So that’s the World Cup done and dusted, and it won’t be long before we’re moaning about the weather again, so can we please just get back to having our normal weekly game of football?

league news

The new TUESDAY LEAGUE kicked off this week, but with a space still remaining any new teams could still sign up and not start the season behind any of the other teams as there’s still time to catch the games up.

The next new league to start after that is the MONDAY LEAGUE, which kicks off a week on Monday, 30th July. With a question mark hanging over a couple of teams, there maybe spaces to be had for any new or returning teams. Friendlies available this Monday for anyone who might want a one off trial game before the season starts!

We, as always, would love to add a 5th division to our biggest league night, the SUNDAY LEAGUE, and after a season heavily affected by holidays, the World Cup, festivals and the weather, we should be looking good for at least the next three weeks until the Premier League reappears to cause us problems again!

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

sunday league

With the World Cup Final on the agenda, none of Kinky Slipper, El Caliente, Real Maskid or Duno were able to play this week, meaning no Premiership games took place. Maybe next week will be better……

It was a relatively similar story in the Championship as a number of teams continue to struggle throughout the summer months, but at least one game survived as Stockport Eagles took on a Wellspring team who have been mostly absent from the Sunday league this season. Playing on other nights has obviously kept them active, so despite going into this game as heavy underdogs they were only two down at the interval as Ray Donnelly scored both of the Eagles goals. Wellspring were back in it 7 minutes into the second half as Mike Devitt grabbed a goal, but the promotion chasers pulled clear in the latter stages as Ryan McAndrew and Paul Waugh scored to see Eagles go 6 points clear of Kipsta at the top of the table, with Kipsta having a couple of games in hand.

With Ladzio absent for a second week in a row, Sevilla Lacatalent had the chance to close the gap at the top of the table as they took on Inter Your Sister. A close first half saw just the one goal, from Max Liversedge, give Inter the narrow lead at the break. He scored his second two minutes into the second half, and his third 9 minutes from time to edge Inter closer to the win, and though Mark Lomas pulled one back for Sevilla two minutes later, Inter looked to have it won when Craig Johnson quickly added Inter’s 4th. Sevilla didn’t want to let this one go easily, and David Witter pulled two back to give us a grandstand finish, but Inter held on for the win to move them to within a point of second spot. Step Brothers and FC Stront Bakken are at the other end of the spectrum, both trying to avoid relegation into the bottom flight, which for Step Brothers would be a first. The Bucket Boys started the night off bottom of the table, but they lead at half time through Sam Fitzpatrick’s 6th minute goal. Step Brothers were level two minutes after the break as Dom Cioffi got a goal, and they went in front when Chris Sinclair scored with 15 minutes left to play. Within two minutes Stront Bakken ‘keeper Connor Atkinson scored a freak goal from a long clearance to make it 2-2, and Declan Matthews won the game for them with two goals in a minute as we headed towards the full time whistle. Stront Bakken leapfrog Step Brothers to leave one of the Ballers originals staring at their first season in the bottom division.

Deportivo Lack Of Talent have been clinging onto top spot in recent weeks with an on fire Beercalona breathing down their necks, but they were up against an in form Rooneytunes this week. This was another game with a tight first half, but the only two goals went the way of Rooneytunes as Josh Borthwick and Dec Church gave them a 2-0 half time lead. Borthwick made it three 6 minutes after the restart, and though Ashley Ellwood pulled one back for Deportivo with 17 to play, Rooneytunes were the team that finished the stronger as Borthwick added another three to his personal total, and Rooneytunes now sit just 4 points behind Deportivo with a game in hand. After a strong start to the season with three straight wins, The Veterens had suffered three staight defeats to all but end their promotion hopes for the season. A win over a struggling FC AOTS would give them a narrow chance of staying in the mix, and a crazy first 9 minutes saw the teams share 6 goals. The Vets twice lead through and Paul Atherton goal and an own goal, but two Adam Duty goals pegged them back straightaway before Eoghan Scott edged AOTS in front. Atherton’s second made it 3-3, but it was advantage AOTS at the break as debutant Zac Jamieson got a first Ballers goal on 14 minutes. Simon Grainger leveled up for The Veterans 5 minutes into the second half, and did it again after Scott had grabbed his second to edge AOTS in front again. Duty got his third 8 minutes from time, and AOTS lead by two for the first time when Charlie Hutchinson scored 5 minutes later. That was the end of the scoring as AOTS pick up a first win of the season to edge away from the wooden spoon position.

In friendlies, Beercalona turned up despite their opposition having cancelled, and with Insole having already arrived before their opposition had told us they couldn’t play, the two teams from opposite ends of the Ballers leagues played off in a friendly. The League Two team put up a decent fight, before Insole ran out 8-4 winners with two goals each from Kyle Clarke, Matthew Atkinson and Kurtes Curran, while Jay Ratcliffe grabbed a double for Beercalona. Kipsta Cobras were also the victims of a late cancellation this week, something that hardly ever happens, but Stront Bakken were kind enough to stop on and give them a game which turned out to be a reasonably competitive one. Kipsta ran out 7-3 winners as the Bucket Boys tired in the second period, with Callum Jones and Warren Yeo scoring two goals each.

THE SUNDAY EVENING LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, BUT THERE ARE QUESTION MARKS OVER THE CONTINUED PARTICIPATION OF A COUPLE OF TEAMS, SO IF YOU WANTED TO JOIN IT’S DEFINITELY WORTH ASKING THE QUESTION…..

