell’s last minute goal gave them their second 5-5 draw in three games as they picked up their second point of the season.

Stockport Eagles were two from two going into their game with Wellspring this week, and to be brutally honest they never looked like being anything other than three from three as 4 goals from Callum Donnelly and one each from Liam Watson and Ben Waugh gave them a 6-1 half time lead as Mike Devitt got Wellspring’s only first half goal. Jake Hamilton pulled one back for Wellspring in the second minute of the second half, but it was all Eagles from that point as Michael Winn, Ray Donnelly and Waugh all grabbed two more and Paul Waugh the other as Eagles ran out 13-2 winners. Kipsta Cobras had a number of regulars back this week as they took on the always regular Team Tom. They got off to a flyer as Kieran Mills scored three in the opening 6 minutes to put Kipsta’s well in control. The half burst into life again in the final 5 minutes as Carl Carter pulled one back for the Tommers, Mills edged Kipsta three up again, and Carter grabbed a second to make it 4-2 at the break. Jack Horgan made it a three goal lead for Kipsta again, but again Team Tom clung onto their coat tails as Scott Doherty made it 5-3 with 11 to go. Mills grabbed two more in the space of a minute and Matty Aked added another a minute later to put the result beyond doubt, before Carter grabbed his third as a consolation 5 minutes from time. Kipsta up into second after two wins from their opening two games. We welcomed the first of our new teams this week as Netsix & Chill replaced Polish Army (for now) to jump straight into the Championship and took on Pat’s Giants on their debut. It got off to a ecent start as Jaden Robinson put them in front in the 7th minute, but Paddy Bannister leveled up for Pat’s 6 minutes later. Robinson restored the Netsix lead 5 minutes from the break, but they couldn’t see the lead through to half time as Danny Brookes made it 2-2 a minute before the break. The Giants hit the front for the first time 10 minutes into the second half as Jack Emmerson made it 3-2, and Carl Harratt looked to have wrapped the points up for Pat’s with 9 minutes left. Kai Lawless pulled one back for Netsix three minutes from time, but they couldn’t find a leveler in the time that remained, so they start Ballers life off with a narrow defeat.

The only consistent team so far in League One is the new boys of Ladzio, and they went up against Ballers stalwarts Step Brothers this week who were off the back of an impressive win over Inter Your Sister last week. They had a couple of different personnel this week and their level had dropped from last week and Ladzio took full advantage, steaming into a 3-0 lead in the opening 7 minutes as Jack Shepherd, Lewis Findlow and George Cox got on the score sheet early. Tom Cioffi pulled one back a minute later, but the rest of the half was one to forget for the Brothers as Ladzio scored 8 more to go into the interval with an 11-1 lead. Findlow got 4 of them, Shepherd two , Cox and Will Lynch one apiece. With the result in the bag the second half was a little more competitive, Gaz Fay and Chris Moore pulled two back for the Brotherhood, and Chris Murray grabbed himself a couple too, but there was no way they were ever going to get back into it as Ladzio maintained their half time lead with two goals from Shepherd and one each from Findlow and George Cox to seal a 15-5 win. Sevilla Lacatalent had their colours lowered for the first time this season last week and were looking to bounce back against FC Stront Bakken, who will be looking to consolidate at this level following promotion last season. Declan Matthews gave the Bucket Boys the lead in the 6th minute, but Sevilla turned it around to lead 2-1 at the break as David Witter and Sam Melling got their goals. Sevilla looked like running away with it in the second period as Jake Riley and Mike Lavin made it 4-1 with 13 minutes left. Lukas Voveris got one back for Stront Bakken, but Riley struck almost immediately to keep their three goal lead intact. Matthews got another for the Bucket Boys, but again Sevilla kept them at arms length with Daniel McDonald’s goal 5 minutes from time. The final few seconds were interesting as Matthews scored two more to make it 6-5 going into the final minute, but Sevilla held on to stay in second spot. The McMuffin Men and Inter Your Sister had had a stuttering start to their campaigns, so a win for either side could be the boost they need to make a push at the top end as the season goes on. McMuffin raced into a three goal lead in the first 7 minutes as Sam Delgado, Logan Sherer and Mark Bailey scored in the space of 4 minutes. Craig Johnson pulled two back for Inter before the half time whistle, but they were two down again when Bailey got his second three minutes after the restart. Sherer’s second 15 minutes from time restored the three goal lead, and though Michael Winn closed that gap with 9 to play, a quickfire double from Delgado and Sherer finished this one off as McMuffin Men jump into third place.

SK Six’s Ballers debut way back in the day was against The Veterans, and it ended in a 14-0 defeat. Their improvement in the first season saw the reverse fixture end in a 2-1 loss, so was it to be third time lucky as the met again for the first time in a long while as The Veterans have risen to the brink of the Premiership and sunk back to League Two since then? It looked like it could be on as Bernard Blicharz scored the only goal of the opening half to give SK a one goal half time lead, but Ryan Prestwich leveled for The Vets 5 minutes into the second period. As the game opened up, Prestwich and Harry Bridge scored in quick succession to keep us level at 2-2 with 15 to play, but The Vets made the crucial move as Niall Martin, Simon Grainger and Prestwich scored to make it 5-2 with 8 minutes left. Henry Cooke pulled one back inside the final 5 minutes, but Dean Minshull’s goal two minutes later sealed the win for The Veterans as they make it three wins from three to start the season. Beercalona and Deportivo have both established themselves as promotion contenders this season, but in the first half of this one it seemed like Beercalona were the most likely as two goals from Jason Ratcliffe and one each from Tom Ratcliffe and Martin Bell gave them a 4-0 half time lead. A third from Jason Ratcliffe two minutes after the break pretty much sealed the win, and Tom Ratcliffe added their 6th with 7 minutes remaining. Rob Parker got Deportivo on the board with 5 minutes left, and he got a second in the final minute as a consolation after Jason Ratcliffe had got his 4th a minute after his first.

We welcomed a second new team, Droylsden’s Finest to Ballers this week, and while the wait for a space to come up we will get them some friendlies to keep them playing. If anyone wants to come along and make up a mini league with them, feel free! They were only 2-1 down at half time to Rooneytunes this week as Owen Shemeld scored their first Ballers goal, but they finished up losing 6-2 as Saul Heavyside got a couple for Rooneytunes as they shared the goals around the team.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS FULL! BUT WITH TEAMS WAITING TO JOIN WE COULD START A MINI LEAGUE IF WE GET A COUPLE MORE SIGNED UP – GET INVOLVED!

MONDAY LEAGUE

Short a sweet. England were playing. No games were played. See you next week!

TUESDAY LEAGUE

With the Premiership done until the new season kicks off in a couple of weeks, it was all about the Championship this week. Nothing that could affect the promotion spots though….. A week is a long time in football, and LQ were back this week after a very disappointing result last week saw them begin to question their own existence, so Black Jack would have been expecting to take advantage. A spell of three goals in 6 minutes half way through the opening period would have made LQ feel better as Tim Price, Matthew Brierley and Sam Holland gave them a three goal lead they held until the break. George Springer made it 4 early in the second half, and the result was in the bag when Alex Brash and Holland made it 6 halfway through the period. Luke Waiting got Black Jack on the board, and Joe Dear got a second for them in the final minute, but that was after Max Brookes (not Power) had scored two in the minutes running up to that point. Maybe LQ will stick around for another season…… Class On Fake Grass have settled well to Ballers life after an opening defeat, while we always wait to see which Beercalona turns up on a Tuesday these days. An open first half saw early goals from Callum Graham and Mike Cocks for Class nullified by goals from Craig Scanlon and Martin Bell with 11 minutes on the clock. Luke Chatting edged Class back in front, and he restored the lead again three minutes after Scanlon had leveled up again. Class looked to have made the move with three goals in the first 14 minutes of the second half, two from Cocks and one from Jake Curley, but Beercalona pulled two back inside the final 10 minutes to close the gap to two. That’s how the gap remained, and Class make it two wins in a row ahead of their big move to the Monday league.

Ahead of their promotion to the top flight, Wellspring took on Premierhship Shaka, and it didn’t go too well for them. Tom Hannan got three and Andy Cadwallader three as Shaka ran out comfortable 12-2 winners.

SPACES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE WHICH KICKS OFF ON 3RD JULY. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER, GET IN TOUCH! 

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Apologies, as this will be brief as we’ve already typed it out once and lost it, and time is against us! The final night of the Wednesday season saw Michu At De Gea Ba complete their final Wednesday season as three time winners before departing for a new challenge in the Tuesday league. Their game with Exeter Gently was level at 4-4 with 19 minutes to play after Alex Brady, Paul Mazzitelli, Adam Porter and Jack Jennison had scored for Michu, Dan Williams, Mehrad Torkian, Rob Milarvie and Tom Harrison for Exeter. Michu ran away with it in the final stages as Mazzitelli and Porter scored two more and Jennison another to see Michu end their Wednesday spell with a win.

In friendly action Wellspring considered themselves a little unfortunate to lose 8-4 to Stockport Eagles with the goals being shared about. Michael Winn, Paul Waugh and Callum Davies (not Donnelly) got two each for Eagles, while Steven Whetham and Jack Phillipes scored a brace each for Wellspring ahead of their first Wednesday league campaign.

THE NEW WEDNESDAY LEAGUE KICKS OFF NEXT WEEK, BUT IS FULL! HAVE A LOOK AT TUESDAY FOR A MORE IMMEDIATE START

The World Cup is really here! And setting up this company will really pay off while I’m doing my ‘work’ on the couch next week while watching Colombia v Japan at 1pm on Tuesday while people who have proper jobs will be grafting.

LEAGUE NEWS

Everything is pointing towards the NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE which kicks off on 3RD JULY (unless England finish second in their group, in which case no one will want to play…..). There’s plenty of teams sniffing around, trying to get lads to commit, but the two spaces we’ve got will go to those who get in first! Friendly games are available over the next couple of weeks if you want to try before you buy!

While the SUNDAY LEAGUE is full, we continue to get enquiries, so we’re looking to add a 4 team mini league in over the next few weeks. If you want to get involved, again spaces probably won’t stick around long.

We have ONE SPACE in the top division of the MONDAY LEAGUE, so for an immediate start at a decent level, that’s the place to look.

For more details, to register a team, or to book in your one off friendly, fill in a ‘JOIN A LEAGUE‘ form on the homepage, call or text 07809252658.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

With bank holidays a thing of the past it should have been smooth sailing for a couple of months, but along comes Parklife and SoccerAid on the same weekend to make this week’s Sunday review possibly the shortest one ever! We’ll struggle to find many words for the only game of the Premiership this week, as as much as the game was a belter, the form of both keepers meant there were no goals to write about in the first half. Kinky would have expected to pick up the win as they looked to continue their unbeaten start to the season, but they were rocked by Kieran Norris’ goal 9 minutes from time that turned out to be the only goal of the game, much to the other Premiership teams delight. That’s right, a 50 minute 6-a-side game finished 1-0……

Just the one game in the Championship too as Team Tom returned to league action after a friendly victory last week. Their league struggles looked set to continue as two goals from Jake Hamilton put Wellspring into a comfortable lead at the break. A third 4 minutes into the second half from the same player looked to have the result in the bag, and two more goals in the last two minutes from Hamilton and George Quayle set the seal on Wellspring’s first points of the season.

Ladzio have hit the ground running in their debut season, but faced another team with a 100% record in Sevilla Lacatalent this week with both teams records on the line. The more experienced Ballers team took the lead through Daniel McDonald’s 3rd minute opener, and an otherwise tight first half burst into life in the final 5 minutes as Jack Shepherd and George Cox scored to turn things Ladio’s way, before Jake Riley hit a quickfire brace on the stroke of half time to give Sevilla a 3-2 lead. We were all square again two minutes after the restart as Lewis Findlow made it 3-3, and the game edged back in Ladzio’s favour again as Cox got his second 15 minutes from time. That was the final goal of the game as Ladzio make it three wins from three in the early stages of the season. The other game in League One saw Inter Your Sister, who had represented Japan in the World Cup heats that day, take on Step Brothers. It was quickly fairly clear to see that Inter would struggle having already played an hour of football in the hot weather that afternoon, and Tom Cioffi got one and Chris Moore two as they went into a three goal lead in the opening 12 minutes. Craig Johnson pulled one back for Inter, but it was 7-1 at the break as Moore and Dom Cioffi grabbed one each and ‘guest player’ added another couple. An own goal pulled one back for Inter 5 minutes after the break, but there was no chance of a comeback as Moore, Dom and Tom Cioffi added another goal each to go alongside another guest goal before Matthew Kealy grabbed a last minute consolation for an Inter team who were out on their feet by this point.

