There was something in the air this week, something that caused more than a couple of shocks across our league nights. It’s always nice to keep things interesting…..

LEAGUE NEWS

We announced details of our SK BALLERS WORLD CUP this week, but if you missed it here’s the briefest of details:

Heats take place on Sunday’s 3rd and 10th June, with teams being assigned one of the nations from this years World Cup. Group stages and last 16 knockouts will take place over two time slots on each Sunday, with the last 8 qualifying for Finals Day which will take place on World Cup Finals day. For more details see the previous post on the website.

We are still looking at adding the elusive 5TH DIVISION to our SUNDAY EVENING LEAGUE for the new season which begins in late May. This coincides nicely with the end of the 11-a-side season, so to keep playing through the summer months, get in touch. Friendlies are available for any teams wanting to get some games under their belt before the new season starts.

We’ve secured the MUGA pitch on a Monday evening, so while teams wait for a space to come up in the 6-a-side league, 5-a-side friendlies will be available.

We are also looking at the possibility of a space coming up in our ever popular, very reliable Wednesday league. All games at 9pm, so if that time suits you and the lads, give it a go.

For more information on any of the above, get in touch.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

With Kinky Slipper’s impressive win over Duno last week, it looked like we were heading for another scenario of a straight shootout between Kinky and Insole for the Premiership title, and they would open up a 6 point gap to third placed Duno if both of them were to win this week. Part of the reason for this was because Insole were playing Duno, who had been a bit of a bogie team for them since they joined the top flight a couple of seasons ago. 11 minutes were on the clock when Regain Mannion gave Duno the lead, and goals from Calvin Alexander and Liam Watson put them three up within the next 4 minutes. That lead was quickly trimmed back to one when Aaron Campbell scored twice in the next two minutes, and in a breathless first half we were level 5 minutes before the break as Jack Atkinson scored their third in 5 minutes. The goals kept coming, as Watson scored two more in the next two minutes to give Duno a two goal lead again, but they couldn’t hold that lead for more than a minute as Atkinson got his second to make it 5-4 at the break. There was no way the second half was going to be able to maintain the same intensity as the first, but Jack Cope eased Duno two goals up again 4 minutes after the restart. There were no more goals until the final 5 minutes, and the final goal of the game also went Duno’s way as Jake Humphries completed an impressive win for Duno, who keep themselves in the fight in what’s turning into a really good top flight. This gave Kinky Slipper the chance to take control of what’s becoming a difficult league to predict, and they went up against the still fairly new Bangers & Pash in what looked like a game you’d expect them to win. It took 14 minutes for the early deadlock to be broken, and surprisingly the opening goal went to Robbie Fallon of Bangers, and they also got the second 4 minutes from the break through Chris Carroll. A third and 4th quickly followed as Matt Sheehan and Harry Kilmartin both scored to make it 4-0 in what was looking like being not just a massive upset, but also a surprisingly heavy defeat for one of the title challengers. Joe Lailey converted a penalty to get Kinky on the board in the final minute of the half, but with the expectation being that the champions would throw everything at the new boys, it was Carroll’s second 6 minutes into the second half that restored Bangers 4 goal lead. Wesley Harney had been denied on numerous occasions by Pash’ keeper Matt Fitzgerald, but eventually he bagged two in three minutes to make it 5-3 with 13 minutes to go. Rory Kelly stopped the Kinky momentum with another goal a minute later, but Harney kept Kinky in touching distance with his third in 5 minutes to make it 6-4 with 11 to play. Sheehan got his second 5 minutes from time to give Bangers a three goal lead and surely the three points, but Harney scored two more in the dying moments to mean that Bangers had to hold on for the final few seconds. They did hold on, and all of a sudden it’s all to play for again in the top division. Another week, another batch of questions from Team Tom as to how long their Premiership nightmare has to continue…… This week they took on the unpredictable Kipsta Cobras, who are looking like fighting Bangers for 4th place as it stands. Connor Harding gave them an 11th minute lead in this one with what was the only goal of the opening period as Team Tom, helped by a man of the match performance from Rob Longworth in goal, kept things tight in the first half. Harding got his second in the opening minute of the second period, but rather than the floodgates opening, things continued to remain tight going into the final 10 minutes. Matty Aked (we think) and Wayne Reeves added two in a minute before Harding grabbed his third two minutes from time to ease Kipsta to a 5-0 win, which anyone looking at the result on the website may think was a forfeit win……

Real Maskid seem to be playing out the season in full knowledge that they will be joining a very competitive top division next season. In the meantime they had three more games to negotiate, the first of which was against El Caliente, and this one got off to a quick start. Jack McConnell put Maskid in front in the second minute, but Fidelis Eberegbe leveled up a minute later, before an own goal put Real back in front on 7 minutes. Caliente didn’t really do themselves any favours, as they conceded another own goal in the 11th minute to give Maskid a 3-1 lead, which Darren McConnell made 4 three minutes later. Caliente showed a bit of fight, and a goal from Danny King and another from unnamed player brought them back to within a goal 7 minutes from the end of the first half. The deficit at the break was three as Kieran O’Connell grabbed a double in the final 5 minutes of the half, and he added his third a minute after the restart as Maskid edged 4 goals clear. Jack McConnell grabbed 4 more in the final 10 minutes to make it another double figure score for Maskid, with King’s second of the game in the dying seconds nothing more than a consolation for Caliente. The last time Inter Row Z and Step Brothers faced off it ended up as a highly competitive 6-6 draw, one of a host of draws in this division this season. This one didn’t look like ending up as a draw as Inter roared into a 4-0 lead in the first 4 minutes as Ryan McAndrew and Ray Donnelly grabbed a goal each, and Callum Jones a double to put them in immediate control. Step Brothers got a grip as the half went on, and Rob Sheldon pulled one back for them on 15 minutes, but it was 5-1 at the break as Paul Waugh scored three minutes before the interval. The Brothers chances of a second half comeback ended in the opening 7 minutes of the second half as McAndrew and Donnelly added to the Inter total, and though Tom Cioffi pulled one back with 16 to play, Inter fired in another 4 goals in 4 minutes, two from McAndrew and one each from Jack McDonagh and Donnelly. Dom Cioffi grabbed the Brotherhood’s third of the game 6 minutes from the end, but this one was long over and Waugh made it 12-3 to Inter in the final minute to send Inter three points clear in second place. The McMuffin Men went looking for their first win of the season at the 8th attempt against Wellspring FC, despite sitting on 4 points after drawing 4 of their 7 games so far this season! Wellspring hit the front through Jay Berrisford’s 4th minute goal, but Tom Collins put McMuffin Men in the familiar position of being level a minute later. Callum Wilkinson restored the Wellspring lead in the 8th minute, and goals from Lewis Arden and Collins meant it was 3-2 Wellspring after just 10 minutes. Berrisford and Mark Bailey both scored in the space of 60 seconds to keep the Wellspring lead at one, but Bailey, Collins and Charley Eyre scored in the space of 60 seconds to put McMuffin’s in front for the first time at 6-4. That lead was 8-4 at the break as Sam Delgado and Calan Sherer scored in the final 5 minutes of the half, but Mike Devitt pulled one back for Wellspring two minutes into the second half. Eyre edged McMuffin 4 goals up again, before Jack Kerton scored two and Berrisford another to bring it back to a one goal deficit. McMuffin Men ended the stronger though as they went in search of that elusive first win, and goals from Delgado, unnamed scorer and two more from Collins gave them the ‘W’ for the first time this season.

Pat’s Giants have settled into Ballers life very well in their first season, and went into this week’s game against FC AOTS on top of the League One table. AOTS are one of those teams who can be good one week, not so good the following week, and after going two down to goals from Jack Emmerson and Fred Winterbottom, they hit back with two of their own from Eoghan Scott and Adam Duty. Paddy Bannister quickly put the Giants back in front, but that lead also didn’t last long as Duty made it 3-3 5 minutes before half time. The Giants had the lead at the break again as Emmerson grabbed his second, and they were back in control of the game as Bannister and Winterbottom added two in the first 5 minutes of the second period. The game drifted away from AOTS as Bannister, Emmerson and Danny Brookes added three more to make it 9-3 heading into the final 10 minutes. Winterbottom added two more, Emmerson joined him on 4 for the game by adding another and Joe Marsland got his name on the score sheet, while Duty and Carl Buckley grabbed a couple of late consolation goals for AOTS, who had one of their bad weeks. Stockport Eagles looked to keep pace with the Giants as they took on a patched up Veterans side. The Eagles quickly took advantage of the weakened Vets team as Michael Winn and Lee Bridge(?) put them two up in the opening 5 minutes, before Paul Waugh put them three up 8 minutes from the break. Andy Carrington pulled one back for The Vets two minutes later, but Waugh’s second of the game made it 4-1 before half time. His third and 4th, either side of goals from Ray Donnelly and Ryan McAndrew in the first 8 minutes of the second half pulled Eagles clear, and though Simon Grainger pulled one back for The Vets they were never going to produce any kind of comeback as two more from Waugh and two more from McAndrew gave the Eagles a more than comfortable victory.

FC Stront Bakken’s promotion push this season has been based on solid defence as they they had conceded just 11 goals in 7 games ahead of this weeks game with Deportivo Lack Of Talent, who’ve picked up two wins from three games since dropping back into the Ballers Sunday basement. This one always looked like being tight as we approached half time with just Declan Matthews 15th minute goal separating the teams. Lukas Voveris struck their second on the stroke of half time to double their lead with what was remarkably the final goal of the game, as the Bucket Boys move onto 8 wins from 8, with ‘keeper Benjamin Dean picking up his second clean sheet of the season. SK Six may not quite have had the results to back up their improvements since returning to Ballers, but they went again this week against Inter Your Sister who are looking to secure second spot and a return to League One for next season. SK went in front through Henry Cooke’s 10th minute goal, but we were level at the break as Max Liversedge drew Inter level 6 minutes later. Harry Bridge restored SK’s lead inside the opening minute of the second period, but within three minutes they were behind for the first time as Aaron Crook and Gaz Sumner gave Inter a 3-2 lead. Crook grabbed his second 4 minutes later, and there was no way back for an SK team who don’t always find goals easy to come by. Liversedge got his second three minutes from time to seal the win for Inter, who sit three points clear in second place, but they won’t be catching the leaders any time soon.

Rooneytunes and Wellspring stepped foot inside the cage for a 5’s friendly with the main pitch being full, and it was Rooneytunes who ran out 6-4 winners, Chris Sinclair and Ashley Taylor with two each for them.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, BUT THAT DIVISION 5 WILL BE HOPEFULLY MORE THAN JUST A PIPE DREAM AS THE 11’S SEASON’S HEAD TOWARDS THEIR CONCLUSION.

MONDAY LEAGUE

The opening night of the new Monday league season saw two new teams join the Premiership and some new faces in the Championship as we got ourselves back to the two full divisions. Expected Toulouse picked up a perfect 10 on their way to their first Monday Premiership title last season, including a pair of wins over this week’s opponents Not A Chance. The Chancers were hammered in their final match of last season but they got off to a flyer here as James, Callum Wild and Phil Carroll all scored in the opening 10 minutes to put them three up. Any expectation that this would fire Toulouse into life didn’t surface, and Carroll and James added two more before the quarter hour mark. Waz Akram did eventually get Toulouse on the board a minute later, but an own goal two minutes before half time sent Not A Chance into the interval with their 5 goal lead back. The first goal of the second half took 11 minutes to arrive, and when it did it went to Dom Andrew to put the Chancers 7-1 up with 14 to play. Expected finally sprung into life as Niall Hillen, Jack Grundy and Akram grabbed three quick goals to make it 7-4 with 6 minutes left. We looked set for a big finish, but all we got was Not A Chance seeing the game out to claim a massive win on the opening week. AC Milmanchester had the chance to steal an early march on Toulouse if they could see off a team they had also beaten twice last campaign, Phantom Brazilians. Phantom had given Toulouse a run for their money last week, but they went behind to Jason Singleton’s third minute goal, before they hit back with three of their own, two from Matt Barton and another from Robin Hulme. A Simon Hackney strike for ACM and a ‘ghost goal’ that’s not noted on the score sheet saw us level at 3-3 as we headed into the final 15 minutes before Ballers debutant Matt Haley scored his first Ballers goal to put Phantom back in front. Barton’s third of the game in the dying minutes secured an impressive win for Phantom as the final league table from last season was turned on it’s head on opening night!

Netsix & Chill fought hard to not have to go into the Premiership for the new season, so immediately started the new Monday season as potential favourites to win the Championship title. The newly renamed Migg FC were playing their first Ballers league game, having also joined the Championship when they could have been going straight into the top flight, and they started strongly when Josh Meehan and Matty Gillings put them two up in the opening 10 minutes. Joe McDonald added a third on 12 minutes, before Meehan added two more to make it 5-0 a couple of minutes before the end of a very one sided first half. Matty Aked pulled one back for Netsix just before the break, but Meehan’s 4th of the game two minutes into the second half effectively ended this one as a contest. Aked got his second 4 minutes from time, but it was just a consolation as we start the conversation with Migg FC as to whether we’ve put them in the wrong division……. Jeremy Cheadle won the three games they played in the Championship last season, but the couple of games they missed being the reason they remain in the Championship, while Nice Buns had a solid start with a couple of wins from their three games. Charlie Williamson gave Buns the lead in the third minute, and last (half) season’s top scorer Jimmy Williamson doubled that lead on 10 minutes. The first half was an end to end affair, and Phil Monaghan pulled one back for Cheadle two minutes later, and while chances came and went at either end Nice Buns ended the half with a three goal burst, one each from Tom Hall, Paul Cheetham and Jimmy Williamson to give them a 5-1 half time lead. The second half was much more one way traffic as Buns didn’t seem to know whether to stick or twist, and Monaghan got his second 4 minutes after the restart. Alex Whelan pulled another back with 17 to play, and it was a one goal game when Monaghan got his third a minute later. Buns were holding on and continued to hold on into the final 5 minutes, but as time looked to be running out for Cheadle Whelan got his second three minutes from time to make it 5-5, which is how it stayed as both teams start the season with a point apiece.

In the one friendly of the evening, Diva Fever celebrated taking Pique Blinders league space by winning their first Ballers game 5-3 against a scrambled Stockport Eagles team. They spread the goals around as Craig Madden, Bevan Southward, Des Savage, James Gandy and Kev McCreavey all got on the mark ahead of their league debut next week.

THE MONDAY 6-A-SIDE LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT WE HAVE SECURED THE MUGA PITCH TO ALLOW US TO GET FRIENDLY 5-A-SIDE GAMES ON FOR ANYONE WAITING TO JOIN A LEAGUE. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS!