monday league

As we get to the business end of the season, the Premiership title has become a two horse race between Not A Chance and AC Milmanchester, with the possibility of the title being decided this week a real thing. First up were Milmanchester, who needed to beat Phantom Brazilians in their last game of the season to force Not A Chance to win their final two games for the title. An explosive first 5 minutes saw 4 goals, two for each team, as Matt Barton and James Stanton scored either side of a Jason Singleton double for ACM. Milmanchester edged in front through goals from Reece Nevins and Singleton, but there was only one goal in it at the break as Jimmy Leeson pulled one back a minute before the break. Another quick start to the second half saw Milmanchester remain a goal ahead after Singleton’s third was quickly followed by Leeson’s second, and we were level again when Chris Gee scored with 18 minutes left. Billy Gallagher restored Milmanchester’s lead yet again with 11 to play, but we headed towards the final 5 minutes level as Stanton scored his second. ACM needed the win, and they got it as Singleton got his 5th and the winner to leave them 5 points clear before Not A Chance kicked off this week. They were taking on J Stands Barmy Army in a game that didn’t look like being a gimme as they looked to remain in control of their own destiny, but they did score first through Kyle Bell’s third minute goal. J Stands turned things around during the midway point of the half as Jay Willingham scored two and Jimmy Leeson another as they went 3-1 up. Chris Priestley pulled one back for the Chancers, but Aaron Collins made it 4-2 to J Stands at the break. Bell got his second 5 minutes into the second period to keep the title hopefuls in touch, but they found themselves three behind with 12 minutes to play as Reece Nuttall got on the score sheet and Collins got his second. Champions find a way, and the Chancers roared back with 4 goals in 5 minutes from Mark Usher, Dom Andrew, Ryan Usher and Priestley to leave them on the brink of playing for the title next week. It wasn’t to be however, as Leeson got his second (which made up for an earlier penalty miss…..) to deny Not A Chance the win and the chance of the title. AC Milmanchester regain the crown they lost last season in the most dramatic of circumstances.

The title in the Championship was already decided before the second meeting of the top two as Diva Fever couldn’t last the course after a promising start as they finish second to Jeremy Cheadle. Cheadle were well in control at the break as three Phil Monaghan goals and another from Alex Whelan saw them lead 4-1 at the break, an own goal being the only Diva reply. Monaghan got his 4th two minutes after the restart, but Joe Dodd and John Brookes quickly pulled two back for Diva before Monaghan added his 5th to keep Cheadle three up. Dodd pulled two more back to bring the score back to 6-5, but the champs finished the stronger as Whelan added two more and Monaghan his 6th to give Cheadle a winning end to their successful league campaign. Pathetico Madrid were looking for a third win in a row this week after a season of struggle both in terms of getting players on the pitch and picking up any results when they do! The final game of Nice Buns first full season with us started with them taking the lead through Dale Kirkham’s third minute goal, but the returning Danny Hamlett quickly drew Pathetico level. Paul Cheetham restored the Buns lead, and two goals in as many minutes from Cheetham and Charlie Williamson in the final 5 minutes of the half put them in control at the break. Williamson got his second three minutes into the second half, and his third 10 minutes from time took the result beyond doubt as Buns looked like having one of their good weeks! Nathan Thomson did pull one back a minute later, and James Litttlewood got their third three minutes from time, but in those three minutes Kirkham still had time to grab two more to give Buns a comfortable victory to end the season.

Exciting news in friendly action this week as the former Monday Premiership champions Ruud van Nipplerooy finally returned to Ballers action with a friendly against Netsix & Chill. They may take a little time to get back to the side they once were though, as two Mike Pinder goals were enough to give Netsix a 2-1 victory with Joe Lailey getting the Nips consolation.

THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON 30TH JULY. WE CURRENTLY HAVE A SPACE AVAILABLE FOR A NEW OR RETURNING TEAM, BUT WE KNOW IT WON’T STICK AROUND LONG, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

tuesday league

The opening night of the new Tuesday season started with a couple of games in each division and a couple of new teams on show, both of them with very differing results. The first of the new teams were the first ever Ballers Monday league winners, Total Bala, who were taking on Championship winners Stroke Titty in an interesting looking game. The opening 10 minutes passed by without a goal but with chances at either end, before two goal in as many minutes from John Wood and Rick Kelly gave Total a two goal advantage. A second from Kelly three minutes from the break seemed to have put them in control, but Joe Lailey pulled one back early in the second half as Stroke finally took one of their chances. Almost immediately Kelly restored the three goal lead, and Wood’s second with 17 left to play looked to have put them out of sight. Jay Willingham got another back for Stroke, but as they continued to chase the game they were picked off in the latter stages as Kelly and Paul Thornton scored two, Wood and Ste Yates one apiece in the final 12 minutes to ease Total to an impressive opening night win. Michu At De Gea Ba’s Wednesday league debut came against last season’s runners up Shaka, and it looked like getting off to a winning start as Fidelis Eberegbe, Matt Barton and Adam Porter gave them a three goal lead in the opening 9 minutes. Eberegbe’s second in the 16th minute meant it was already a long way back for Shaka, but they made inroads in the final 5 minutes of the half as Ryan Green and Tom Hannan halved the deficit before the break. Barton got his second 4 minutes after the break, and they looked to have the game won with 9 minutes left as Porter also got his second. We looked like having an interesting last few minutes when Hannan grabbed a couple of quickfire goals with three minutes to play, but Michu held on to join Total on maximum points from the opening night.

The second new team were Europeans, and they looked to hold their own in the opening 10 minutes as Jamie Berrisford’s two goals for Wellspring were replied to by Dani. Things quickly started going south for the new team as Wellspring shared the goals around with George Quayle scoring two and Nathan Wilkinson, Lewis Arden, Mike Devitt and Shane Bridges all getting first half goals with just a solitary Dani reply at the other end. Wellspring made sure they would be taking top spot on the opening night as they fired in 15 unanswered second half goals to indicate that Europeans may have a way to go to get up to speed with the Ballers game. Berrisford got 4, Devitt three, Jack Kerton, Quayle and Bridges two each, Arden and an own goal the others. There’s always next week…… Mercifully the other game in the Championship was much tighter, as Beercalona and Rooneytunes, two teams who are familiar with each other from the Sunday league, went into the break all square at 0-0. Tom Ratcliffe finally broke the deadlock with 20 minutes to play, then added a second 5 minutes later, and as Rooneytunes tried to find a away back into the game Martin Bell added another couple in the final 10 minutes to give Beercalona three points on opening night.