Deportivo Lack Of Talent needed a little help this week after getting carried away with themselves after putting a team out for two whole games in a row, but they got a team on the pitch for a third week and started well as Jamie Berrisford scored two and Rob Parker another as they went three up against Rooneytunes in the opening 14 minutes. Rooneytunes hit back though, and after Chris Sinclair got them on the board Cian Gillespie and Dec Church both scored in the final 4 minutes of the half to make it 3-3 at the break. Goals from Parker, Berrisford and Ben Proctor in the opening 8 minutes of the second half restored Deportivo’s three goal lead, but this time there was no way back for Rooneytunes as Berrisford added another 4 goals alongside a third from Parker to give them a comfortable win. Beercalona will fancy their chances of an escape from the basement this season, and their game against SK Six was one of those game of two halves things you hear about. Plenty of goals in the first half as Beercalona twice came from behind as Ste Bowler and Baz Swan leveled up after Henry Cooke and Max Blunsten Shepherd had put SK in front. Beercalona took control for the rest of the half and two goals from Rob Prince and another from Scott Williams gave them a 5-2 half time lead. And that was it! No more goals in the second half as Beercalona pick up a first win to see them climb into third place.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS FULL! BUT WE’LL MAKE SPACE FOR A MINI LEAGUE AS THE ENQUIRIES CONTINUE TO COME IN. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

MONDAY LEAGUE

For the second week in a row, Not A Chance had their title credentials tested against former champs AC Milmanchester due to a last minute reshuffle of fixtures (you know, cos we’re dead flexible and everything). Last week’s game was a tight one, and despite ACM starting the better and taking the lead through Jason Singleton’s 10th minute opener, it looked like being another tight one as Kyle Bell and Dom Andrew scored to give the Chancers the lead 4 minutes before the break. Simon Hackney made it Desmond at the interval, and Martin Gordon put them back in front three minutes after the restart, but Chris Priestley made it all square again within three minutes. Hackney and Bell both scored within minutes of each other to keep us level at 4-4 heading into the final 9 minutes, before Jamal Branker finished to ease ACM back in front. The key moment of the latter stages came when Priestley missed a penalty that would have brought us level at 5-5 again, before Branker scored again a minute from time to give us a two goal gap for the first time in the game. Bell did grab his third with the final kick of the game, but Milmanchester take the win that keeps them in the mix up in this really interesting division. Another close looking game was the match up between Pink Panthers and Phantom Brazilians, and although the Panthers dominated the opening period it took 14 minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Rory Breslin finally found a way past Max Paterson in the Phantom goal. That was the only goal of the opening period but they quickly added a second through Ray Donnelly’s goal in the first minute of the second period, and Breslin’s third with 15 to go looked to have wrapped up the victory. The returning Craig Birkhead pulled one back for Phantom three minutes later, and things got interesting when Andrew Shaw made it 3-2 with 5 minutes still to play. There were a few hairy moments, but Pink Panthers held on for their first official Ballers Premiership win.

Diva Fever put their 100% record on the line for another week in the competitive Championship against the hit and miss Nice Buns who only had two points to show from 5 games despite some decent performances. It was Buns who took charge through Charlie Williamson’s opening minute goal and Dale Kirkham’s 6th minute strike, but Daniel (just Daniel) pulled one back for Diva a minute later. Williamson grabbed another couple in the final 5 minutes of the half to put Buns in charge at the break, and when he added his 4th 4 minutes after the break this one looked done. Joe Dodd pulled one back for Diva with 6 minutes to play, and though he scored again a minute from time there wasn’t time to complete a comeback and Buns end the 100% record with their first win of the season. Jeremy Cheadle have games in hand as they look to make a play for promotion, and a win over Netsix & Chill would put them in a very strong position. It was Netsix that struck first through Aaron Campbell’s 3rd minute goal, but in an otherwise tight first half we were level at the break as Jack Whelan scored 6 minutes later. Joe Knight and Whelan both scored to give Cheadle a 3-1 lead 10 minutes into the second half, and though Mike Pinder pulled one back with 13 still to play, Knight scored his second three minutes from time to give Cheadle a hard fought win.

WE HAVE SPACE FOR ONE NEW TEAM IN THE TOP DIVISION OF THE MONDAY LEAGUE AS WE APPROACH THE LATTER STAGES OF THE SEASON. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The Tuesday league will need some new blood ahead of the new season, as a few of our formerly reliable teams have had to leave us for various reasons, meaning no Premiership games were played this week.

Stroke Titty were looking to make it a perfect 10 ahead of their promotion to the top flight, but an improving Black Jack looked likely to give them some problems this week. Stroke took early control as Jay Willingham, Sam Tattersall and David Dunn gave them a three goal lead in the opening 12 minutes. Danny Stringer and Alex Harper got Black Jack back in contention with two minutes of the half to go, but they couldn’t go in just the one behind as Joe Lailey made it 4-2 just before the break. When Lailey added his second three minutes after the interval there was no way back for Black Jack this week, as two more from Willingham, two more from Tattersall, two more from Lailey and another from Dunn saw the Championship winners to a comfortable final victory, with Pat Bradshaw’s consolation the only Black Jack goal of the second period. That win for Stroke meant that a win for Wellspring over Beercalona would all but guarantee them a spot back in the top division, and they looked likely to get it as Callum Walmsley, Nathan Wilkinson, Jake Hamilton, George Quayle and an own goal helped them to a 5-2 half time lead, with Tom Ratcliffe and and own goal on the sheet for a Beercalona team who were looking to bounce back from last week’s disappointing defeat to Black Jack. The game burst into life in the early stages of the second period as Martin Bell scored twice and Craig Scanlon got another as Beercalona got themselves level again at 5-5. Wellspring regathered themselves and restored their lead with 14 to play through Shane Bridges goal, and they all but wrapped up the victory as Wilkinson and Quayle added further goals. Ratcliffe got his second for Beercalona in the final minute, but they ran out of time and suffer a third straight defeat. Class On Fake Grass stepped into the void left by Turkish Delight (for now) and took on an LQ FC team who may have been bottom of the league but were competitive in most games. After defeat to Wellspring in their first game last week Class went in front thanks to an 8th minute own goal, but Matthew Brierley leveled things up just a minute later. LQ hit the front through Max Brookes goal, but that lead didn’t last until the break as Mike Cocks drew Class level again a couple of minutes from the whistle. The new team took control early in the second half as Sean Moore and Callum Graham scored in the first 7 minutes to give them a two goal advantage, and the same two players added their second of the game to ease Class to their first Ballers victory.

Duno came in and gave Premiership winners Gangs Of Dwight Yorke a game, and the Tuesday regulars ran out 11-4 winners with Jake Dean grabbing 4 of them.

SPACES ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR AN IMMEDIATE START IN THE TUESDAY LEAGUE, WITH THE NEW LEAGUE SET TO START IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

A fairly rare quiet night involving no polish swear words in the Wednesday league this week, with Polish Army on holiday until September and Magpie unable to field a team this week. We were also missing Exeter Gently, so the only league game saw Stockport Eagles take on the still relatively new Ajax Treesdown knowing that they needed snookers in order to be able to claim the title from Michu At De Gea Ba. A storming opening 10 minutes saw Eagles recover from Sam Cawthra’s opening minute goal to lead 4-1 after 7 minutes as Callum Donnelly, Liam Watson, Ben Waugh and Callum Jones all found the net. Daniel Kitchingham pulled one back a minute later, and then struck two more in a minute to make it 4-4 9 minutes from half time. Evan Farrell eased Ajax in front, but we were level at the break as Jones grabbed his second of the half. Defences didn’t get on top after the break as the goals continued to rain in. Jordan Hardman eased Ajax in front two minutes in, but Waugh made it 6-6 with 15 minutes to play. Those final 15 minutes were enough time for 9 more goals, Hardman and Donnelly got one each to keep us level at 7-7, Donnelly and Cawthra did the same to make it 8-8 before Farrell and Hardman finally gave Ajax a bit of daylight at 10-8. Jones pulled one back from the spot with two to play, but Hardman struck again to render Paul Waugh’s goal with the final touch of the game meaningless.

The team formerly known as Petr Cech Yourself, who will continue to be known as this until they give us a better name, joined us as they are back for the summer with a few new faces, but the rustiness showed in a tough first game against the now newly crowned Wednesday Champions Michu At De Gea Ba. The returning Jamie Longworth and Fidelis Eberegbe both grabbed three in a comfortable 10-3 win, but there should be more to come from the newbies.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE LOOKS TO BE FULL AHEAD OF THE START OF THE NEW SEASON IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS. THE OTHER NIGHTS ARE WHERE YOU WANT TO BE LOOKING. 

This time next week the festival of football that is the World Cup will be underway with Russia playing Saudi Arabia next Thursday. Let’s hope we’re still just talking about football on the Friday….. A better week this week with the bank holidays done for now, just a little matter of Parklife and SoccerAid to deal with this week, and a World Cup for the 4 weeks after that……

LEAGUE NEWS

There is a consistency across each of the league nights at the moment, as we have ONE AVAILABLE LEAGUE SPACE ON EACH NIGHT! The Sunday league is still in the first few weeks so any new teams wouldn’t be starting too far behind and could potentially catch games up, while the new Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leagues will all be starting in the not too distant future, providing a few weeks for new teams to get friendlies on the go before starting up for real!

The third heat of the BALLERS WORLD CUP takes place this Sunday at 3pm. At time of writing there’s still a couple of spaces left, but by the time you read this they might be gone….. There’s only one way to find out!

For details on any of the above, get in touch for details.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

This Sunday top division looks set to be a belter, with three highly competitive games taking place this week. Champions Duno went straight from the World Cup Tournament into a game with a Real Maskid team featuring a couple of changes from their regular numbers this week, but it didn’t look to affect them as they took a two goal lead in the opening 10 minutes. Zac Ferguson and Dietar Downs, both making their Ballers debut got the goals, but the lead was halved 10 minutes before the break when Liam Watson pulled one back for Duno. Jordan Milne drew Duno level two minutes after the break, and they were in front for the first time when the same player scored again three minutes later. With no subs, Maskid ran out of steam in difficult conditions, and Duno sealed the victory with further goals from Jack Cope, Calvin Alexander and Milne in the final 15 minutes to make it two wins from two to start their title defence in the best possible way. The Sunday Classico arrived early this season as Kinky Slipper and Insole looked to claim back a title they’ve won 6 times between them since Ballers started. Adam (not just Adam) Seddon gave Kinky the lead in the third minute, but Aaron Campbell leveled up for Insole three minutes later. Seddon restored the lead with his second 11 minutes from the break, but again Insole hit back through Jordan Cunningham’s 21st minute equiliser. Kinky lead at the break through Seddon’s third two minutes later, but wouldn’t you just know it we were level for a third time when Jack Atkinson struck 4 minutes into the second period. James Ratcliffe put Kinky in front for a 4th time 14 minutes from time, and they looked to have the game won when Seddon got his 4th 7 minutes later. Cunningham pulled one back for Insole two minutes later, but they couldn’t pull another leveler out of the bag and Kinky pick up their first win of the season to sit second in the early league table. Bangers & Pash got their first full Ballers season underway (25 minutes late) against promoted El Caliente, and got off to a flyer against a side that had already also played in the World Cup heats that afternoon as Harry Kilmartin scored in the second minute. The remainder of the half was fairly tight, but two goals in the final 6 minutes of the half turned things Caliente’s way as Kieran Norris and Emmanuel both scored to see them into the break with a 2-1 lead. Devine extended their lead 5 minutes into the second period, and they looked set for a minor shock when Michael Jennison made it 4-1 two minutes later. Three goals in a mad two minute spell had us level again just three minutes after Jennison’s strike, as Alex Fowell scored two and Matt Sheehan the other to make it 4-4 with 15 to play. It was Bangers who had the energy to go on and win the game as Fowell and Sheehan both scored in the final 5 minutes to give them a winning start to the season.

Stockport Eagles had an impressive opening day win over Team Tom last week, and were looking to keep up their good start against Pat’s Giants, who they’d had a couple of very competitive games last season. Ryan McAndrew gave them a 5th minute lead here, that was quickly wiped out by Fred Winterbottom’s leveler. The Eagles soared into a half time lead through Ben Waugh’s 18th minute goal, but Winterbottom sent us into the final 19 minutes all square at Desmond. It was the Eagles who made it 6 points from 6 with the winner from McAndrew 12 minutes from time, and they sit top in the early stages. A much changed Kipsta Cobras team took on Wellspring in both teams first games of the season following the bank holiday of last weekend. Kipsta took early control of this one through Mike Pinder’s opening minute goal, and they didn’t let up throughout a one sided first half. Matty Aked added a second on 10 minutes, before Pinder added two more and Kieron Mills a double to give them a 6-0 half time lead. The second half didn’t get much better for Wellspring, as Mills added another two in the opening three minutes, before they finally had some success of their own as Mike Devitt scored two to launch their comeback. The launch was aborted when an own goal,, two more from Mills and another from Kenny Chui rounded off a most comfortable win for Kipsta. The regular players might not get back in at this rate…..