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The conclusion of the 11’s season both in the pro and amateur game has meant midweek games are currently a thing, and this is causing some of our teams problems. We did eventually get 4 league games and a friendly on this week as team scrambled around for players, two of which were Oooze FC and Only Kruls & Horses, who went up against each other. Brad Gilman gave Kruls the lead in the first minute, and Jack Mulhern doubled that lead with only 4 minutes on the clock, but Oooze had turned this one around before the break as Jago Stackhouse, Adam Corr and Phil Parker scored in a 15 minute spell to send them into half time 3-2 up. Parker’s second in the first minute of the second half, and Tom Galbraith’s goal 6 minutes in put Oooze 5-2 up, and it was 6 with 15 minutes to go as Corr got his second of the game. Seb Etchell’s pulled one back for Kruls with 10 minutes still to play, but there was to be no late comeback for them as Oooze made it two wins from two while Kruls continue to look for their first point. Gangs Of Dwight Yorke started their title defence at the third attempt against another of the teams who’d had to scramble for players this week in Inter Row Z. Their scrambling still left them with a pretty strong looking team, but that team went behind when Wez Barker scored in the second minute. Inter controlled most of the rest of the half and they scored 4 in a 6 minutes spell before we’d reached the 10 minute mark, two each from Callum Donnelly and Kyle Clarke. The teams shared 4 goals in the final 6 minutes of the half, as Chris and Jason Singleton both scored for Gangs, with Jack Cope and Steven Whetham responding each time to keep Inter three clear at the break. Connor Harding’s goal in the opening minute of the second period looked set to fire Gangs into life, but Donnelly’s third of the game a minute later restored Inter’s three goal lead again. Jason Singleton pulled one back again with 20 minutes to play, and this time Gangs did put their foot down as within 4 minutes they were in front as Harding and Jason Singleton added to an own goal to give Gangs an 8-7 lead, and despite numerous chances at either end there were no more goals as Gangs get their defence off to the narrowest of winning starts.

Both Turkish Delight and Stroke Titty had looked impressive last week as they showed their promotion credentials, and having drawn 2-2 in a tight friendly at the end of last season we were expecting another close one this week. Sam Tattersall gave Stroke the lead in the first minute, and an otherwise tight first half saw just an own goal give Stroke a two goal half time lead. Goals from Ryan Stevens and Jay Willingham in the opening 8 minutes of the half eased Stroke 4 goals clear and set for a third straight win, and Willingham went on to add three more in the final 15 minutes to absolutely kill this one off as Stroke go 6 points clear at the top of the early Championship table. Both Black Jack and Wellspring were looking to pick up their first points of the season, granted it was only at the second attempt for both sides! We were level at 1-1 just three minutes in as Joe Dear cancelled out Nathan Wilkinson’s opener, but a quieter middle spell of the first half followed before it all went off again in the final 10 minutes of the half. James Davies grabbed two in two minutes, Wilkinson pulled one back another minute later, but the final three minutes of the half were enough time for Black Jack to add three more as Davies got another two and Jack Roberts the final goal of the half as Black Jack went in with an unlikely looking 6-2 lead. Another one from Davies followed a minute after the break, and though Wellspring quickly pulled two back through Wilkinson and an own goal, Pat Bradshaw nicked another goal for Black Jack before a second own goal kept Wellspring just about in it at 8-5. Black Jack were able to secure a first win of the campaign as Dear and Roberts scored in the final 11 minutes to give them a 10-5 win which sees them go into second place for now.

The only two teams without a league game, Inter Mi Van and Beercalona, played out a friendly that went the way the form book would suggest as Inter Mi Van shared the goals about with Karl Robins, Ryan Andres, Simon Royle and Ross Gaskell all scoring two each to put them 10-0 up going into the final 5 minutes, before Tom Ratcliffe scored a late hat trick to at least mean that Beercalona weren’t white washed!

THE TUESDAY EVENING LEAGUE REMAINS FULL. SUNDAY AND MONDAY ARE YOUR BEST BETS FOR A FAIRLY IMMEDIATE START! 

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

It would appear that Duno came in, caused havoc, then left within two weeks, the little pests, so just a couple of games took place this week. Michu At De Gea Ba were 10 from 10 on their way to a second straight title success last season, but squad numbers have been an issue so far this season so their game with Stockport Eagles looked like a tough one to call. A manic first 6 minutes saw 4 goals fly in, two for each team as Ryan McAndrew scored two for Eagles in between Michael Jennison and Matt Barton grabbing one each for Michu. Somehow after that start the score remained the same at the break, but Warren Yeo put the Eagles in front 4 minutes after the break and Ray Donnelly gave them a two goal with 16 minutes to play. McAndrew’s third of the game 8 minutes from time looked to have ended this one, but the champs hit back with two Nathan Brammer goals to make it 5-4 with a couple of minutes still to play. The Eagles just about held on pick up the win and go top of the table, while Michu suffer their first defeat for as long as any of us can remember. A few weeks ago we thought the Polish Derby was consigned to the history books as Mapgie attempted to escape the Ballers grip, but they are back again and the Polish Classico continues. As per the last games between these two Polish Army looked to be well in control at 3-0 with a couple of minutes of the first half to go as Michal’s opener was added to be two Bania goals, but Milosz Zawila ensured that Magpie did something that they couldn’t manage in their last meeting, scoring a goal just before half time. Mateusz struck first for the Army 4 minutes into the second half, and the game looked over at 5-1 15 minutes from time as Michal got his second. Adrian Hulicki quickly pulled one back for Magpie from the penalty spot, and Karol’s goal 4 minutes from time meant they trailed by just two, but Michal grabbed his third a minute later to put the result beyond doubt. Mariusz Koszla did grab a late consolation for Magpie, but it’s good to at least see them being competitive again after a miserable second half to last season.

WHISPER IT, BUT WE MAY HAVE A SPACE IN OUR WEDNESDAY EVENING LEAGUE. FIRST ONE IN GETS IT!

Looks like summer has already been and gone…..

LEAGUE NEWS

There’s only one place to look at the moment if you want to get some immediate Ballers action, and that’s the SUNDAY EVENING LEAGUE, where we are looking to add a 5TH DIVISION when the new league starts in May.

All of our other league nights are currently full, but if Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the only options for you, feel free to get in touch and we’ll look to try and arrange friendlies for you while we wait for a space to come up.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Insole weren’t playing this week as Kipsta Cobras couldn’t field a side, so Kinky Slipper and Insole were playing for the chance to join them on 12 points at the top of the table. Kinky have generally got the better of the two sides in this game and they struck first through Wesley Harney’s 7th minute goal. Duno were level three minutes later, and went in front 11 minutes before the break through Jack Cope’s finish. James Radcliffe pulled Kinky level for all of 60 seconds before Calvin Alexander restored Duno’s lead, but Kinky blitzed the Duno goal with three goals in as many minutes as Joe Lailey, Jordan Hutchinson and Radcliffe ensured they had a two goal lead at the break. Duno had arguably been the better side in the opening half, and Kinky ‘keeper Luke Braden had done his share to ensure they took that lead into the break, and the champs dominated the second half as Lailey and Radcliffe struck early to ease them 4 goals in front. Three more in the final 11 minutes, one from Harney and two from Hutchinson gave Kinky a comfortable looking 10-3 victory in the end. Team Tom already seem to be counting down the days until they are playing Championship football again, but they continue to field a side and went into the unknown this week against new boys Bangers & Pash, who put up a fairly decent showing in defeat to Duno last week. We looked like heading into half time with Bangers leading by a solitary Rory Kelly 11th minute goal, but a flurry of action before the break saw Matt Sheehan grab two and Kelly another while James MacDonald pulled one back for the Tommers. Matt Toft and Kelly scored in the opening 5 minutes of the second period to put Bangers out of sight, Robbie Fallon made it 7 with 18 minutes remaining, and he added a second alongside a Chris Carroll goal in the final 5 minutes to give Bangers a comfortable first Ballers win.

Real Maskid came closer than ever to losing their 100% record with us last week as McMuffin Men ran them close, but previously Inter Row Z had been the team team who’d challenged them in the opening half of the season. It looked likely that there wasn’t going to be a repeat of this when Jack Wilson and Kieran O’Connell put Maskid two up in the first three minutes, but Inter hit back to level things up through goals from Ryan McAndrew and Brandon Byers-Wilkes with 15 minutes on the clock. Jack McConnell put Maskid back in front on the stroke of half time, and the same player added his second two minutes after the break to restore their two goal lead. Alecs Pattison made that three a couple of minutes later before Michael Winn pulled one back for Inter. McConnell looked to have killed the game off by making it 6-3 12 minutes from time, with Byers-Wilkes goal three minutes from time proving to be just a consolation for Inter. El Caliente had the chance to take second spot from Inter if they could pick up the points against Wellspring this week. Given how well grouped the teams below Maskid are, a win for Wellspring would see them remain in the promotion chase, and they lead 2-1 after 10 minutes when James McGrail and Nathan Wilkinson scored to cancel out Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley’s 5th minute opener. Lewis Arden edged them 3-1 in front three minutes before the break, but Jay Berrisford quickly replied for Caliente to make it 3-2 at the break. The second period started slowly before 4 goals in 4 minutes, one for Arden, one for Wilkinson, one for Murray Tupman and an own goal, all in Wellspring’s favour, put them well in control at 7-2. O-K pulled one back with 6 minutes left, and though Berrisford and Kyle Sparked also got on the score sheet for Caliente, it was too little too late, and Wellspring close to within a point of second place with a game in hand on those above them. Step Brothers and The McMuffin Men could yet make a play for the promotion places as the Brotherhood started the night three points off second place and McMuffin Men 5 after drawing three of their 6 games. McMuffin started like a house on fire as they went two up in the first 5 minute through goals from Maison Heywood and Sam Delgado. Chris Moore’s reply for the Brothers a minute later was met with a swift response from Heywood to restore McMuffin’s two goal lead before we’d reached the 10 minute mark. This remained the score at the break, and Step Brothers went chasing the game in the  second period. It took until 11 minutes from time for Josh Armitage’s finished reduce the McMuffin lead, and two minutes later Moore produced a moment of magic to draw the Brothers level. That ended up being the final goal of the game, as McMuffins make it 4 draws and no wins from their 7 games, while Step Brothers drop a place to second from bottom but remain two points off second.

Pat’s Giants had had a good run of it since they took over from SK Dons in the early stages of the season, but they faced a tough one this week against Murder On Zidane’s Floor, who’d picked up a win over FC AOTS in their first game last week. The Giants got off to the better start as two goals from Jordan Pryce put them two up after 11 minutes, and Fred Winterbottom made three 4 minutes before the break. Mark Bailey did pull one back for Murder two minutes later, but Pat’s all but killed the game off with two Paddy Bannister goals in the opening 4 minutes of the second period. Dan Havern got Zidane’s second with 15 minutes remaining, but there was no way back for them as the Giants saw the game out to go level with Stockport Eagles on 12 points ahead of Eagles game this week. AOTS provided Eagles opposition this week with a stronger looking squad than they were able to field last week, and that proved to be the case as three goals from Adam Duty and two from Eoghan Scott gave them a 5-0 half time lead. On what was proving to be a miserable evening for the league leaders at start of play, Charlie Hutchinson made it 6-0 4 minutes after the break. Paul Waugh gave them a glimmer of hope when he scored two in 4 minutes, one of them a spectacular overhead kick, to reduce the arrears to 4, but Duty added two more for AOTS in the final few minutes to give them a surprisingly comfortable win. They move onto 9 points, three behind Pat’s and Eagles in the race for promotion.

FC Stront Bakken look to be strolling towards the League Two title, so if Inter Your Sister were to hold out any hope of making up the 9 point deficit at the start of play they were going to need to beat them this week. Declan Matthews put the leaders in front on three minutes, but Max Liversedge quickly drew Inter level. A tight first half edged the Bucket Boys way as Lukas Voveris restored their lead 8 minutes before the break, before two Brandon Byers-Wilkes goals either side of Matthews second of the game meant we were level at 3-3 with 17 minutes left to play. Matthews third put Stront Bakken in front for a 4th time, but Craig Johnsno looked to have snatched a point for Inter with the 4th leveler three minutes from time. There was a final twist though, as Voveris got his second in the final minute to maintain Bakken’s 100% record for the season. They will guarantee the League One title with two games to spare if they win this weekend. Deportivo Lack Of Talent looked to continue their recovery against SK Six this week, but didn’t get off to the best of starts as Harry Bridge put SK in front in the 11th minute as they went looking for their second ever Ballers win. Ben Proctor leveled things up for Deportivo 6 minutes later as we went into the break all square. Brad Peet put Deportivo in front for the first time two minutes into the second half, and two goals in three minutes from Ashley Ellwood and Gaz Sumner looked to have secured the win with 9 minutes to play. Brad Bent pulled one back for SK two minutes later, but two Rob Parker goals in the final 5 minutes secured a second win for Deportivo since they took the drop. Beercalona were fresh off the back of their first Ballers win, and went up against a Rooneytunes team who were back after their issues of last week. This one was tight from start to finish, and the only goal of the first half was scored by Scott Williams of Beercalona. Rooneytunes drew themselves level through Chris Sinclair’s goal 4 minutes after the break, and as the game looked to be heading for a draw, Ashley Taylor grabbed a winner for Rooneytunes two minutes from time.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT WE ARE LOOKING TO ADD THAT 5TH DIVISION IN FOR THE NEW SEASON IN MAY. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS. 

MONDAY LEAGUE

The final night of the Monday league came and went this week with not a massive amount to play for in all honesty, but that didn’t stop a lot of the games that were played from being competitive. Not A Chance and Phantom Brazilians had Premiership third place to play for, with Phantom in the box seat due to their superior goal difference, and while that in itself might not be much it still meant these two were likely to be involved in a tight game, and a goalless first half backed up that theory. The deadlock was finally broken 6 minutes after the break as Matt Barton put Phantom in front, and when he doubled that lead 10 minutes from time the three points and third place looked secure. Phil Carroll pulled one back for the Chancers with three minutes left, and out of nowhere Chris Priestley made it 2-2 a minute later to mean a share of the spoils and third place for Phantom.

Jeremy Cheadle were looking to make it three wins out of three since rejoining, and they got off to a quick start against struggling Pathetico Madrid as Kieran Monaghan’s two goals and an own goal put them three up in the opening 10 minutes. The rest of the first half didn’t go much better for Pathetico as Alex Whelan and Phil Monaghan grabbed two apiece to make it 7-0 at the break. That break didn’t help Pathetico’s cause as Adam Whelan added two in the opening 6 minutes of the second half and Alex and Phil another one each to make it 11-0 with 14 minutes remaining. Joe Bates pulled one back in a rare high moment for Pathetico a minute later, but Mike Astley and Phil Monaghan scored in the final 10 minutes to ease Cheadle to a 13-1 victory. The game between Netsix & Chill and Nice Buns was likely to be much closer, but it didn’t seem that way as Buns raced into a three goal lead in the opening 9 minutes with two goals from Jimmy Williamson and one from Charlie Williamson. Netsix whittled away at that lead as the half went on, and goals from Calvin Alexander and Phil Carroll saw them go into the break just one goal behind. The lead had disappeared completely when Liam Atkinson scored 6 minutes after the break, and goals from Kurtes Curran, Atkinson and Alexander saw them take a three goal lead into the final 12 minutes. This time it was Nice Buns turn to hit back, as Jimmy Williamson scored a minute later, and ‘un-named scorer’ reduced the deficit to one goal with 9 still to play. That same mystery man completed the second three goal comeback of the game to make it 6-6 with three minutes left, but it was all in vain as Carroll popped up with the winner in the dying second to make it three straight wins for Netsix going into the new season.

In friendly action this week, Red Hands FC (who will be known as Pink Panther FC going forward) took on the possibly soon to be renamed NG Bailey FC in a game between two teams who could have both been going into the Premiership for the new season. It looked like being both early in the second half as a close game was sat at 5-4 in Pink Panthers favour, but they ended up running away with it as 4 goals each from Ray Donnelly and Mike Dolan saw them run out 12-6 winners. Diva Fever joined us for a first game this week as they looked to ease back into the small sided game with a friendly against Exeter Gently who kindly stepped in for a game. It was a good one too which looked to be heading comfortably Exeter’s way as they sat 4-1 up with less than 10 minutes remaining. Late Bevan Southward, Des (just Des) and Kev McCreavey goals weren’t enough for them to take a draw as Kristian Igo’s second of the game gave Exeter a narrow 5-4 win. Pique Blinders let the side down late on this week, so a scratch team made up of Netsix and Pink Panther players gave FC Rhino Ket a game. It was a pretty decent one too, as Rhino Ket eased to a 6-3 win against their fatigued opposition.

THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTS NEXT WEEK AND IS FULL! WE ALSO HAVE A COUPLE OF TEAMS ON STANDBY, SO YOU CAN EITHER WAIT FOR A SPACE OR ASK ABOUT ANOTHER NIGHT! 

TUESDAY LEAGUE

With mancunian interest in the Champions League ended last week, we had a better turnout for our Tuesday league this week. Two games took place in the Premiership as 4 teams got their season up and running at the second attempt. Only Kruls & Horses faced Inter Row Z as two of the teams who were scrapping out for second place looked to get three points on the board early doors. Steven Whetham gave Inter the lead in the third minute, but Only Kruls were ahead within 6 minutes as Seb Etchells and Reece Douglas scored to turn things in their favour. Liam Watson brought Inter level half way through the period, but Douglas’ second put Kruls back in front 7 minutes from the break. Watson turned the game on it’s head with two goals in the last two minutes of the half to give Inter a 4-3 half time lead, but Kruls bounced back to go back in front with goals from Dan (just Dan) and Douglas in the first 4 minutes of the second period. They held onto that lead until 12 minutes from time when the game turned again as two goals in three minutes from Watson put Inter back in front again. This time there was no way back for Kruls as two in quick succession from Callum Donnelly and a 6th of the game from Watson put the seal on an impressive win for Inter to get their season off to a winning start. The other two teams who were in the mix for second place last season went head to head as Inter Mi Van faced Oooze FC with both teams missing several regular players. Oooze got off to the better start, going two up through goals from Adam Corr and Gaz Sumner before Karl Robins pulled one back for Mi Van before we’d reached the 10 minute mark. Three Oooze goals in 6 minutes in the run up to half time put them in control, one from Phil Parker and two from Tom Galbraith, but Lee Boshir’s goal on the stroke of half time kept Inter just about in contention. In a tighter second half, Inter’s chances were damaged by Jay Roddis’ goal 7 minutes in, and the game was up when Corr got his second 5 minutes from time. Lee and Blake Boshir did grab a couple of consolation goals which may prove vital to their goal difference if this season is anywhere near as close as last season was.

Stroke Titty won the only game of the opening night last week and were looking to continue what looks like being a promotion push against Beercalona. Ross Graham gave Stroke the lead in the 8th minute, and his second 6 minutes later had them looking good for maintaining their good start to the season. Jay Willingham and Ryan Stevens added two more before half time to leave Stroke in comfortable control, and in a game that wasn’t as one sided as the scoreline suggested further second half goals from Joe Lailey, Willingham, Graham and Sam Tattersall gave Stroke an 8-0 win that unsurprisingly sees them sit top of the table as the only team to have played two games! Turkish Delight played their first Championship game having failed to pick up a point in the second half of last season’s Premiership despite always being competitive. There’s looked to be a good game this week against Black Jack who finished second in the feeder Championship last season, and it got off to a flyer as Veysel’s third minute opener for Turkish was leveled up by James Corser’s rocket a minute later. Veysel put Turkish back in front on 8, and two more goals in the latter stages of the half put them three up at the break. They killed the game off in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as Veysel added his 5th, Deigo became the first player who isn’t Veysel to score, and they even had the lucky break of a heavily deflected goal to put them 7-1 up. The final 15 minutes remained goalless as Turkish Delight also look set to have a bash at a top two finish this season.

Shaka couldn’t field a team this week, so Inter Row Z stopped on to give Gangs Of Dwight Yorke a game. Despite leading throughout the game, Inter ran out of gas and Gangs ran out 11-9 winners.

THE TUESDAY EVENING LEAGUE IS FULL! FRIENDLY MATCHES CAN BE ARRANGED FOR ANY TEAMS WANTING TO GET INVOLVED WHEN A SPACE COMES UP 

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Champions Michu At De Gea Ba struggled to field a side again this week, meaning our ‘7th’ Wednesday team, Wellspring, filled in to make sure we had another full Wednesday of Ballers action. Stockport Eagles lost a hard fought game with Duno last week, but were looking to get back to winning ways against Exeter Gently, who are unrecognisable from the team that struggled so badly at the start of last season. The only goal of the opening 10 minutes went the way of the Eagles as Shaun Mather put them in front, but the final 15 minutes of the half were painful for Exeter as Eagles pretty much wrapped up the game before the break. Connor Harding got an 8 minute hat trick to go alongside Paul Waugh’s goal to see the Eagles soar into a 5-0 half time lead. The second half was tighter, and Exeter wasted their chance to get a foothold in the game as Lee Bridge saved a penalty on the way to a clean sheet that sees him climb the Golden Gloves chart. Waugh and Ray Donnelly scored two in a minute as we went into the final 10 minutes to complete a comfortable win for Eagles as they go to the top of the table having played more games than others around them. Duno just about managed to field a side this week, meaning their game with Polish Army looked like it could go either way. Aaron Owens gave Duno the ideal start with two goals in the opening 8 minutes to put them in early control, but Bania pulled the Army level with two goals in 4 minutes of his own. Marcin put the Poles in front 7 minutes from half time, but three goals in as many minutes, two more from Owens and one from Regan Mannion looked to have given Duno a two goal half time lead. Bania got his third of the half on the stroke of half time to make it a one goal game again, but Jack Cope eased Duno two goals up again three minutes after the break. Bania’s 4th kept the Army in touch heading in to the final 10 minutes, but Joe Owens grabbed the final goal of the game to make it two wins from two for Duno. 7th team Wellspring took on a Magpie side that were looking back to healthy squad numbers this week having tried to leave us a few weeks ago, and a really good, tight first half saw us go in level at the break as Karol canceled out Mike Devitt’s 16th minute opener for Wellspring. It was more of the same in the second half, but Magpie looked to have won it through Stanislaw Cierpiatka’s 35th minute goal before Callum Wilkinson grabbed a last gasp leveler for Wellspring to give both teams a point.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS FULL, AND WE EVEN HAVE OUR RANDOM 7TH TEAM TO FILL IN IN CASE OF OTHER TEAMS MISSING! SUNDAY IS YOUR BEST BET IF YOU WANT TO SIGN UP NOW! 

 

We don’t want to really be overloading people with a 20 page list of playing rules, so we’ve always stuck to the idea that our rules are basically 11-a-side rules, with no sliding and kick ins instead of throw ins.

In recent weeks we’ve had a few players questioning various aspects of the playing rules, which is fine. Following discussions with our referees we are happy to hopefully clear some of these up.

PENALTIES

The referee will place the ball down for penalties, which should be taken one referees stride (approx one metre) inside the penalty area. Players can take a maximum of two steps before striking the penalty, and it must be one fluid motion. There will be no retakes if the penalty taker fails to adhere to these rules.

KICK OFFS

From a kick off the ball can be played in any direction, it does not have to be played backwards. If you shoot and score from a kick off the goal counts, if you play the ball backwards and it goes directly into your own goal, it counts.

KICK INS

Players need to be a minimum of 6 feet away from the ball at kick ins. In order to get the ball back into play quicker the kicker may take the ball back up to 6 feet from the touchline, while all other players must remain on the pitch.

Of the ones we’ve been asked about recently this pretty much covers everything. If you have any other questions about the playing rules, feel free to ask.

 

I thought the big hat was going to be put away for 6 months or so when the sun came out on Sunday, but it was back on by Wednesday……

LEAGUE NEWS

Whisper it, but at this precise moment in time we are FULL! But that doesn’t mean we aren’t still on the lookout for new teams……..

With the 11’s season approaching it’s conclusion, we want to get the SUNDAY LEAGUE up to 5 DIVISIONS for the summer (at least). We don’t actually know how we’d fit all these in, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it……

While there are no spaces on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, there isn’t a massive waiting list of teams, so if you want to register your interest we can try and get you some friendlies on the go while we wait for a slot to become available.

For any information on the above, complete a form on the ‘JOIN A LEAGUE’ section of the homepage, call or text 07809252658, or email [email protected].

SUNDAY LEAGUE

We unfortunately (and hopefully temporarily) lost Dench FC from the Ballers league this week, partly as a result of the struggles of being in the top flight, but fortunately we had a new team all set and ready to take on the challenge. Firstly though, leaders Insole were looking to consolidate their lead at the top as they took on struggling Team Tom. That struggle continued for another week as Insole poured forward relentlessly from the off, and two goals each from Jack Atkinson and Kyle Clarke, along with one each for Brad Street, Jordan Cunningham and Matthew Atkinson gave the leaders a 7-0 lead at the break. They didn’t let up much in a second half that provided a level of symmetry as Street, Clarke and Cunningham added further doubles and Jack Atkinson another as they ran out 14-0 winners. Such was their dominance, the man of the match was actually given to Tommers keeper Rob Longworth, who did his best to keep the scoreline that low. Kinky Slipper needed a win over Kipsta Cobras to keep themselves in touching distance at the top, but after a slow start they fell behind to Wayne Reeves 8th minute opener. They turned it around by the quarter hour mark as Joe Lailey and James Radcliffe scored to put Kinky in front, but it was all square again with a minute as Warren Yeo made it Desmond. Jordan Hutchinson scored two minutes before the break to send Kinky in with a half time lead, and two more from the same player either side of Lailey’s second put them firmly in control half way through the second period. Yeo grabbed his second to give Kipsta a glimmer of hope at 6-3 with 11 to play, but Kinky eased to victory through a goal from unnamed scorer and a third from Lailey. We were joined by Bangers & Pash this week, and they were thrown in fairly deep as they took on the third of the title contenders in Duno. They held their own for the opening quarter of an hour before Liam Watson put the challengers in front, but they swiftly leveled things up as Chris Carroll scored the Pash’s first Ballers goal. Duno went into the break with a narrow lead as Jack Cope scored a minute before the break, but Bangers were level again three minutes after the restart as Matt Sheehan drew them level for a second time. Stevie Whetham put Duno in front for the third time a minute later, and they had a two goal lead for the first time two minutes after as Cope got his second. There was no looking back from this point as Duno finished the stronger with Watson and Calvin Alexander adding two more each in the final 10 minutes to give Duno a comfortable looking victory.

Real Maskid had played in, and won the Reddish North End fundraising tournament during the day, and went straight into their league game with The McMuffin Men still confident of maintaining their 100% record so far this season. That looked to be on the cards as Kieran O’Connell and Jack McConnell gave them a two goal lead in the opening 8 minutes with the only two goals of the half. In the reverse fixture earlier in the season Maskid had run away with it in the second half, but it looked less likely this time around and Sam Delgado pulled one back for McMuffins with 19 minutes left to play. The 100% record looked in real danger when Jack Searle leveled up for McMuffin 8 minutes from time, but McConnell got his second of the game 60 seconds later and Maskid held on to record their 6th straight win. Inter Row Z and El Caliente went into this week’s game level on points in the race for second place, with a superior goal difference placing Inter in that prized position at start of play. This one was a topsy turvy game from start to finish, and it began with Ray Donnelly giving Inter the lead in the 4th minute before Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley leveled up three minutes later. Callum Donnelly restored the Inter lead on 10 minutes, but this time they only held the lead for a minute as O-K drew Caliente level for a second time. Caliente went in front for the first time as Jay Berrisford scored in the 15th, and again in the 17th after Brandon Byers-Wilkes had briefly drawn Inter level again in the 16th. We were level at 4-4 at the break as Byers-Wilkes got his second on the stroke of half time, and we remained level when Callum Donnelly and Berrisford scored within a minute of each other 9 minutes after the restart. Jack McDonagh nudged Inter in front again, but again this lead didn’t last long as Berrisford scored again to make it 6-6 with 13 minutes left. All that was left was two late goals in the dying seconds, and fittingly it was one for either side as Ray Donneelly got his second and Berrisford his 5th as a pulsating game ended in a 7-7 draw.

A full house of game in League One, in stark contrast to last week’s none, meant things were shaken up at the top of the table again in a tight looking league. Stockport Eagles took on Polish Army for the 401st time in what must be the most played Ballers game in Ballers history. This chapter started with the poles getting off to the better start as Piotr and Mateusz gave them a two goal lead in the opening 11 minutes, but that lead was gone within 6 minutes as Paul Waugh grabbed himself a double. His third meant that Eagles went into the break in front, and in a tight second half his 4th of the game eased the Eagles two goals up with 13 minutes left. Ryan McAndrew grabbed himself a goal 4 minutes from time to confirm the result in Eagles favour, and they soar to the top of the table as we reach the half way point of the season. Pat’s Giants, under their previous guise of SK Dons had thrown away a 3-0 half time lead in their first game of the season against this week’s opposition The Veterans, so they were looking to right those early season wrongs. While The Veterans finished that game strongly, they started this one as they ended that one, as goals from Paul Atherton and Steve Wally gave them a two goal lead in the first 4 minutes. Paddy Bannister pulled one back for the Giants on 9 minutes, and two goals in three minutes from Danny Brookes and Jack Emmerson gave Pat’s the lead 9 minutes before the break. Bannister got his second in the 21st minute, but The Vets remained in contention at the break as Atherton got his second to make it 4-3 at half time. Emmerson got his second early in the second period to ease Pat’s two goals up again, but Ben Mercer and Dean Minshull scored two quick goals to make things level again with 19 minutes to play. Pat’s looked to have made the decisive move when Bannister added two more either side of Emmerson’s third to move them three goals up for the first time, but Wally got his second 4 minutes from time to make sure it wasn’t cut and dried just yet. Bannster and Max Bradwell ended any doubts with a goal apiece in the last minute to give the Giants a 10-6 win that sees them take second spot. Murder On Zidane’s Floor join us for the second half of the season, replacing Deportivo Lack Of Talent who’ve dropped back into the bottom division, and they faced an FC AOTS team who had struggled for numbers this week. That didn’t stop them from taking the lead here as Scott Robinson put AOTS in front in the 12th minute, but Murder turned it around before the break as Sam Delgado, Josh Flynn and Logan Sherer gave them a 3-1 half time lead. Zidane killed the game off in the opening 12 minutes of the second half as Flynn added two, Dan Havern and Delgado others to move them into a 7-1 lead. Charlie Hutchinson pulled one back for AOTS, but Ellis Stelfox and Flynn added to the Murder total before Adam Duty scored a late consolation for an AOTS team that will be hoping to be back to full strength next week.

Deportivo Lack Of Talent looked to continue their Ballers recuperation this week, but it was a tough task against table toppers FC Stront Bakken. It looked like being even tougher as Declan Matthews gave the Bucket Boys the lead in the first minute, but in a tight first half Brad Peet’s leveler for Deportivo was the only other goal. The second half was equally tight, and we headed into the final 10 minutes still level at 1-1, but Matthews second of the game restored the Bakken lead with 9 minutes left to play, and Lukas Voveris completed a hard fought win for the leaders with their third 4 minutes from time. Inter Your Sister needed a win against Beercalona to remain in contention for the title, but that didn’t look likely at half time in this one. It started off looking like being a close game as Callum Jones and Scott Williams twice gave Beercalona the lead, only for Brandon Byers-Wilkes and Max Liversedge to peg them back both times. When Williams gave Beercalona the lead for the third time they pulled clear with three more before the break, two more from Williams and another from Jones. Liversedge pulled one back for Inter three minutes after the break, but Ste Bowler and Williams ensured that Beercalona went into the final 20 with a 5 goal lead. Byers-Wilkes and Matt Kealy reduced that to three with 14 to play, but Williams 6th of the game with 10 minutes left looked to have eased any concerns of an unlikely comeback. Gaz Sumner and Liversedge scored in the final 5 minutes, but it was too little too late for Inter, and they fall 9 points behind the leaders. For Beercalona, this was their first Ballers win since joining!

