A-League Newswires (Brenecia Domestic Football)

by **Brenecia** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 10:04 pm

A respectable beginning for Sharrow, who take a draw in Falkner off the strength of their midfield and a clever flick from Vandara Cole - a decisive statement of intent from the Stallions, who come to Francisca Orient and roll them 3-0 with a Cronin brace and a third from Faolain Madigan. Many other sides spin their wheels - there’s four 1-1 draws in all - but Northern Union will be delighted with a 2-0 victory over Rozelle. Nkutu was beaten at his near post by debutant Naphtali Thatcher but made a number of excellent saves… before another debutant, Marijana Kuralay, rifled home from thirty yards in the closing stages of the game.

Sharrow are on the board! Though, ominously, they do let Southside Wanderers score against them - Claire Holder, unsurprisingly, with a brace. But at the other end, it’s Col Everett who pulls the strings and dominates the club that released him, scoring twice and setting up an assist for Vandara Cole before Cresci’s corner was met thunderously by Jesse Mullen to secure a 4-2 win. Buried near the bottom of the table are North Hall - first with a meek surrender at home to Rozelle United before Union dominate them in a 3-1 thumping.

Ah, the good old-fashioned all-in. There’s the chance for a few exciting derbies! Garfield and Scaffield meet in what is quickly hailed as a Falkner Outskirts Derby and it is not remotely even an affair, Scaffield annihilating Garfield 7-1 away. The drubbings don’t end there - North Hall’s B-list puts seven without reply past Gallow Park, Rushden, Corder Town and Pride of the South are all beaten by A-League opposition by four clear goals, D-League midtable Pryde Wanderers are annihilated 6-1 at home by third-tier midtable Dannecliff while there’s drama in the northern rural areas. Northern Stallions ate several clubs to become themselves and disaffected fans from a variety of those sides created their own, principled, fan-oriented side to combat them and took over one of those abandoned stadiums, Northern Fist. So, of course they face each other… and the Stallions bring their best team in a statement of intent, destroying the Fist 8-0. “Only Fools vs. Horses,” as their fans’ banner triumphantly reads. Meanwhile, the opening match of the A-League repeats itself with the same 2-0 scoreline, Union over last season’s runners-up Rozelle. Kingsgrove’s defence of their title, following a penalty shootout against Francisca Orient, is over at the first hurdle.

Guilder are terrible - Rozelle United put them to the sword without breaking a sweat. Francisca Orient are also terrible, failing to so much as get a shot on target against Pikemouth. In feats of actual skill, Lotus Park set up in a destructive 4-5-1, kick the shit out of Union’s high-class midfielders, Bellamy and Kuralay end up embroiled in a fist-fight and both get sent off and, importantly, 37-year old Lucas d’Araby makes nine good saves while at the other end, Kyron Everdale loops in a far post free kick that Gretchen Colback decisively heads in. The main Rozelle derby also kicks off - it’s a relatively quiet 1-1 draw, however, boiling down to an evenly-matched midfield battle that the talismanic Elsie Drover, disappointingly, fails to rise to.

The Avelione name justifiably carries a lot of weight in Schottia and the Lions have two of them - Jago managing, Gaston pulling the strings in attacking midfield. That said, they’re disappointing at home against the Royals, who finally click in a performance they’ve not managed so far in the league, Rohan, O’Byrne and off the bench Tess Montrose getting the job done.

Welcome to the A-League, Sharrow! Rozelle United, with Ambram Salvai in particularly murderous form against makeshift leftback Collette Woolshorn (he gets two goals and three assists), puts Sharrow firmly headfirst into a toilet and flushes several times in an 8-0 win. Winning the award for ‘understatement of the century’, Owls manager Jonas Kinlily goes to the extent of saying that he’s ‘not proud of that performance.’ One would hope not, Jonas. The Saints also thump a hapless Francisca Orient 4-0… in fact, seven out of eight matches end in clean sheet victories. Guilder bring their one decent performance of the season to date - pity is, it’s against Union, so they lose 1-0 anyway. Kingsgrove continue to stumble, losing 2-0 to North Hall. Aelfwynn Bannion makes her starting debut over de Cabanyas (who looks off the pace) - she immediately scores a first-half brace.

Shaken by their annihilation at the hands of Rozelle United, the Owls display why they can’t really rotate much as they’re almost dumped out of the tournament by third-tier Knightstone FC - they only get back into the game when Julian Conrad comes off the bench in the 85th minute, scores three minutes later and then flicks home a victorious header in extra time. Northern Union put the Stallions in their place with a 2-1 victory, Kilbane the architect and Musendo with an impressive performance between the posts. The only top-tier side that does slip to a side below them is North Hall - Saint Essex, a poor third-tier side, take them to penalties with a two-all scoreline and proceed to hit five perfect penalties past Esmeralda Suffolk - Hall’s third, by Luke November, is hit over Saint Essex’s dinky little stadium and into a car park.

The Lions put on a brave showing away from home and deserve their victory, Jakk Winterfyll making a rare mistake and spilling Shostakovich’s long shot into the path of Aredhel Neil, who clips it home. Even so - the Royals win comfortably on aggregate.

Orient’s drift continues with a second straight 4-0 defeat - North Hall look a much better side with Bannion in it, it has to be said, she scores yet another brace and Fallon and Raven Cashin finish the hosts off. Orient might well be sleepwalking towards relegation were the likes of Southside Wanderers, Sharrow and Marque not all even worse - the former also lose 4-0 at home, Rozelle United in utterly rampant form and ripping them to shreds.

Guilder have played and lost six games, all fairly convincingly. This is the worst of all - Evans has a fantastic match dominating from the centre of the park, Karena Braham scores the first hat-trick of her career (O’Byrne finishing the hapless Phoenices off) and nobody Judith Keller had seemingly able to stem the bloodloss. Certainly not Ingrid Trudgeon after Braham goes in too hard for a fourth goal and accidentally kicks her in the face. Marque and Sharrow go head-to-head and the Privateers, well… they get Marqued. 3-0 in the first half and coasting to victory through Croft, Harper and Lahtinen… and conceding within sixteen seconds of the second half kickoff, Vandara Cole tapping home through some shambolic defending. Wassail and Everett level the scores before a thunderbolt from Cresci is thumped past an immobile Ralston into the stanchion to put the Owls in the lead. Then Glamis is sent off for attempted murder on Everett, who gets to his feet for the free kick… and thumps it into the wall. Flahavan thinks fast to hit it really hard forward, Croft manages to get onto it, nutmeg Mullen and chip a stranded Petterson to salvage a point that should probably have been three.

Rozelle face a spirited resistance in Smegwud but their fitness, depth and technical skill make themselves heard in the last ten minutes, a brace off the bench from Keogh Bolivar getting the job done. Union face no resistance at all from FA Santa Ana and steamroll them 4-0.