Sevilla Lacatalent look to have been put in at the right level after talk of them going in the bottom division was dismissed. They got off to a slow start against Step Brothers this week as they waited for their 6th player to arrive, and they were two down through two Tom Cioffi goals in the first 12 minutes. With a full squad they hit back, and a goal from Mike Lavin and two from Daniel Wilson turned things in their favour before half time. Wilson and Jake Riley both scored in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to ease Sevilla three goals clear, and though Rob Sheldon reduced that to two with 5 to play, Riley and Wilson added further goals to give Sevilla a second straight win. Ladzio FC made an instant impact on their Ballers debut last week with an impressive win over FC Stront Bakken, and took on one of our longest standing teams this week in Inter Your Sister. They started well again here as Lewis Findlow, George Cox and Jack Shepherd gave them a three goal lead in the opening 10 minutes. Craig Johnson pulled one back for Inter, but Cox restored the three goal lead before Johnson got his second to keep Inter in touch. Findlow and Cox both scored again as Ladzio looked like they might run away with this one, and though Ryan McAndrew pulled another back for Inter, the lead at the break was 4 as Shepherd also added his second of the game. Inter threatened a comeback at the start of the second half as McAndrew and Michael Winn reduced the Ladzio lead to two within 6 minutes of the restart, but two goals in as many minutes from Cox and Shepherd all but ended the Inter hopes of taking something from this one. Findlow grabbed his third 4 minutes from time to clinch a second straight win for the new boys, and they go into this week’s game with Sevilla with a 100% record to defend. Stront Bakken and The McMuffin Men were looking to bounce back from disappointing opening nights, and defences were hardly on top throughout this one. It was 4-4 at the break after an opening half where the lead changed hands several times, Declan Matthews and Lukas Voveris grabbing two each for the Bucket Boys, while Charley Eyre also grabbed two to goalongside goals from Sam Delgado and Logan Sherer for McMuffins in a half where there was never more than one goal between the teams. That changed at the start of the second half as Matthews and Voveris both scored in the first f=4 minutes of the half to give give Stront Bakken some breathing space. It didn’t last long as Eyre and Delgado quickly drew McMuffins level again, before a goal each from Patrick Mitchell an Eyre left us at 7-7 with 15 minutes still to play. Matthews 4th looked like it might have been the clincher as Stront Bakken desperately tried to hold on, but a last minute goal credited to Eyre gave him his 5th of the game and ensured McMuffins took a point from this one.

The Veterans started their quest to escape the Sunday league basement with a win over Rooneytunes last week, but faced an ever improving Beercalona this week trying to build on their momentum. Beercalona were another team who gave last week a miss, but they hit the ground running as Rob Prince and Dave Watson put them two up in the opening quarter of an hour. Paul Atherton pulled one back three minutes before half time, but Beercalona lead by two at the break as Prince got his second on the stroke of half time. For long periods of the second half it looked like the game was drifting towards a Beercalona win, but Atherton got his second 10 minutes from time to give us the potential for a big finish, and we got one as two goals in two minutes from Simon Grainger and Atherton gave The Veterans a victory that looked unlikely for long periods. Two out of two for them. Deportivo Lack Of Talent were here for a second week in a row, which in itself is an achievement, and they were also looking to make it two wins from two to start their campaign. This was FC AOTS first outing of the season, and Scott Robinson gave them a second minute lead  which Eoghan Scott added to in the 12th minute. Deportivo hit back and were level three minutes before the break as Rob Parker and Brad Peet scored two in 5 minutes, but Scott got his second a minute later to see AOTS into the break with a 3-2 lead. The second half was an attritional affair, but just as AOTS looked like seeing the game out, Parker grabbed his second a minute from time to maintain Deportivo’s unbeaten start to the season.

In friendlies this week Team Tom took on Exeter Gently, who kindly stayed on after the tournament to give them a game after the shock and upsetting departure of Polish Army until September. Let’s hope we’re still around! In a game that was the dictionary definition of friendly, the Tommers ran out 7-2 winners with 4 of the goals coming from new player Phil Partakis. Rooneytunes unexpectedly turned up despite their game being cancelled, so we hurriedly arranged for Wellspring to stop on and give them a game after their league game. We’re not sure how seriously either team took this game, but Rooneytunes ran out 10-3 winners. Apparently this was Cian Gillespie’s final game for them, as he is no longer needed to provide transport as other lads in the team now drive. Turns out he’d been playing to help the lads out as he doesn’t even really like playing football. Now that’s a true mate……!

WE HAVE ONE SPACE IN THE SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP. FOR MORE DETAILS OR TO REGISTER GET IN TOUCH.

MONDAY LEAGUE

This Monday Premiership looks set to go all the way, with no teams having managed to get to the three game point with a 100% record. Not A Chance are the early pace setters, and they faced a tough test of their title credentials against two time former winners AC Milmanchester. Kyle Bell gave the Chancers an early lead, before a mad spell of three goals in 4 minutes put them well in control, two more from Bell and another from Jack Halsall. Aaron Edwards got ACM on the board just before half time, and Simon Hackney got another 4 minutes after the restart. Milmanchester stepped up the pressure, and Chancers ‘keeper Paul Bardsley kept them at bay time and time again. Not only that, a speculative long clearance from the same player managed to make it’s way into the goal to give Not A Chance a 5-2 lead with 10 to play. Jam(?) quickly pulled two back for ACM and we were back to a one goal game, but Chris Priestley eased the Chancers two ahead again with 4 minutes left. Edwards grabbed his second in the final minute but it wasn’t enough, and Not A Chance maintain their position at the top of the table. After a slow start to the season, Expected Toulouse needed a win over Phantom Brazilians to stay in touch at the top. The first half was tight, with goals from Niall Hillen and Wasim Akram at either end of the half giving Expected a two goal half time lead. Matt Barton halved the deficit in the first minute of the second period, but Jack Grundy quickly restored the two goal lead before Akram and Jordan Milne put Toulouse out of sight half way through the second half. Andrew Shaw pulled one back for Phantom, and grabbed himself a second in the final minute, but Toulouse pick up a second straight wain against the same opposition to go second in the table, three points off the top.

Diva Fever have managed to do enough to pick up wins in all of their Baller games so far, but faced a tough test against pre-season favourites Netsix & Chill this week. Netsix started the better and missed a number of chances before they finally broke the deadlock through Brad Street’s 14th minute goal. They doubled the lead seconds later through Liam Atkinson’s finish, but Joe Dodd made the most of some slack play to get the Divas on the board soon after. Mike Pinder extended the Netsix lead 4 minutes before the break, and in a more even second half Matty Aked looked to have sealed the win with a goal 8 minutes from time. Football isn’t always that straightforward though, and within three minutes Diva were level as Will Thatcher and Dodd scored within seconds of each other to make it 4-4. Dodd got his third three minutes later to give Diva the lead for the first time, and Thatcher grabbed his second a minute later to give Diva Fever a lead that looked unlikely for long periods. 4 out of 4 for them. Jeremy Cheadle needed a win against Pathetico to stay in the mix for promotion, and they were two up in no time as Adam Whelan scored twice in the first 7 minutes. Nathan Thomson pulled one back for Pathetico, but Whelan added two more to make it 4-1 half way though the first period. James Littlewood halved the deficit again for Pathetico, but Jack Whelan quickly restored the three goal Cheadle lead. Whelan’s Adam and Alex both scored in the final 5 minutes of the half, but Joe Bates and Craig Moss responed for Pathetico to leave us at 7-4 at the break. The second half was a one sided affair as a recently struggling Pathetico ran out of steam, with Alex scoring three, Adam two, Jack one and Mike Astley the other as Cheadle pick up a comfortable win.

THERE IS ONE SPACE IN THE TOP DIVISION OF THE MONDAY LEAGUE (UNLESS RHINO KET REAPPEAR IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS). FOR MORE INFORMATION GET IN TOUCH.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

It’s a sad situation to have to report, but the recent drop outs of three previously reliable teams has left us with a Tuesday Premiership that needs the season to end in order to rebuild for next season. The one thing still to be determined was the actual destination of the title. Gangs Of Dwight Yorke remained the heavy favourites, but defeat for them against Shaka this week would keep the hopes of their opposition alive for now. Callum Jones gave the current title holders the lead in the 4th minute, but goals from Dan Kitchingham and Ryan Green had Shaka in front before the 10 minute mark. Josh Morrisey drew Gangs level 11 minutes before the break, before a frantic final few minutes of the half saw Shaka level up twice as all 4 previous scorers grabbed a second goal each. Jake Dean put Gangs back in front three minutes into the second half, and though Liam Paull quickly leveled again for Shaka, Morrisey and Dean scored again to give Gangs a two goal lead for the first time. When Jones added two more in a minute Gangs lead 9-5 with 14 to play. An own goal and a Mark Brookes finish reduced that lead back to two with 5 minutes left, but Chris Singelton’s goal three minutes from time meant that Green’s third in the final minute was just a consolation. It’s looking like another perfect 10 for Gangs this season.

Stroke Titty are Premiership bound for the new season, and looked to maintain their 100% record against a somewhat ropey LQ FC who were fresh 5 days of sociable drinking in Germany. Jay Willingham and Sam Cawthra put the leaders two up in the opening 10 minutes, but LQ were putting up a decent fight and missed plenty of chances of their own before Joe Lailey made it 3-0 at the break. Willingham added two more and Ryan Stevens another as Stroke went 6 up with 14 minutes to play, before LQ finally got on the board through Alex Brash’s finish. Willingham got his 4th immediately after, but LQ made the scoreline a little more respectable with goals from Brash and George Springer in the dying moments. Two improving teams faced off with Black Jack starting the night three points clear of this weeks opposition Beercalona, and only three behind second placed Wellspring. Beercalona started well as Tom Ratcliffe and Dave Watson gave them an early two goal lead, but after Ryan Alderson and Joe Dear struck to bring Jack level with 11 minutes of the half to go, the wheels fell off in the final 5 for Beercalona as two goals from Pat Bradshaw and one each for Jack Roberts and Alex Harper gave Black Jack a 6-2 half time lead. Beercalona regrouped at half time and the second half was fairly end to end, but it was Black Jack who took more chances as Roberts and Harri Budd extended their lead to 6 before Dave Seton grabbed a late consolation.

We welcomed new team Class On Fake Grass to the league this week, and they went up against some familiar foes in Wellspring in their first friendly, and despite making a decent fist of it for long periods the more experienced league team ran out 7-1 winners, with Lewis Arden and Jamie Berrisford both grabbing three, while Oli Wyatt became Class’ first Ballers goalscorer.

THE NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON  3RD JULY, WITH ONE SPACE LEFT TO FILL BEFORE WE START AGAIN. IT WON’T STICK AROUND LONG SO GET IN TOUCH ASAP FOR DETAILS OR TO REGISTER. FRIENDLIES AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT THREE WEEKS.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

The game that would go a long way towards determining the winners of this season’s Wednesday league was here this week as Stockport Eagles, who for long periods of the season seemed to have the title in their grip, took on two time champions Michu At De Gea Ba. The Eagles form has dipped at the wrong time of the season, but they started well with Ray Donnelly’s second minute finish giving them an early lead. The majority of the rest of the half belonged to Michu though, as Adam Porter, Michael Jennison and Fidelis Eberegbe scored to put them 3-1 up 9 minutes before the break. An own goal a couple of minutes from half time got Eagles back into it, and they stepped up the pace at the start of the second half. Their pressure paid off when Donnelly and Ryan McAndrew scored two in a minute to put them back in front with 15 minutes to play. It was Michu’s turn to go for it as Eagles started running low on energy, but as chances came and went and time ebbed away, Jennison grabbed a leveler three minutes from time, and with almost the last kick of the game Alex Brady won it for Michu, who go a point clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. Polish Army’s final league game with us for the time being was, fittingly, a Polish derby against Magpie. After a quiet opening 10 minutes the game burst into life in the final 15 of the period as the Army stormed into a 5 goal half time lead. Mateusz got the first before two each from Marcin and Bania put the Army well in control. The second half also started slowly, but at least this time it was Magpie who got the first goal as Stanislaw Cierpiatka got them on the board 9 minutes in. The wheels fell off for them in the final 10 as the Army added 5 more, three from Marcin, two from Bania and the final Army goal coming from one of their newer players, Julian. A fitting end to their time with us for now, hopefully we will see them again in September. Ajax Treesdown will be one to watch next season as they have had an impressive start to Ballers life, and they went up against the always hit and miss Exeter Gently this week. Spolier alert, it was a ‘miss’ week for them this week as Evan Farrell grabbed 4, Daniel Kitchingham and Chris Gee one each as Ajax stormed into a 6 goal half time lead. Jordan Hardman, Sam Cawthra and Luke Novacki added further goals in the first 11 minutes of the half, before Exeter grabbed a couple of their own in the final 10 minutes from Kristian Igo and Dan Williams. Ajax finished with a flurry as Cawthra, Novacki and Hardman all grabbed their second of the half to ease Ajax to a comfortable win.

THE NEW WEDNESDAY LEAGUE STARTS IN A FEW WEEKS BUT LOOKS SET TO BE FULL. HEAD TO ONE OF THE OTHER NIGHTS FOR SPACES. 

Into June we go, 11’s seasons and bank holidays are out of the way, so here’s to a nice long summer of Ballers action.