THERE ARE STILL SPACES AVAILABLE IN THE TUESDAY LEAGUE, WITH ANY TEAMS JOINING NOW AND PLAYING NEXT WEEK STILL ABLE TO CATCH GAMES UP AS THE SEASON GOES ON. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS. 

wednesday league

A couple of games played in the Wednesday league this week as we were forced to let Stockport Eagles down after Gareth Lager Sometimes Cider found better things to do….. Ajax Treesdown looked to take advantage of this turn of events as they could go three points clear with a win over Exeter Gently. It didn’t start the way they would have wanted as Exeter flew into a three goal lead with the Ajax defence all over the place. Mike Belshaw opened the scoring and Tom Harrison added two more as they scored three in as many minutes before Daniel Kitchingham quickly pulled one back for Ajax. Within 10 minutes Ajax were two up as Josh Batch got their second, Sam Cawthra the leveler, before Callum Jones grabbed two. ‘Keeper Will Hudson slotted home a penalty to give them a three goal lead, and though Belshaw pulled one back three minutes from half time, Cawthra’s second made it 7-4 at the break. Jones got his third 5 minutes after the break, and the game was done when Jordan Hardman and Jones added further goals with 15 minutes still to play. James Magnani made it 10-5 as Exeter gamely kept at it, but Jones got his 5th a minute later to restore the 6 goal lead. Harrison grabbed two more in the final few minutes, but Ajax had the last word as Kitchingham, who originally started the comeback, finished the game off with their 12th in the final minute. Wellspring and Magpie had only previously met once, when they played out a tight 2-2 draw in a friendly early last season, so we expected this one might be close as well. It started with a goal in the opening minute from Callum Walmsley to give Wellspring the lead, and their lead was doubled through Jack Phillips goal half way through the period. Tomasz Glebiowski pulled one back for Magpie before the break, and they turned things around with two goals in 5 second half minutes from Mariusz Koszla and Stanislaw Cierpiatka to put them on the brink of a first win of the season. Wellspring denied them the victory and shared the points after Phillips second of the game 7 minutes from time left us with a full time score of 3-3.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, BUT GARETH LAGER BETTER PULL THEIR FINGERS OUT IF THEY WANT TO KEEP THEIR LEAGUE SPACE! IF YOU WANT AN IMMEDIATE START HAVE A LOOK AT ANY OF OUR OTHER LEAGUE NIGHTS! 

So that was the World Cup.

A summer of weather that we’re unlikely to see again made beers and barbeques the order of the day. An England performance that, despite what the negative nancies would say, was far better than the vast majority of people expected, provided a level of overall positivity that hasn’t been seen since the summer of ’96 (for those of you old enough to remember it). All the violence, racism and homophobia that we were told was going to be rampant at this event was nowhere to be seen, and even the final itself provided an unexpected surprise as the previously deadly dull French team found their shooting boots to see off a Croatian team who were far better than any of the more unrealistic England fans would give them credit for. If their goalkeeper was capable of moving they might have even won it.

It’s strange how people’s feelings can change in a period of time. This England team that went into the tournament with no expectations got much further than anyone could have hoped, playing a style of football that was pleasing on the eye, despite us having no stand out world stars. Yet now we keep hearing that we only beat Tunisia, Panama and Sweden, and ended up with a record of three wins and three defeats. I’ll be honest before the game started I wasn’t even that confident we’d beat Panama and to be fair the only game we lost that really counted was the semi-final.

Then there’s those who say we’ll never have a better chance than this because the big nations will come back stronger, but is there any guarantee of that? Germany and Spain have just seen a genuine golden generation of players reach the end of the line, with both bowing out on a bit of a damp squib, but who’s to say the next batch of players coming through will be anywhere near as good as this one? Spain had no real previous history before they won three major tournaments in a row, the last one being in 2012. Before that their best effort had been a runners up place in the 1984 European Championships, and prior to 2008 they were always a fancied team that never really did anything. For all we know by the time the next World Cup comes around it might be Iran or Saudi Arabia that have stumbled on their golden generation…..

Sweden finished top of Germany’s group, then beat the team ranked 6th in the world in Switzerland, before they faced England. Hindsight being the wonderful thing it is, and with England winning the game relatively comfortably (if you take Pickford’s three very good saves out of the equation), all of a sudden beating Sweden was no better than beating the Dog and Duck. As in a pub team called the Dog and Duck, not literally beating a dog and a duck.

It might well be that scoring early in the semi-final was, again with hindsight, a bad thing, as an England team who had played with freedom and a lack of fear went into the second half of a game knowing they were 45 minutes away from the final. Throw ins and free kicks took an age to be taken, and we sank further and further back as the reality kicked in that we were getting closer, and the mentality became about just holding on to what we had. Once the equiliser came and the team had to try and start playing again, they had nothing left in the tank and the end result became inevitable. What might have been……

That said, can anyone really say that Southgate could have done any more than what he did? Would you have had McGuire and Walker as two of your back three before we started? Trippier at right wing back? Sterling frustrates with his lack of an end product, but the work he did unnerved defenders and created space for others to play, and whether you like it or not we never looked like the same team when he wasn’t on the pitch.

So where does all this fit in with Ballers?

Well, while we’ve personally massively enjoyed the World Cup, the weather and the opportunities to socialise, from a business point of view the last few weeks have been a nightmare! Even things like 11-a-side teams pre-season training sessions have been moved to different nights which has meant some teams haven’t been able to fulfill their fixtures, and England managed to play a game on ALL of our league nights, massively affecting all leagues. Which is lovely.

The one positive we are now hoping to take from this, now that it’s all over, is that we will have the ‘Wimbledon’ effect (where everyone picks up a tennis racket for two weeks a year), and everyone will want to get themselves back out on the pitch. As with a new year it probably won’t happen straightaway, as everyone probably needs a bit of time to ease back into ‘normal’ life where the reality is that there isn’t football to watch with a beer every night.

It’s funny how things work out. I’d made my peace and was even quite happy at the idea of losing a full night’s business on our busiest night (and probably the night after with the hangovers) when England looked like they might make the final. The positive I took from it when we lost was that we might get a few games one, and then as we got to the day I still found myself disappointed when teams cancelled their games! It was only France v Croatia for goodness sake……

Anyway, that was the summer of ’18. We know it’s not quite over yet, but the thing that most people will remember it for is.

So drag yourself off your bar stool or garden furniture, get in touch with the lads, and get yourselves down to Ballers for a game. You should probably do it quickly too, as despite the issues with getting games on in recent weeks, if the current teams get themselves playing again we only actually have 4 spaces to fill!

It’s time to start thinking about those post-World Cup resolutions! We’re sure everyone has been enjoying the BBQ’s and beers over the past month, but now it’s nearly time to get back to it.

Not going to lie, while we’ve personally been massively enjoying the World Cup and the incredible weather, it’s done nothing for getting players on the pitches of Ballers in recent weeks. At least one of them will be over by next week…..