THE 4 DIVISIONS OF THE SUNDAY LEAGUE ARE FULL. JUST THE 5TH DIVISION TO GO NOW……   

MONDAY LEAGUE

It seems like forever since we had an actual full house of games on a Monday evening, but the introduction of a new side playing their first game with us meant we had 6 games to cover this week. Things are already done and dusted in terms of a title race in the top division, but Expected Toulouse had one final game against a Phantom Brazilians team who’ve found things to be a struggle recently but picked up a win a couple of weeks ago in a friendly with another of our new teams. They started well in this one as Mike Jennison and Ryan Clayton put them two up inside the opening 10 minutes. Toulouse aren’t the champs for nothing though, and they pulled one back through Jordan Milne 4 minutes before the break. Barely a minute had passed before Matt Barton restored the Phantom two goal lead, and they held onto that at the break. Things changed in the blink of an eye at the start of the second period as Milne got his second before Liam Mottram and Jack Grundy scored to put Expected in front for the first time just 8 minutes into the period. Surprisingly, and despite the best efforts of both teams, this was the final goal of the game as Expected finish the season with a perfect 10. AC MIlmanchester will be looking to take back the title they have just lost next season, and they faced a potentially tricky final game of the season against a Not A Chance team who’d run them close in the reverse fixture at the start of the season. This one didn’t look like being anywhere near as close when Simon Hackney and Martin Gordon put them two up in the first 6 minutes, and despite Phil Carroll pulling one back on 8 minutes it was 6-1 at the break as Hackney added two more, Gordon his second and the ironically named Sunny scoring his first Ballers goal in the pouring rain. The second half didn’t get much better for the Chancers, but the half was scoreless for the first 11 minutes before a late flurry of goals from Gordon (2), Billy Gallagher, James Elmore and debutant Daniel Flyer eased the runners up to a comfortable 11-1 win.

Jeremy Cheadle have been a little hit and miss since they singed back up, but they took their 100% record (from one game) into a fascinating looking game with FC Rhino Ket who look set for a spot in the top division next season. They also started the better here as rustiness may have been a factor for Cheadle who hadn’t played for the last couple of weeks, and Louis Moore put Rhino Ket two up in the first 6 minutes. Cheadle pulled themselves together and were back on level terms at the break when Phil Monaghan scored twice in the last 5 minutes of the half, and they went in front for the first time when Jack (just Jack) scored (probably) his first Ballers goal 6 minutes after the restart. When Jack Whelan scored with 10 minutes to go the result looked in the bag, but Moore quickly pulled one back for the promotion chasers. In a frantic final 10 minutes there was time for two more goals, and Alex Whelan’s goal for Cheadle gave them the win despite Moore’s 4th of the game meaning they had to hang on for the final few minutes. Netsix & Chill were looking to join Cheadle on 6 points as they went into their game with Pathetico Madrid as heavy favourites. The tag of favourites was justified as Connor Harding’s opening goal on 4 minutes was followed by two each from Matty Aked, Matthew Atkinson and Warren Yeo. with Joe Bates scoring the solitary Pathetico goal of the half. Pathetico put up a bit more of a fight in the second half but Netsix remained well in control despite Craig Moss scoring for Pathetico in the first minute of the half. They quickly regained control with two more from Atkinson and Harding, and one from Mike Pinder before Pathetico rallied with three unanswered goals of their own, one from Bates and two from Nathan Thomson. Netsix finished this one with a flourish with 4 more goals in the final 5 minutes, two each again from Atkinson and Harding to make it two straight wins. Pique Blinders haven’t picked up a win since their opening day victory over Netsix (granted they had only played one game since then), and if they were to hold out any hopes of promotion they really needed to pick up a win over Nice Buns, who we think will settle for a full season in the Championship as they continue to adapt to the 6’s game. Charlie Williamson put Buns in front in the first couple of minutes, and they doubled the lead through Dale Kirkham’s 14th minute goal. Kieran Norris pulled a goal back for Pique two minutes later, but Williamson scored a crucial double, one either side of the break to give Buns a 4-1 lead. Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley reduced the deficit with 17 to play, but it was Buns night as Jimmy Williamson scored their 5th and final goal of the game 6 minutes from time. We now have 4 teams on 6 points heading into the final couple of games.

We welcomed potential new team Red Hands FC down for their first game this week, with the always keen Wellspring stepping in to give them a game. It’s always nice when a new team can start with a win (always makes them more likely to come back!), and that’s what Red Hands got as three goals from Connor Morrissey and two from Mike Dolan gave them a comfortable 5-0 win. Hopefully they will be back again next week!

THE MONDAY LEAGUE IS NOW FULL! WE EVEN HAVE A TEAM ON STANDBY! FEEL FREE TO ENQUIRE ABOUT SIGNING UP BUT FOR A MORE IMMEDIATE START SUNDAY WILL BE THE NIGHT TO GO FOR 

TUESDAY LEAGUE

While every Ballers league, including Tuesday, maybe full, it doesn’t mean that big Champions League night’s involving Manchester clubs isn’t going to affect turnout. Just one game survived this week on what was the big opening night of the new season, with Stroke Titty taking on Wellspring in the first game of the new Championship campaign. Unfortunately the score card from this game has gone awol, so all we can say is that three pot shots from Conor Dolan, two from Jay Willingham and one each from Ryan Prestwich and Ryan Stevens were enough to see off Wellspring for this week despite three goals from Callum Walmsley, who was proud to tell us that he hadn’t scored a Ballers goal since last summer! Hopefully everything will be back to normal next week.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS ALSO FULL. GET IN TOUCH ABOUT SIGNING UP FOR SUNDAY IF THAT’S OF ANY GOOD TO YOU!

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

The returning Magpie FC were the final piece of the jigsaw in terms of league spaces, so it was back to a normal Wednesday night of three games. Duno doubled up and joined the Wednesday league, with a first game against some familiar faces in Stockport Eagles lineup. Goals from Calvin Alexander and Connor Harding saw us all square at 1-1 after the first 10 minutes. Jack Cope edged Duno in front and ‘Danny’ made it 3-1 before Ben Waugh and Warren Yeo scored a couple of quick goals to bring Eagles back level again. Duno were in front again by the break as Alexander got his second, and they were two goals up again when Cope also got his second two minutes into the second period. Harding’s second kept Eagles in contention, but three goals in 6 minutes from Stevie Whetham, Liam Watson and Michael Winn put Duno well in control. Waugh got his second half way through the period, but a shared flurry of 4 goals in as many minutes, an own goal and Winn’s second for Duno, Waugh and Harding for Eagles, were the final goals of the game as Duno start their Wednesday league campaign with a win. Polish Army picked up an impressive win on opening night against a recently improved Exeter Gently, but they faced two time winners Michu At De Gea Ba this week. It was a Michu side missing a couple of regulars, and the Army got the first goal through Slawek’s 6th minute finish. One of the Michu debutants got their leveler on 13 minutes as Nathan Brammer got his first Ballers goal, and despite Dominik restoring the the Army’s lead a minute before the break they couldn’t make it to half time in front as Brammer scored within seconds to make it 2-2 at half time. Matt Barton put Michu in front for the first time 9 minutes after the break, but Mateusz’ leveler 10 minutes from time had us looking set for a point apiece. Michael Jennison ensured that all three points headed Michu’s way with the winner in the last minute as Michu carry on where they left off last season. Magpie’s return started against Exeter Gently, but their form didn’t look like improving from where they left off as Mehrad Torkian and Mike Belshaw gave Exeter a two goal lead inside the first 10 minutes. Another Ballers debutant Adrian Hulicki pulled one back for Magpie, but Belshaw and Brad Robison added two more for Exeter to put them 4-1 up. Another new boy, Karol (no surname as yet) pulled one back for Magpie, but Exeter added two more before the break through Robison and Tom Harrison. Magpie did pull another back three minutes after the break, but despite there still being 22 minutes remaining there were no more goals as Exeter pick up a first win of the season at the second attempt.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE, LIKE ALL OTHER LEAGUES, IS FULL! SUNDAY IS CURRENTLY THE ONLY NIGHT WHERE WE CAN FIND SPACE FOR NEW TEAMS.

The start of April came around and to be perfectly honest there was nothing that was pecking my noodle that I thought I wanted to talk about, so there was a doubt as to whether I’d be able to keep our run of monthly blogs going, but then on Tuesday night something magical happened.

Our leagues became officially FULL!

Now I know I need to get this blog out there quickly as you never know if a team is going to drop out tomorrow, but if they dropped out of Sunday, Monday or Tuesday we even have the start of a waiting list of teams ready to take a space! On a technicality we probably do have 6 spaces available as we want to get that 5th division in on a Sunday by next month, but for now the existing league spaces we have are all taken.

The mantra we have worked to over the majority of our 18 months in existence has been to make sure not to get carried away when things are going well, but also to try not to get too down when things weren’t. Sometimes in both cases it’s hard to stick to that, we could have one good week where we thought we’d cracked it, followed by a week where we’d want to jack it all in. Obviously at the minute things are going pretty well, but we know we have to continue to try and keep doing the right things otherwise we know that things can quickly change.

March 2017 was the month where I really started wondering whether this was really going work out. Looking back now it’s ridiculous to think that, as we were barely 6 months into something we knew would take time to take off, but I’m impatient and didn’t want to wait for the work we were putting in to pay off! Any time a team looked like dropping out of the league there was internal panic, as we were at a point where losing just two or three teams on each of our league nights could have caused major damage. The reputation of the business and our leagues is at the forefront of our thinking at all times, so to have had leagues dropping numbers at that time would have damaged the reputation. The bank balance too…… It started to turn around this time last year as we approached the end of the 11’s season and the lighter nights came into play.

By the time we got to May, June and July we were in a financial position to start looking at the idea of the shirts for the teams who’d been with us a year, and fortunately we’ve been able to continue doing that as we promised. In some cases the shirts have been cursed and the teams that were given them quickly ran into problems.

We still don’t have a team photo of Deportivo Lack Of Talent, who’ve had their shirts for months as they’ve not had their full team out in all that time, Pathetico Madrid unfortunately left us after a struggle to continue to field a team having been with us from week 1, and El Caliente’s head honcho picked up an injury recently that has meant the team has had an overhaul which has rendered the named shirts mostly redundant. Strikeforce got their shirts, ordered two more for a couple of lads who were looking to get back into it, then folded a few weeks later, while more recently Kipsta Cobras were another team who made the decision to have names put on their shirts, only for two of the lads to then leave and set up a new team! At least Dench and SK Dons made their decision to drop out just before they were due, but being the awesome kind of company that we are, as soon as those two teams decide they are ready to come back in we will honour the offer and sort out shirts for them. If we can find them a space……

We’ll just settle with the knowledge that those lads who have shirts but aren’t currently playing probably have those shirts hanging in a frame from their bedroom wall……

Before we know it we will have been going for two years (hopefully) and we’ve already started the thought process as to how we can top or even match the idea of giving teams shirts. Chances are this year it will be a combination of things, maybe with teams having a certain choice over what they receive, maybe we can offer extra shirts for teams who have added players in over the past 12 months? We’ve got a few ideas up our sleeve, but within reason we wouldn’t mind hearing what people think.

With pitch space at the club currently limited, any further growth within the current Ballers set up would probably involve finding another venue that could house a potential Ballers Thursday league, or increase the size of one of our existing league nights. Even if we could find somewhere that could do that there is no guarantee that all of the teams would be happy with a shift of venue, while adding a 5th league night would be a massive decision. We’ve made no particular enquiries into making that happen as of yet, but we quite like having the 4 nights we have that can house up to 60 league teams as this allows us to maintain the close communication we have with our teams which we wouldn’t want to lose by diluting our time. Anything more than this would more than likely be too much for the current regime to cope with, would probably involve extra staffing being required with the training needed to run things the way that we do, hence it becomes a far from straightforward decision.

Maybe in a few months time our blog might be spelling out the exciting future plans going into the tricky third year…….

April already?! Not as much to write about this week with Easter having had it’s usual impact (not bad, just not normal!), fingers crossed for a return to normal for next week.

LEAGUE NEWS

Spaces are starting to become a premium in our current leagues, so if you’re not currently playing but want to get started, or do currently play but fancy doubling (or trebling) up now the brighter, hopefully warmer nights are here, you best get in touch.

The BRAND NEW WEDNESDAY LEAGUE started this week, but due to a couple of surprise drop outs we were left with a couple of spaces, one of which has been filled, so we currently have ONE SPACE for an immediate start.

We are also in a position where the final space for teams for the new MONDAY LEAGUE which starts on 23rd April will probably not be available for long, with a few teams hovering around. Get your name on that space now otherwise it will be gone.

We remain determined to find a way to add a 5th division to our SUNDAY LEAGUE in May, so if you play 11’s and want to keep sharp during the summer, get involved. We’ve already potentially got 5 teams lined up and can get friendlies going for any teams while they wait for a space.

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

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

The first week of the new Wednesday league season dropped on the same night as the first leg of Liverpool v City in the Champions League, so we were as always pleasantly surprised by the turnout of our Wednesday teams. Sadly we lost Magpie FC and Sevilla Lacatalent at the end of the previous season, so with a space still to fill we had two games on this week. Stockport Eagles, Polish Army and Exeter Gently could barely be split in the race for second place last season, and they were all looking to get the new season off to a winning start. Eagles faced Wellspring on the opening night, and it quickly became clear that they were going to get off to a winning start as Warren Yeo, Ray Donnelly and Matty Aked gave them a three goal lead in the first 10 minutes. That lead was doubled by the break as Paul Waugh, Connor Harding and Aked added to that early flurry of goals. It didn’t get any better for Wellspring in the second half as they played their 4th game in 4 nights, as Donnelly added 4 more, Yeo and Waugh two, and Harding the other as Eagles ran out 15-0 winners. The game between Exeter (fresh with their new Instagram page, go give them a follow…..) and Polish Army was always likely to be a much tighter affair, but the Poles started much the stronger as Michal opened the scoring on 5 minutes before Dominik added two more in a minute half way through the opening period. Michal’s second made it 4-0, and Marcin made it 5 after just 20 minutes. Mehrad Torkian pulled one back for Exeter before the break, and there was a glimmer of hope for an impressive comeback when Kristian Igo made it 5-2 6 minutes after the restart. Michal got his third two minutes later, and that killed off any chance of an Exeter revival, as the Army saw the game out for a 6-2 win.

ONE OF THE TWO SPACES HAS BEEN FILLED, SO ANY NEW TEAM JOINING FOR NEXT WEEK WILL STILL BE ABLE TO CATCH UP THE MISSED FIRST GAME. DO IT NOW…..!