LEAGUE NEWS

The first heat of the BALLERS WORLD CUP took place last week, with two groups of 4 and a pair of last 16 games taking place. Congrats to Peru and Argentina for making it through to Finals Day on 15th July.

The second heat takes place THIS SUNDAY, 3rd June, we’re hoping by the time you read this the heat will be full, but the next one on SUNDAY 10TH JUNE does still have spaces available. Get in touch for details.

The next leagues that are due to start up again in the not too distant future are the TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY LEAGUES, which both come to an end this month. For an immediate start, for anyone who fancies it, we have spaces in the top division of the MONDAY and TUESDAY LEAGUES.

Get in touch…..

SUNDAY LEAGUE

The first week of the new Sunday league dropped on a bank holiday, which is a good and a bad thing. Bad as a number of teams were unable to play, but good because we could pair together the teams who could play. The new champs Duno were one of the teams who could play, and they started the new campaign with a game against Championship runners up El Caliente. A rapid start saw both teams score in the opening two minutes, Liam Watson for Duno and Kieran Norris for Caliente, before Duno looked to take the game away from their opposition before the break. Watson grabbed two more, Jack Cope a hat trick, Steven Whetham a pair and Calvin Alexander and Luke Cope a goal apiece, meaning Michael Jennison’s goal on the stroke of half time was only able to reduce the Duno lead to 10-2 at the break. Kyle Sparkes got Caliente’s third a minute into the second half, but with the game already won Duno scored two in three minutes half way through a quieter second period, Alexander and Luke Cope with those goals. Caliente at least won the second half as Norris got his second and Fidelis Eberegbe another in the final minute to give Duno a 12-5 victory. Real Maskid cruised to the Championship title last season, so their opening Premiership game with two time champs Kinky Slipper looked like being a belter. In the early stages it looked like Maskid might struggle with the step up as two goals from Adam (just Adam) and another from Joe Lailey gave Kinky a three goal lead in the opening 15 minutes. In truth, Maskid had been better than that, and they finally converted a couple of their chances in quick succession to go into the break just the one goal behind as Jack McConnell and Kieran O’Connell scored their first Premiership goals. Wesley Harney gave Kinky a two goal lead again at the start of the second half, but an end to end game saw O’Connell scored twice in 7 minutes to make it 4-4 with 15 minutes to play. Kinky hit the front again with 9 minutes left throughLailey’s second, but it wasn’t enough to claim all three points as McConnell grabbed the 10th and final goal of a breathless game with 5 minutes to play. Maskid are going to do just fine at this level……

Just the one game in the Championship saw Team Tom, who finally dropped out of the top flight at the end of the season, take on Stockport Eagles, who won the League One title (trophies this week!). The normally rock steadyTommers have struggled for numbers in recent weeks, and had a couple of debutants in their ranks this week, so it was little surprise that Eagles went into the break two up thanks to goals from Ray Donnelly and Michael Winn. Two more goals in as many minutes in the early stages of the second half from Winn and Ryan McAndrew took the result away from Team Tom, before goals from Ben Waugh and Shaun Mather in the final 10 minutes put the icing on the cake in Eagles first game at this level.

Following the one friendly they played before the end of last season, we took the decision to place Sevilla Lacatalent in League One rather than Two for their ‘debut’ season. Two goals from Jake Riley and another from Daniel McDonald in the opening 6 minutes against The McMuffin Men made it seem like this level might not be high enough, especially as McDonald added another and Sam Melling two more before the break to make it 6-0. The opening 15 minutes of the second half passed by without any further goals, before Mike Lavin added Sevilla’s 7th with 8 minutes remaining. Sam Delgado finally got McMuffin on the board a minute later, but Riley added 4 more in the final 7 minutes to give Sevilla a big opening night win. We welcomed new boys Ladzio to the Sunday league for the start of the new season, and they had a potentially tough opening game against League Two winners FC Stront Bakken (trophies this week!). The new boys struck first as Lewis Findlow scored their first Ballers goal on 11 minutes, but Benjamin Dean, shifted outfield this week, drew the Bucket Boys level two minutes before half time. Findlow got his second in the final minute of the half to ease Ladzio into a half time lead, and the same player and Jack Shepherd both struck in the opening 5 minutes of the second period to give the new team a 4-1 lead. Lukas Voveris pulled one back for Stront Bakken almost immediately, but Findlow’s 4th restored Ladzio’s three goal lead with 16 minutes left. An own goal kept Stront Bakken in touch, beofre Voveris’ second 4 minutes from time looked set to give us a big finale. Findlow’s 5th a minute later ended the Stront Bakken hopes, and Ladzio start their Ballers life with an impressive first scalp.

Deportivo Lack Of Talent have struggled for numbers in recent weeks, but we have faith that this is the season where they rise like a phoenix. They at least started by fielding a team on a bank holiday to take on SK Six on the opening night, but it was SK who went in front early as Henry Cooke put them in front on three minutes. Rob Parker leveled up for Deportivo on 8 minutes and they were in front on 11 through Ben Proctor’s goal. An own goal 10 minutes before the break made it 3-1, but Cooke got his second to keep SK in touch as we approached the interval. Brad Peet struck two vital goals in the final 5 minutes of the half to give Deportivo a 5-2 half time lead, and they controlled the second half as Parker and Proctor eased them 5 clear before Peet added three more in the final 5 minutes to ease Deportivo to a 10-2 opening night win. The Veterans have gone from being on the brink of the Premiership to League Two in successive seasons, and opened another campaign against Rooneytunes. It looked like being a successful start as Simon Grainger and Ryan Prestwich put them two up in the first 13 minutes, but Rooneytunes hit back with two of their own from Finn Gosnie and Jack Hodkinson to send us into the break all square. Paul Atherton restored the Vets lead 14 minutes from time, and this time there was no Rooneytunes comeback as Prestwich added two more in the final 8 minutes to give The Veterans a 5-2 win to start the season.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL. WE WOULD STILL LOOK TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION INTO THE SEASON AS WE GO, SO IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOME SUMMER FOOTBALL GET IN TOUCH!

MONDAY LEAGUE

Yay for bank holidays….. Just the one league game and one friendly this week as only three of our current Monday teams were able to field a side due to the attraction of the beer garden……

That one game took place in the Championship as two teams who have become very familiar with each other went head to head again as Nice Buns took on Netsix & Chill. The Buns started brightly as Charlie Williamson and Tom Dempsey put them two up in the first 5 minutes, but Netsix hit back with two Callum Jones goals to take us into the break all square. Dempsey put Buns back in front in the opening minute of the second half, but we were level again with 20 to play as Liam Atkinson grabbed himself a goal. He got a second 5 minutes later to give Netsix the lead for the first time, and further goals from Jones and Matthew Atkinson looked to have secured the result for them. Dale Kirkham pulled one back for Buns with three to play, but Mike Pinder grabbed the final goal of the game a minute later to give Netsix the 7-4 win.

Exeter Gently stepped into the breach to give Pink Panthers a game this week, but the Monday Premiership team were too strong this week as Christie O’Brien grabbed three and Corey Rafferty two of the Panthers 8 as they ran out 8-5 winners in a fairly relaxed game.

WE HAVE ONE SPACE FOR AN IMMEDIATE START IN THE TOP DIVISION OF THE MONDAY LEAGUE – GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The Tuesday Premiership has stumbled somewhat in recent weeks, with Inter Row Z, Only Kruls & Horses and (we assume) Inter Mi Van running short on players and having to call it a day for now, so only one game survived this week. That game was Shaka going up against Oooze with their hopes of claiming the title still alive following just the one defeat this season to leaders Gangs Of Dwight Yorke. They got off to a good start as James Holden gave them a third minute lead, but Chris Gee leveled up for Oooze two minutes later. Mark Brookes restored the Shaka lead, but we looked set to go in level at the break when Jay Berrisford drew Oooze level for a second time. Two late goals from Andrew Cadwallader and Ryan Green saw Shaka take a two goal lead into the second half, and from there they were able to pick Oooze off time and time again on the break. Tom Hannan got two, Holden and Green another each to ease Shaka to a comfortable 8-2 win.

Stroke Titty are still Premiership bound, despite a slight downturn in performance in recent weeks, and they went up against an ever improving Beercalona this week in what looked like another reasonable test. Two goals midway through the first half eased them into a two goal half time lead as Joe Lailey and Jay Willingham got on the score sheet. A third from David Dunn 6 minutes into the second half looked to put the result beyond doubt, but he got his second 4 minutes later to make sure. Three more in the last 5 minutes made the scoreline a little harsh on Beercalona as Willingham, Ryan Stevens and Craig Gould scored to make it 7-0 to give Stroke a 7 point lead at the top. The title would be there’s if Wellspring failed to beat LQ FC this week, and they fell behind to Max Brookes 16th minute opener in what turned out to be a very tight game. An own goal drew them level three minutes before half time, and in a second half where there were plenty of chances at either end, a fortuitous Callum Clarke goal in the final minute gave Wellspring a second straight 2-1 victory as they remain strong favourites to finish in second place. At the start of the season Turkish Delight would have been one of the favourites for a promotion push, but the same fate that affected their half season in the top flight last time has reared it’s head again in dropping points in games they looked like getting more from, and they needed a win against Black Jack this week to stay in realistic contention. There’s was a slightly patched up team this week, but they were 2-0 up in the opening 9 minutes as Volkan grabbed two early goals. Luke Waiting halved the deficit for Black Jack a minute later, and it remained 2-1 at the break before Waiting grabbed his second two minutes into the second half to make it 2-2. Ali edged Turkish back in front 15 minutes from time, but the patched up team weren’t able to hold out as Ant Cronshaw and Jack Roberts scored in the final 7 minutes to give Black Jack the lead for the first time, a lead they were able to hold onto until the end to end their pitch 1 hoodoo.

SPACES ARE AVAILABLE FOR AN IMMEDIATE START IN OUR TUESDAY TOP DIVISION. SO IF YOU FANCY YOUR CHANCES, GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS AND TO REGISTER. 

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Massive shock in the Wednesday league this week as one of the teams couldn’t play! Thankfully we pulled in a last minute replacement to ensure three games went ahead as normal. Stockport Eagles weren’t punished for their first defeat of the season last week as Michu were only able to draw to keep them top, and they would have been expecting to get back to winning ways against bottom of the table Exeter Gently this week. It didn’t seem as if it would be that straightforward in the first half as Ray Donnelly levelled up Adam Robison’s opener for Exeter to see us into the break at 1-1. The shock looked on when Mehrad Torkian and Brad Robison scored two in a minute 10 minutes into the second half to give Exeter a 3-1 lead, but it was game on again when Donnelly scored his second 11 minutes from time to reduce the deficit to one. It was Exeter’s night though, as the two Robison’s scored again in the final 10 minutes, meaning Ben Waugh’s last minute goal was just a consolation. As Michu didn’t play tonight Eagles stay top, but Michu have a game in hand and the two teams still need to face each other in the next few weeks. Third place was the best last season’s runners up Polish Army could hope for, while Ajax Treesdown have showed promise in the early stages of their Ballers Wednesday life, but they didn’t start well here as Marcin and Danny put the Poles two up in the opening 12 minutes. Chris Gee pulled one back for Ajax two minutes later,but two more from Julian and Bania seemed to have the Army in control 6 minutes before the break. That lead was back to one by half time as Sam Cawthra pulled two back for Ajax in the final 5, and the Evan Farrell made it 4-4 in the first minute of the second period. Daniel Kitchingham put Ajax in front for the first time with 21 to play, but we were all square again through Bania’s second goal just two minutes later. Ajax proved to be the stronger team in the final stages, and two more from Cawthra and another from Gee eased them to an 8-5 win.

Magpie took on a mish-mash of Wellspring and Insole in a hastily arranged friendly, which the mix’n’match team won 4-1 as Kyle Clarke got three and Brad Steet the other, while Magpie ‘keeper Lukasz Skiera netted a late penalty to give them some consolation. Back to league action for them next week, hopefully…..

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL AND LOOKS LIKE REMAINING THAT WAY, SO LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR IMMEDIATE BALLERS ACTION!

These 11-a-side seasons aren’t half dragging out, aren’t they? Another week slightly affected by teams catching up games in midweek, which simply isn’t fair, surely there can’t be much longer to go……

LEAGUE NEWS

Big news with regards to our Ballers World Cup, as we’ve been able to secure the main pitch NEXT THURSDAY, 24th May, so will be running the first heat of this event then, with a 7.30pm kick off. Don’t forget, 50% of all money cleared from this event will be going to SoccerAid, so get in touch to register.

The BRAND NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE kicks off on 27th May. The format for the league will be getting finalised next Wednesday, 23rd May, so that will be the cut off date for any new teams wanting to get involved. If your 11-a-side season is finishing up and you want to keep playing through the summer months, this would be ideal as this new league will be finishing in early August.