LEAGUE NEWS

We conceded defeat in our attempts to get the NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE started before the World Cup ended, with the first scheduled night having dropped on the night of England’s second round game, and then the World Cup semi final, so we’ll be getting kicked off NEXT WEEK, with a potential space still available for anyone wanting to get back into it.

The current MONDAY LEAGUE is approaching the end of the season, and we’re looking at having a couple of spaces for any teams wanting to get involved. Now’s the time to let us know.

FOR ANY INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, FILL IN A JOIN A LEAGUE FORM FROM THE HOME PAGE.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

A better overall turnout this week saw at least two games played in each division, and after missing the last couple of weeks El Caliente were looking to continue their impressive recent form with a tough test against Champions and leaders Duno FC. Early goals from Liam Watson and Jay Berrisford had us level at 1-1 with 6 minutes on the clock, and it remained tight going into the final 10 minutes of the half as Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley replied to goals from Jack Cope and Zak (just Zak, he only has one name, a bit like Cher) to leave us at 3-2. It was the leaders who pulled away with three goals in the final 7 minutes of the half, two from Ray Donnelly and one from Calvin Alexander. Caliente needed to get back in it early in the second half, but the next goal also went Duno’s way with Donnelly getting his second, and though Danny King did get the next goal for Caliente, Duno pulled away with further goals from Watson (2), Alexander and Donnelly. Ross Grealey got another for Caliente but that was obviously not going to mean much, and Donnelly got his 5th before Watson joined him by adding another couple before the full time whistle. Insole have been looking back to their old selves lately, while Bangers & Pash have barely been here but were here this week. They didn’t really turn up for the first half as Insole raced into a 4 goal lead through goals from Kurtes Curran, two from Kyle Clarke and another for Liam Atkinson. MacKenzie Hope got Bangers on the score sheet 4 minutes before the break, but Jack Atkinson made sure Insole were 4 up at the break three minutes later. Jack and an own goal pretty much sealed the win for Insole, and though Michael (just Michael) got another for Bangers, Insole completed a comfortable win with further goals from Jordan Cunningham, Curran, Liam Atkinson and Clarke. Insole have jumped from bottom to second with two consecutive wins.

New boys Netsix & Chill agreed to play two games this week as they attempt to catch up missed games, and they started the evening by taking on Team Tom, who were winless going into this week’s games. They looked like remaining winless as Netsix raced into a 5 goal lead in the opening 15 minutes, Joe Cole with three of them, Jaden Robinson and Kai Lawless the other two. Tom Hornsby got the Tommers on the board, and his second three minutes into the second half meant it could be game on again. Lewis Hall edged Netsix clear again, but Liam Bancroft quickly replied and Adam Priest added another to send us into the final 15 minutes at 6-4. The new team finished on a high though, as Robinson and James Riley grabbed late goals to give Netsix their first Ballers win at the second attempt. Their third attempt will be one for them to forget as the immediately took on one of the promotion favourites Stockport Eagles. The Eagles soared into a three goal half time lead through two goals from Ryan McAndrew and one from Ray Donnelly, but on a hot Sunday evening Netsix wilted in the second period. Paul Waugh got two, Liam Watson three, Calvin Alexander, McAndrew and Michael Winn one apiece, with Joe Cole denying Eagles a clean sheet in the latter stages.

With Ladzio missing their first game since joining Ballers, Sevilla Lacatalent had the chance to close the gap on the leaders as they took on the very hit and miss Step Brothers. Thomas Cioffi gave Step Brothers an early lead, and namesake Dom restored their lead after Jake Riley had briefly leveled for Sevilla, before Riley scored two in a minute to send Sevilla into the break with a 3-2 lead. Things turned back in the Brothers favour as Tom and Dom scored in the first 5 minutes of the second half to put them back in front, and a couple of pieces of magic from Chris Moore looked to have given them a shock win as they lead 6-3 with 8 minutes left . Riley got his 4th to reduce the deficit, and we had a grand finale as Sam Melling and David Witter scored in the final few minutes to give each team a share of the spoils. Inter Your Sister were looking to add to their first win of the season last week as they took on FC Stront Bakken, but they fell behind in the 5th minute as Declan Matthews gave the Bucket Boys the lead. The returning Brandon Byers-Wilkes leveled up for Inter, and they lead 3-1 at the break as Dave Smythe helped himself to two goals before adding a third in the first minute of the second period. The game looked done as Gaz Sumner added their 5th a minute later, and though Matthews pulled one back for Bakken Inter quickly added two more through Smythe and Byers-Wilkes. The game was lost for Stront Bakken, but Matthews did grab another couple before Sumner completed the scoring in the final minute. All of a sudden Inter have gone from being bottom to being 4 points off second place, Stront Bakken are now bottom.

Deportivo Lack Of Talent remained top going into this week’s round of fixtures and would have been expecting to maintain their lead as they took on bottom placed SK Six. SK may be without a point this season, but they don’t often take a hammering and they hit the front through Harry Bridge’s 9th minute goal. Their lead lasted just two minutes as Josh Jackson drew Deportivo level, and two goals in two minute just before the break from Ben Proctor and Rob Parker put them in control heading into the second period. SK got the first goal of that second half as Brad Bent scored 6 minutes in, but Parker restored the two goal lead with 12 minutes remaining. The same player finished this one off with a couple of goals in the final few minutes, with Bent grabbing SK’s third as a consolation in the final minute. That result meant Deportivo would remain top regardless of the result of the game between in form Beercalona and The Veterans. An own goal in the third minute was the only goal of the opening stages as Beercalona hit the front, but things really opened up after Simon Grainger’s 11th minute leveler for the Vets. It didn’t go the Vets way for the most part though, as goals from Jay Ratcliffe and two from Tom Ratcliffe put Beercalona three up within 5 minutes of that equiliser. Grainger got his second to keep the Vets in touch, but Beercalona smashed in 4 more before the break to take firm control of this one. Martin Bell got the first before Jay Ratlciffe added two either side of Scott Williams’ goal. With the game effectively won the second half was a little quieter, but Jay Ratcliffe got his 4th 8 minutes into the second period. Debutant and probably one time only visitor James Brierley got a goal for The Veterans 10 minutes from time, but Bell got his second and the final goal of the game 7 minutes from time to leave us looking at a two horse race for the League Two title this season. FC AOTS were back for a second week in a row, which in itself is an achievement recently! They took on the hit and miss Rooneytunes and didn’t get off to the best of starts as Jack Hodkinson scored a hat trick in the first 5 minutes to put them in control. Paul Buckley (no relation) got a debut goal for AOTS three minutes later, but Hodkinson got his 4th 4 minutes before the break to see Rooneytunes into the break with a 4-1 lead. He added another alongside an Ashley Taylor goal to put them well in control with 18 minutes left, and though Tom Dennerly pulled another back for AOTS, Cameron Higginbottom and Chris Sinclair quickly replied for Rooneys. Buckly got a second near the end, but there was still time for Josh Borthwick and Hodkinson to add further goals to give Rooneytunes a comfortable win.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, BUT WE REMAIN DETERMINED TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION ONCE THIS WORLD CUP THING IS OVER. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