At the foot of the table, Guilder are on the board. Granted, only against similarly-swooning Orient, who break a run of four defeats of their own. Fischer is felled for a penalty that Kirumsen coolly converts and it’s that similar sinking feeling for the sparse away crowd until the 71st minute, where Tara Hassett sticks it in the mixer and from the resulting scrum Harriet Payne sticks out a boot and hits a post, Penate frees himself from the melee and swings a leg to just about get the ball into the net. Fresh off an incredibly Marque performance, the Privateers show no Marqueness against Southside Wanderers, who are simply too passive, surrender all momentum and lose 5-0.

Smegwud have plenty to be proud of from a doughty draw in Shytysle, but when young Adelina Macbeth put the away side ahead in the 5th minute it was pretty much over as a contest. Union’s second string fly to FAS and come away with a 6-1 win to glide to the next round.

Winless in five, Orient manager Conrad Lauren rolls the dice, drops Connie Garrard, throws on Michael Braham to pack the midfield and ends up dominating Sharrow through the wings - helped by imperious form from the streaky Stefan Lindersson, who is already nearly halfway to last season’s miserly total of seven goals. 3-0’s the final score, and the Owls look in trouble. Ingrid Trudgeon - after some dental work and now with a mouthguard - returns between the posts for Guilder and inspires them to a scarcely-deserved 1-0 win over the Stallions - a long hoof from Hassett bounced over the Stallions’ back line and Penate managed to just about hook it into the net. Kingsgrove, well, are themselves - Lilith Fife makes her first start of the season and is sent off within 17 minutes with the Royals up 2-0 as she scythes down Judith Prutton. Now with a midfield advantage, the Wanderers battle back to a 3-3 draw (with two goals from poorly-marked set pieces), helped once again by a battling Claire Holden up front. Lotus Park, for their part, annihilate a wide-open Rosbank Town 5-2. Conrad Keane’s smug at the post-match interview; “So, all you journalists think my teams are boring, huh?”

  Group A                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   BOB  BfO  NoU  Yub
1 Bassabook Old Boys        ZWZ    6    4   1   1    12    7   +5    13    —   3–1  2–1  1–3
2 Brookford Otters          NPH    6    3   1   2    10   10    0    10   1–2   —   1–0  3–2
3 Northern Union            BRE    6    2   2   2     8    6   +2     8   1–1  2–2   —   3–0
4 Yuba United               COM    6    1   0   5     6   13   −7     3   0–3  1–2  0–1   —

  Group B                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   SCP  Bsk  IzZ  Roz
1 Sonoma Center Panthers    COM    6    4   1   1     8    3   +5    13    —   0–1  0–0  1–0
2 Baskita FC                PAS    6    3   0   3     4    7   −3     9   0–1   —   1–0  1–2
3 AC Izotz Zubia            AUD    6    2   1   3     9    8   +1     7   1–3  4–0   —   4–2
4 Rozelle                   BRE    6    2   0   4     7   10   −3     6   1–3  0–1  2–0   —

Northern Union, matched against last years’ runners-up Bassabook and, in Brookford, the conquerors of Kingsgrove, aren’t able to beat either team - both are drawn at home and lost to away. However, their flat-track bullying over hapless Yuba United does at least let them take the Globe Cup spot. Rozelle are traditionally rubbish in the Champions Cup groups, so a return of six points (a 2-0 victory at home over Zozi and 2-1 away over Baskita) is relatively impressive by their standards. Not good enough for third, though.

  Group I                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Crt  Kgr  Tel  BCo
1 Carter FC                 JSY    6    4   1   1    15    4  +11    13    —   3–0  3–0  4–1
2 Kingsgrove                BRE    6    2   1   3     6    8   −2     7*  1–0   —   3–1  1–1
3 Telecontarë               STB    6    2   1   3     6   10   −4     7*  0–3  1–0   —   3–0
4 Blue Coast 1981           PCR    6    1   3   2     7   12   −5     6   2–2  2–1  1–1   — 
* Kingsgrove ahead of Telecontarë on head-to-head goal difference

  Group L                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   MtR  Ewl  Pkm  RøR
1 Matthew Rangers           USI    6    5   0   1    10    5   +5    15    —   2–0  3–1  2–1
2 Eastweald                 COS    6    3   1   2    12    6   +6    10   0–1   —   3–0  3–0
3 Pikemouth                 BRE    6    2   1   3    11   10   +1     7   1–2  2–2   —   5–0
4 Røros Rovers              SAV    6    1   0   5     4   16  −12     3   2–0  1–4  0–2   —

Both Brenecian sides manage seven points, but only Kingsgrove edge through thanks to holding the edge of head-to-head goal difference over Telecontare. They were undercut, however, by Blue Coast managing revenge for their Champions Cup qualifying defeats and taking four points from them. Pikemouth, however - despite a thumping 5-0 home victory over Roros Rovers and solid 2-0 away - are unable to beat any other team, and Matthew and Eastweald sail into the next round past them. The only points Matthew dropped and Roros gained from any of their six matches came from the latter’s 2-0 win over the former.

Kingsgrove produce a resilient performance away from home in which Winterfyll in goal and holding midfielder Matt Ruffan are the stars - at the other end, on the brink of half-time, O’Byrne blats one into the top corner.

Rozelle United continue their invincible form, ripping Marque apart 4-1. It’s a young, strong squad and you have to imagine that Shanna Donachy is making a convincing case to be capped - maybe even 21-year old Osarian Caprice Martinelli, as well. Weirdly, Guilder are three unbeaten - Keenan Penate is now halfway to last season’s dismal tally of six and Hartley Espinosa has now matched last season’s tally of One, but Rosbank press hard at the other end and eventually force two past the superb Trudegon, Thistle and young Constance Townsend thrown off the bench to make the decisive impacts.

All the commotion’s in Rozelle and this time it’s not for the ‘big’ derby… Rozelle United come undone within ten minutes against Kingsgrove, their high line not accounting for a clever run of Braham unlocked by an excellent O’Byrne pass, and Braham’s far-post cross is rifled home by Esther Rohan past her sister, Andrea. United fight back - first from a set piece, Kingsgrove’s weakness, swung in by Kjelsberg and headed home by 36-year old Juan Pablo Rodriguez. Kjelsberg’s then given too much room outside the box and rifles past a wrongfooted Winterfyll before Gardot thinks she has the equaliser but turned out to be offside. Not to be dissuaded, she properly scores just two minutes later to set the stage for a breathless second half marked by excellent goalkeeping and defending. The depth seems to favour the Royals - they can bring Crowley, Fife and Montrose off the bench. Rozelle United have a 35-year old Atarus fucking Calypso alongside literal child Andisori… but it is, in fact, Chromatik Béâúñîä Andisori, replacing Ingolfsson in the 72nd minute, who slips between the lines just in time for Senterekoesima’s perfect pass, takes the ball past Winterfyll and has to slide forward and hook the ball into the net before it bounces out of play, Sinde almost (almost!) hooking it off the line in time. Rozelle United are top of the table and undefeated following Marque taking a point off Union. Kingsgrove… are 10th.