For more details on any of our leagues, fill in a Join A League form on the home page, or call or text 078092526589.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Depending on how results went this week, both the Premiership and League One titles could have been decided this week. Team Tom’s cancellation against Duno effectively stopped that possibility from occurring in the top flight, but Kinky Slipper needed a win in their game with old rivals Insole to put themselves in the box seat. A win for Insole would keep alive their slim hopes of winning the top flight for a 4th time, and they took the lead through Kyle Clarke’s 4th minute opener. The lead didn’t last long as Jordan Hutchinson drew the leaders level three minutes later, but Insole restored their lead through Aaron Campbell’s goal half way through the period. Two goals in a minute turned things in Kinky’s favour and they went into the break with a 3-2 lead. Things were tight in the opening stages of the second period, but two goals in three minutes saw this one turn again, Jordan Cunningham grabbing them both to give Insole the edge again. Campbell got his second 5 minutes from time and Kinky’s title hopes were fading away, and though Hutchinson got his second three minutes from time it wasn’t enough as Insole held on to leave themselves two points behind Duno with both teams having one more game to play. Duno will win the league with victory over Team Tom next week, Insole will nick it if they beat Kipsta and Duno fail to win, while Kinky have to hope for a Duno defeat and Insole failing to win. This is how it should be! One team that have made a statement since they joined are Bangers & Pash, who will have to remain at this level next season having taken 4 points off Kinky and Insole since joining. This week’s game against Kipsta was a bit of a grudge match as Bangers were formed as a breakaway from two of their rebellious players, but they hit the front in the first minute through Alex Fowell’s finish. Kipsta debutant Kieron Mills leveled things up 7 minutes later, then put them in front 11 minutes before the break, but we were all square at the break as Harry Kilmartin made it 2-2 4 minutes later. Mills put Kipsta back in front three minutes into the second half, but again that lead didn’t last long as Fowell got his second to make it 3-3, before Jack Horgan put Kipsta back in front for the third time with 15 minutes left. Again Bangers hit back through Chris Carroll’s leveler three minutes later, and it was the same player who struck the decisive 9th goal 7 minutes from time to give Bangers a win that gives them 10 points from the 5 games they have played since joining up. They could be in the mix next season…..

After a fantastic opening half of the season where no teams missed a game, the Championship was a barren wasteland for a second week in a row as a couple of teams have found things to be a struggle. In League One, only a win for Pat’s Giants against Stockport Eagles would keep the title race alive going into the final week. Despite Paddy Bannister putting them in front in the 5th minute, for much of the first half they didn’t look like picking up the win they needed as Ray Donnelly, Shaun Mather, Paul Waugh and Ben Waugh turned things very much in Eagles favour. Danny Brookes pulled one back for Pat’s 5 minutes before the break, but Michael Winn quickly restored Eagles three goal lead two minutes later. The Giants finished the half with a much needed flourish as Brookes scored two more to send them into the break with what looked like an unlikely one goal deficit. The second half started in cautious fashion, but Ryan McAndrew looked to have grabbed the decisive goal for Eagles 13 minutes from time to give them a two goal cushion. The Giants weren’t for giving this one up, and out of nowhere they were level three minutes later as Jack Emmerson and Paddy Bannister scored to make it 6-6 with 10 to play. It was the Eagles that grabbed the vital 13th goal of the game as an unfortunate own goal gave them the 7-6 win that confirms their place as League One winners! The Giants defeat meant that second place remained up for grabs, and a win for Polish Army would see them move to within three points with a game in hand. They played FC AOTS this week who needed points to avoid the possibility for dropping into the Sunday league basement for next season. A goal each for Bania and Adam Atherton had us all square at 1-1 after 10 minutes, but two more for Bania and another for Julian saw the Army lead 4-1 at the break. Three more in the opening 12 minutes of the second half put the result beyond doubt as Grzegorz, Bania and Marcin put the Army out of sight, and even though Steve Whittle and an own goal gave AOTS a bit of consolation, Julian grabbed three more and Bania another in the final 11 minutes to give Polish Army a fairly comfortable victory. Murder On Zidane’s Floor’s team bares more and more resemblance to The McMuffin Men on a weekly basis, and they took on The Veterans this week with The Vets in need of points to drag themselves out of the bottom two. Mark Bailey gave Murder the lead on 9 minutes, but three goals in 7 minutes turned this one The Veterans way as Paul Atherton grabbed two and Ben Mercer the other. Jack Searle got McMu….. Murder off to the ideal start in the second half as they looked to get back into this one, but Paul Atherton quickly restored The Vets two goal lead. Charley Eyre kept Murder in the hunt, Atherton got his 4th to keep them at arms length, Daniel Havern grabbed another for Murder to make it 5-4 with 10 minutes to play, but Simon Grainger scored the 10th and final goal of the game to give The Veterans a much needed win that is guaranteed to keep them out of the relegation places come the end of the season.

The League Two season has been a little fragmented this season, and with Stront Bakken already having claimed the title a few weeks ago. Inter Your Sister still needed to try and secure a second place finish that they would have done well to throw away! They fell behind to Deportivo Lack Of Talent in the second minute through Ben Proctor’s goal, but quickly turned things around to lead 2-1 within 5 minutes, Craig Johnson and Gaz Sumner with the goals. Ryan McAndrew doubled their lead 4 minutes before the break, but Proctor’s second of the game kept Deportivo in the mix at half time. Two more McAndrew goals in the opening 10 minutes of the second half looked to have put Inter out of sight at 5-2, but Proctor got his third with 15 minutes to play to keep Deportivo within two.Two more Johnson goals in the final 6 minutes did finish this one off, with McAndrew grabbing his 4th of the game in the final minute to complete an 8-3 win for Inter and second place. Due to games missed earlier in the season, Beercalona and SK Six’s game this weekend was for double points, and Beercalona struck first through Tom Ratcliffe’s second minute goal. Harry Bridge drew SK level 10 minutes in, but two goals in three minutes from Jay Ratcliffe put Beercalona in control at the break. Ratcliffe got his third three minutes into the second half, and they looked to have the 6 points wrapped up when Ratcliffe and Scott Williams scored in quick succession to make it 6-1. Bridge did pull another one back for SK with 16 minutes still to play, but Ratcliffe got his 5th three minutes later and Ste Bowler grabbed Beercalona’s 8th in the final minute to give them a comfortable win.

Just one friendly played this week as a couple of teams wanted to keep going while they waited for the new season to get going. El Caliente had 6 different scorers as they beat Rooneytunes 9-5, with a mysterious man known only as ‘Jimmy’ grabbing three of them.

WE CAN FIND SPACE FOR NEW TEAMS AS WE LOOK TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION TO THE SUNDAY LEAGUE FOR THE NEW SEASON. IF YOUR 11’S SEASON IS FINISHING UP AND THE LADS WANT TO KEEP PLAYING THROUGH THE SUMMER, THIS IS IDEAL!

MONDAY LEAGUE

Since starting up the new Championship at the start of the season we’ve pretty much been onto a winner, and a full house of second tier games accompanied just the one in the top flight this week. That top flight game saw Expected Toulouse return after missing a couple of weeks, and they got off to an absolute flyer as they looked to get back to winning ways after their shock opening day defeat to Not A Chance, going two up against Pink Panthers in the opening two minutes. Jordan Milne and Liam Mottram got those goals, and though Christy O’Brien pulled one back before we’d reached the 5 minute mark, Mottram’s second and a Waz Akram goal saw last season’s champions lead 4-1 with just 9 minutes on the clock. Ray Donnelly pulled one back a minute later, but after that we actually went 8 minutes without a goal before two in a a minute from Niall Hillen and Mottram seemed to have put Toulouse over the top at 6-2 6 minutes before half time. Their lead was trimmed before the break as Ross Wheret and Gage (just Gage) reduced the deficit to just two goals, and Gage’s second 5 minutes into the second half meant there was just one goal in it with 19 minutes still to go. Donnelly’s second of the game 11 minutes from time meant we were all square again, and despite a massive effort from both teams, 6-6 was how it finished.

Both Diva Fever and Jeremy Cheadle were looking for their second wins of the season and the chance to go top of the Championship in the early stages, but in the early stages it looked likely that the points would be heading Diva’s way. Joe Dodd scored a brace in three minutes half way through the period, and though Phil Monaghan pulled one back 4 minutes before the break, Des Savage and John Brookes scored to ensure the Diva’s went into the break 4-1 up. Cheadle needed a fast start to the second half, but Dodd’s third of the game helped DIva open up a 4 goal lead, before Cheadle kicked into life with goals from Jack Whelan and Kieran Monaghan to make it 5-3 with 14 minutes to play. That was as close as they got though, and Diva finished the stronger with two more goals from Brookes and one each for Savage and Dodd to make it two wins from two for the new team. Netsix & Chill bounced back from a humbling opening day defeat to pick up a first win of the season last week, and goals in the first half from Mike Pinder, Warren Yeo and Matty Aked put them in control against Nice Buns. Tom Dempsey got Buns on the board before the break to keep them in touch, but Aaron Campbell restored Netsix’ three goal lead three minutes after the restart. Tom Hall and Paul Cheetham scored to give Buns hope of a third league draw from 4 games with the score at 4-3 with 12 minutes to go, but Yeo’s second of the game a minute later gave Netsix a lead they didn’t relinquish in the final stages. they go second, level on points with Diva Fever. We tried to force Migg FC to take a spot in the top division after their impressive victory over Netsix in the opening week, but they’ve since followed that up with a draw with Nice Buns and a defeat in a friendly last week, so maybe we were jumping the gun. They would have expected to get back to winning ways this week against Pathetico Madrid, and struck early through Dan Wild’s third minute opener, but they were behind within three minutes as James Littlewood and Liam Needham turned things in Pathetico’s favour. Joe McDonald leveled up again for Migg, but before we’d even reached the 10 minute mark Pathetico were back in front again through Joe Bates finish. We looked like making it through to half time with the scoreline remaining the same, but Littlewood doubled Pathetico’s lead in the final minute of the half to send them into the break with a 4-2 lead. The second period started similar to the first with 4 goals in the opening 5 minutes, McDonald and Kyle Mulliner’s goals being quickly matched by goals from Bates and Needham as Pathetico retained their two goal lead with 20 minutes to play. From this point the second half drifted into the final 5 minutes with Pathetico looking set for a first win of the season, but there was a final twist as McDonald and Aaron Roby struck two goals in the final three minutes to give both teams a share of the spoils.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT FRIENDLIES CAN BE ARRANGED FOR ANY NEW TEAMS WANTING TO GET INVOLVED

TUESDAY LEAGUE

As the midweek 11’s games continue to be crammed in, we found ourselves with three games just about surviving this week. The only top division game saw title holders (who are yet to receive their trophies, ooops) Gangs Of Dwight Yorke take on a patched up Oooze FC. It looked like it could be a long night for the patched up team as Callum Jones gave Gangs a two goal lead in the opening 13 minutes, but they fought back well and three goals in 6 minutes, two from Sam Cawthra and another from Jay Berrisford gave them an unlikely 3-2 lead heading towards the interval. Jones’ third of the half sent us into the break all square, and the champs came out fighting (not literally) in the second half as two goals from Anthony Pugh and another from Jake Dean helped them open up a three goal lead in the early stages. Berrisford got his second to give Oooze hope, but that quickly disappeared as Gangs went through the gears as Dean added three more, Jones and Pugh another each. Berrisford did complete his hat trick with 5 minutes to play, but in those 5 minutes Gangs found time for three more goals, two from Chris Singleton and a 5th of the game for Jones, as Gangs continue their winning run at the start of the season.

Stroke Titty look set for a place in the top flight next season as they went into this weeks batch of games with a 9 point lead at the top, but this weeks game looked interesting as they took on a recently much improved Wellspring. The leaders hit the front in the 8th minute through Sam Tattersall’s finish and it looked like business as usual, but goals from Mike Devitt and Lewis Arden turned things in Wellspring’s favour before the break. An own goal 6 minutes into the second half got Stroke back on level terms, but Nathan Wilkinson restored Wellspring’s lead a minute later. Jay Willingham made it 3-3 with 15 minutes to play, and despite the best effort of both teams, this is how it finished as Stroke drop their first points of the season. Turkish Delight bounced back with a win last week to reclaim second place going into this weeks game with an improving, but patched up Beercalona. Ballers debutant Anthony Corns opened the scoring for Beercalona, before an unfortunate injury to Omur of Turkish Delight meant they were reduced to 5 men for the remainder of the game (get well soon!). Beercalona voluntarily played the remainder of the match with 5 themselves, but it didn’t negatively affect them as Corns second and fellow debutant Martin Bell’s first Ballers goal put them three up 4 minutes before the break. Volkan pulled one back a couple of minute later, but it was 4-1 at the break as Tom Ratcliffe scored a minute before the half time whistle. Volkan got his second a minute after the restart to keep Turkish in the contest, but Beercalona killed this one off with three goals in 8 minutes, two from Jay Ratcliffe, one for Tom. Turkish kicked into life in the final 5 minutes, and two more Volkan goals and one from Morgan pulled them back to 7-5 with two minutes to go, but Jay Ratcliffe’s third in the final minute put the seal on Beercalona’s first win of the season.

