League: Sunday League

Sunday leagues

Step Brothers vs Insole

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Kinky Slipper vs El Caliente

With Mid Life Crisis a thing of the past, and Step Brothers looking forward to dropping down a level for next season, Kinky Slipper, Insole and El Caliente will play each other one more time in an extra round of fixtures to decide the Premiership title.

In the first one of these games, Kinky Slipper, who have claimed the title at the end of the ‘provisional’ season, went in front early against El Caliente as Jordan Hutchinson and Joe Lailey scored in the opening 10 minutes. Hutchinson made it three 6 minutes before the break, but there was the threat of a Caliente comeback as Fidelis Eberegbe and Callum Jones pulled two goals back in the final 5 minutes of the period. Wes Harney eased Kinky into a two goal lead again with a goal just before the half time whistle.

Kinky took the game away from Caliente early in the second period in a spell of 4 goals in 4 minutes to open up a 6 goal lead, Harney with the first followed by another from Hutchinson and two more from Lailey. Lailey scored his 4th with 10 minutes to go, and though Simon Robinshaw pulled one back for Caliente, Kinky killed the game off with three more in the final 4 minutes, all from Hutchinson. Insole will need to pick up a big win over Caliente next week to make it a realistic final day clash with Kinky.

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Team Tom vs Kipsta Cobras

Team Tom have burst into life in recent weeks, and despite the jokes they are actually in the hunt for promotion back to the top flight. They would face a massive test of their recent improved form against leaders Kipsta Cobras, who beat them 13-1 a month ago, but they’ve taken 7 points out of 9 since then.

It was the leaders who went in front in the 4th minutes as Kieran Doherty scored the opener for a team that have had a number of close games of late. When they doubled their lead in the 9th minute it looked like they were on their way to a comfortable win to ease them to the brink of the title. Team Tom hit back, and two goals from Matt McNulty in the space of three minutes made it Desmond 9 minutes before the break.

Having gone in level at the break it was Team Tom who started the second half the stronger, and James MacDonald put them in front 4 minutes after the restart. Rob Jordan doubled that lead 5 minutes later, and the game looked done and dusted when McNulty and Sam Collicott added two more to make it 6-2 with 10 minutes remaining. Kipsta did pull one back through Warren Yeo 6 minutes from time, and despite having plenty of chances throughout the piece, the man of the match performance in goal from THE Tom of Team Tom, Tom Hornsby meant that they were able to hold on for a third win in a row. The Toms remain 4th but are now just two points off the second promotion spot. They couldn’t, could they……..?

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Duno FC vs Deportivo Lack Of Talent

Even before this week’s game it was obvious that these two sides would be in different divisions next season, as Duno’s continued improvement looks set to make them a top division side next time around. Deportivo had improved their form recently though, but this was a big ask for them this week.

And so it turned out as Roberto (just Roberto) gave Duno the lead with just two minutes on the clock. Further goals from Jack Cope and two from Calvin Alexander made it 4-0 after 12 minutes and if you’d have offered Deportivo an out at that point they might have taken it. They stuck at it though, and Ash Ellwood pulled one back 4 minutes before the break. In those 4 minutes Duno were able to restore their 4 goal lead as Liam Watson scored a minute before the half time whistle.

Duno eased through the gears in the second half to take this one well away from Deportivo, Luke Cope scored in the opening minute, Jack Cope in the 5th, and then Watson grabbed 4 more, meaning Alex Findlow’s late Deportivo goal was just a consolation. It wasn’t the last goal though, as Alexander made it 12-2 in the last minute to keep Duno’s recent great run going.

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El Caliente B vs Exeter Gently

Ahhhh Exeter Gently, they are a funny one. One week they look absolutely at home at this level, other weeks they look like there isn’t a level low enough for them. Can you guess which one this was…….?

There were signs it could have been a good week when Scott Milne put them in front after 4 minutes, but it quickly went south from there. Dan Murphy scored an absolute screamer (his words) to level thins up three minutes later for El Caliente, and from the moment Matty Aked put them in front 9 minutes before the break it was only going to go one way. A goal from Callum Jones and two from Fidelis Eberegbe in the last 5 minutes of the half made it 5-1 at the break and effectively ended the contest.

It took 8 minutes of the second period for Caliente to get their 6th through Eberegbe’s third of the night, and from this point Exeter would quite happily have had the game end there. Nathaniel Odysseus-Kingsley got a goal, Murphy a second, keeper Simon Robinshaw got himself on the score sheet and Aked ended the game with his second. Bizarrely it seems Kyle Sparkes may have switched teams near the end and scored Exeter’s second goal as the bare minimum of a consolation in the last minute. A night to forget for Exeter.

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The Veterans vs Dench FC

We seem to start every Dench review the same way, harping back to a day when they started the season so well, before dropping off and now very desperately looking for points to survive in the second tier. As with another long standing team (in the general Stockport small sided business world, even before Ballers time) Team Tom, The Veterans were looking like unlikely contenders to join the top flight, and God help us in trying to convince them to go up if they finish in the top two…….

The strugglers got the first goal in the first minute through Phil Carroll, and they were two up when George Eaton scored in the 6th minute. Paul Atherton got The Veterans back in it in the 11th minute, and they were level when the Egg got his name on the scoresheet 4 minutes later. Dench hit back and regained the lead 6 minutes from the break when James Holden grabbed a pretty rare goal, but Atherton’s second of the game ensured we went in at the break all square. Luke Ashworth put Dench back in front yet again three minutes after the break, but two quickfire goals from Atherton and Dean Minshull put The Veterans in front for the first time with 17 minutes remaining. Atherton got his 4th two minutes from time to seemingly secure the win, but they had to hang on for the final few seconds when Carroll got his second in the last minute. The Veterans remain a point off the promotion spots, while Dench are now 4 points adrift in the battle for survival.

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Wellspring FC vs Inter Your Sister

Two teams who are only focused on survival (unless they want to go down?!) faced up in a relegation 6-pointer as a recently struggling Wellspring took on an Inter side who were still looking for their first win of the campaign.

13 minutes came and went before Matt Kealy gave Inter the lead, and in a tight first half, this opened things up slightly. The lead lasted 4 minutes before Lewis Arden grabbed the Wellspring equiliser, and they hit the front a couple of minutes before the break through Mike Devitt’s strike. They couldn’t see it through til the whistle though, as Christos Christofidis made it Desmond on the stroke of half time.

In terms of the score cards, the second half was even tighter, but in reality Wellspring were the side looking the most likely, and they eventually went in front 13 minutes from time through a James McGrail goal. Arden grabbed his second three minutes later to give Wellspring a two goal lead that they never looked like giving up. Inter looked destined for bottom division football next season having been in the Premiership just three seasons ago.

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