SUNDAY LEAGUE

For an Easter Sunday, one of the days of the year where we anticipate more than a few teams having issues fielding a team, the turnout wasn’t too bad and it included the Sunday Classico as Insole desperately needed a win over Kinky Slipper to keep the title race interesting at the half way point. Joe Lailey gave Kinky the lead in the 10th minute, but two goals in three minutes in the final 5 minutes of the half from Aaron Campbell and Kyle Clarke put Insole 2-1 up approaching the break. Jordan Hutchinson made it 2-2 in the stroke of half time, but they were behind again 5 minutes into the second period when Brad Street scored. Bizarrely we then had a goal from Kinky ‘keeper Luke Braden with 10 minutes left to have us set up for a big finish, and in that final 10 it was Insole who nicked it thanks to Matthew Atkinson’s goal 4 minutes from time. Insole now lead the division by three points from Kinky and Duno, with both of those teams having a game in hand on the leaders. It’s going to be interesting……

Real Maskid will be expecting to be part of the mix up in the top flight next season, and they looked to continue their stroll towards the Premiership with a win over a  Wellspring side who may have been a little the worse for wear following their escapades of the previous evening. Either way there’s not much point dwelling too much on this one, as 8 goals from Darren McConnell, 6 from Jack McConnell and Kieran O’Connell, three from Jake Morrey and two from Jordon Connell were just about enough to see off the goals from Mike Devitt, Jake Hamilton and Chris Murray. That’s 25-3 for those of you who didn’t have access to a calculator. The battle already seems to be for second place, with just two points separating second and bottom before this week’s games kicked off, and unsurprisingly both of them were closer than the Maskid one. A fast start in the Inter Row Z v McMuffin Men game saw three goals in 4 minutes from Brandon Byers-Wilkes (2) and Ray Donnelly put Inter 3-1 up by the 10 minute mark after Sam Delgado had given McMuffin Men an early lead. It was 3-2 at the break as Ryan Bradley pulled one back half way through the opening period, and they turned the game back in their favour when Mark Bailey and Jack Searle scored in the first 6 minutes of the second period. Donnelly’s second 14 minutes from time sent us into the final 10 minutes at 4-4, and his third with 6 minutes left was enough to give Inter a hard fought win. The Championship had a full house of games this week, and El Caliente were looking to bounce back from last week’s heavy defeat against a Step Brothers team who went into this week’s games in second spot. Danny Robinshaw gave Caliente the lead in the 7th minute, and despite Chris Moore producing a moment of magic to put the Brothers level halfway through the period, Caliente lead 3-1 at the break as Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley and Ross Grealey scored in the last 10 minutes of the half. After some half decent form of late this was a bad night for the Brotherhood, and two more goals from Fidelis Eberegbe and Grealey in the final 10 minutes put the cap on an impressive win for Caliente, who join Inter on 7 points at the half way point of the season. Point of note, every game in the Championship has been played in the opening 5 weeks of the season, with 8 of the 15 games played ending with two goals or less between the teams. Maskid are runing everything in this division……

On the flip side there were no League One games played this week……

A couple of games survived in League Two this week, including struggling Deportivo Lack Of Talent taking the drop down for the remainder of the campaign to help them get through with injuries etc causing them issues. Top of the table FC Stront Bakken were up against SK Six this week as they looked to keep their promotion campaign on track. They didn’t get off to the ideal start as Steve Blunsten gave SK the lead in the 10th minute, but they quickly turned it round with two goals from Declan Matthews in the next 4 minutes. Blunsten got a second 9 minutes from half time to make it Desmond, but the Bucket Boys had a two goal lead at the break as Matthews and Shaun Jemison scored in the final 5 minutes. SK remained well in this one, and Max Blunsten pulled one back for them three minutes after the restart, before Steve made it 4-4 with his third with 16 minutes left to play. Matty Aked scored the 9th and final goal of the game for Stront Bakken two minutes later as the leaders make it 5 out of 5 in the first half of the season. Deportivo’s first game back at this level was against a Rooneytunes team who had threatened to leave us in the last few weeks, but couldn’t resist the urge to get their weekly Ballers fix. They lead 2-1 at the break thanks to goals from Cian Gillespie and Connor Atkinson, with Ben Proctor scoring a debut goal for Deportivo in response. Rooneytunes held onto their lead into the final quarter of an hour before Proctor’s second of the game made it 2-2. Deportivo took control in the final 10 minutes, and goals from Brad Peet, Ashley Ellwood and Rhys Moult were enough to see Deportivo’s return to league action end with a win.

Kipsta Cobras took on Stockport Eagles in a friendly this week with both teams fielding patched up sides. Kipsta ran out 6-3 winners in a competitive game, with one of their ‘guests’ Phil Carroll scoring three.

THE REGULAR SUNDAY LEAGUE IS FULL, BUT WE ARE STILL LOOKING TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION IN FROM MAY, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS.

MONDAY LEAGUE

A couple of Championship games and a friendly survived the Bank Holiday, with FC Rhino Ket looking to continue their mission to be part of next season’s top division against a Nice Buns team who were short of a couple of regulars this week. They fell behind to Charlie Williamson’s early goal, but swiftly hit back with goals from Jake Shaw, two from Jack Needham and another from Louis Moore before we’d reached the halfway point of the opening period. Buns hit back though and three goals in 4 minutes, two from Jimmy Williamson, the other from Charlie had us level at 4-4 heading into the break. Rhino Ket tried to make the break again at the start of the second period as Shaw and Moore scored in the opening three minutes of the half, but Paul Cheetham kept Buns in contention with a goal a minute later. Further Shaw and Needham goals sent Rhino into the final 10 minutes with a three goal lead, and they finished the stronger side  as Needham and Moore added another couple each before Jimmy of the Williamson clan scored a late consolation. Pique Blinders were playing just their second league game but were hoping to make it two wins from two as they took on struggling Pathetico Madrid. Pathetico looked up for the fight this week, and James Littlewood and Craig Moss gave them a two goal lead in the opening 14 minutes, before Emmanuelle pulled one back for Pique before the break. Liam Needham eased Pathetico two goals in front again 7 minutes into the second half, but Emmanuelle and Kieran Norris drew Pique level with 12 minutes to play. John Peneveyre (we really hope that’s how it’s spelt…..) restored Pathetico’s lead two minutes later, but Pique looked to have nicked a win when Nathaniel Kingsley leveled things up before Ross Grealey put them in front for the first time with just three minutes left. Pathetico picked up their first point in a little while when Littlewood grabbed the 10th and final goal of the game a minute from time, now they just need a little consistency in their player availability to try and build on this unlikely point. Wellspring rocked up again for a friendly this week with Netsix & Chill, and they were involved in a competitive game where a narrow 2-0 half time lead for Netsix turned into a 6-2 full time win for the Chillers as Mike Pinder helped himself to three of the 6.

THERE IS ONE, REPEAT, ONE SPACE LEFT FOR A NEW TEAM AHEAD OF THE START OF THE NEW MONDAY SEASON IN A FEW WEEKS TIME…… 

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The collective Easter hangover rolled onto Tuesday, with 4 friendlies played on what should have been the catch up week, meaning second place was dictated by forfeit results. Second place is first loser anyway…… In the equivalent of the Tuesday Community Shield Premiership winners Gangs Of Dwight Yorke took on new Championship winners Shaka in a game between two unbeaten teams. The first half was a good competitive game, with Mark Brookes leveling up for Shaka after Aden Jones had given Gangs a second minute lead. Jones quickly restored the Gangs lead, and Warren Yeo made it 3-1 half way through the half, and despite several chances at either end that remained the score at the break. Yeo and Jones added to the lead in the first 7 minutes of the second half, and they restored their 4 goal lead when Connor Harding scored a minute after Brookes had got his second of the game. Brad Street pulled another back for Shaka, but the Premiership winners finished the stronger as Callum Jones grabbed two, Aden Jones his 4th and Yeo his third to seal a 10-3 win. Black Jack took on Inter Row Z as we try to work out what division everyone should go in next season given that the Championship was a brand new league. Black Jack pulled it back to 2-2 after 7 minutes as Jack Roberts and Ryan Alderson turned things around after Joe Fletcher and Callum Donnelly had given Inter a two goal lead inside the first 4 minutes. Inter regained control and goals from Donnelly, Calvin Alexander and Fletcher saw Inter into the break 5-2 up. Alderson got the first goal of the second period to reduce the arrears, but two more from Callum Donnelly and another from namesake Ray meant that Roberts second of the game two minutes from time was just a consolation. It looks a little early for these two teams to be swapping places……. Con Dog have decided to have a name change and go with the wonderful title of Stroke Titty going forward, and they had a very tight game with Turkish Delight this week. Mohannad gave Turkish the lead in the 11th minute, but Sam Tattersall scored just before the break to make it 1-1 at half time. Tattersall put Titty in front two minutes into the second half, but Jake leveled things up again at 2-2 with 18 to play. Despite both teams best efforts this was the final goal of the game, and maybe we need to try and get hold of some of Turkish Delight’s lads surnames…. Beercalona’s latest chance to pick up a first win came against Wellspring and they got off to a great start when Scott Williams put them in front in the opening minute. Chris Murray drew Wellspring level on 7 minutes, but three more Williams goals with an own goal in Wellspring’s favour sandwiched inbetween saw Beercalona go into the break 4-2 up. Callum Wilkinson pulled one back two minutes into the second half, before Beercalona collapsed by conceding 5 goals in 6 minutes to go 8-4 down with 15 minutes still to play, Mike Devitt and Murray with two each, and a second own goal adding to their misery. Nathan Wilkinson, Murray and Devitt added further goals in the latter stages to condemn Beercalona to another defeat, but the signs of improvement are there.

THERE’S NO SPACES TO BE HAD IN THE TUESDAY LEAGUE WHEN THE NEW SEASON STARTS NEXT WEEK, SO CAST YOUR EYES ELSEWHERE

The clocks have gone forward, the sun has made an appearance, and many more weeks like this and I’ll be able to afford to get a haircut……

LEAGUE NEWS

One thing we weren’t expecting was to have to find a new team for the NEW WEDNESDAY LEAGUE which starts NEXT WEEK!

With the NEW MONDAY LEAGUE set to start at the end of April, we are down to the LAST SPACE as we look to get back to two full divisions.

By the time May comes around we will be looking to get the SUNDAY LEAGUE up to 5 divisions while the 11’s season is over for a few months.

For more information on any of the above, go to the home page and fill in the form on the ‘Join A League’ page

SUNDAY LEAGUE

If anyone saw our Facebook post a couple of days ago, you’ll have seen that Sunday was mostly made up of ridiculously close games. One game we didn’t fancy to be particularly close at start of play was champions Kinky Slipper’s game with Team Tom, and Rob Cresswell’s 7th minute goal was the first in what we expected to be a fairly comfortable win. The Tommers didn’t read the script though, and Rob Jordan leveled up for them 8 minutes from half time, but they didn’t make it to the break all square as James Radcliffe restored the Kinky lead 4 minutes from the interval. Two goals in 4 minutes from Joe Lailey put Kinky 4-1 up with 14 to play, but Tom Hornsby reduced that to a two goal lead with 8 minutes left. Radcliffe got Kinky’s 5th with the final goal of the game two minutes later, and the leaders keep up their 100% start to their title defence. Insole can’t afford too many more slip ups after their loss to Duno, and their game with struggling Dench again didn’t look likely to derail them any further. They raced into a 4 goal lead in the opening 10 minutes as Jordan Cunningham, Kurtes Curran, Brad Street and an own goal put them well in charge. Dan Jones pulled one back for Dench on 15 minutes, but Cunningham and Curran’s second of the game made it 6-1 at the break. There was a bit of symmetry about the second half as Cunningham and Curran added to the Insole lead before Jones got his second for Dench. Kyle Clarke, Aaron Campbell, and other own goal and Street’s second of the game made the second half score also 6-1, giving us a full time score of 12-2. Tough times for Dench…… Duno’s colours were lowered for the first time this season in defeat to Kinky Slipper, but they could join Kinky and Insole on 9 points if they could get back to winning ways against a Kipsta Cobras team who manage to keep scraping a team together in a time of struggle. They weren’t struggling in the opening 12 minutes as an own goal and a Jack Horgan goal put them 2-0 up, but Danny Burgess and Calvin Alexander quickly responded for Duno to send us into the break level at 2-2. Duno went in front for the first time through Rhys Clooney’s 32nd minute goal, but Wayne Reeves ensured that lead last just one minute as we headed into the final 10 minutes at 3-3. Burgess looked to have settled things in Duno’s favour with two goals in three minutes, but a Warren Yeo reply a minute later left them hanging on for the final couple of minutes. Hold on they did though, and it looks to be a three way fight at the top for the title this season.

Real Maskid will want to get in that shake up next season, and with a perfect three from three record they went in against El Caliente this week in what looked on paper to be a fairly tough test. They looked set to make light work of it in the opening 10 minutes as goals from Darren McConnell, Alec Pattinson and Kieran O’Connell put them three up. Ross Grealey pulled one back for Caliente, and we looked well set for a competitive second period. Maskid made their mark with two more goals in the opening 8 minutes through McConnell and Jake Morrey to pretty much put the result out of doubt, and the wheels well and truly fell off for Caliente in the final 10 minutes. McConnell and Morrey added three more each, and O’Connell his second of the game to give Maskid a thumping 12-1 win which will serve as notice to the Premiership teams that Maskid’s aren’t going to go away easily. The rest of the division is an absolute pick ’em for the second promotion place, and with El Caliente losing the other 4 teams had the chance to leapfrog them into second place. Step Brothers and Inter Row Z faced off in a game that was always likely to be close (and given that we’ve already talked about a 12-1 and a 12-2, we already know the rest of the games are close!), and it took 13 minutes for the deadlock to be broken through Josh Armitage’s finish. Ray Donnelly leveled up for Inter 4 minutes later, but an own goal and a well worked Rob Sheldon goal put the Brotherhood 3-1 up 4 minutes from the break. We looked like going in level at the break as Donnelly and Brandon Byers-Wilkes scored two in a minute, but Chris Moore produced a moment of magic in the final seconds to restore the Brothers lead. Sheldon’s second gave them their two goal lead back in the first minute of the second period, but the twists and turns continued as Michael Winn and Donnelly made it 5-5 with 18 minutes left to play. Armitage quickly put the Brothers in front yet again, and they looked like they might hold on for a vital win until Donnelly grabbed his 4th and the final goal of the game to end a great game all square at 6-6. Wellspring had kick started their season with a good win over Inter last week, while The McMuffin Men were still looking for that elusive first W. It didn’t look like happening this week as Wellspring flew into a 4 goal lead in the opening 8 minutes through two goals from Lewis Arden and two from Jay Berrisford. Sam Delgado pulled one back a minute later for McMuffin, but there were no more goals in the opening half and we went in at 4-1 at half time. Wellspring looked to have killed the game off 6 minutes after the break as Jake Hamilton scored their 5th, but McMuffin retained a slim chance of taking something from this one when Charley Eyre got their second a minute later. Delgado got his second 6 minutes from time but that still looked like being nothing more than a consolation until Eyre also got his second a minute later to make it 5-4. Mark Bailey grabbed the final goal of the game two minutes from time to give The McMuffin Men the most unlikely of points, while Wellspring will no doubt have been kicking themselves that they didn’t claim all three.

League One looks like it could be anyone’s to win this season, and leaders FC AOTS took on an improving Pat’s Giants in an attractive looking game. This one exploded into life with 5 goals in the opening 10 minutes following Steve Whittle’s 3rd minute opener. Jack Emmerson quickly leveled up for the Giants, and after Adam Duty had restored AOTS lead, he scored two more to turn this one in Pats favour for the first time. Duty got his second to level things up, and they were in front again when Eoghan Scott put them in front 9 minutes before half time. It was 4-4 at half time as Matt Hall got on the score sheet two minutes from the interval, and the same player put the Giants back in front two minutes after the restart. Again the game turned ad Adam Atherton scored two in three minutes to put AOTS in front with 17 minutes left, but wouldn’t you just know it if Giants didn’t fight back again with goals from Emmerson and Danny Brookes putting them 7-6 in front as we headed into the final 10 minutes. Emmerson’s 5th in the 44th minute looked to have sealed the win, but Whittle’s second three minutes from time meant it was a one goal game again. The Giants were able to hold on for the win in the end and they now join AOTS on 6 points in the early league table. Stockport Eagles and The Veterans both had three points on the board after their opening two games, so the winner of this one would join AOTS, Giants and Polish Army (who didn’t play this week) on 6 points in the promotion race. At half time it looked like being the Eagles as Ben Waugh and Ryan McAndrew (2) goals gave them a three goal lead at the break. Paul Atherton got The Vets on the board two minutes after the break, but Paul Waugh and McAndrew both added to the Eagles lead to make it 5-1 with 17 minutes left. Jay Willinghams 35th minute goal looked to be a consolation for the Vets, but when Atherton scored two more the score was 5-4 with three minutes still to play and we had yet another team trying to hang on for a win. The Vets couldn’t find a 5th though, so Eagles become the 4th team on 6 points in League One.