WE HAVE A SINGLE SPACE IN THE TOP DIVISION OF THE TUESDAY LEAGUE. IT WON’T BE AROUND FOR LONG, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Aaaaaand we’re back to a full house of games after what by Wednesday’s standards was a dodgy few weeks! Old foes Stockport Eagles and Polish Army went up against each other for the latest in their long running saga with the Eagles looking to maintain their position at the top of the table. Ryan McAndrew struck for for Eagles in the 4th minute, and though Mateusz drew the Army level 9 minutes later the Eagles looked well in control when Michael Winn, McAndrew and Callum Donnelly  scored three in 5 minutes to put Eagles 4-1 up 7 minutes from half time. These games are never straightforward though, and the Poles were back to within one by the break as Grzegorz and Bania scored in the final few minutes of the half. Bania made it 4-4 5 minutes into the second period, and when Marcin scored to put them 5-4 up with 9 minutes to go it looked like they had broken the Eagles resistance. Of course they hadn’t though, as Ray Donnelly leveled us up again a couple of minutes later, before Michael Winn scored a quickfire double and Ben Waugh the final goal as Eagles scored three in the last 4 minutes to pick up another win. Exeter Gently returned after a couple of weeks off and were thrown straight into a game with two times champs Michu At De Gea Ba. They started well as Mehrad Torkian put them in front in the second minute, but they were behind by the 10th minute as Matt Barton and Alex Brady scored for Michu. 4 goals in the final 6 minutes of the half saw Michu lead 5-2 at the break, Michael Jennison with two and Adam Porter another for Michu, Dan Williams with the strike for Exeter. It’s fair to say that Michu have had a more than decent record against Exeter, so we may have expected them to run away with things in the second half, but what we got was a lightning start to the second period for Exeter who were level within 7 minutes of the restart, Tom Harrison, Williams and Tom Wood with the goals. Michu responded by going two up again with two goals in a minute from Jennison and Nathan Brammer, and this time there was no way back for Exeter. Brammer grabbed two more in the final stages to ease Michu to a 4 goal victory that keeps them hot on the heels of the leaders. Ajax Treesdown (formerly Ice Cream Kone, formerly Cheadle FC, possibly still to be renamed) joined the Wednesday league this week, and they looked to be on the way to an opening night victory as they lead 3-1 in the early stages of the second half. Sam Cawthra got the only goal of the opening period in the 6th minute before Harry Lee’s two goals in the opening two minutes of the second half were either side of Bartosz Schmidt’s solitary strike for Magpie. Things took off in the final 10 minutes as Tomasz Glebiowski scored two in a minute to draw Magpie level, before Ajax looked to have won it all over again through Adam Taylor’s goal 5 minutes from time. In a final twist Magpie snatched a point through Adrian Hulicki’s goal a minute from the end, as Ajax look set to make a solid addition to a solid Wednesday league.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS BACK AT CAPACITY AGAIN. GET IN TOUCH ABOUT ANY UPCOMING SPACES OR NEW LEAGUES!

Hmmm, this probably won’t take as long as normal…… The scorching bank holiday might have been great for the majority of you, but it was a major buzz kill for our Sunday and Monday leagues as people decided to spend time with friends and family, in beer gardens and Blackpool rather than Ballers.

LEAGUE NEWS

The BRAND NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE creeps closer and closer, with the start date set for 27th May (we know, we know, that’s the next bank holiday, we’ll work around it!). 5 divisions is still our aim, so the spaces are there for any new teams wanting to get involved. If your 11’s season has just finished and you want to keep playing through the summer, give us a shout.

The SK BALLERS WORLD CUP continues to pick up teams as we look to fill the 32 spaces. 50% of all cleared takings from the event will be donated to SoccerAid, so get in touch if you want to get involved in raising some money through this event.

Minimal spaces pop up on our other nights every now and again, so always feel free to ask about those, and we can get some friendlies on on a Monday evening on a separate pitch it the lads want some games to build the fitness up.

We’ll also be unveiling a competition to give teams a chance to WIN A FREE SEASON which will be announced on the Facebook page at 6pm on Monday, so keep an eye out……

Either fill in a ‘Join A League’ form on the homepage or call or text 07809252658 for details.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

We had one of those rarest of Sunday’s where the number of games off was more than the number of games on. Anyone would think it was a sunny bank holiday weekend….. In the top division one game survived, and it gave Duno the chance to cement their place as genuine title contenders as they took on Team Tom for the first time this season. Duno needed goals if they were to try and peg back some of the goal difference advantage held by Kinky Slipper and Insole, so it was a frustrating opening 12 minutes before Liam Watson put them in front. Luke Cope doubled the lead two minutes later, but it was another 9 minutes before Watson added their third. They didn’t go into the break with a three goal lead though, as Tom Hornsby scored on the stroke of half time to make it 3-1 at the interval. Cope restored Duno’s three goal lead in the first minute of the second half, but it was another frustrating half as the Tommers dug in. Watson got his third 10 minutes from time, and Calvin Alexander and an own goal completed the scoring as Duno pick up a 7-1 win to keep them level with Kinky, with Kinky’s final game against Insole, and Duno go again against Team Tom. A win for Duno will give them the title if Kinky fail to win…..

The Championship was a washout this week, so in League One we had Stockport Eagles looking to take the step up to that level, and with Pat’s Giants not playing this week they could go 6 points clear at the top with a win over Murder On Zidane’s Floor. Just the two oals in the first half, both within three minutes of each other, as Ray Donnelly’s opener for Eagles was cancelled out by Logan Sherer’s leveler for Murder. Things opened up in the second half as Ryan McAndrew and Donnelly gave the Eagles a two goal lead in the first 6 minutes of the half. Sam Delgado quickly pulled  one back for Zidane, but Paul Waugh and Donnelly added another couple to ease the Eagles three goals clear. McAndrew and Waugh added two more inside the final 5 minutes to secure the victory, meaning Delgado’s second of the game two minutes from time was just a consolation. The Veterans were looking to avoid back to back relegations having dropped out of the Championship last season, a season after they just missed out on promotion to the Premiership. Their game with FC AOTS this week was wide open in the first half, as AOTS went two up inside the opening 14minutes through goals from Adam Duty and Eoghan Scott. The Vets turned things around, and Ryan Prestwich’s 15th minute goal was quickly followed by two from Paul Atherton as they turned the game in their favour within 4 minutes. Duty’s second of the game three minutes from half time sent us into the break all square at 3-3. The second half was much tighter, and Atherton’s third of the game 6 minutes from time looked to have won it for The Veterans, but Duty also grabbed his third a minute later to give both teams a share of the spoils

FC Stront Bakken were looking to make it a perfect 10 to complete their promotion back to League One against SK Six, and they looked set to do that as Lukas Voveris and Declan Matthews put them two up in the first 16 minutes. They held that lead until the break, and extended it through Matthews’ second goal two minutes after the restart. Henry Cooke pulled one back for SK 20 minutes from time, and remarkably they turned the game completely on it’s head with three more goals in 5 minutes as Harry Bridge scored two after Steve Blunsten had also found the net. Stront Bakken threw everything at SK in the dying minutes, but a man of the match performance from SK keeper Bernard Blicharz kept them at bay as SK pick up their second ever Ballers win!

Wellspring took on Inter Your Sister in a friendly which ended up being 5v5 as only 4 Inter players turned up. Jay Berrisford of Wellspring made the shift over and scored 4 goals against his parent club, but Wellspring were the winners as Lewis Arden and Mike Devitt both scored 4 each to help them to a 12-9 win.

THE NEW SUNDAY SEASON STARTS ON 27TH MAY – WE HAVE SPACES AVAILABLE FOR NEW TEAMS AS WE LOOK TO GET UP TO 5 DIVISIONS FOR THE SUMMER 

MONDAY LEAGUE

Only a couple of Championship games survived this week, and with Migg FC only involved in a friendly this week it gave those teams behind them the chance to close the gap at the top. Netsix were pre-season favourites for the Championship crown, but they went into this week’s game with Pathetico Madrid looking for their first win of the season. Granted it was only their second game, but goals in the opening 5 minutes from Mike Pinder and Warren Yeo looked to be putting them on their way to a win. Pathetico got on the board through Liam Needham’s 15th minute strike, but Matty Aked restored the two goal lead almost immediately before Connor Harding made it 4-1 at the break. Pinder got their 5th two minutes after the restart, but Needham pulled another back for Pathetico two minutes later. The result was never really in doubt though, and Pinder and Harding eased Netsix into a 7-2 lead with 14 to play. Needham completed his hat trick as Pathetico refused to lie down and accept the result, but Aaron Campbell grabbed two and Pinder his 4th in the final 10 minutes to give Netsix a comfortable win. Nice Buns had two points on the board after a pair of 5-5 draws from their opening two games, and faced league debutants Diva Fever this week as they looked for a first win of the campaign. A topsy turvy first half started with Jimmy Williamson giving Buns a 7th minute lead, but John Brookes drew Diva level 6 minutes later. Williamson got his second a minute later to restore the Buns lead, but the Diva’s scored two in a minute through Brookes and an own goal to go in front 5 minutes before half time. 5 minutes was still time for another twist as Williamson and Tom Dempsey scored in those final 5 to send Buns into the interval with a 4-3 lead. With 15 minutes to play a repeat of Buns opening two games looked on as Brookes third of the game made it 4-4, but the same player added two more in a minute to make it 6-4 with 10 to play. Paul Cheetham quickly pulled a goal back for Buns, but they couldn’t find a 6th of their own and slip to their first defeat of the season.

Migg took on an Inter Row Z / Stockport Eagles mish mash in a friendly this week, and the Eagles shard the goals around as 6 different scorers helped them to a surprisingly comfortable 9-3 victory.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, BUT WE HAVE THE OPTION OF USING THE MUGA TO GET FRIENDLIES ON FOR ANY TEAMS WAITING FOR A SPACE. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS. 

TUESDAY LEAGUE

With bank holiday out of the way the Tuesday was back to it’s normal decent turnout, with all 5 games passing by without any real incidents of note…… Gangs Of Dwight Yorke had picked up a pair of wins in their attempts to defend their title, but the games were proving to be a lot closer this time around, and they fell behind to a 7th minute Gary Wood goal against Inter Mi Van this week. Within 8 minutes Gangs had turned things around to take the lead through a pair of Callum Jones goals, and the score remained 2-1 at the break. Wood’s second of the game three minutes after the restart meant that we headed into the final 15 minutes all square at 2-2, but as they have a tendency to do Gangs stepped up a gear and two more goals from Jones, one from Chris Singleton and another from Aden Jones eased them to another hard fought win. Oooze had become the latest team to run Gangs close as they fell to a narrow defeat in their delayed Premiership debut last week, and they faced another tough game as Oooze FC looked to match Gangs on three wins out of three. Adam Corr gave Oooze the lead in the second minute, but Ryan Green drew Shaka level with 11 minutes of the half to go. An own goal in the 21st minute looked like sending Oooze into the break in front, but Mark Brookes ensured we went into the break all square at two apiece. Shaka went in front for the first time 5 minutes into the second half through James Holden’s finish, and they increased their lead another 5 minutes later when Liam Paull found a finish. The same player gave them a three goal lead that Oooze never looked likely to recover from, but they will hope to bounce back next week as some of their players return from their 11-a-side commitments. Their start might have been delayed, but Shaka look set to hold their own at this level for the season.

Stroke Titty look Premiership bound for the new season, and would have been expecting another three points against a hit and miss Black Jack this week. It took 11 minutes for them to break the deadlock through Ross Graham’s goal, but after that Graham, Craig Gould and Ryan Stevens added further goals to send them into half time with a 4-0 lead. Black Jack pulled one back two minutes into the second period through Harri Budd’s finish, and things started to look interesting when Joe Dear grabbed another three minutes later to make it 4-2 with 20 minutes still to play. The comeback stalled at this point, and the only other goal of the game came from Graham who completed his hat trick in the final minute to ease Stroke to a 5th straight win. The wheels had fallen off in the past couple of weeks for Turkish Delight as they suffered a second defeat in a row last week after a positive start to the season, and they faced LQ FC this week who had given a good account of themselves in defeat to Stroke in their first game of the season last week. After Rajat had given Turkish the lead in the 4th minute the remainder of the opening half was incredibly tight as we went into the break at 1-0. Volkan doubled the Turkish lead 8 minutes after the restart, and the game was as good as over when Deigo made it 3-0 with 11 minutes to go. Morgan finished this one off with their 4th of the game two minutes from time, a result that sees the Turks get back to winning ways and back into second spot in the table. Wellspring had impressed in last week’s win over Turkish and were looking to build some momentum against winless Beercalona this week. They had to come from behind twice in the opening 19 minutes though, as Craig Scanlon’s double for Beercalona was matched by the same from Mike Devitt of Wellspring. Jamie Berrisford ensured that Wellspring edged things at the break, and things exploded into life early in the second half as Devitt’s third goal to put Wellspring two up was quickly matched by a goal apiece from Tom Ratcliffe and Scanlon to make it 4-4 on 29 minutes. A minute later Devitt grabbed another to restore the Wellspring lead, before Berrisford and Ratcliffe exchanged goals within second of each other to keep Wellspring a goal in front. Scanlon drew Beercalona level again with 13 minutes still to play and this game was anyone’s to win. Ratcliffe and Berrisford repeated their earlier trick of scoring in the same minute and we sat at 7-7 with 12 to go. Wellspring finally made the decisive move as Callum Clarke got on the score sheet and Berrisford added two more to give them a three goal lead and some breathing space with just 5 minutes left. Ste Bowler did pull one back for Beercalona in the final minute, but Wellspring held on for a two goal victory that sees them stay level on points with Turkish Delight in the race for second place.

