Tight at the top
Into the second half of the season we went last night with a couple of close matches and a couple of surprising hidings.
Our first game was a very evenly contested game between in-form team Scouting for Goals and second placed Jimmy Sevilla, which ended 3-3 after a last minute equaliser rescued another point for Jimmy. Scouting lead 3 times during the match and probably have goalkeeper Cal Williams to thank for the point as he made a string of fantastic saves, but they will still feel disappointed not to hold on until the end. Jimmy looked a little out of sorts with a shortage of defenders at the start but were dangerous on the break as usual. Still picking up points but this marks the second week in a row where they’ve failed to overtake CrownEroon at the top.
Game 2 provided The Vaders with their very first win of the season. After 3 tight games in the last weeks they finally got over the line and put themselves level with their opponents and 7th placed Young Arabs. A first half to forget from both teams, The Vaders proved to be the more clinical after the break and took a healthy 3-0 lead into the last 5 minutes. The Young Arabs are suffering from low confidence and once again the need for a proper goalkeeper was evident, despite Jaymie Seldon’s best efforts in helping out his team. Simon Tyzack provided the difference with some nice saves in the opposite goal, conceding just the 1 late goal from Kai Steadman. The Arabs look to be lacking some firepower, too, they play some great football and keep the ball very well but need to have a few more shots at goal in the coming weeks.
Our third game saw FC Snorkel rip through top team CrownEroon with ease, in a similar performance to their win 2 weeks ago v Park Arabs they finished up 8-2 winners. After a fast and aggressive start from Snorkel, CrownEroon found themselves squabbling and uncharacteristically giving the ball away all too often. Chris Lewis played well up front, but the overall team performance was in stark comparison to their 20-0 win in the reverse fixture. To be fair, any team missing Morgan Thomas, Kieran Miller and Dylan Llewellyn will be weaker but they still have enough quality to play better than last night’s showing. It certainly makes the title race more interesting as they show some mortality and they have another stiff test next against the Park Arabs. This game was all about Snorkel, though, with Nathan Smith, Luke Howells and Gareth Lindenburn all scoring crackers, and goal of the night came from Nathan Carter who skilfully cut inside and curled a lovely shot into the top corner. After a disastrous start to the season, Snorkel have clawed themselves right back into contention.
The final game of the night was a highlight reel of Park Arabs goals as the usually sturdy Honey Badger succumb to the brilliance of Lewis Kingdon and his teammates. Lacking any threat going forward and lacklustre in defence too, the Badgers were left shellshocked as they could only watch the Arabs cut through them time and again. A nice touch and finish from Rhodri Thomas give the Badgers something to smile about at the start of the second half but it wasn’t long before the onslaught continued. There were beautiful goals too from Ieuan Morris, Lewis Kingdon and Nathan Whelan and the 12-2 scoreline put the Arabs above the Badgers on goal difference. The Badgers had only conceded 13 in their previous 7 outings, making the Arabs rout even more impressive.
After 8 weeks of football, just 6 points separate the top 6 teams and it really is anyone’s for the taking. The Young Arabs and The Vaders prop up the table and find themselves well behind but there’s more points for both teams to come. Whoever can string a handful of wins together in the last 6 weeks will surely be looking at lifting the trophy, good luck to everyone.
Oh, and we’ll have new balls next week, I promise.