Only one game in League Two this week, but wouldn’t you just know it, it was another close one! Inter Your Sister are looking to make 2018 their year after an almost exclusively miserable 2017 (football-wise), but they faced an SK Six team who had picked up their first ever Ballers win last week. Brandon Byers-Wilkes gave Inter an early lead that was doubled in the 15th minute by Gaz Sumner’s goal (did he definitely score it this week?). Brad Bent pulled one back for SK 5 minutes from the break, but it was 3-1 at half time as Dave Smythe got his name on the score sheet. Henry Cooke got the first goal of the second half to make it 3-2, but it was the first and only goal of the second period as Inter hold on for their second straight win to go second in the table/

FC Stront Bakken and Polish Army played out a competitive friendly this week which the Poles won 7-5 with Mateusz scoring 4 of their goals.

WE HAVE HAD ONE DROP OUT IN THE SUNDAY LEAGUE THIS WEEK (SHOCK!), IT’S THERE FOR THE FIRST TEAM WHO GETS IN TOUCH!

MONDAY LEAGUE

The full Monday season is nearly at an end, and in the Premiership things would be over as far as the title race goes if AC MIlmanchester failed to beat Expected Toulouse this week. Their attempts to keep the title race open didn’t start well as Jordan Milne and Waz Akram put the title favourites two up in the opening 7 minutes, but after a sluggish start they did pull a goal back through Simon Hackney’s finish a minute later. Akram got his second a couple of minutes later, and Toulouse were well in control at the break as Jack Taylor scored their 4th in the final minute of the half. It looked a long way back for the current champions when Milne got his second two minutes into the second period, but they stayed in touch as Callum Jones pulled one back a minute later, and it was game on when Kiarno Samms made it 5-3 with 19 minutes left. Milmanchester were applying pressure, but Toulouse always looked extremely dangerous on the break and Akram got their 6th 11 minutes from time to restore the three goal lead. Samms got his second 5 minutes from time to keep ACM in with a sniff, but Toulouse had the final word with Taylor’s second of the game in the last minute to give Expected Toulouse their first Monday Premiership title!

It might be early doors for some of the teams in the Championship, but it looks all to play for with a division of teams who mostly look capable of taking points off each other. The possible exception based on recent form is Pathetico Madrid, who have struggled for consistency of squad and performance of late, and they went up against a Nice Buns team who were after a first win after last week’s opening defeat to Jeremy Cheadle. Three goals in the first 5 minutes saw Buns lead 2-1 through goals from Jimmy and Charlie Williamson, with Alex Findlow having scored for Pathetico. Pathetico really didn’t get going in the first half, and by the quarter hour they were 5-1 down as Tom Hall, Dale Kirkham And Jimmy added three more goals. Nathan Thomson pulled one back, but another from Jimmy, another from Hall, a goal from Aaron Ellis and another from Charlie made it 9-2 at the break. With not much more than pride to play for, Pathetico were at least able to keep the score down in the second half as Charlie, Jimmy and Hall scored the only three goals of the half to give Nice Buns their first Ballers league win. FC Rhino Ket were looking to build on last week’s win over Pathetico against a Netsix & Chill team who had suffered a narrow defeat to Pique Blinders last week. Mike Pinder gave Netsix an early lead, but Louis Moore leveled things up on 10 minutes. Aaron Campbell quickly restored the Netsix lead, but we were Desmond at half time as Jack Needham(?) grabbed the leveler in the last minute of the half. Netsix flew out of the traps in the second half and seemed to have the result in the bag as Pinder and Campbell scored two each in the first 10 minutes of the period. Needham pulled two back to make it a two goal game with 8 minutes left, and Netsix were holding on when Jake Shaw scored another two minutes from time. Hang on they did though, so it’s another first Ballers league win for a new team this week.

In friendlies this week, Phantom Brazilians picked up a much needed confidence booster as they beat Ballers first timers (mostly) JM FC (a name we gave them) 6-4 in a highly competitive game. Hopefully we’ll see more of the JM Lads in time…… Having fought for that first friendly, Stockport Eagles came in to fill a slot after a late cancellation, and they lost that game narrowly to Pique Blinders, who having struggled to field a side at least kept their winning start going, final score 7-5.

WITH THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTING IN APRIL THERE ARE A NUMBER OF NEW TEAMS FLOATING AROUND LOOKING FOR SPACES, OF WHICH THERE IS ONLY CURRENTLY A MAXIMUM OF TWO. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS…..

TUESDAY LEAGUE

A full house of games in the Tuesday league this week as the Tuesday league goes from strength to strength with things looking really good for the new season which starts in a few weeks time. Gangs Of Dwight Yorke might have the league won, but teams have been running them close of late as Oooze became the first team to take points from them last week, and Karl Robins gave Inter Mi Van the lead in the this one on three minutes. It didn’t take long for Gangs to turn it round, two minutes in fact, as Jason Singleton and Liam Ellis scored to put the leaders in front. The put the foot on the gas for the remainder of the half, and a goaleach for the same two players either side of Connor Harding’s goal sent them into the break with a 5-1 lead. Inter hit back in the early stages of the second period and Ryan Andres and Gary Wood pulled a couple back to make it 5-3 with 18 minutes to play. Chris Singeleton scored with 4 minutes left to ease Gangs into a three goal lead again and that seemed to be that, but they had to hold on as Simon Royle and Wood scored to make it 6-5 with a minute to play. That was that though as Gangs just about get back to winning ways. Second place is going to go down to the wire, with Inter Row Z, Only Kruls & Horses and Oooze FC all able to overtake Mi Van with a win this week. Kruls and Inter couldn’t both win as they were playing each other, and as expected this was a close one too. Reece (just Reece) gave Kruls the lead in the 3rd minute and made it 2-0 in the 10th. Marcus Acott made it 3-0 less than half way through the opening period, but Inter kicked into life to score three of their own in the next 6 minutes. Kyle Clarke grabbed two before Callum Donnelly made it 3-3 6 minutes before half time. They didn’t go in level though, as Reece got his third of the half to edge Kruls into a half time lead. Tension kicked in in the second period, and for long periods it looked like we would be finishing up at 4-3 before everything kicked off in the final few minutes. Clarke leveled up for Inter 4 minutes from time, and Ray Donnelly scored a minute later to put Inter in front for the first time. Kruls weren’t up for letting this one go though, and Dan (just Dan) scored to make it 5-5 a minute later, before Seb Etchells grabbed a last gasp winner with just about the last kick of the game to send Kruls into second place in the table. Turkish Delight have been a funny team since they joined, being competitive in each game without yet gaining a point, and they were facing the much improved Oooze FC this week. It looked to be another week without that point arriving as Jay Roddis scored two and Phil Parker another as Oooze eased into a 3-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes. Volkan got Turkish on the board two minutes later, but Adam Corr restored Oooze’ three goal lead with 4 minutes of the half to go. Volkan got his second and Mohannad another as Turkish Delight got back to within one goal just before half time, but Parker’s second on the stroke of half time gave Oooze that vital two goal lead at the break. The second half was much quieter in terms of goal mouth action, and there was just the one Roddis goal in the final minute to seal the win for Oooze. They could yet nick second spot……

Shaka look set for a bash at the top flight next season as their 100% record looked likely to continue from a game with winless Beercalona this week. They got off to the ideal start as three goals each from Liam Paull and Tom Hannan gave them a 6-0 lead at the break. Beercalona improved after the break, and Ben Smith scored for them 19 minutes from time, but as the game looked like limping to a comfortable Shaka win, James Holden added two more and Mark Brookes the final goal to turn a comfortable win into an emphatic one. Black Jack were missing a couple of regulars this week as they took on the new / returning Con Dog, who went in front on 4 minutes through Joe Lailey’s finish. Alex Morell-Cooke leveled up for Black Jack, but the new team lead 3-1 at the break through two Jason Willingham goals in three minutes. Ryan Stevens looked to have sealed the win for Con Dog with their 4th half way through the second half, but Jake Whitehead halved the deficit soon after. Jimmy Leeson took advantage of a mistake from Black Jack’s keeper with 8 minutes left to seal the win for Con Dog, and all but end Black Jack’s chances of chasing down Shaka at the top of the table. LQ FC and Wellspring look likely to remain in this division next season, but the game between the two started spritely enough as Tim Price’s 5th minute goal canceled out Lewis Arden’s 3rd minute opener for Wellspring. George Quayle restored Wellspring’s lead half way through the period, but within 5 minutes LQ lead for the first time as Jason McLean and Matthew Brierley scored to see LQ into the break 3-2 in front. That became 4 two minutes after the break as Price got his second of the game, and LQ looked in control. Nathan Wilkinson pulled one back for Wellspring with 16 to play, before Murray Tupman made it 4-4 as headed into the final 10 minutes. An unfortunate own goal turned out to be the decisive goal and it went Wellspring’s way to give them a third win of the season.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL. FOR SPACES, LOOK TO THE OTHER THREE NIGHTS!

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

This was the final night of a Wednesday league season that already had a comfortable winner as Michu At De Gea Ba retained their title with a 100% record for the season. Just the one league game played this week, but it was the always popular Polish Derby between struggling Magpie FC and a Polish Army team who were looking to make second place theirs. The only goal of a tight opening 20 minutes was scored by Bania of the Army, but in those final 5 minutes of the half the wheels fell off for Magpie as two more from Bania and one from Pawel gave the Army a 4-0 half time lead. It wasn’t a completely one sided game, but Magpie didn’t carry any real threat going forward, and Polish Army added two more goals in the final 4 minutes through Pawel and Mateusz to give them a comfortable looking win in what could be Magpie’s last game with us.

In friendlies this week the champs won a hard fought game 8-5 against Stockport Eagles, who will be wanting to have a good bash at it next season, and Wellspring popped over from Sunday/Tuesday to give Exeter Gently a game and went away with a 6-1 win.

THERE MAY BE SPACES AVAILABLE IN THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE FOR THE NEW SEASON WHICH STARTS NEXT WEEK. GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS!

Is anyone concerned that we might just never have a summer again? I think Sunday was the coldest night I have ever known……. In positive news, in case you didn’t see the MASSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT on Facebook on Thursday, we do have a new ball bag……

LEAGUE NEWS

There’s not a massive amount to report in terms of league spaces at the minute, as everything seems to be going rather well, but here’s where we could find some space.

The new Monday Championship was added this week, but in the overall MONDAY LEAGUE we will still have space for a couple of new teams when the brand new league starts in April. Spaces are available for friendlies for any potential new teams in the meantime.

We will be aiming to add a 5TH DIVISION to the SUNDAY LEAGUE when the 11’s season finishes for the summer (and hopefully beyond). Again, friendlies will be available for potential new teams.

For information on any of the above, fill in an enquiry form on the ‘Join A League’ page.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Duno are looking to step up from last season’s nearly men to Premiership kings, and they’ve got themselves off to the perfect start again this season with two wins out of two going into this week’s clash with champions Kinky Slipper. The pretenders to the crown scored first as Liam Watson put them in front in the 8th minute, and they looked like hanging onto that lead until the break until two goals in two minutes from Adam (just Adam) and Wesley Harney turned things in Kinky’s favour. Just Adam added his second 4 minutes after the break, and Rob Cresswell put Kinky out of sight with their 4th with 18 minutes remaining. The same two players added to the score sheet again in the final 10 minutes to leave Duno in no doubt that they’ve still got a little way to go if they hope to challenge for the title. Insole will have been smarting from last week’s narrow defeat to Duno, and were looking to take out their frustrations on a much changed Kipsta Cobras team. Jack Atkinson made the break through on 12 minutes, and doubled the lead two minutes later before Brad Street made it 3-0 just before half time. Kipsta rallied after the break and goals from George Carr and Jack Horgan reduced the deficit to just the one goal, but Insole regained control with three goals in the final 10 minutes from Atkinson, Aaron Campbell and Jordan Cunningham to get Insole back to winning ways and back to the top of the table. The game between Dench and Team Tom already had a look of a game between two teams who will be fighting for their Premiership lives this season, with both teams looking to get their first points on the board. It was Dench who struck first as Jonny McAuley converted a penalty in the 5th minute, but the Tommers had turned it around before the break as Rob Jordan leveled up 5 minutes from half time before Tom Hornsby headed home their second three minutes later. Dench were level again 6 minutes after the break as Paul Bardsley scored a rare goal, but THE Tom of Team Tom got his second of the game 12 minutes from time to give them a narrow, hard fought win.

Real Maskid have taken to Ballers life like a duck to water and were looking to maintain their 100% record against a Step Brothers team who lost two of their key players less than an hour before kick off. Alec Pattinson gave Maskid the lead in the 5th minute, but Gaz Sumner leveled up for the Brothers a minute later. From here on in it was all Maskid as they smashed in 8 more before the half time break. Jack Wilson restored the lead on 9 minutes, before 4 from Jack McConnell, one from Jordan McConnell, another from Wilson and a 5th of the half for Jack McConnell put Maskid well in control at the break. Shockingly there was no way back for Step Brothers after the break as Kieran O’Connell and Jordan O’Connell added to the Maskid total. Rob Sheldon did pull one back for the Brotherhood, but Jack McConnell and Pattinson added a couple more each in the final 10 minutes to give Maskid a comfortable victory. The rest of the teams can only hope to cling onto Maskid’s coat tails, and El Caliente will be one of the teams who will be looking for a top two finish and a place back in the Premiership for next season. They faced a winless McMuffin Men this week, and started well as Nathaniel Kingsley and Jay Berrisford gave them an early two goal lead. Charley Eyre halved the deficit for McMuffin half way through the period, and Mark Bailey made it 2-2 4 minutes before the break. Eyre’s second put McMuffin in front for the first time two minutes into the second half, but Berrisford quickly drew Caliente level again before Fidelis Eberegbe and Kingsley restored their two goal lead with 17 to play. This topsy turvy game still had more twists to come, as goals from Sam Delgado and Ryan Bradley (2) turned things back in McMuffin’s favour and in with a sniff of their first win of the season with 7 to go.Both teams picked up a point in the end, as Ross Grealey made it 6-6 with two minutes left, so Caliente sit in second place but lose ground on the leaders. Inter Row Z and Wellspring FC took the step up from League One this season and faced each other with Championship points on the line this week. Callum Donnelly gave Inter the perfect start in the first minute, but Lewis Arden and Shane Bridges scored for Wellspring to put them 2-1 up by the 15 minute mark. We were level at the break as Michael Winn made it 2-2 three minutes later, and the opening of the second half was a cagey affair before things burst into life in the latter stages. Gaz Sumner put Inter back in front with 16 minutes to play, but Bridges made it 3-3 4 minutes later. As we headed into the final 10 minutes Arden put Wellspring 4-3 up, but Brandon Byers-Wilkes made it all square again two minutes later. Jake Hamilton restored the Wellspring lead again with 6 minutes left, but it looked like ending in a draw when Ryan McAndrew leveled up yet again for Inter 4 minutes later. It was Wellspring who claimed a first win of the season through Arden’s winner a minute later, as the Championship season looks like being a competitive one.