As the walls close, more top-flight clubs get squeezed out of the picture. Ridgeway United struggle against Guilder but can’t break the unusually good 34-year old Duval Nicholls in goal, but it takes the 89th minute for Declan Crawan to score his first goal of the season. Swayback manage a breathless draw with Rozelle United and, in the end, the byword for crap seasons until their mantle was stolen by Southern Star (nee South Rathia) manage to do what no side has done yet this season - through Paul Collins’ flicked header, they beat United. Pikemouth aren’t about to follow - they pulverise Dannecliff 7-0 away - but Northern Union nearly do, the masters of fighting on multiple fronts taken to the wire by plucky Thrush and a goal from their ancient former Pikemouth centre-half, Victoria Seckerson. Still, in injury time, Isabella Montanari taps home a winner as the B-League side simply runs out of steam. Southside Wanderers are the other top-flight side to fall in the end, beaten by Sharrow in a match between two B-sides, clearly played by teams more concerned with league survival than Cup glory. You know it’s desperate times when you’re dusting the cobwebs off Pamela fucking Sharlowe, and similarly desperate times when you concede a goal from her, heavy deflection or not - still, the Owls fight back in one of those ugly ‘we wanted it more’ performances.

An easy home win for the Royals with a lively audition from overlapping leftback Clementine Raven, scoring on her starting debut, but they’re out of the frying pan and into the fire now - the next match sees them face up against mighty Directus.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Rozelle United          10  7  3  0  30   9  +21  24
  2 Northern Union          10  7  2  1  15   5  +10  23
  3 Pikemouth               10  6  3  1  16   6  +10  21
  4 North Hall              10  6  1  3  15   9   +6  19
  5 Rozelle                 10  5  1  4  19  15   +4  16
  6 Falkner United          10  4  3  3  12   8   +4  15
  7 Marque                  10  3  4  3  21  16   +5  13
  8 Lotus Park              10  3  4  3  18  16   +2  13
  9 Westpike United         10  3  4  3   7  11   -4  13
 10 Kingsgrove              10  2  5  3  16  15   +1  11
 11 Northern Stallions      10  3  2  5  10  13   -3  11
 12 Sharrow                 10  2  4  4  12  23  -11  10
 13 Francisca Orient        10  2  3  5  10  20  -10   9
 14 Southside Wanderers     10  1  4  5   7  19  -12   7
 15 Rosbank Town            10  1  3  6  13  22   -9   6
 16 Guilder                 10  1  2  7   6  20  -14   5

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                 P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 AFC Swanbridge      10  7  1  2  23   7  +16  22
  2 Westpike            10  6  3  1  13   5   +8  21
  3 Snowden River       10  6  2  2  13   6   +7  20
  4 Saint Alexander     10  6  1  3  15   8   +7  19
  5 Scaffield           10  5  3  2  12   8   +4  18
  6 Chafford            10  5  2  3  17   9   +8  17
  7 Southern Star       10  5  2  3  10   7   +3  17
  8 Gallant Cross       10  4  4  2  20  16   +4  16
  9 Swayback            10  4  3  3  16  14   +2  15
 10 Ridgeway United     10  4  1  5   9  11   -2  13
 11 Proudcastle         10  3  3  4   7   6   +1  12
 12 Thrush              10  3  1  6  14  18   -4  10
 13 Sutbyrne            10  3  1  6   7  21  -14  10
 14 Marque Rovers       10  2  1  7   8  16   -8   7
 15 Mount Roland        10  2  1  7   6  19  -13   7
 16 Rushden             10  0  1  9   7  26  -19   1

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Crest                  10  8  2  0  20   5  +15  26
  2 Spearcove Mariners     10  7  2  1  30   9  +21  23
  3 Fentonbridge           10  7  1  2  16   8   +8  22
  4 Fort Keller            10  6  2  2  17  11   +6  20
  5 Stourhead              10  4  6  0  13   6   +7  18
  6 Glassfields            10  5  2  3  21  14   +7  17
  7 Saint Essex            10  5  1  4  15  14   +1  16
  8 Hammerton              10  4  3  3  17  13   +4  15
  9 Dannecliff Rovers      10  3  4  3  10   9   +1  13
 10 Falkner Wanderers      10  3  3  4  12  15   -3  12
 11 Platwood               10  3  2  5  12  17   -5  11
 12 Knightstone FC         10  3  1  6  11  14   -3  10
 13 Saint Wessex           10  1  4  5  10  19   -9   7
 14 Norbyrne               10  1  2  7   9  27  -18   5
 15 Gallow Park            10  0  4  6   5  20  -15   4
 16 Highden                10  0  1  9   6  23  -17   1

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Fist          10  9  0  1  32   8  +24  27
  2 Dalgallen              10  7  3  0  21   5  +16  24
  3 Brookden               10  7  1  2  15   5  +10  22
  4 Chrysler Town          10  6  1  3  30  14  +16  19
  5 Pride of the South     10  5  2  3  19  14   +5  17
  6 Pikemouth United       10  5  2  3  21  18   +3  17
  7 Pryde Wanderers        10  5  2  3  19  20   -1  17
  8 South Ridgeway         10  4  4  2  15  14   +1  16
  9 Corder Town            10  4  3  3  19  15   +4  15
 10 Rozelle Alliance       10  4  2  4  16  16   +0  14
 11 AFC Conomore           10  2  2  6   8  16   -8   8
 12 Suttonstrand FC        10  2  2  6  10  22  -12   8
 13 Garfield               10  2  1  7   5  15  -10   7
 14 Arkwood                10  2  0  8   4  28  -24   6
 15 Shenworth              10  1  2  7   3  14  -11   5
 16 Hooker Ridge           10  1  1  8   5  18  -13   4

by **Brenecia** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 12:55 am

A few proper thrashings this week, everyone likes to see that. Aidan Hartigan’s 21st birthday is marked by conceding five goals, and that’s with two penalty saves and six from open play. Admittedly, Westpike were missing their best defender, Stonesworth, through suspension and soon suffered a red card to his usual companion Keyes - that’s more excuse than Sharrow had, utterly outplayed by Pikemouth to a 4-1 defeat, while Guilder were lucky enough to score with their lone shot on target (Harriet Payne from distance) but lost by the same scoreline. Still, most eyes are on Union vs. Kingsgrove - and the Royals go down quickly to a pearl of a free kick from Kilbane. Still, they have the best of the second half and a number of great Winterfyll saves allows Karena Braham’s terrifying volley to level the scores late on.

Rozelle thump Damukuni side Sporting Endoshi soundly at home, Tevin Lilley - whose form has been intermittent this season - flaring into life with a spectacular hat-trick with Hearkener and Connell finishing Endoshi off. Roros Rovers fare better, though, with a star turn from Norheim in midfield - he scores one and sets up another before a second-hand comeback from Union sees Murcutt and Coveny level the scores.

Marque get pulverised again, not the sort of match they needed right before the derby - Ralston has served them faithfully for so many years, but on the cusp of her 36th birthday, she seems… past it. It doesn’t help that their next opponents, Francisca Orient, almost take three points from Union but for Kuralay blazing a late, desperate strike past Larsson in injury time - still, it allows Rozelle United to race further clear up at the top of the table following a hard-fought win over the Stallions.