MONDAY LEAGUE

One league game and two friendlies took place this week as the Monday season splutters towards it’s conclusion with the World Cup, the weather, and even some teams 11-a-side pre-season training being shifted, hopefully back to normal soon. The one league game that took place was the final game of Netsix & Chill’s somewhat disappointing season which started off with them as favourites for the Championship crown, but will finish with them ending up in third place at best. A win over Pathetico Madrid would secure that third place slot, but they were two down in the opening 8 minutes as James Littlewood and Luke Warburton got early goals. Netsix were back in it 10 minutes before the break as Wayne Reeves pulled one back, but Warburton’s second three minutes later gave them a two goal lead at the break. A frustrating night for Netsix saw them struggle to close the gap in a tight second period, and they only got on the score sheet again through James Bamgbose’ last minute strike, but Pathetico made it two wins in a row, which is unheard of!

J Stands Barmy Army were back for their second game as they took on possible top division opposition in Diva Fever this week. A hat trick on each side from Jamie Stokes and Chris Murray were amongst the highlights, but J Stands edged a close game 9-7 with Reece Nuttall and Jay Willingham grabbing a brace for them. AC Milmanchester and Nice Buns were also in friendly action, and as you’d expect it was the top division team who had the better of things here. Two goals each from MArtin Gordon, James Elmore and Jason Singleton helped them to a 10-4 win.

WE NOW HAVE A SPACE IN THE MONDAY EVENING LEAGUE AS WE APPROACH THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON. TO GET SOME GAME TIME UNDER YOUR BELT AHEAD OF THE NEW SEASON, GET IN TOUCH.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

With the start of the Tuesday season delayed by another week, there was just the one friendly played this week as Michu At De Gea Ba eased themselves into action on a different night with a friendly against Wellspring. As you would imagine from a team who were three times winners of the Wednesday league, they were the stronger side here tonight against a side who are desperate to stay in the second division for the new season, and with Matt Barton scoring 8 of their 11 goals, they eased to a comfortable 11-4 win.

THE NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE STARTS NEXT WEEK. WE ARE LOOKING AT BEING ABLE TO FIND A SPACE FOR ONE MORE TEAM, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Ha, as if there were any games played on a Wednesday this week……

HOPEFULLY WE’LL BE BACK TO A FULL HOUSE OF GAMES NEXT WEEK, AS THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL. CHECK OUT THE OTHER NIGHT’S FOR CURRENT SPACES.

The brand new Tuesday league kicks off next week, on 17th July, two days after the World Cup Final…… Spaces are available for any new teams looking to get started.

All games are 50 minutes in length, with kick offs at 8pm and 9pm, priced at £5 per player per game. Plus we offer all of this:

⚽ FULL FIXTURES, TABLES, RESULTS AND STATS (goals, man of the matches, clean sheets, win percentages) POSTED ONLINE

⚽ GAME OF THE DAY HIGHLIGHTS POSTED ON FACEBOOK WEEKLY

⚽ HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT POSTED ON INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER WEEKLY

⚽ FACEBOOK LIVE STREAMING, GETTING AROUND THE GAMES AT ONE PARTICULAR TIME, WEEKLY

⚽ WEEKLY LEAGUE REVIEWS POSTED ONLINE

For more details or to register your team, complete a ‘Join A League’ form from the homepage, call or text 07809252658 or email [email protected]

There’s still a chance it might be coming home at the time of writing, but purely from a Ballers point of view we need this glorious summer and the World Cup to ease off a bit so more people can actually think about PLAYING the game instead of having barbeques, drinking beer and watching the games. Surely none of it can last too much longer……

LEAGUE NEWS

The NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE starts next week after the delay this week for the England game, and while the ‘other’ World Cup semi final will be taking place this week, we will be getting started with whichever teams can field a side. If you want to be one of them, get in touch and get your team registered.

We still maintain a hope of adding a 5th division to our Sunday league when the new league starts in August, and have the option for any new teams to come in and play some friendlies while we wait for spaces to open up.

FOR ANY INFORMATION ON OUR LEAGUES OR TO REGISTER A TEAM, FILL IN A JOIN A LEAGUE FORM ON THE HOMEPAGE AND WE’LL BE IN TOUCH!

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Another Sunday where the scorching weather and the World Cup made barbeque’s and beers a more attractive proposition for some of our teams, but enough games for us to make the review worthwhile. Imagine the scenes if England are in the final on the 15th…… The scenes on Sunday saw just the one top division game played as Insole and Real Maskid looked to kick start their seasons. Former champions Insole actually went into the game bottom of the table, but having only played two games they still have time to make up ground and they started well with two goals in the opening 6 minutes from Jack Atkinson and Jordan Cunningham. They were three up when Cunningham added his second 8 minutes from the break, and even though Jake Morrey pulled one back 5 minutes later, Insole’s lead at the break was back to three when Cunningham scored just before the whistle. He got another two minutes into the second half to make it 5-1, before Morrey kept Maskid in touch with his second with 20 to play. The game was just about done when Cunningham got his 5th half way through the second half, and as Maskid’s heads dropped Insole added three more in the final 5 minutes through Liam Atkinson, Aaron Campbell and Cunningham. Insole remain in the drop zone, but it’s Maskid who replace them at the foot of the table.