TECHNICALLY WE HAVE A SPACE IN THE TOP DIVISION OF THE TUESDAY LEAGUE, BUT WE HAVE A TEAM LOOKING AT MAKING A MOVE. IF YOU WANT THE SPOT YOU BEST GET IN QUICK!

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

With a new team set to join us next week, we’ll hopefully be back to the regular full house of Wednesday games. Unless Michu move to the Tuesday league…… Stockport Eagles were looking to retain their position at the top of the table as they took on a Magpie team that has been competitive since it rejoined, but haven’t picked up many points. The tightness of the Wednesday league this season was shown in the fact that it took 23 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, as Ray Donnelly gave Eagles a narrow half time lead. In a more open second half it was the Eagles who took their chances as Donnelly and Ryan McAndrew helped them open up a three goal lead in the first 10 minutes of the half. Donnelly made it 4-0 with 12 minutes to play, but Milosz Zawila scored a minute from time to ruin Eagles ‘keeper Lee Bridge’s birthday by denying him a birthday clean sheet. McAndrew finished the game off in the final seconds to give Eagles a 5-1 win which would ensure they stayed top regardless of the other results. Michu At De Gea Ba took on familiar foes Polish Army as they looked to cling onto Eagles coat tails, but they didn’t get off to a good start as two goals from Julian and another from Michal put the Army 3-1 up in the opening 17 minutes after Adam Porter had initially pulled a goal back for Michu. Ian Davies scored two minutes from half time to reduce the deficit back to one at the break, and when Matt Barton scored two in three minutes early in the second half they were in front for the first time. Nathan Brammer and Adam Porter added to the Michu lead to seemingly kill the game off, but the Poles kept things interesting as Julian and new boy Dan pulled a couple back to make it 6-5 with 6 minutes still to play. Despite pushing hard there was to be no leveler for the Army as Michu continue their quest for a third straight title. Unless they move nights…..

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS NOW BACK TO BEING FULL, SO UNLESS MICHU SHIFT NIGHTS YOU MIGHT BE BEST LOOKING ELSEWHERE…… 

The 11’s season is just about over from both a viewing and participation point of view, so with a lot of people having three months to spare, here’s some dates for your diary if you want to stay sharp during the simmer months.

SUNDAY 27TH MAY – BRAND NEW SUNDAY EVENING LEAGUE

This could be perfect for those Sunday league teams who want to keep playing during the summer months. A start date of 27th May means the league will be finishing at the start of August, so if you’re looking for joining us for a single season this could be the one. We are looking for new teams to make up a new 5th division we want to add in, even if it’s only temporary! Obviously any teams who want to join without a set end date are more than welcome as we’d love to keep a 5th division going long term!

Friendlies are available over the next couple of weeks, so get in touch for details.

SUNDAY 3RD JUNE – SK BALLERS WORLD CUP – HEATS 1 & 2

Our SK BALLERS WORLD CUP heats take place over two Sunday’s, with heat 1 taking place at 1.30pm on 3rd June, and heat 2 taking place at 3.30pm on the same day. Teams will be allocated a country that is participating in the World Cup and the groups will mirror the actual event. Spaces are limited so get in touch to register your team asap. Half of the cleared proceeds for the entire event will be donated to SoccerAid, another reason to get involved!

SUNDAY 10TH JUNE – SK BALLERS WORLD CUP – HEATS 3 & 4

The following week heats 3 and 4 take place, with heat 3 at 1.30pm and heat 4 at 3.30pm. In both cases the group stages and last 16 knockout games take place during the heats, leaving 8 teams in total to qualify for FINALS DAY. Any teams who take part in the first two heats can have another go in heats 3 and 4 if any spaces are available.

WEDNESDAY 20TH JUNE – BRAND NEW WEDNESDAY EVENING LEAGUE

Our late night Wednesday league is currently without spaces, but there’s time for something to come up, so if you like the idea of a fixed 9pm kick off every week, and Wednesday is the best night for you, get in touch.

TUESDAY 3RD JULY – BRAND NEW TUESDAY EVENING LEAGUE

There is currently one space in the Tuesday league for an immediate start, so if you get involved now there’s plenty of time for the lads to get up to speed with the league before the new season starts in July.

SUNDAY 15TH JULY – SK BALLERS WORLD CUP FINALS DAY

The 8 teams that qualify from the 4 heats in June will be invited back for a straight knockout, 15 minutes a game Finals Day to decide who will be the SK Ballers World Cup winners! The tournament will finish shortly before the kick off of the actual World Cup Final, with the game available to watch in the club house after.

MONDAY 16TH JULY – BRAND NEW MONDAY EVENING LEAGUE

It seems like a long time between now and the middle of July, but the Monday and Tuesday leagues may provide the ideal leagues for students who are home for summer to get involved with. And while there isn’t currently a space, as we’ve already said, there’s a long time between now and then. We have the MUGA pitch available at the centre, so we can get friendlies on for any team who want to get games under their belt while they wait.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, FILL IN A ‘JOIN A LEAGUE’ FORM ON THE HOME PAGE, OR CALL OR TEXT 07809252658

We’ve got a bit ahead of ourselves here, so if you’re reading this on Friday, Happy Star Wars Day (we thought we’d be posting this on Friday…..)! The Phantom Menace was the last one I saw so it’s not a big day for me, but I’m sure we have plenty of nerds who are excited about this kind of thing, so fill your boots. The number of teams catching up 11’s games this week means teams struggled to field a side a little bit more this week, but the effort involved to put a side out on the pitch is always appreciated.

LEAGUE NEWS

Less league, more tournament information to start with, but a quick reminder that the SK BALLERS WORLD CUP heats take place over Sunday’s the 3rd and 10th June. Get signed up today, get assigned one of the 32 nations for the event, and let’s see if we end up with Panama winning it! Get in touch for more details.

The NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE kicks off at the back end of May, and with 11’s seasons coming to an end now is the perfect time to get signed up, get a couple of friendlies under your belt to get used to things, and be part of one of the 5 DIVISIONS we are hoping to have for the big kick off!

We have ONE SPACE AVAILABLE in our WEDNESDAY LEAGUE at the minute, and we have secured the MUGA pitch on a Monday night so any teams who are waiting for a slot can get some football in the bank while they wait for a gap in the main league.

For information on any of the above, fill in a ‘Join A League’ form on the homepage, call or text 07809252658 or email [email protected]

SUNDAY LEAGUE

This Sunday Premiership title race has taken more twists and turns this season than any other that we can remember, and defeat last week to Bangers & Pash meant champions Kinky Slipper couldn’t afford any unlikely slip up this week against Team Tom, who are counting down the seconds til the season ends. They took the lead here though as James MacDonald put them one up in the third minute, but Joe Lailey quickly drew Kinky level. Jordan Hutchinson put Kinky in front, but rather than that being the start of a landslide, Carl Carter made it 2-2 with just 10 minutes on the clock. Kinky lead by two at the break as Hutchinson and Rob Cresswell got their names on the score sheet. There wasn’t too much in the second half, but further goals from Hutchinson and James Radcliffe eased Kinky to a 6-2 win that takes them to 21 points with just Insole left to play. Having seen Kinky slip up last week, Insole were keen that their title push wasn’t affected when they faced Bangers this week, and they looked in control when Jack Atkinson and Jordan Cunningham gave them a two goal lead in the first 13 minutes. We were level at the break as Rory Kelly grabbed two in three minutes to make it 2-2, but Insole were back in front 10 minutes after the restart as Atkinson got his second. Robbie Fallon struck a stunning leveler for Bangers with just two minutes remaining, but Insole went back in front almost immediately as Atkinson got this third a minute later. Insole couldn’t hold on though as the title race took another twist when Harry Kilmartin made it 4-4 in the final minute, meaning Insole drop a vital two points in the race to regain the title they lost last season. Duno could leapfrog Insole with a win over Kipsta Cobras this week, and though they got off to the perfect start with Jack Cope’s 4th minute opener, Wayne Reeves drew Kipsta level within a minute. Duno took control with two goals halfway through the opening period, Steven Whetham and Cope with his second giving them a 3-1 half time lead. There wasn’t much to write about, goal-wise in the second half, but the one goal that was scored three minutes from time by Liam Watson ensured that Duno stay right in the mix up heading into the final stages of the season.

Only one game survived in the Championship this week, which is very unusual, and the fact that it involved McMuffin Men means we might as well tell you now that it ended as a draw. The last time they played El Caliente it ended in a point apiece, as had 4 of their 8 games so far this season. An entertaining, end to end first half saw 8 goals scored, the first two of which were from Ross Grealey of El Caliente to put them two up after 8 minutes. Within two minutes the McMuffin’s were level as Tom Collins grabbed two of his own, but Grealey quickly grabbed his third to edge Caliente back in front. Charley Eyre made it 3-3 on 14 minutes, before Collins and Mac Eyre put McMuffin’s in front for the first time at 5-3 three minutes before half time. Fidelis Eberegbe grabbed a vital goal for Caliente early in the second half to get them back into it, and Grealey made it 5-5 5 minutes later. Caliente controlled most of the second period, and they went onto win this one as Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley grabbed two and Grealey his 5th of the game to give them an 8-5 win that sees them join Inter Row Z on 11 points in the race for second place.

Things could get awkward next season as there’s a couple of players who double up and play for Stockport Eagles and Inter Row Z, so if the Eagles go up and Row Z don’t there will be some decisions to be made! The Eagles were up against an FC AOTS team who can cause problems for any team in this division on their day, as shown in their 8-2 win over the Eagles just a few weeks ago, but they didn’t get off the mark in the first half of this one as Ben Waugh scored the only goal of the half to give Eagles a 1-0 half time lead. A burst of three goals in 4 second half minutes made the points safe for Eagles as Ryan McAndrew, Paul Waugh and Ray Donnelly got on the sheet. Adam Atherton denied Eagles the shut out with a late reply for AOTS, but it looks like another season in this division awaits them next season, unless they go the other way….. A defeat for Polish Army this week would all but end their promotion hopes, and that’s the way it looked to be going as goals in the opening 12 minutes from Mark Bailey (3) and Conor McLellan, against just the one from Julian meant Murder On Zidane’s Floor had an early 4-1 lead. Further goals from Mitchell Robertson, Sam Delgado and Bailey meant this one was all but over with just 18 minutes on the clock, and though Bania pulled one back on 20 it was 8-2 at the break as Bailey got his 5th of the half. The Army got off to a good start in the second half, reducing that lead to 8-4 through goals from Bania and Julian, but Robertson stalled their momentum with another Murder goal 11 minutes from time. Mateusz did grab another for the Army in the latter stages, but it was too little, too late as Murder pick up just their second win of the season as they aim to avoid dropping into what we hope will be the second from bottom division next season.

Along with Real Maskid in the Championship, the only other team with a perfect record this season is FC Stront Bakken, who will be playing at a higher level next season (but will that still be League Two if we have a League Three?! Possibly some sorting out to be done…..). They were playing an improving Beercalona team this week and looked to be heading for a fairly routine three points as Declan Matthews and Shaun Jemison put them two up approaching the break. Tom Ratcliffe halved the deficit on the stroke of half time, and they remained in touch when Rob Prince scored just after Matthews had increased the Bucket Boys lead again. Patrick Mitchell ensured that Stront Bakken maintain their 100% record for the season with the final goal 4 minutes from time and they are now one game away from completing a perfect season. Inter Your Sister look favourites to join them in whatever division it is next season, while for Rooneytunes we’re just looking for them to show a consistency of turning up for games for now, the rest will follow……. Inter were three up at the break here as Dave Smythe, Max Liversedge and Craig Johnson scored three quick goals half way through the period. Smythe’s second looked to have wrapped the points up 8 minutes into the second half, but Chris Sinclair and Cian Gillespie gave Rooneytunes a bit of hope when they pulled two back. Aaron Crook quickly put Inter back in control at 5-2, and it finished 6-3 as Sinclair and Matthew Kealy grabbed a goal each in the dying seconds to leave Inter 6 points clear in second place.

THE NEW SUNDAY SEASON STARTS IN THREE WEEKS! SPACES ARE AVAILABLE AS WE LOOK TO ADD IN DIVISION 5!! FRIENDLIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW TEAMS WANTING TO GIVE IT A GO BEFORE THE BIG KICK OFF.