Rozelle rest a few players and finish the job. Roros Rovers, in a nearly-unprecedented guest appearance in the Campionato Esportiva, look worn out by the jetlag and get bled to death, unable to get the goal they need before Maddon chips Leiv Selberg late on to secure the win.

Um.
Well, Northern Union think they’ve done pretty well - they manage a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Stallions, yet another comeback story as Festa and Bray put them in a hole early on, Urquhart saved Gentile’s penalty and the tide swung back their way in the second half. If only they hadn’t been outdone in the south - Rozelle United pulverised Rosbank Town. Nine goddamn two. Kirum Ingolfsson’s five goals sets an A-League record for a single match. With the halfway mark of the season approaching, are their title credentials in doubt?

Oh, maybe they are. Pikemouth are unfazed by United and perhaps the visitors are a little cocky. They overextend going forward and get done on the counter - isn’t that their thing to do to other people? Waterdown in the Pikemouth goal has an excellent game to be fair but it’s a shock to the system, and with the derby coming up… Pikemouth are, in fact, the only home side to win this matchday. Rozelle and Marque even put five past their hosts.

Oooh. The Saints go marching in and pump United 5-1, derailing Cillian Najdorf’s title challenge pretty much as soon as he declared it a title challenge. Sloppy in midfield, weak at the back, Salvai dreadful enough to be substituted at half-time… a late consolation from Andisori really was just that, a consolation. If that. Union can’t gloat too much - they’re taken down a notch by Pikemouth, in front of their own fans. This season is heating up.

Off the back of four league wins in a row, the Royals take the fight to Directus and get their reward. The home fans are displeased when Braham, O’Byrne and Gardot ensure Kingsgrove take a 3-1 lead into the break. But the high-octane performance eventually wears itself out - Pedrinho scores a brace in the last fifteen minutes to level the scores.

Condolences to anyone who had to sit through Southside’s hooffest against Guilder, won by Heath Spector’s long throw being flicked into the net by Claire Holden. Judith Keller is axed - Brooke Woods is promoted to the interim job, but she has a mountain to climb. Most eyes, understandably, were on the top of the table clashes - Rozelle and United meeting Union and Hall. Union came away with a draw as Rozelle pressed too hard for a two-goal buffer, Niko Moss slipping under pressure from Kilbane and Coveny scoring from a narrow angle.

A glorious triumph for Directus, probably the favourites to win the tournament from here, but what must go down as a terribly disappointing capitulation from the Royals on home ground. Jakk Winterfyll is normally Kingsgrove’s most reliable player - he’s terrible here, and Kezia O’Byrne is the only Royal to show up at all, her direct free kick goal a fine personal reward in what was, otherwise, one very good team playing very well against a pretty good team playing terribly.

Rozelle go down swinging at Starling, with Gallagher and Cautcher sealing a 2-0 win for the Nepharim champions. Union, for their part, deserved to win and will be kicking themselves for Urquhart giving away a late penalty by dragging down Danmark - who made no mistake from the spot.

From a decent start, Westpike United have lost seven matches on the spin. Some have been very conclusive - but losing 2-0 to Guilder is damning, Guilder’s second win of the season. It doesn’t help that Genova Conrad’s depth is deeply limited and she can’t really make many changes. The North Hall derby is a bruising, grinding affair, settled as Elias Melendez’s noble effort to clear Coveny’s cross goes horribly, horribly wrong. At the bottom of the table, Sharrow terribly drop the ball in a winnable home fixture against Southside - a narrow loss might not be a disaster, but 4-1?

Starling get their third on aggregate early and Westerlow has a second not long after, with a late flurry from Tevin Lilley and a missed penalty from Niko Moss the best the Saints had to offer. Union don’t travel well, for once - rock-solid at the back, they never pick up the momentum to score the goal they need, and crash out on away goals.

Rozelle United annihilate Guilder, though at least Keenan Penate breaks an eight game drought (his fourth of the season to make him Guilder’s top scorer) to get a consolation. Most eyes are on the Saints, anyway - they host the Royals, and within three minutes June Gardot’s diving header puts Kingsgrove ahead. But Rozelle don’t drop their heads - Elsie Drover’s spectacular 30-yard shot goes above and beyond a diving Winterfyll before in the 40th minute Drover dribbles through three purple shirts and chips past Winterfyll. The second half is tightly-contested, both sides having chances to score but in the end Rozelle look good value for their 2-1 win. Westpike United’s string of defeats ends, mostly because Sharrow are terrible and go down limply 2-0.

The two faces of tactical flexibility. Lotus Park, unbeaten in nine and with four clean sheets on the bounce, clean out Marque 5-0… straight after being immaculate in grinding scoreless draws against Union and United. Fionn Lynch scores four, his blinding pace and increasingly confident finishing lending credence to rumours of a big-money foreign transfer over the next window. Kingsgrove capitulate to North Hall, utterly unable to get any sort of penetration. Winterfyll makes a number of strong saves to ensure they’re safe from open play but they concede two sloppy goals to set pieces and now look cut adrift.

A hard-fought fixture in Calania, with the Union’s traditional brick-at-the-back, hard-hitting counter approach falling apart with two goals conceded within half an hour. But Coveny pulled one back on the stroke of half-time and they showed both hammer and anvil to withstand an onslaught and score twice - Eden Finley flicking home a header off Coveny’s corner before Maddon stabbed home a winner from ten yards. Both the Royals and Slogda forget how to defend, and while Kingsgrove can be happy enough (and a little relieved) to come through with a draw, the five away goals are unlikely to be improved upon in Zwangzug.

Gaps are starting to open up - Pikemouth have very quietly succumbed to just one defeat (all the way back in Matchday 7, 3-2 at home against Rozelle) and conceded just 10 goals. They destroy Rosbank Town 4-0, second-place Rozelle United annihilate the Southside Wanderers 6-1 (they’re three points behind but have a markedly better goal difference) while Rozelle hold onto third, beating Northern Stallions by the same scoreline. Union edge Sharrow in a surprisingly hard-fought 3-2 win, with North Hall’s simple 2-0 defeat over Orient ensuring the top five all win.
One place but five points out of the top five, and thus relying on strong coefficient performances to qualify for the Globe Cup (which already, it has to be said, looks hard given poor group stage performances) is Lotus Park, who look significantly better under Conrad Keane’s stewardship if not always exciting - that said, they lose 3-2 at home to the Royals showing uncharacteristic ill-discipline, Bailey Watermill picking up the club’s first red card of the campaign. Six points behind them, in turn, Falkner United and Kingsgrove struggle in midtable, and they in turn have built a significant lead over Rosbank, on 21 points, and Marque, on 20.
Six sides have picked up less than a point per game, and few got any relief from this match - Westpike United won’t feel too bad about a draw against Falkner, and they have picked themselves up nicely, but the Stallions are drifting alarmingly after a decent start. Orient have just three wins all season and can’t buy a goal, but they’re muddling about fine enough. Beneath them, in turn, Southside Wanderers will be reeling from their recent defeat, but they’re just ahead of Sharrow. Each place from 9th to 15th is seperated by just a single point from those adjacent. Guilder, five points from safety at the bottom of the table, secure a 1-1 draw with Marque - four points from four games (and a creditable 1-0 defeat to Union) is enough for Brooke Woods to be given the main job. But they’ve scored just 13 goals. This may finally be it, for them.
In the B-League, Southern Star (nee South Rathia) have made a surprisingly quick resurgence and sit pretty with a six-point buffer at the top. Newcomers AFC Swanbridge, surprisingly, hold firm in second, but Scaffield, Snowden River and Chafford are in hot pursuit.

