Arabs move on up
One of the strangest weeks we’ve ever had in the Maesteg Football League saw the Park Arabs go joint top as all teams around them stutter. With almost every team depleted due to varying reasons, games were mix and match and results were very surprising.
First up, FC Snorkel played out yet another draw, the game with Scouting for Goals ending 3-3 after a late come back. Both teams had to borrow players from elsewhere and it was 2 of those players who got Scouting looking the likely winners. But nice goals from Nathan Carter and Morgan Rees pulled the game back level and a draw was a fair result in the end. Both teams remain in the lower half of the table but are just 3 and 5 points off the top and are well in with a chance.
Game 2 saw the Young Arabs record a much needed win over a stuttering Jimmy Sevilla, who have now missed a third opportunity to take top spot in recent weeks. A very well-worked team goal got the Arabs up and running, with Steffan Roberts providing the finishing touch. Jimmy tried their best to work themselves back into the game, but a fine performance in goals from Jaymie Seldon kept them at bay, at one point a treble of saves in quick succession made this writer eat his words from last week. With the game coming to a close, Thomas Wines popped up with a goal to clinch the game amid a lot of arguing over an alleged incident missed by the referee. The Young Arabs move clear of the bottom of the table and Jimmy, despite no wins in 3, still find themselves 1 point off the top so all to play for.
In our third game, the usually well turned out CrownEroon, started the game with only 2 recognised players, having had to borrow some from The Vaders, Young Arabs and Honey Badger. Re-inforcements arrived, and despite keeping the Park Arabs mostly at bay during the first half, their succumbed to the Arabs strength late on as Lewis Kingdon and Nathan Whelan provided clinical finishing to win the game 5-2. The win puts the Arabs level on points with CrownEroon at the top of the table and if squad turnout remains the same for the next 5 weeks, they could be looking like favourites for the title.
Another weakened team, Honey Badger FC, managed to snatch a point in our last game thanks to persistent effort and 2 defensive errors by The Vaders. Up to that point, the Badgers threatened very little going forward and The Vaders missed a number of good opportunities to put the game to bed, leaving them to rue those missed chances as the game ended 2-2. With the Young Arabs’ earlier win, the draw leaves The Vaders alone again at the bottom. The Badgers stay well in the mix on 14 points, just 2 behind joint leaders CrownEroon and Park Arabs. It’s all to play for in the next 5 weeks.
Finally, thanks to Corey Jones for helping out in the final game as referee.