MONDAY LEAGUE

The tough end to the 11’s seasons meant half of the Monday league games went under this week, which is unusual for a league that has been going strong for a little while now, hopefully the end of the 11’s season will mean the overall turnout will pick back up over the next few weeks. Not A Chance were looking to keep their momentum going after their shock opening night win over reigning champs Expected Toulouse against FC Rhino Ket, who were making their first appearance of the season. Paul Bardsley got the Chancers off to the best of starts with a second minute goal, but in a first half of twists and turns Jack Needham leveled things up for Rhino 5 minutes later. Chris Priestley restored Not A Chance’s lead on 11 minutes, Needham squared it up at 2-2 a minute later, before Callum Wild put the Chancers in front for a third time almost immediately. Priestley’s second 8 minutes before half time gave them a bit of daylight for the first time, but Ben Pawsey kept the Ketters in touch by pulling one back a minute later with the final goal of an end to end half. The second half was a little more attritional, but we had a three goal burst half way through the period. An own goal gave Not A Chance that two goal cushion again, but again they weren’t able to hold onto it for long as Louis Moore pulled one back a minute later and Connor Stone’s speculative strike 9 minutes from time made it 5-5. Both teams went for the win, but there were no more goals and both teams had to settle for a share of the points. Our high hopes for a highly competitive, unpredictable top division were fueled by both of last seasons top two losing on the opening night, and AC Milmanchester were wanting to get back to winning ways against the fairly unknown quantity of Pink Panthers FC. The new boys went in front in the third minute as Connor Morrisey got the opener, but Jason Singleton drew ACM level within a minute. The Panthers restored their lead on 11 minutes as Morrisey got his second, but two goals in as many minutes from Anthony Pugh and Aaron Edwards saw AC go in front for the first time heading into the final 5 minutes of the half. Joe Manion looked to have sent us into the break all square, but Simon Hackney scored just before the break to give Milmanchester the edge. That edge was gone within a minute of the start of the second period as Ray Donnelly made it 4-4, but a decisive 6 minute spell where Milmanchester scored 4 goals was the turning point in this one. Singleton got his second with 15 minutes to play, Hackney his second a minute later, and Edwards two more to take the game away from the Panthers at 8-4. Given how close the game had been up until that point, a further couple of goals in the last two minutes from Callum Jones and Edwards might have been a little cruel on the new team, but it’s still early days for them and we expect to see improvement from them as the season goes on.

Migg FC looked very impressive in their league debut last week, and would have fancied their chances of making it two wins from two against a Nice Buns team who were missing a couple of regulars this week. It looked to be heading that way when Lee Morgan and Josh Meehan put them two up in the opening 10 minutes, but Tom Dempsey halved the deficit before the break. Kyle Mulliner restored Migg’s two goal lead in the second minute of the second half, but Jimmy Williamson kept Buns in touch with a goal a minute later. Goals from Aaron Roby and Mulliner looked to have put Migg out of sight with 17 minutes to play, but Dempsey’s second 8 minutes from time kept Buns in with a shout. Within 4 minutes they were level again as Williamson and debutant Adriano Ferigno scored to make it 5-5 with 4 minutes left. That was the end of the scoring, so Buns start their season with two 5-5 draws, while Migg sit top of the very early Championship league table.

In a friendly that shows how potentially close the standards of both divisions could be, Netsix & Chill beat Phantom Brazilians 6-4 to help them recover from their opening night defeat.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT WE HAVE THE AVAILABILITY OF THE MUGA PITCH TO GET TEAMS FRIENDLY GAMES WHILE THEY WAIT FOR A SPACE TO COME UP. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS. 

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The last couple of weeks have been a struggle for a number of teams, but after all the scrambling, begging and searching down the back of the sofas for players, we only ended up losing one game from the Tuesday league this week. Shaka finally played their first game of the season, but with a very changed line up from the one that won the feeder Championship last season, and it couldn’t have been a tougher start against champions Gangs Of Dwight Yorke, who themselves were missing a number of regulars. Defences were hardly on top in this one from the off as Jason Singleton’s second minute opener was cancelled out by Adam Taylor’s 6th minute leveler. Gangs dominated the scoring throughout the opening half as Singleton grabbed two more and Callum Jones a brace, while Callum Clarke grabbed Shaka’s only other goal of the period. Krisstian Ebanks-Perrin made it 5-3 three minutes into the second half, and Clarke’s second reduced their deficit to one with 20 minutes still to play. Andrew Moors first Ballers goal a minute later gave Gangs a bit of breathing space, and Singleton’s 4th of the game gave them a three goal lead again. Clarke pulled another back but Singleton and Jones added two more to see Gangs seemingly out of sight with 7 minutes left. Mark Brookes pulled a couple more back within three minutes, but they couldn’t find a leveler and Gangs held on for the win that sees them go level on points with Oooze FC, who didn’t play this week. Both Inter Mi Van and Inter Row Z had to work to field a side this week for the Inter Derby, but it was Mi Van who struck first through Karl Robins 9th minute strike. They doubled their lead through Ryan Andres goal two minutes later, but goals from Jack Cope and Calvin Alexander had us level at 2-2 with 6 minutes of the half remaining. Ray Donnelly put Row Z in front for the first time in the 22nd minute, but we were level at the break as Gary Wood made it 3-3 a minute later. Donnelly struck first for Row Z 5 minutes into the second half, but Jonny Langton and Andres quickly turned things back in Mi Van’s favour. Donnelly’s third made it 5-5 as we headed into the final 10 minutes, but it was Mi Van who proved to be the stronger in the dying stages as Simon Royle scored three and Andres his third to ease Inter Mi Van to a 9-5 win, their first of the campaign.

LQ FC have been on the missing list for the opening few weeks of the season, so they couldn’t really have picked a more difficult game to return with as they took on Stroke Titty, who already look set for the top division next season. They held their own in the opening stages and even took the lead through Alex Brash’s 14th minute goal, but the final 5 minutes of the half were vital as Jay Willingham scored two and Sam Tattersall another as they turned it round to go into the break 3-1 up. Daniel Atherden kept LQ in touch with a goal 5 minutes after the break, but goals from Willingham and Joe Lailey sent Stroke into the final 10 minutes with a three goal lead. Conor Dolan made it 6-2 with a minute left, which meant Sam Holland’s goal in the dying seconds was just a consolation. But at least they are back after their 4 week break! Black Jack got their season up and running with a win over Wellspring last week, with Beercalona back after their game went down last week and still looking for their first win of the campaign. They got off to the better start, with two own goals in the opening 4 minutes putting them 2-0 up. Black Jack pulled one back on 13 minutes, guess what? Yep, another own goal….. The first player to score for his own team was Tom Ratcliffe, who gave Beercalona a 3-1 lead 10 minutes from half time, and Scott Williams put them 4-1 up two minutes after the restart. Joe Dear almost immediately pulled one back for Black Jack, and with 7 minutes to go Luke Waiting set us up for a big finish by making it 4-3. The final goal of the game came two minutes later, and wouldn’t you just know it, it was an own goal that made the final score 4-4! Turkish Delight looked set for a bash at the Championship title with their early performances, but they crashed down to earth with an 8-0 defeat to Stroke Titty last week and were looking to get back to winning ways against struggling Wellspring. Volkan gave Turkish the lead on 6 minutes, and for a while it looked like that might be the half time score, but goals from Nathan Wilkinson and Callum Clarke in the final two minutes of the half meant Wellspring took a 2-1 lead into the break. Ferai struck early in the second half to make it 2-2, but Wellspring took control with three goals in 5 minutes, Lewis Arden with a brace after an own goal had initially put them back in front. Ferai got his second with 9 minutes to play to keep Turkish in the hunt, but they suffer a second successive defeat as Wilkinson and Mike Devitt added goals in the final 5 minutes to give Wellspring their first win of the season.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL. FOR AN IMMEDIATE START CAST YOUR EYES TOWARDS THE OTHER NIGHTS.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Last week’s results suggest we may be heading back towards the Wednesday league as it was when we first started it, with all games being hard fought and close to call, so we were hoping for a little more of the same this week. Stockport Eagles went into this week knowing that a win over Polish Army would give them a 6 point lead at the top of the table, but they fell behind to Marcin’s third minute opener for the Army. Shaun Mather leveled things up on 8 minutes, but the Poles lead at the break as Marcin grabbed his second three minutes before the break. We were all square again 8 minutes into the second half as Ben Waugh fired home, and the Eagles went in front for the first time with 15 minutes left as Ryan McAndrew grabbed a goal. Paul Waugh made it 4-2 4 minutes later, but Mateusz  set us up for an interesting ending by making it 4-3 4 minutes from time. Ray Donnelly looked to have ended it with a goal a minute later but Michal made them sweat by scoring a minute from time to make it 5-4. The Eagles held on for the win which takes them onto 12 points at the half way point of the season. Michu At De Gea Ba suffered a rare defeat last week and were looking to get back to winning ways against a Magpie team who have been far more competitive since they rejoined the Wednesday league. This one looked like being a comfortable Michu win in the first half as Ian Davies scored two, Jamie Longworth and Matt Barton one each as they went 4-0 up in the opening 16 minutes. Karol (still no surname) got the only Magpie goal of the half two minutes later, but Davies third two minutes after the restart restored the Michu 4 goal lead. Magpie scored two in the next two minutes through Mariusz Koszla and Adrian Hulicki to get back to within two goals, but Davies got the next week to keep Michu at arms length. Karol got his second with 11 minutes left to play, and when Hulicki got his second 4 minutes from time Magpie looked like they might be in with a chance of taking something from this game. Davies got his 5th of the game a minute later, and Michu saw the game out to pick up a 7-5 win that keeps them in the hunt as they have games in hand.

WE HAVE A SOLITARY SPACE IN OUR WEDNESDAY LEAGUE – IT’S THE ONLY ONE WE CURRENTLY HAVE FOR AN IMMEDIATE START ACROSS ALL OF OUR LEAGUE NIGHTS, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS OR TO SIGN UP! 

There are currently no spaces available in the Sunday league under the current set up, but there are if we ADD IN A 5TH DIVISION!

When the new Sunday league kicks off on 20th May we will be looking to add the 5th division (or League Three, as it will probably be known) to our biggest league night!

We already have some interest from new teams, so spaces remain limited, but friendlies are available for any new or returning teams who might want to get involved. Book a friendly in with no obligation to sign up for the leagues, but if you decide to sign up these friendlies will form the basis for what division we put you in.

The 11’s season is coming to an end, so if you want a regular weekly game over the summer months, we’re the way to go.

Our biggest league night means we can cater for teams of any standards, ages or fitness levels, so get in touch today to book in your one off friendly.

Fill in a ‘Join A League’ form on the homepage, call or text 07809252658 or email [email protected]

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO COMMIT TO A WEEKLY GAME, GET INVOLVED IN THE BALLERS WORLD CUP AS A BIT OF A ONE OFF, HEATS TAKE PLACE OVER THE SUNDAY’S 3RD AND 10TH JUNE!

We’ve given this a lot of thought, and we think we’re onto a winner with this one. We’re proud to announce our plans for a World Cup tournament, taking place over June and July. We think we’re the first ones to consider running a tournament like this…….

50% of all proceeds cleared from the event will be donated to SoccerAid, another reason to get involved…..

Format: Group stages and last 16 knockout games will take place over two Sundays, with two groups playing at the same time followed by the last 16 tie between those groups to decide which team qualifies for Finals Day. The tournament will replicate the World Cup draw, so teams will be assigned a country at random and play out the groups as per the World Cup groups. The dates and times of the groups are as follows:

HEAT 1 – Sunday 3rd June – Two Groups and last 16 knockout from 1.30pm – 8 teams

HEAT 2 – Sunday 3rd June – Two Groups and last 16 knockout from 3.30pm – 8 teams

HEAT 3 – Sunday 10th June – Two Groups and last 16 knockout from 1.30pm – 8 teams

HEAT 4 – Sunday 10th June – Two Groups and last 16 knockout from 3.30pm – 8 teams

Each group stage and last 16 knockout stage should last no longer than two hours as we will run the two groups over three pitches, meaning only 4 game slots for the group stages before the round of 16. Group games will be 15 minutes long, meaning each team gets 45 minutes of game time time as a minimum. We want to push as many teams as possible to the first weekend, and once those 16 spots are full we will look to fill the slots on the 10^th (unless date availability means the 10^th is the only date of the two that your team can play). Any teams that fail to qualify from the first week of games can take any available slots in the second week and have a second go.

Once you’ve registered for one of the group stages we will do a random draw to decide which nation you will represent in the run up to the event, and assign you with a team colour for the group stages in the hope of avoiding the need for bibs on the day, but we are ordering bibs to cover the colours of the countries taking part, so we will be covered!

Cost of entry for group stages will be the standard £5 per player.

FINALS DAY

Finals day will take place on World Cup Final day, Sunday 15^th July, starting at 2pm (earlier in the highly unlikely event of England making the final), where the last 8 knockout games will be played. Finals Day is just £2 per player for all teams that qualify as it will be a straight knockout, so you might only be there for one short game. The £2 charge is literally just to cover the cost of pitch hire and referees. From there drinks and snacks will be available at the club, and the World Cup Final which kicks off at 4pm will be shown on the big screen in the clubs meeting room.

Spaces are strictly limited, so get in touch asap for further details or to register.