Two impressive performances secure both sides’ progress. Union are impenetrable at the back and Maddon’s diving header is enough to secure a win in a fairly dull match, while Slogda’s early lead is cancelled out by a second-half brace from the impressive Karena Braham.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Pikemouth                20  15  4   1  40  10  +30  49
  2 Rozelle United           20  14  4   2  64  26  +38  46
  3 Rozelle                  20  13  3   4  55  26  +29  42
  4 Northern Union           20  12  6   2  31  15  +16  42
  5 North Hall               20  12  3   5  31  18  +13  39
  6 Lotus Park               20   9  7   4  40  23  +17  34
  7 Falkner United           20   7  7   6  26  19   +7  28
  8 Kingsgrove               20   7  6   7  36  30   +6  27
  9 Rosbank Town             20   5  6   9  27  45  -18  21
 10 Marque                   20   5  5  10  34  42   -8  20
 11 Westpike United          20   4  6  10  16  36  -20  18
 12 Northern Stallions       20   4  5  11  24  37  -13  17
 13 Francisca Orient         20   3  7  10  19  38  -19  16
 14 Southside Wanderers      20   3  6  11  20  43  -23  15
 15 Sharrow                  20   3  5  12  21  49  -28  14
 16 Guilder                  20   2  4  14  13  40  -27  10

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                  P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Southern Star        20  14  3   3  32  11  +21  45
  2 AFC Swanbridge       20  12  3   5  44  18  +26  39
  3 Scaffield            20  11  6   3  32  16  +16  39
  4 Snowden River        20  11  5   4  30  17  +13  38
  5 Chafford             20  11  4   5  38  16  +22  37
  6 Westpike             20   9  6   5  23  17   +6  33
  7 Ridgeway United      20   9  5   6  28  18  +10  32
  8 Proudcastle          20   8  5   7  16  19   -3  29
  9 Saint Alexander      20   8  3   9  19  18   +1  27
 10 Gallant Cross        20   6  7   7  31  28   +3  25
 11 Swayback             20   7  3  10  28  40  -12  24
 12 Thrush               20   7  2  11  29  32   -3  23
 13 Marque Rovers        20   5  4  11  18  31  -13  19
 14 Mount Roland         20   5  4  11  12  32  -20  19
 15 Sutbyrne             20   5  1  14  13  44  -31  16
 16 Rushden              20   0  3  17  13  49  -36   3

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Crest                   20  12  5   3  37  20  +17  41
  2 Spearcove Mariners      20  12  4   4  52  23  +29  40
  3 Fort Keller             20  12  3   5  33  23  +10  39
  4 Fentonbridge            20  11  5   4  38  16  +22  38
  5 Stourhead               20  10  7   3  34  17  +17  37
  6 Glassfields             20  11  4   5  40  26  +14  37
  7 Knightstone FC          20   9  5   6  30  20  +10  32
  8 Saint Essex             20   8  4   8  26  28   -2  28
  9 Dannecliff Rovers       20   6  8   6  31  27   +4  26
 10 Platwood                20   6  6   8  26  32   -6  24
 11 Falkner Wanderers       20   6  6   8  22  28   -6  24
 12 Hammerton               20   5  5  10  28  36   -8  20
 13 Saint Wessex            20   4  6  10  24  38  -14  18
 14 Norbyrne                20   4  4  12  23  54  -31  16
 15 Gallow Park             20   1  7  12  16  44  -28  10
 16 Highden                 20   1  5  14  13  41  -28   8

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Fist           20  16  0   4  59  25  +34  48
  2 Dalgallen               20  13  5   2  39  24  +15  44
  3 Chrysler Town           20  13  3   4  46  20  +26  42
  4 Rozelle Alliance        20  11  2   7  37  22  +15  35
  5 Brookden                20  11  2   7  31  22   +9  35
  6 Corder Town             20   9  6   5  42  27  +15  33
  7 Pride of the South      20   9  5   6  33  28   +5  32
  8 Pryde Wanderers         20   9  5   6  32  30   +2  32
  9 Pikemouth United        20   9  4   7  38  34   +4  31
 10 South Ridgeway          20   7  6   7  29  29   +0  27
 11 AFC Conomore            20   5  4  11  20  30  -10  19
 12 Suttonstrand FC         20   5  4  11  18  38  -20  19
 13 Hooker Ridge            20   5  2  13  15  29  -14  17
 14 Garfield                20   4  4  12  10  29  -19  16
 15 Shenworth               20   4  3  13  11  29  -18  15
 16 Arkwood                 20   2  1  17   6  50  -44   7

by **Brenecia** » Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:16 am

Not a good day for Sharrow. Guilder host Kingsgrove, get a nice goal off a Declan Crawan volley (despite him being crap; it’s his second of the season) and hold firm for a massive 1-0 win. Southside host Union, get a nice goal off a Claire Holden bullet header, and hold firm for a massive 1-0 win. Sharrow host Marque, get a nice goal off a Merrick Fairbrass half-volley, and capitulate, leaking three second-half goals en route to a 4-1 defeat. It’s a strange week at the top of the table - as well as Union, Rozelle United also lose to lowly Westpike, while Pikemouth and Rozelle can only secure away draws.

Apart from the third-tier’s sole representative, Fort Keller - who are annihilated by Marque - it’s all even here in the quarterfinals - even lowly Sharrow manage a plucky draw with Northern Union through Col Everett’s early header (fumbled by Musendo) while Guilder’s B-team fails to break down Swayback. Understandably, the Phoenices are focused on staying up.

Sharrow really are abject. South Rathia were a classy team that imploded. Sharrow are an okay B-League team. They try hard enough and they’re decently-drilled but they look amateur, Kingsgrove humiliating them 5-1. Petterson has a nightmare, not her first of the season. Rozelle surprisingly throw a wrench in the title range and pump Pikemouth 4-0, Laura Galloway raising her level on her 32nd birthday to get the Saints a huge result with a hat-trick of assists, with Drover, Lilley, Farrell and the forgotten Adelaide Swain on the scoresheet.

Guilder’s B-Team, it turns out, is really bad - Elfleda Arterberry gets her first goal in almost two years in the 88th minute to barely scrape her team through on away goals. Marque will face them in the next round, after another thrashing of Fort Keller. Pikemouth edge out Francisca Orient more comfortably than the scoreline suggests - they’re going for the double. Union make heavy weather of Sharrow yet again, this time at home - an inspired performance from Seren Frazier keeping

A borefest in the North, Union pegged back on their heels but Vermillion unable to break their defence down. Less promising for the Royals - they’re toothless without the defensively-solid aspect, and the Rangers pull out a classic away UICA performance to grab a good win.