A few teams struggling in the Championship too at the minute, so Stockport Eagles had an immediate chance to avenge last week’s defeat to Kipsta Cobras, and they started well with Ray Donnelly and Ryan McAndrew scoring in the first 4 minutes. In a rapid start, within two minutes Kipsta were level as Wayne Reeves and ‘un-named scored’ grabbed their goals. By the break Kipsta were in front as Matt Aked put them in front on 16 minutes, and they had a two goal lead for all of a minute when Warren Yeo’s goal three minutes into the second half was met with an immediate response from Paul Waugh. Kipsta looked to have the game won when Connor Harding and mystery player scored to make it 6-3 with 15 minutes left, but Donnelly struck 4 goals in those final 15, the last one in the final minute, to give the Eagles a remarkable victory.

Ladzio were looking to bounce back from last week’s shock hammering against The McMuffin Men when they took on win-less FC Stront Bakken. They looked like continuing that search for a first win as Ladzio lead 2-0 at the break through George Cox and Lewis Findlow’s goals, and Findlow got his second a minute after the break to put them firmly in control. Ethan Kaye pulled one back for the Bucket Boys with 19 minutes left, but Kai Lawless restored Ladzio’s three goal lead 4 minutes later. Despite Declan Matthews pulling another back for Stront Bakken, the game was just about done when Lawless and Cox added their second goal each in the final 10 minutes. Matthews got two more goals late on as Stront Bakken briefly looked to make Ladzio sweat to see this one through, but Cox got his third in the final minute to ease them to a 7-4 win. Step Brothers are a strange team. A former Premiership side who’s slide has mirrored that of this week’s opposition Inter Your Sister, who seem to be on the mend after promotion last season. Inter were without a win this season, but they were in comfortable control at the break as two goals each for Chris Murray and Steve Johnson, and another from Gaz Sumner, against the solitary reply from Chris Moore, saw them 5-1 up at the break. Craig Johnson extended their lead a minute after the restart, and though Moore got his second a minute later, that was as close as the Brotherhood got this week. Another goal from Craig Johnson and three more from Murray in the final 10 minutes saw Inter pick up that first win, with both teams seemingly just looking at survival as a target for the remainder of the season.

Despite the recent defeat to Beercalona, Deportivo remained top going into this week’s round of games, and they faced the new ‘7th’ team in the bottom division, Droylsden’s Finest. Having picked up a first win last week, the Finest held their own in the first half and went in level at the break as Rob Parker and Ben Proctor’s goals were leveled out by Nathan Daly and Liam Ackers. Two more from Parker and one from Brad Peet looked to have put Deportivo in control in the first 11 minutes of the second period, but Dylan Eaton and Daly made it a one goal game again with 10 minutes still to go. Deportivo eased clear in the final stages as Rhys Moult and Parker grabbed a goal each to keep them top of the table for another week. FC AOTS have struggled for numbers recently, but they were back this week and had the heat and an in form Beercalona to deal with. They went behind to Jay Ratcliffe’s third minute goal, but were level through Scott Robinson’s 9th minute strike. Three more Ratcliffe goals edged Beercalona into a three goal lead at the break, and they looked unlikely to let up as he added two more to go alongside a Martin Bell goal before Robinson pulled one back for AOTS. Beercalona eased to a comfortable win as Ratcliffe, Bell and Tom Ratcliffe added three more in the final 8 minutes. The Veterans needed to pick up a win against Rooneytunes this week to keep in touch with the top two, and defences were hardly on top in the first half as we went in level at 5-5 at the break. Jack Hodkinson and Harry Noon scored two each for Rooneytunes with Cameron Higginbottom getting the other, while The Veterans replied through two from Paul Atherton, an own goal, and one each from Ryan Prestwich and Dean Minshull. Atherton and Noon both scored in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to keep us level. Josh Borthwick edged Rooneytunes in front with 14 to play, but Simon Grainger leveled things up again as we headed into the final 5 minutes. There was a winner, and it came from Hodkinson to give Rooneytunes a win that has to go down as a minor shock.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS FULL, BUT WE ARE LOOKING TO ADD A MINI LEAGUE WHICH WILL BECOME DIVISION 5 / LEAGUE 3 FOR THE NEW SEASON IN AUGUST. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS. 

MONDAY LEAGUE

With the Monday league back up to capacity, it was only a couple of cancellations that meant we had a pair of games in each division, but the top two in the Premiership were in action as the title race continues to hot up. Not A Chance went into this week as leaders, and they were up against a Phantom Brazilians team who are struggling with injuries at the moment. The Chancers took their early chances as Chris Priestley, Matthew Lynwood and Jack Halsall put them three up in the first 16 minutes. Ethan Kaye pulled one back for Phantom 6 minutes before half time, but goals from Tom Usher, Priestley and Halsall saw Not A Chance lead 6-1 with 19 minutes remaining. Kaye got his second a minute later but the comeback was never really on, and further goals from Usher’s Mark, Ryan and Tom meant that Ryan Clayton’s goal 4 minutes from the end was just a consolation. J Stands Barmy Army made their Monday debut as they will play out the second half of the season to keep things nice and fair. AC MIlmanchester needed the win to stay on the Chancers coat tails, but they fell behind to Jamie Stokes opening minute goal before Anthony Pugh turned things back their way with two goals in a minute before we’d reached the 10 minute mark. Stokes second leveled things up again half way through the period, and they seemed to have taken control with two goals in the last two minutes of the half through Reece Nuttall and Stokes. Nuttall and Dave Murphy both scored early in the second half to keep the deficit at two, before Jason Singleton reduced it to one with 19 minutes left. Stokes 4th of the game had us looking at the real possibility of a shock defeat for Milmanchester with just 12 minutes left, but they finished strongly with 6 goals in the final 9 minutes, two from Singleton, two from Martin Gordon and one each for Pugh and Chris Singleton, and they remain hot on Not A Chance’s heels.

With Jeremy Cheadle not in action this week, Diva Fever had the chance to close in on the leaders as they faced the inconsistent Netsix & Chill. This was looking like being one of Netsix’ good weeks as they lead 2-0 at the break through goals from Ray Donnelly and Wayne Reeves, but Evan Farrell got the first goal of the second half to get Diva back in this one. Warren Yeo restored the Netsix two goal lead with 10 minutes left to play, and they finished this one off with a couple of late goals from Aaron Campbell and Liam Atkinson to close the gap on second place Diva to just three points but with games running out. Pathetico Madrid were able to field a side for just the 4th time this season, but the Championship strugglers got off to a flying start as Liam Needham, James Littlewood and Ethan Kaye gave them a 3-0 lead against Nice Buns in the first 6 minutes. Buns hit back before the break as Jimmy Williamson and Tom Dempsey made the half time score 3-2, but Pathetico started the second half in the same manner as they started the first, with three goals in 7 minutes, all from the same three players who scored their first three! Buns weren’t for giving this one up without a bit of fight, and Williamson pulled another two back to make it 6-4 with 12 minutes left. Littlewood got his third three minutes from time as Buns pushed forward, meaning Williamson’s 4th in the final minute was just a consolation.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL. HAVE A LOOK AT SUNDAY OR TUESDAY IF YOU MIGHT BE LOOKING TO GET A TEAM STARTED!   