The League One season also looks set to be a good one, with all teams having lost at least one game in the opening three weeks at close of play this week, and FC AOTS were looking to get back to winning ways as they took on The Veterans. It was a fairly frantic opening 25 with plenty of goals and the lead changing hands several time. Adam Duty gave AOTS the lead on 7 minutes, but Jay Willingham and Andy Carrington turned things in The Vets favour within 4 minutes. Steve Whittle leveled up for AOTS, but The Vets hit the front again through Willingham’s second 10 minutes before the break. Duty and Sam McDonald scored two in a minute to put AOTS back in control, but Wez Hodgkinson made it 4-4 with just 20 minutes on the clock. Two more from Duty in the final 5 of the half gave AOTS a two goal lead for the first time, and in a much tighter second half, Carl Buckley’s goal three minutes into the period was surprisingly the final goal of the game as AOTS pick up a second win to go top of the table. SK Dons are technically no more, as a shift in power sees them under new management in an SK Dons-esque takeover (how ironic!) with a name change to Pat’s Giants but no relocation (thankfully). Their ‘debut’ was against Polish Army who have started the season well, but they didn’t start this game well as Jack Emmerson gave the Giants a second minute lead. Robbie Menzies doubled the lead on 12 minutes, but the Poles hit back with two in a minute to find themselves level 9 minutes from half time as Bania scored both. The Giants did lead by one at the break as Paddy Bannister scored 5 minutes from the interval, and they restored their two goal lead a minute after the restart as Emmeerson got his second of the game. His third looked to have put Pat’s in control, but Bania also got his third two minutes later to keep the Poles in touch. Emmerson got a 4th to restore the three goal lead, and Danny Brookes increased that to 4 a minute later, but this time Mateusz was the one to keep the Army in the fight with their 4th. The Giants scored three more goals in three minutes in the final 10 minutes to kill this game off, Brookes and Bannister with their second and Max Bradwell his first, meaning Grzergorz’ goal two minutes from time was just a consolation.

Beercalona made their Ballers Sunday league bow this week, and in this division it doesn’t look like there could have been a tougher test as they faced an FC Stront Bakken team who look serious contenders for the title this season. The new team scored first as Ste Bowler put them in front on 8 minutes, and they held that lead for 11 minutes before Shaun Jemison drew the leaders level. Dylan Marginarisa put the Bucket Boys in front three minutes before the break, and they took charge in the second half as three goals from Darius Forbes and one from Declan Matthews were enough to ease Stront Bakken to a third straight win, and they’ve only conceded two goals in those three games so far, impressive stuff! The team formerly know as Lads On Toure and Expected Toulose returned as SK Six this week, and having failed to pick up a point in either of their previous incarnations, what would change about them this time around? They fell behind to a Pathetico Madrid team who have struggled for numbers recently, Adam Norton and Ashley Ellis-Quirke with the goals in the opening 4 minutes, but they hit back with 4 in 6 minutes from Max Shepherd (2), former boss Harry Bridge and new boss Brad Bent. Their lead at the break was reduced to one as Michael Winn scored for Pathetico, and the same player scored again two minutes into the second period to make it 4-4. Ethan Giles, Bridge and Shepherd scored three more quick goals to give SK a significant three goal lead with 17 minutes left, but that was reduced to two when Norton and Sam Johnson scored. Shepherd stepped up again for SK with two goals in the last two minutes to secure a first win for the new team at the third time of asking. Following this game Pathetico have left us, hopefully for just a little while as the numbers game has proven just too much for them. They were one of the Ballers originals so we hope to see them again somewhere down the line.

SPACES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN A NEW 5TH DIVISION WHICH WE WILL BE LOOKING TO START OVER THE SUMMER. FRIENDLIES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE MEANTIME, SO IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED, POINT THEM IN OUR DIRECTION.

MONDAY LEAGUE

We’ve been banging on about the return of the Monday Championship for a little while now, and finally it arrived this week! There’s still a Premiership title to be decided this season though, and both of the contenders were in action this week with AC Milmanchester up first against Phantom Brazilians. The opening 15 minutes were pretty tight, with chances at either end, but AC quickly took control after Jason Singelton opened the scoring 10 minutes from half time. He added another three to make it 4 in 10 minutes before half time, with Chris Singleton scoring the other as Milmanchester went into the break 5-0 up. Phantom did get the first goal of the second period three minutes in through Max Paterson’s finish, but apart from that the second half pretty much followed the same pattern as the first. Jason Singleton grabbed two more either side of goals from BIlly Gallagher and Simon Hackney, before Gallagher got his second to make it 5 goals in 5 minutes. Hackney’s second and Martin Gordon’s goal in the final minute capped a convincing win for ACM which did their goal difference the world of good. Expected Toulouse were looking to open up their three point lead as they took on a Not A Chance team who are looking to be the best of the rest for this season. Things were tight throughout the opening period as Paul Bardsley leveled up after Jack Taylor’s opener inside the first 5 minutes, but tow goals from Liam Mottram either side of Callum Rahman’s goal seemed to have put them in control. Callum Wild pulled one back 11 minutes from the break, and we were all set up for an exciting second half when the returning Dom Andrew (who just happened to be back as Not A Chance won a free month of football…..) made it 4-3 just before half time. Niall Hillen scored in the first minute of the second half to ease Toulouse two goals in front again, and his second 10 minutes later, followed by Jordan Milne’s goal 10 minutes from time settled any nerves Toulouse might have had about dropping points. Phil Carroll got a goal back for the Chancers in the last minute, but Toulouse stay top ahead of next week’s game with Milmanchester .

FC Rhino Ket are a funny team, and we were border line as to whether to keep them as part of the Premiership, so they were always going to provide a tough task for struggling Pathetico Madrid (in terms of player availability as well as performance). Louis Moore scored the only goal of the opening 15 minutes for Rhino Ket, but they took control in the final 7 minutes of the opening half as Jake Shaw scored a quickfire hat trick to make it 4-0 at the break. Liam Needham pulled one back for Pathetico three minutes into the second period, but in truth Rhino Ket were always in control and Ben Pawsey made it 5-1 before Shaw got his 4th and Mike Hennessey added two more to give Rhino a comfortable win. Jeremy Cheadle made their Ballers return in an interesting looking clash with Nice Buns who had had a mixed bag of results in their friendlies with us so far. It took 18 minutes before Dan Pauls broke the deadlock for Cheadle before Ballers newbie Joe Rogers made it 2-0 three minutes before the break. The same player made it 3-0 8 minutes after the restart, and Alex Whelan’s goal 10 minutes from time followed quickly by Rogers’ third put the result beyond doubt. Jimmy Williamson did pull a couple back for Nice Buns in the final 6 minutes, but Jack Whelan scored the final goal of the game a minute from time to give Cheadle a victorious return. The renamed Netsix & Chill took on Monday new boys Pique Blinders, but in truth both teams contained several Ballers veterans. One of them, Michael Jennison, gave Pique the lead in the 7th minute, and Nathaniel Kingsley scored the only other goal of the period to make it 2-0 at half time. Jennison’s second of the game three minutes into the second half looked to have put Pique well in control, but Matty Aked gave Netsix a glimmer of hope when he pulled one back 18 minutes from time. That glimmer became much more than that when Matthew Atkinson and Mike Pinder scored in the space of a minute to draw Netsix level with 13 minutes left on the clock. Kingsley’s second 5 minutes from time edged Pique back in front, and Callum Jones scored a minute later to give them a two goal cushion. Atkinson’s second two minutes from time meant we had a big finish on the cards, but Pique held on for their debut win.

THERE ARE SPACES FOR US TO ADD TWO MORE TEAMS TO THE MONDAY LEAGUE FOR THE NEW SEASON IN APRIL. FOR MORE DETAILS, GET IN TOUCH.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

With the Premiership title already won, the only thing left for Gangs Of Dwight Yorke to focus on was completing a perfect season. The latest obstacle in their way was an Oooze team who have rebuilt themselves following the hammering they took at Gangs hands earlier in the season. It still looked like being Gangs night when they went three up inside the opening 5 minutes as Callum Jones, Aden Jones and Jason Singleton scored in quick succession. Jago Stackhouse quickly got Oooze on the score sheet to keep them in touch, and Callum Bullock reduced that lead further on 13 minutes as the game turned out to be providing as much entertainment as we were expecting. It was 4-2 at the break as Chris Singleton scored 6 minutes before the break, but we were all square 6 minutes into the second period as Adam Corr scored a minute in and Bullock got his second 5 minutes later. Gangs hit back again as Callum Jones restored their lead with 15 to play, and Connor Harding looked to have finally ended Oooze resistance with their 6th 5 minutes later. Stackhouse got his second two minutes later to put the result in doubt again, and a breathless game had one final twist as Bullock completed his hat trick 5 minutes from time to end Gangs 100% record. Oooze somehow still sit 5th and could drop through the trap door if their other results don’t pick up. Inter Mi Van were asking how long it would be before they could drop down a few weeks ago, but a win this week against Only Kruls & Horses would see them go into second place in the race for runners up. Only Kruls were the team in possession of that slot at start of play, and they went in front through Seb Etchell’s first minute goal. Inter, who were sporting their smart new shirts, leveled through Karl Robins 11th minute goal, and Simon Royle put them in front on 18. Jack Mullern made it Desmond at the end of a tight first half, but it was Inter who made the decisive move with two goals in three minutes from Lee Boshir and Gary Wood to give them a 4-2 lead with 15 minutes to go that they held onto til the full time whistle. Inter Row Z are another team who would find a season in the Championship beneficial in getting the lads motivation levels up again, but they were also still in the shake up for second place and took on a Turkish Delight team who had surprisingly given Gangs a decent game last week. Ryan McAndrew gave Inter the lead in this one on 4 minutes, but Omur drew Delight level 10 minutes before half time. In those 10 minutes Inter took control as Ray Donnelly scored two and McAndrew his second to give Inter a 4-1 half time lead, and Donnelly’s third half way through the second period was the final goal of the game as Inter eased themselves into 4th place, level on points with Kruls. We think Turkish Delight will be fine once they settle into Ballers life, maybe it was asking a lot from us to throw them straight in at the deep end…..

Shaka won the early top of the table clash with Black Jack last week, so now look favourites to join the top flight for the new season. LQ FC picked up a first win since returning to Ballers last week, and they got off to a flyer in this one as Sam Holland and George Springer scored in the opening two minutes. Shaka settled down and two goals from Krisstian Ebanks-Perrin drew them level by the half way point of the period. Ryan Green put Shaka in front 6 minutes before the break, but Matthew Brierley scored two minutes before half time to end an entertaining first half all square. The second half started tentatively, and it was 12 minutes in before things kicked into action after Springer put LQ back in front. Liam Paull and Tom Hannan quickly turned things back in Shaka’s favour, before LQ quickly drew things level again. Hannan and Andrew Cadwallader scored the 6th and 7th goals in 8 breathless minutes to edge Shaka 7-5 in front, but we looked set for a big finish when Brierley scored his second with three to play. Hannan scored his third of the half a minute later to end any doubts, and Shaka make it 4 straight wins. Black Jack were looking to bounce back after last week’s first defeat against a Wellspring team who’ve struggled of late, and they looked in control early on as Kev McClean and Alex Harper gave them a two goal lead in the opening 12 minutes. Chris Murray halved the deficit just before the break, and drew Wellspring level just after it, before scoring again just after Jake Whitehead had restored Black Jack’s lead. Wellspring went in front for the first time as Murray got his 4th with 20 minutes to play, but Alex Morell-Cooke and Ryan Alderson turned it back Black Jack’s way. Morell-Cooke and Murray both scored within seconds to keep it as we were, before Whitehead and Jack Roberts eased Black Jack three goals up with three minutes to play. Lewis Arden scored with the last kick of the game, to ensure that both Championship games played this week finished 8-6. What are the odds?!

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL! FEEL FREE TO ENQUIRE AS WE DON’T HAVE ALONG WAITING LIST, BUT FOR AN IMMEDIATE START CAST YOUR EYES OVER TO OUR SUNDAY AND MONDAY LEAGUES

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

A MASSIVE shock in the Wednesday league this week, as only two games took place, one of them a friendly as we approach the end of the season. The league game saw Exeter Gently continue their unlikely campaign to finish second after a disastrous start to the season, and they faced a Magpie team that has been struggling of late. It was the strugglers who hit the front as Pawel Klimczak scored for them in the 6th minute, but Exeter, who were also sporting shiny new shirts this week, took control before the break as Jacob Gough scored two and Kristian Igo three to put them in comfortable control. Once the same two had added to the Exeter lead early in the second half, it became a case of seeing how much they could do to improve their goal difference to improve their chances of a second placed finish. Three more goals arrived in the final 10 minutes as Brad Robison, Tom Harrison and Gough completed a comfortable win. They will now be relying on Magpie to do them a favour against Polish Army next week. In the friendly, Polish Army and Stockport Eagles went at it for the 400th time, and this one was as competitive as any league game. Eagles lead 2-1 after 5 minutes, and at the break as Ryan McAndrew scored twice before Marcin pulled one back, and the Poles turned it around within 6 minutes of the start of the second half as Bania scored two. Un-named player made it 3-3 with 16 to play, but Dominik put the Army back in front three minutes later. The Eagles produced a big finish to this one, as Paul Waugh leveled up three minutes from time, and Matty Aked scored the winner with one of the last kicks of the game.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL, BUT AGAIN WE DON’T HAVE MUCH OF A WAITING LIST, SO GET IN TOUCH FOR INFORMATION ON ANY OF OUR LEAGUE NIGHTS!

Let’s see if we can keep this week’s review below 3000 words……. Mothers Day on Sunday, City on Monday and United on Tuesday will have limited the number of games played this week, so we’d rather have the games on to mean we needed to write the words….. Hey ho.

LEAGUE NEWS

It’s still all about MONDAY, as the only space we currently have in all of our league nights is in the NEW MONDAY CHAMPIONSHIP which starts NEXT WEEK. There’s a game there for you and your lads next week if you want it!

Other than that we are putting you all on early notice that we intend to add a 5th division to the Sunday league for the summer once the 11’s season has finished. If you and the lads might be up for a bit of Sunday evening out of season action, let us know.

Get in touch by filling in an enquiry form on the home page for more details or to register your team.

MONDAY LEAGUE

It was a quiet one in the Monday league this week as the first half of the season came to an end on a night when Sky decided one of the Manchester clubs should do the Monday night thing again. The only league game saw FC Rhino Ket face Not A Chance for the final time for a little while as both sides will be in different divisions when the league splits. Rhino Ket will be at a lower level than the Chancers, but they lead at the break in this one as Louis Moore got the first half’s only goal. The Chancers were pretty quiet in the first half, but burst into life with 4 goals in 5 minutes to turn this one on it’s head. Chris Priestley grabbed a quick fire ‘perfect’ hat trick before Callum Wild added their 4th to virtually kill the game off. Ben Pawsey pulled one back for Rhino Ket two minutes later, but that was as close as they got and Not A Chance go into the second half of the season off the back of a hard fought win.

The renamed Netsix & Chill took on Nice Buns in a final friendly before the league gets going again next week, and the three first half goals were crammed into 5 minutes as Matthew Atkinson and Warren Yeo scored for Netsix to put them in front after Jimmy Williamson had originally given Buns the lead. Atkinson completed his hat trick with two more in the second half to give Netsix a 4-1 lead, and though Williamson got his second to reduce the deficit with three minutes to go, Yeo’s second in the final minute completed the Netsix win.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE SPLITS NEXT WEEK, CREATING SPACES FOR NEW TEAMS. ONE SPACE LEFT!