Frazier’s Cup heroics see her start in the league for the first time as Jonas Kinlily finally drops Petterson - she makes several more saves as the Owls finally show some signs of life, goals from Cresci and Jason Armidale ensuring a 2-1 win over Orient and giving some hope to the beleagured club. Southside Wanderers raise their game as well - Valentin Hernandez with a man of the match performance in holding midfield as Lauren Rutherford’s penalty and Kaci Messer’s thunderbolt from outside the box securing… what turns out to be only the second A-League match since promotion where the Wanderers have won without Claire Holden scoring. Guilder lose ground, annihilated by the Stallions. At the top of the table, Rozelle United face Union and someone has to give - it’s United in the end, Andrea Rohan with a rare error as Coveny beats her at her near post and as they overextend to try and claw back an equaliser Thatcher hits them on the break.

Union get their home and away performances mixed up - it allows them to progress on away goals, though they rely on a weak Pokrovski penalty being saved well by Urquhart. Kingsgrove, meanwhile, also get a creditable away draw - pity is that it’s not good enough, and they slink out of the Globe Cup for their callow home performance.

A confident victory from Guilder - though not without a cost, as Ingrid Trudgeon succumbs to some kind of muscle strain twelve minutes into the game. Still, Duval Nicholls manages to serve fairly well in her stead and Astrid Tennison, brought in for the ineffective Keenan Penate, clips home a neat half-volley from thirty yards. Francisca Orient realise that they might be slipping into danger, and a heroic performance from their disinterested pack of mercenaries sees their way to a decisive 3-0 victory over the sluggish Wanderers.

Astrid Tennison yet again with a neat header over the stranded Tomas Caroco - a win against the run of play, it has to be said. Pikemouth and Union fans will likely be seeing this as the ‘real’ final, and it’s the hosts who take a narrow win up north as Emerald Sheehan’s perfect free kick is placed firmly into the stanchion.

… Wow. Who’d have expected that? 4-2 down in Pikemouth at half-time, Guilder unleash the beast. The hitherto invisible Astrid Tennison scores twice and Justine Draper seals a late winner in a dramatic 5-4 away win for the Phoenices. Under Judith Keller, the side were spinning their wheels - but there’s hope under Brooke Woods. Pikemouth have plenty of company, though, as most of the frontrunners trip up - Rozelle rely on an injury-time equaliser to overcome a determined Lotus Park, Rozelle United look off the pace against Kingsgrove but grab a point off Kjelsberg’s free kick anyway while Northern Union engage in a proper shootout with Marque.

An excellent win for Union. Rock-solid at the back, quick and ruthless at the front, getting plenty of luck hitting the perpetually stretched Farves on the counter. Coveny and Maddon get the goals - the latter hasn’t been hugely impressive this season, and has failed to agree a contract extension with Union. It’s only made her angrier and better, making her determined to make an impact in her last few games.

Astrid Tennison is on fire! Scoring in each of the past four matches, including a brace against Pikemouth… counting Cup matches, she’s outscored Penate. Duval Nicholls, who had a nightmare against Pikemouth, does significantly better against Marque and does well to keep a clean sheet - Harriet Payne ensures they make the final with the last kick of the game. Union fight back hard against Pikemouth, but just as they think they’ve taken the tie to extra time, up pops Melkmarsson to head home Sheehan’s corner. It’s set to be a hell of a final.

Wow. The Royals have had a pretty awful season, but this gives them something to smile about - a 4-0 annihilation of Northern Union! The away side just look tired, like the season’s catching up to them a little, and an uncharacteristic error from Urquhart doesn’t help. Naphtali Thatcher, one of the rare few to have passed between the clubs (via Iskara Daii), is booed, is silent and gets taken off in the 53rd minute. Savage!

Avenida begin a stirring comeback within ten minutes … but Union equalise just two minutes later, and the two sides cancel one another out for the rest of the game with Geneva Urquhart making a number of crucial saves. Up next? None other than Matthew Rangers...

Sharrow eat their second straight 4-0 defeat to a title contender - first Pikemouth, now Rozelle leaving them without a chance. Rozelle United, determined to one-up them, annihilate an injury-riddled Northern Stallions 6-1. For the Falkner derby, Lotus Park are fancied after an impressive season but Sara Fairhall, now 39, has other ideas - the Hunters are immune to the counter, dominate the match and, through Isadora Cullen’s brace, secure the three points.

The Marque derby is a painful affair for Orient fans, who haven’t had a whole lot to cheer about in another dismal mediocre season, and they certainly don’t have local bragging rights after the Privateers pump them 5-1. In fact, of eight matches, there are seven away wins - including Rozelle, United, Pikemouth and Union all managing hardy away victories and all the relegation contenders losing at home.

Union perform better than Kingsgrove at home, actually looking like a home team. They’re dominant throughout, but it takes until the 70th minute before Kuralay and the substitute Montanari get the goals they need.

The right results happen to put this all up for grabs on the final day. One of three teams gets to survive - Southside’s scoreless draw putting them in the strongest position - and any of three could win the title, with Rozelle United’s hard-fought 1-0 victory over Pikemouth, which saw a string of magnificent saves both from Andrea Rohan and Jess Waterdown keeping the game level until the 81st minute… Cillian Najdorf had thrown on 17-year old Béâúñîä Añdìsörì five minutes earlier and the young Chromatik repaid his faith by hitting the inside of the far post from a narrow angle under pressure from Matsumoto, ensuring that Najdorf’s squad overhaul Pikemouth to retake pole position. But Rozelle keep themselves in contention by destroying Westpike United 5-0 - their hopes are slim, but they’re in with a chance.
In the B-League, there’s still one spot up for grabs - but AFC Swanbridge, despite a 1-0 defeat to Proudcastle, have won not only the title but a second successive promotion, a fourth in five years.