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Ha, yeah, like we were ever going to get any games played this Tuesday. On you go……

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Stockport Eagles are looking to right the wrongs of last season and got off to a flyer last week ahead of this week’s meeting with Exeter Gently. IT was Exeter that got off to the flyer here as Mehrad Torkian put them in front on 4 minutes, but that was as good as the first half got for them as Ray Donnelly and Callum Davies struck two each for the Eagles to see them soar into a 4-1 half time lead. Davies effectively ended the contest with his third three minutes into the second half, before a Liam Watson double and a goal each for Ben Waugh and Michael Winn, with Torkian’s second sandwiched in there somewhere, concluded a second comfortable win for the Eagles. Ajax Treesdown also got off to a winning start last week, but nowhere near as comfortably as the Eagles, but they looked good for an easier night of it here as Sam Cawthra got two and Daniel Kitchingham another as they went three up against Wellspring in the opening 9 minutes. Mike Devitt pulled one back for Wellspring half way through the period, but it was 5-1 at the break as Jordan Hardman and Evan Farrell added further goals. Wellspring got the first two goals of the second half to keep them in the contest at 5-3, Devitt and Lewis Arden the scorers, but Hardman got his second 15 minutes from time to open up a three goal lead again. In the final 10 minutes Hardman, Farrell and Kitchingham all grabbed another and Cawthra got two more, meaning George Quayle’s two late goals did nothing more than make the scoreline look a little more respectable.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT THE NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE STARTS NEXT WEEK AND WE HAVE SPACES THERE (IF WE HAVEN’T MENTIONED THAT ENOUGH ALREADY)

Given that we’ve finished this before kick off of the England v Belgium game, we can only assume the country remains in a state of hysteria about the chances of it coming home, or a bit of reality has kicked in.

LEAGUE NEWS

First up, for anyone who NEEDS to start playing football immediately having been inspired by games like France v Denmark and Senegal v Colombia, we have our BRAND NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE starting NEXT WEEK. There are still a couple of spaces to be had, and if England finished second you even have an extra week to sort out your team.

The FINAL BALLERS WORLD CUP HEAT is THIS SUNDAY at 3pm, again we have the final spaces to fill. If you want to give Germany another chance to win the real World Cup, get your team registered!

We still have the option to add a mini league to our Sunday league in the next couple of weeks, and spaces would still be available in that.

FOR DETAILS ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, FILL IN A JOIN A LEAGUE FORM ON THE HOMEPAGE

SUNDAY LEAGUE

The England game, holidays etc caused a bit of havoc in the Sunday league this week, as such, no Premiership games were played.

The Championship saw one game played as two of the promotion favourites in Kipsta Cobras and Stockport Eagles went head to head. The returning Connor Harding gave Kipsta a second minute lead, and they went into the break with a three goal lead as Kieran Mills and Liam Atkinson scored in the 14th and 23rd minutes. Eagles were given hope at the start of the second period as Ray Donnelly pulled one back two minutes in, and his second with 7 minutes left set us up for a big finish. Mills got his second a minute later to ease Kipsta two goals up again, but Donnelly got this third with three minutes to go. Kipsta were able to hold on, and they go level with Eagles at the top with a game in hand after ending Eagles 100% start to the season while maintaining their own.

Ladzio were looking to continue their flying start against a McMuffin Men team who have had a shaky opening to the season, but McMuffin’s didn’t read the script in the first half as Sam Delgado got three to give them a 3-0half time lead. When Charley Eyre, Logan Sherer and Delgado added three more in the opening 10 minutes of the second half the Ladzio 100% start was over. Eyre and Mark Bailey added two more in the final 5 minutes, with George Hibbs getting a consolation to deny McMuffin ‘keeper Dustin Lizaba a clean sheet. FC Stront Bakken and Step Brothers have had a mixed start to the season, so this game was anyone’s for the taking. It looked to be the Bucket Boys who were taking it as Lukas Voveris gave them a half time lead with a 6th minute goal, and Declan Matthews doubled it in the opening minute of the second period. Dom Cioffi pulled one back with 19 minutes to play, but an own goal and Voveris second of the game made it 4-1 on 37 minutes. Cioffi pulled another back two minutes later, and when he scored two in two minutes with 5 minutes left on the clock, Step Brothers had nicked what looked like an unlikely point.

Deportivo Lack Of Talent have been one of the most consistent teams in the opening weeks of the season, having struggled through most of the last campaign, and they went up against leaders The Veterans with The Vets 100% record on the line. Deportivo took early control as Rob Parker and Ben Proctor put them two up in the first 8 minutes. Paul Atherton pulled one back for the Vets 10 minutes before the break, but Brad Peet restored the Deportivo two goal lead two minutes later. The Veterans started the second half strongly and goals from Simon Grainger and Paul Atherton made it 3-3 with 18 minutes left. They weren’t level for long as Parker got his second to give Deportivo their lead back. Despite plenty of effort in the very testing conditions there were no more goals and Deportivo leapfrog The Vets into first place. Defences were hardly on top in the game between Beercalona and Rooneytunes as Beercalona raced into a 4 goal lead in the opening 7 minutes as Jay Ratcliffe got three and Martin Bell the other. Saul Heavyside pulled a couple back for Rooneytunes halfway through the period, and namesake Cain also got on the score sheet after Tom Ratcliffe and an own goal had pulled Beercalona clear again. Tom Ratcliffe’s second made it 7-3 at the break, but Beercalona ran away with it in the second half as Bell got 4, Jay Ratcliffe three, Tom Ratcliffe two and Scott Williams the other, with two Cain Heavyside and one Dec Church goals in response for Rooneytunes. For those without calculators that made the final score 19-7. The new boys of Droylsden’s Finest could yet find a place as a 7th team in League Two (if we can make it work), and they were back for a second game this week against fellow young guns SK Six. The first half showed that they are still learning how to play the Ballers game, as two goals from Steve Blunsten and one each for Max Blunsten Shepherd Brad Bent and Harry Bridge saw them lead 5-2 at the break, with two goals from Jack Philips in reply for the new boys. Things changed dramatically at the start of the second half, Joe Bulman got the first of 6 goals in 10 minutes as Droylsden turned it around, with 4 of them coming from Liam Mercer and the other from Nathan Daly. SK hit back with a couple of their own from Bent to trail by one with 12 minutes to play, but Mercer got his 5th of the half to seal a first Ballers win for the Finest.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT WE HAVE THE OPTION OF ADDING A MINI LEAGUE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS IF ANYONE WANTS TO GET INVOLVED.