SUNDAY LEAGUE

While Mothers Day had it’s annual impact, we still had 9 league games played this week across the 4 divisions. Two games took place in the top division, with last seasons second and third placed teams facing off as Insole took on Duno. Insole are looking to regain the title they lost to Kinky Slipper last season, and they went in front through Kyle Clarke’s second minute goal. Luke Newsham leveled up for Duno on 16 minutes, but Clarke restored the Insole lead 6 minutes before the break. Rhys Clooney grabbed the 4th goal of the half three minutes before the break to make it Desmond, and Newsham put Duno in front for the first time three minutes after the interval. There was plenty of huffing and puffing throughout the second half, but there was no more goals, so Duno make it two wins from two as they start a second straight season in the top flight very strongly. Can they maintain it this time around? The other top flight game was between two teams who are less likely to be fighting it out for the title, as a patched up Kipsta Cobras took on Team Tom. Just one goal in the opening period saw Kipsta go into the break a goal up through George Carr’s finish, but Sam Collicott drew The Toms level 6 minutes into the second period. Carr restored the Kipsta lead a minute later, but we headed into the final 10 minutes at 2-2 as Collicott also grabbed his second. It was Kipsta who won it though, as Warren Yeo grabbed the 5th and final goal three minutes from time to give Kipsta their first win of the campaign.

Real Maskid laid down a solid marker last week with a heavy opening night win, but they faced a tougher task on paper this week against Inter Row Z. It didn’t look like it in the first half though as Maskid carried on where they left off last week as goals from Alecs Pattinson (2), Jack and Kieran O’Connell gave them a 4 goal lead at the break. Ray Donnelly got Inter off the mark in the opening minutes of the second half, but Jack McConnell restored the 4 goal lead with 21 minutes to play. Donnelly grabbed his second two minutes later, and then his third to close the gap to two goals with 6 minutes to play, but that was the end of the scoring as Maskid ensured their was no stain on their record just yet. Step Brothers held on for a narrow opening night win last week, and would hope to continue that good start against The McMuffin Men, who suffered that heavy defeat to Maskid last week. This game was a different kettle of fish, with the post being rattled a number of times in a scoreless opening 40 minutes! As we continued to film the chosen GOTD with the thought in our minds that it might actually finish 0-0, McMuffin’s were given a penalty with 8 minutes remaining. Charley Eyre’s kick was saved by Brothers keeper Chris Moore, but he poked in the rebound to finally break the deadlock. After waiting this long for a goal, we didn’t have to wait long for more, and Eyre added his second two minutes later to seemingly kill this game off. Josh Armitage halved the deficit with 5 minutes left, and then grabbed an equiliser with two minutes to play to give both of these teams a point that looked likely for long periods of the game. Wellspring and El Caliente were both looking to bounce back from opening night defeats, and it looked highly likely that it was going to be Caliente who got their first three points when Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley scored a hat trick in the opening 5 minutes. Ross (just Ross) added their 4th after 13 minutes, and Jay Berrisford, who plays for Wellspring in the Tuesday league, scored two against them in the final 5 minutes of the half to make it 6-0 at the break. O-K made it 7-0 5 minutes after the break, but Wellspring didn’t throw in the towel and scored three of their own in the final 15 minutes through Lewis Arden, Jake Hamilton and Nathan Wilkinson. Caliente will expect to be in the mix for promotion this season, while it looks like it might be a season of struggle for Wellspring after last seasons impressive showing.

FC AOTS and Polish Army both started the season with a win, and these two enjoyed an absolute hum-dinger of a game on the final night of last season. Could either of these sides be in the shake up for promotion this time around? Adam Duty carried on where he left off last week with the opening goal for AOTS in the 12th minute, but the Poles had turned this one around before the break thanks to a goal from Bania and two from Mateusz. AOTS were back in it two minutes into the second period as Duty got his second of the game, but the Army looked to have the game wrapped up when Mateusz grabbed two more to make it 5-2 with 16 minutes left. Sam McDonald reduced the lead to three again with 9 to play, but Bania added two more either side of Duty’s third to give Polish Army pride of place at the top of the table as the only team with two wins from two. Stockport Eagles and SK Dons were a contrast to the other game in this division as they both went into this week’s game looking for their first points of the season. It was the League Two winners of the Eagles who took charge early on in this one, with Michael Winn’s 8th minute opener being added to by two goals from Ben Waugh and one from Alecs Pattinson before the break. Ryan McAndrew added their 5th just after the break, before Danny Brookes pulled one back for the Dons with 16 minutes left. James Marshall scored two minutes later and again with three minutes to play to seal the win for the Eagles, with Martin Butler’s last minute goal scant consolation for the Dons.

FC Stront Bakken fancy themselves for a promotion push this season, and a solid 4-1 win over Inter Your Sister last week was followed by a game with a Rooneytunes side who also fancied a bash at top two this season. In truth Rooneytunes never really got started here, and they were three down in the opening 10 minutes as Lukas Voveris, Dylan Marginarisa and Darius Forbes got the Bucket Boys off to a flyer. Forbes and Shaun Jemison added another couple before half time and this one was as good as over before the break. Marginarisa grabbed another couple and Forbes joined him on three goals for the game as Stront Bakken ran out impressive 8-0 winners to leave striker turned ‘keeper Benjamin Dean out on his own as the only shot stopper with two clean sheets since we started the ‘Golden Gloves’ list. Pathetico Madrid had a bit of a scramble for players this week, and they didn’t get off to the best of starts as they quickly found themselves two down against Inter Your Sister as Steve Johnson and Gaz Sumner scored in the first 4 minutes. Sam Johnson’s first Ballers goal halved the deficit half way through the opening period, but they were 5-1 down at the break as Brandon Byers-Wilkes scored a 7 minute hat trick to help ease Inter towards a first victory of the season. They were helped on their way by Pathetico being reduced to 5 men due to an unfortunate injury, and Inter ran away with it in the second period. Johnson grabbed another two, Dave Smythe 4, Craig Johnson one, Matt Kealy 4 and Byers-Wilkes another two, with just a solitary reply from Pathetico’s Johnson in return. THere’s always next week……

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT WE WILL BE LOOKING TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION TO COINCIDE WITH THE ENDING OF THE 11’S SEASON. FOR MORE INFORMATION, GET IN TOUCH.

TUESDAY LEAGUE

You wouldn’t have thought United were playing this week, as the turnout in the Tuesday was fantastic! At least now we don’t need to be concerned with who they get in the next round……  We feared the worst for the still relatively new Turkish Delight as they took on runaway leaders Gangs Of Dwight Yorke in just their second league game, and while it was a Gangs team missing a few regular, we still couldn’t have guessed how the first half would have gone. Two goals from Baboucarr and one from Omur put Turkish Delight 3-0 up in the opening 10 minutes, and though Gangs were able to stop the rot with a Rob Brock goal, they were still 5-2 down at the interval as Morgan and Deigo scored either side of a Jimmy Leeson strike. Gangs showed their fight in the second half, and reduced the lead back to just one as Aden and Callum Jones scored in the first 5 minutes of the period, but as we headed into the final 10 minutes the score remained the same. As with their first game, Turkish Delight faded in the latter stages, and Gangs scored 4 goals without reply, two from Leeson, two from Aden, to give the already crowned Premiership champions a hard fought victory. Outside of Gangs, the other original teams from the start of this Tuesday season have shown they are all capable of beating each other, so Inter Row Z v Oooze was a pick ’em game depending on which version of each team turned up this week! Oooze got off to the better start, with Jay Roddis and Adam Corr scoring in the opening 12 minutes, before Jack McDonagh pulled one back for Inter 9 minutes from half time. Corr got a vital second on the stroke of half time to give Oooze their two goal lead back, and they took a grip on the game with three goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period, two from Callum Bullock and a second of the match for Roddis. Kyle Clarke grabbed two back for Inter to make it 6-3 with 10 to play, but Harry Williams scored the final goal of the game for Oooze to give them a decent win.

Shaka and Black Jack look like being the two teams to fight it out for a Premiership place for next season, with both teams two from two going into this weeks game. Black Jack looked to have taken control of the game in the early stages as they lead 2-0 7 minutes before the break through goals from Luke Waiting and Harri Budd, but Tom Hannan halved the deficit before the break. Liam Paull drew Shaka level two minutes into the second period, but Black Jack were back in front almost immediately through Waiting’s second of the game. Shaka hit back again and were level two minutes later through Paull’s second of the game, and they hit the front for the first time through Hannan’s second with 18 to play. Jonny McAuley gave Shaka a two goal lead two minutes later, and they ran away with it in the final 5 minutes as Hannan and McAuley grabbed another two each to give the scoreline a more one sided look than it actually was. Beercalona and LQ FC were both looking for a first win since joining / returning, and a tight opening saw Craig Scanlon level things up on 12 minutes for Beercalona after Sam Holland’s penalty had given LQ the lead. A couple of minutes of calamitous defending saw LQ hit three in two minutes, two from Matthew Brierley and one from Alex Heggie, and Heggie made the most of some more naive defending to make it 5-1 at the break. Heggie completed his hat trick 6 minutes into the second period, and though Scanlon got his second with 13 minutes to play, further goals from Heggie, Brierley and Alex Brash eased LQ to a 9-2 win to get them off the mark.

Despite the efforts of their game with Gangs, Turkish Delight stopped on to give Wellspring a game, and it was a decent one. Jamie Berrisford scored two to give Wellspring the early advantage, but three goals from Baboucarr and one for Omur meant Turkish held a 4-3 half time lead with Lewis Arden having scored for Wellspring. Berrisford and Arden both scored in the first 10 minutes of the second period to put Wellspring back in front, before Morgan ensured an entertaining game ended all square with the leveler 5 minutes from time.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS FULL! SUNDAY AND MONDAY ARE THE NIGHTS TO GO FOR.

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

The Wednesday league is the Wednesday league, teams just turn up for their games every week, bless them…..The only thing to play for in the Wednesday league for this season is second place, which Polish Army held prior to tonights games. It was a friendly week for the Poles, so Exeter Gently and Stockport Eagles had the chance to close the gap. Exeter Gently looked to be the whipping boys in the early stages of the season, having lost their first 4 and taken quite a beating in most of them, which explains a negative goal difference that could end up costing them despite now being on a run of 4 successive wins. Sevilla Lacatalent have improved after a slow start, but a slow start was exactly what they had this week as goals from Brad Robison (2), Adam Robison, Tom Harrison and Jacob Gough saw them into a 5-0 lead as we approached the half time whistle. Sam Melling pulled one back just before the break, and Ryan Wall reduced the deficit to three 5 minutes into the second period. Goals from Mike Belshaw, Brad Robison and Gough meant Exeter went into the final 12 minutes with a 6 goal lead. Sevilla threatened the most remarkable of comebacks as they smashed in 4 goals in 4 minutes to make it 8-6 with 8 minutes still to play and it was game on. Exeter rode out the storm and killed the game off with Brad Robison’s 4th of the game and Gough’s third to move them level on points with Polish Army. Magpie have dropped away of late, mostly due to missing regular players, and were off the back of 4 straight defeats prior to this week’s game with Stockport Eagles. Eagles are still in with a chance of taking second spot, and despite going a goal down to Milosz Zawila’s 7th minute goal, they rallied and took control with three goals from Matty Aked and two from Ben Waugh before half time. They got the first two of the second half too to seemingly put the result beyond doubt as Alecs Pattinson and Paul Waugh made it 7-1 with 17 minutes left on the clock. Magpie didn’t give it up, and they grabbed three goals in three minutes, two from Pawel Klimczak and another from Bartosz Schmidt to keep things interesting. Pattinson got his second to give Eagles a 4 goal cushion again, and though Stanislaw Cierpiatka grabbed another for Magpie two minutes from time, Ben Waugh completed the scoring with his third in the last minute.

The top two played out a friendly this week, and it looked to be going one way when Michu At De Gea Ba raced into a 7-0 half time lead with goals from Matt Barton (3), Ian Davies (2), Michael Jennison and Jamie Longworth.. Longworth’s second, early in the second half made it 8-0, but the Poles kept going and scored three unanswered goals from Bania, Slawek and Mateusz, to leave Michu with an 8-3 win.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL. SUNDAY AND MONDAY ARE THE NIGHTS TO ASK ABOUT IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO GET SIGNED UP.

Oh boy, let’s just start writing and see what we end up with……

Referees eh? Just here to spoil everyone’s fun, aren’t they……?

Well, not really. Without them the games wouldn’t go ahead. Or even worse they WOULD go ahead with me reffing them. Then you might appreciate what we have.

There are people out there, normally perfectly reasonable people, who from the minute they step foot on a football pitch seem to forget that referees are only human, and think they can speak to them in ways they would never speak to anyone else in any other aspects of their life, but does anyone really think being a referee is that easy?

‘But they are getting easy decisions wrong,’ we hear people occasionally cry. Ok let’s have a look at that for a second. The easiest thing in the world is to know that you’ve been fouled as you’ve felt the contact, to be the player trying to keep the ball in play and being able to see whether it’s in or out because you are RIGHT THERE. Referees get one look at it from where they are stood at that moment in time. They can’t be everywhere at once, they won’t always get it right, but just shake it off and get on with the game, we’re all meant to be grown ups around here.

Apparently these things even themselves out.

They don’t do it on purpose, and believe it or not they probably don’t have a hidden agenda against you and your team. The number of games I’ve seen where teams have suggested as much due to the decisions they can list that went against them, while somehow forgetting the ones that went in their favour, can be a little bit painful.

Referees don’t put on that famous black jacket and all of a sudden develop superhuman eyesight, so how anyone can expect them to see that the whole of the ball has gone an inch over the line on the far side of the pitch? I would personally challenge anyone who wants to have a go to stand on one one side of the pitch while we hold a ball two meters above the ground at the other side of the pitch, and you can try and tell us if it’s still in play or not. So play to the whistle and don’t be so keen to question every aspect of the referees life choices because he couldn’t see the little nick off your opponents boot laces from 30 feet away through a crowd of players.

We now live in an age where football supporters can see refereeing decisions being questioned almost constantly, from multiple camera angles at the top level of the game, being studied and analysed with a referees representative being absolutely grilled over a decision that was given, compared to another decision for a vaguely similar incident that happened 6 years ago. Regardless of what is said in these cases, people will still form their own opinion, and question the people who are questioning the referees. This is the referees circle of life at the top end of the football spectrum, but this has filtered it’s way down to every level of the game, and it’s getting a bit boring.

In our January blog we mentioned perspective, and this is what it comes down to. Just because you might get hurt in a challenge it doesn’t mean the player has tried to hurt you, and when a referee doesn’t give a decision in your favour it doesn’t mean they’ve done it personally to rile you. They are trying to call it as they see it, nothing more, nothing less. It’s a game of 6-a-side football, a way for people to let off a bit of steam and try and get themselves a bit fitter, it shouldn’t be THAT important that you feel the need to turn into a completely different person for an hour of your week.

While we are going to defend our referees where we can, mostly due to the thankless job they do, that doesn’t mean we will turn a blind eye to any complaints or issues teams want to raise. We talk to our referees at the start and end of every evening, and have an ability to raise issues with them if there becomes a common theme with what’s being brought up. Just make it helpful. They aren’t a cheat, so don’t bring that to our table, every referee will referee in their own way, so don’t expect every decision to be given exactly the same by every referee, and if we haven’t mentioned it already, they aren’t perfect.

Are you?