Union get the same result in the Islands that Kingsgrove did, thanks to Coveny’s powerful strike and a strong defensive effort - they’ve reached the final, where CD FAS wait for them.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Rozelle United           29  20   5   4  79  34  +45  65
  2 Pikemouth                29  19   6   4  57  23  +34  63
  3 Rozelle                  29  19   5   5  76  32  +44  62
  4 North Hall               29  19   4   6  49  25  +24  61
  5 Northern Union           29  18   7   4  45  25  +20  61
  6 Lotus Park               29  11  12   6  50  33  +17  45
  7 Kingsgrove               29  10   9  10  52  39  +13  39
  8 Falkner United           29  10   8  11  36  33   +3  38
  9 Marque                   29   8   8  13  52  55   -3  32
 10 Northern Stallions       29   8   7  14  42  53  -11  31
 11 Westpike United          29   7   9  13  27  50  -23  30
 12 Rosbank Town             29   6   8  15  31  56  -25  26
 13 Francisca Orient         29   5   9  15  31  53  -22  24
 14 Southside Wanderers      29   5   7  17  24  58  -34  22
 15 Guilder                  29   5   5  19  23  56  -33  20
 16 Sharrow                  29   5   5  19  27  76  -49  20

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                  P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 AFC Swanbridge       29  19  3   7  64  25  +39  60
  2 Southern Star        29  17  5   7  46  22  +24  56
  3 Snowden River        29  16  8   5  43  22  +21  56
  4 Ridgeway United      29  16  7   6  41  22  +19  55
  5 Scaffield            29  16  7   6  43  28  +15  55
  6 Chafford             29  15  7   7  49  24  +25  52
  7 Gallant Cross        29  11  9   9  55  40  +15  42
  8 Proudcastle          29  12  6  11  24  30   -6  42
  9 Saint Alexander      29  12  4  13  26  23   +3  40
 10 Westpike             29  10 10   9  28  26   +2  40
 11 Thrush               29  10  4  15  38  43   -5  34
 12 Swayback             29   8  7  14  41  56  -15  31
 13 Sutbyrne             29   8  4  17  34  62  -28  28
 14 Mount Roland         29   7  6  16  18  41  -23  27
 15 Marque Rovers        29   6  4  19  24  59  -35  22
 16 Rushden              29   1  5  23  16  67  -51   8

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Crest                   29  19  6   4  58  25  +33  63
  2 Fort Keller             29  19  3   7  45  29  +16  60
  3 Stourhead               29  15 10   4  53  23  +30  55
  4 Fentonbridge            29  15  7   7  51  24  +27  52
  5 Glassfields             29  15  6   8  56  40  +16  51
  6 Spearcove Mariners      29  15  4  10  64  40  +24  49
  7 Knightstone FC          29  14  7   8  44  30  +14  49
  8 Falkner Wanderers       29  12  8   9  40  37   +3  44
  9 Saint Essex             29  12  7  10  43  40   +3  43
 10 Dannecliff Rovers       29   8  9  12  40  40   +0  33
 11 Hammerton               29   7  8  14  39  50  -11  29
 12 Platwood                29   7  8  14  35  53  -18  29
 13 Saint Wessex            29   7  7  15  35  57  -22  28
 14 Norbyrne                29   7  6  16  34  72  -38  27
 15 Highden                 29   5  5  19  26  55  -29  20
 16 Gallow Park             29   1  7  21  19  67  -48  10

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Fist           29  23  1   5  85  33  +52  70
  2 Dalgallen               29  19  6   4  60  35  +25  63
  3 Chrysler Town           29  19  4   6  67  32  +35  61
  4 Brookden                29  15  7   7  44  28  +16  52
  5 Rozelle Alliance        29  14  7   8  50  30  +20  49
  6 Corder Town             29  14  7   8  52  35  +17  49
  7 Pikemouth United        29  13  7   9  55  44  +11  46
  8 Pride of the South      29  11  9   9  42  37   +5  42
  9 Pryde Wanderers         29  11  6  12  42  52  -10  39
 10 South Ridgeway          29   9  8  12  40  43   -3  35
 11 Hooker Ridge            29   8  5  16  24  38  -14  29
 12 Suttonstrand FC         29   8  5  16  32  59  -27  29
 13 AFC Conomore            29   6  7  16  27  52  -25  25
 14 Shenworth               29   7  3  19  23  46  -23  24
 15 Garfield                29   6  6  17  18  44  -26  24
 16 Arkwood                 29   3  4  22  11  64  -53  13

by **Brenecia** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:01 pm

Drama.
That’s the name of the game here, and there’s everything to play for.

The title race.
Rozelle United sit at the summit… and they host Rozelle on the final matchday. If they win, the title is theirs… and a draw would be enough for all practical intents and purposes, too. If they don’t, Pikemouth must beat Northern Union at home. If the Saints win, and Pikemouth don’t, then it is Rozelle that will win the title.
North Hall, who visit Westpike United, and Northern Union, are both in with an outside chance of taking second and a Champions’ Cup place, but their Globe Cup places are secure.

The relegation battle.
Southside Wanderers hover two points away from both teams in danger, hosting 6th-placed Lotus Park. A draw may not be enough - Sharrow’s goal difference is abysmal but Guilder’s is superior to theirs. And here’s the thing… Sharrow and Guilder play each other. Last season, Guilder clawed themselves out of danger by dooming

The promise of promotion.
With the big new TV deal about to hit home, AFC Swanbridge will be pleased to have clinched the title. Southern Star are in pole position to come straight back up alongside them, second place and hosting mediocre Thrush, but if they slip, Snowden River (who are level on points and could conceivably overtake them on goal difference with a huge win), Ridgeway United (visiting the weak Sutbyrne) and Scaffield (hosting Snowden River) will be able to overtake them.

KICK-OFF!
Straight from the off, Rozelle are determined to batter United into a pulp - trying to turn kick-off into a neat release of Adan Baez down the right who lashes a shot into the side netting. An ominous beginning for United, you might say, but they won’t go down that easy - just three minutes later they pull out the first shot on target of the match, Nkutu saving well from Larkspur.

Their sparring would continue for some time without a breakthrough, thrust and counterthrust - in the interim, there were developments in Sharrow. Eleven minutes into the match, Everett dispossesses Eido Noldor and races down the centre of the park, laying in a great through-ball for Vandara Cole who makes no mistake, sidefooting past a despairing Trudgeon. Not enough in isolation, but Lotus Park are standing strong against Southside and Fionn Lynch has already tested Armstrong with a searing drive from just outside the box, the former Pikemouth stopper just about managing to tip it onto the upright.

By this point, it’s already 2-0 to Marque. Rosbank are folding with scarcely a fight, it seems. Shouts for a penalty go up in Pikemouth, in a match that a lot rests on but just hasn’t really gone past a light simmer in the first twenty minutes, both sides just a little overcautious. Thatcher is adjudged, in the event, to have taken himself to ground with the power of his own momentum, and there’s a sigh of relief around the ground.

But Pikemouth need to get moving - there’s a goal for the Saints, beautifully worked! Hearkener’s cross is cleared, clumsily, by Radbury, but Drover finds the pass before Martinelli and then shuttles a pass across to Galloway, who belts it with thunderous force past Andrea Rohan! 1-0, and they’re set to win the title as it stands!

Rozelle United begin a spirited fightback. They won’t go down without a fight, by any means, and Ingolfsson scorches Nkutu’s fingertips from 30 yards. Salvai’s next up, hitting the outside of the post with a powerful half-volley, and things continue to look tight. Pikemouth, too, start a resurgence - there’s an audible ripple around the stadium when Rozelle take the lead, and when Emerald Sheehan takes a pass on the chest from 25 yards there’s a cry of “SHOOT!” from the active support. She rifles it against the crossbar, Urquhart floundering.

But the half-time whistle follows soon after - still scoreless in Southside and Pikemouth, Sharrow locked with the Wanderers but losing on goal difference and Rozelle atop the table. It’s also scoreless in North Rathia, while Marque retain their 2-0 lead and their rivals, Francisca, lead Falkner by the same most dangerous scoreline. Westpike United and North Hall, in an exhilarating game that nobody is paying attention to, are locked in a 2-2 draw.