MONDAY LEAGUE

With the Monday league restored to capacity, it was a couple of teams inabilities to field a side in the heat that caused us to lose a couple of games this week. Not A Chance went into this weeks games looking to secure their place at the top of the Premiership table as they took on Pink Panthers, and they started well as Dom Andrew, Tom Usher and Jack Halsall put them three up in the first 9 minutes. Gage Eme pulled one back for the Panthers a minute into the second half, and they stayed in contention after Reece Brown scored a minute after Ryan Usher had restored the Chancers three goal lead. The Chancers ran away with it in the final 10 minutes though as Halsall and Usher added to their total before ‘guest’ player Simon added three in the final 7 minutes to make the final score 9-2. The winner of the first AC Milmanchester v Expected Toulouse game of the season would most likely go on to challenge Not A Chance for the title, and James Elmore gave ACM the lead in the second minute. Anthony Pugh made it two in the 9th minute, and though Liam Mottram pulled one back for Toulouse half way through the period, Milmanchester lead 3-1 at the break after Simon Hackney scored 4 minutes from half time. David Murphy made it 4 a minute into the second period, but Toulouse were back in it again a minute later as Mottram got his second. Murphy scored again a minute later, and further goals from Hackney and Elmore put Milmanchester out of sight with 7 minutes to play. Callum Rahman got a consolation for the champs two minutes from time, but they fall three points off the pace in their attempts to retain their title. Milmanchester are second, a point behind the leaders.

Jeremy Cheadle and Nice Buns started their campaigns this season with a 5-5 draw on the opening night, but Cheadle have gone on to have the better season so far and look set for promotion to the top flight. They were in comfortable control at the break as Phil Monaghan scored two, Joe Knight and Kieran Monaghan the others as they went in at half time 4-0 up. This was a tough night for Nice Buns, who had been competitive in all of their games this season, but they were well of the pace this week as Jack Whelan added two alongside further goals from Knight and the two Monaghan’s to give Cheadle a comfortable win to go 4 points clear at the top with Diva Fever not playing this week. Class On Fake Grass made their move over to Monday from Tuesday and had a Monday opener against a hit and miss Netsix & Chill who were short a couple of regulars this week. Adam Rawcliffe gave the new side the lead in the opening minute, but Kurtes Curran leveled up for Netsix within a minute. Mike Cocks put Class back in front with just 5 minutes on the clock, and they added 4 more goals without reply in the opening half through Sean Moore, Will Hall and Cocks to lead 6-1 at the break. Another Cocks goal looked to have clinched the win with 21 minutes still to play, but Netsix responded with three goals in 4 minutes to give themselves hope as Lee Tongue, Brad Street and Mike Pinder all scored. Cocks got his 4th with 7 minutes left to end any hopes of an unlikely comeback, and Class get off to a winning start.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL. ALL NEW LEAGUE ENQUIRIES SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO OUR TUESDAY OR SUNDAY LEAGUES. 

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The dying embers of the Tuesday league saw one league game and one friendly as we begin to focus on the new season that could start next week (if England don’t finish second in the group…..). The league game was in the Championship as Beercalona and Turkish Delight finished of their seasons with a bit of a dead rubber. That didn’t affect the intensity in the game though, as Turkish returned from three weeks off to lead 3-0 at the break as Volkan’s opening goal was added to by two from Deigo. Martin Bell pulled one back for Beercalona three minutes after the break, and it was game on again when Craig Scanlon and Tom Ratcliffe scored within a minute of each other to make it 3-3 with 14 to play. It was Beercalona that nicked it through Bell’s second 6 minutes from time as they end the season in a respectable third place.

Rooneytunes came in to give Wellspring a friendly, and for a game that meant nothing it was a belter as Josh (just Josh) scored three and Chris Sinclair two as Rooneytunes ran out surprising 7-6 winners.

THE NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE STARTS NEXT WEEK! SPACES AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW TEAMS. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS ASAP!

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

And we’re back for a new season of the Wednesday league with two games played on the opening night. With Michu At De Gea Ba having moved onto the Tuesday league, the title race could be wide open this season, and two of the likely title contenders were in action this week. Stockport Eagles will think they should have been going into this season as title holders, having dropped away towards the end of last season, but they were in front at half time in their first game of the season against Magpie thanks to Ryan McAndrew’s 10th minute goal. They doubled that lead two minutes into the second period through Ben Waugh’s finish, and made it three when the same player added another with 17 to play. They ran away with it in the last 10 as Ray Donnelly added three, Callum Davies and Waugh another each to give Eagles a comfortable opening night win. Ajax Treesdown had a good start to Ballers life in the second half of last season, so might fancy making a decent fist of a title fight this season. They played the imaginatively named Gareth Lager Sometimes Cider in their first Wednesday game, and it was a belter. Matt Snape gave Gareth the lead in the 12th minute, and they were a minute away from holding onto that lead at the break before Evan Farrell drew Ajax level. Ajax were in front for the first time a minute into the second half through Daniel Kitchingham’s goal, and they looked well in control when Sam Cawthra and Kitchingham added further goals to make it 4-1 with 17 minutes to play. Gareth hit back with three goals in 5 minutes to send us into the final 4 minutes at 4-4 as Matt Hanson got one and Louis Isaacs two. It was Ajax who won it as Farrell got his second two minutes from time, and they held on thanks to a man of the match performance from ‘keeper Will Hudson, who kept Gareth at bay in the final couple of minutes.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL. TUESDAY AND SUNDAY ARE THE NIGHTS TO LOOK AT! 

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!