Second half begins and CHRIST! SALVAI! It’s Kjelsberg’s pass that releases him and evidently Cory Henry is still asleep - Salvai races past him and rifles the ball into the stanchion, Nkutu without a chance, just 90 seconds from the restart. Eleanor Lingard is incandescent with rage. Cillian Najdorf pumps his first - Rozelle United are top again. Game on.

Another development soon afterwards - not Cullen Bray’s goal in the Stallions/Royals dead rubber - but rather more relevant. Sharrow are pegged back as Hartley floats in a neat, level corner, and nobody picks up the run of Emmanuel Seta - it’s utterly battered past Frazier, and it’s 1-1! Breathing room for the Wanderers… but another Guilder goal would see them overhauled.

It’s too much pressure for Irvine Tevinter to take - with Lynch running at him, he hacks him down at the legs. Jess Curtin steps up to take it, and places it left… far too close to the centre! Armstrong sees it coming and lives true to her name, batting it into the ground with both fists.

But their relief is short-lived - Tara Hassett whipping a low diagonal cross into the box. Boswell can’t deal with it, scuffing a clearance… behind her and behind Mullen, allowing Astrid Tennison to poke between a despairing Frazier’s legs. 2-1 to Guilder! They’re free, as things stand, on goal difference!

And there’s developments at the top, too - just two minutes later, 32-year old Adelaide Swain, brought on as a substitute and not offered a new contract for her hometown club, has one last gift to give - a beautiful lofted cross that Radbury can’t deal with, and Lilley steals in front of Martinelli and smashes the ball past Rohan! 2-1 to Rozelle! And with Pikemouth still spinning their wheels against Union, that takes the Saints top!

More time passes - North Hall exert a comfortable level of control on Westpike United since the break, now leading 4-2, while Rosbank Town have drawn level with a disintegrating Marque. But in the 81st minute, a decisive development - Shane Foster steals a march on Park leftback di Calania and rifles in a powerful cross… and with a diving, looping header, Claire Holden sends the ball past a floundering d’Araby. Guilder’s three points suddenly aren’t enough.

Rozelle United are striving so hard. The 17-year old Béâúñîä Añdìsörì has been thrown on for Larkspur, adding a more diagonal attacking aspect to the side, but it’s such an ordinary team in so many places and it just seems to be a bit too much of a stretch from them. Añdìsörì gets the ball to Donachy past the defence who miscontrols her first touch so by the time she gets off the shot Adan Baez has slid across to block it off the line.

Injury time. Pikemouth still without a breakthrough, they’re hammering on the gates… but the final whistle blows in the 92nd minute. So too in Sharrow, as both sides slump to the ground in despair - at least the away side can hope for an update from Southside. It arrives… news of Claire Holden’s second goal. Both clubs will be playing in the B-League next term, replaced by Swanbridge (who lose 3-0 at home to Chafford but claim the trophy anyway) and, owing to a comfortable 2-0 win over lowly thrush, the rebranded Southern Star.

Rozelle United win a corner, Nkutu palming aside Kjelsburg’s thundering drive. One last chance - the final whistle’s blown everywhere else. Andrea Rohan dashes forward. Kjelsburg dwells at the corner flag, there’s nine blue-and-white shirts in the box along with Rohan’s yellow. He swings it in…

… and 35-year old veteran international Ash Kilcane, brought in with five minutes to go to steady the ship, rises above them all to head it away. Everyone races for it, Matilda Farrell gets there first and thumps it into an empty net from sixty yards. 3-1 Rozelle, away from home, on the final day, to claim the trophy. United have done so much to be proud of this season, and maybe they can emulate Pikemouth and build a lasting legacy - they’ll play in the Champions’ Cup next season. Not long afterwards, Cillian Najdorf is named the Manager of the Season to absolutely nobody’s surprise. But the day, without a doubt, belongs to the Saints in red - and it’s Niko Moss who lifts the trophy on the ground of their fierce rivals.

CROWN CUP FINAL
But there’s no rest either for Guilder or Pikemouth - the latter, understandably, runaway favourites to come away with at least one trophy this season even if their dreams of doing the domestic double are in tatters. Which is why it’s a shock to everyone when Harriet Payne picks Sheehan’s pocket, races past Hendrickson (who misses her tackle) and hammers the ball into the top corner in the fourth minute.

Pikemouth have one option available to them - fight back. And they do hit back, hard, dominant the entire rest of the game but just struggling to find that finishing touch or, even when they did, a way past the resilient centre-halves Seta and Arena, and determined goalkeeper Ingrid Trudgeon. Chance after chance went begging… until the 83rd minute. Wakefield, cutting inside and getting far too much respect from Crydon and Hartley, neither Phoenix wanting to close her down, went for it - and arced the shot perfectly past the packed bodies in the box and past an unsighed Trudgeon. 1-1.

For 30 minutes of extra time, they smashed on the door while Guilder battened down the hatches - though ironically it was they who had the best chance to seal it late on, the fresh Declan Crawan released by Tara Hassett but slicing his shot wide when through on goal. Trudgeon made four good saves, Seta a clearance off the line… and Guilder held out for penalties.

It will not go down in history as one of the great ones. Sheehan opened for Pikemouth with a miss, while Trudgeon saved from Brittain and Cunningham - meanwhile, for Guilder, Hartley hit a post and Justine Draper’s chip went straight to a motionless Armstrong. Thus, 2-2 with one kick left, it was up to 34-year old Eido Noldor, the defensive midfielder who’d done everything he could do keep the Phoenices up… and had a chance to do some good today. He hit it low, to the left… and Armstrong went the wrong way.

Guilder are in the B-League now, and it may well take the impoverished side a long time to get back to the top flight. But finally, along with the memories, they have a concrete reminder of their time at the top of the domestic game, a period of ten years flitting between relative security and bare, scraping survival. Today, they have a trophy.

Guilder 1 - 1 Pikemouth (1-1 AET, 3-2 pens)

GLOBE CUP FINAL
“We’re Union,” Althea Reader told the press. “We win titles. It’s what we do.”

Not domestic ones, not this season, and that does have to come as a shock and surprise. But they’re on the world stage in an all-Esportivan Globe Cup final, facing off against FAS, who deployed in an eccentric 3-3-4 formation that ensured direct match-ups throughout all of Union’s back line and midfield. Most pundits expected the prolific van Robben and Ace Newman to dominate the inexperienced Finley and aging Rubio - and they were wrong.

The match was ultimately won in midfield, with Gryphon harrying and effectively nullifying the influence of FAS captain Hertel while Marijana Kuralay ran as hard as any two other players on the pitch combined, allowing 33-year old Kilbane the freedom to drift forward into attack. For the most part, though, Union defended and FAS attacked - Urquhart making seven saves over the course of the game, a number of them hugely impressive - before a lethal counterattack in the 34th minute gave the game its opener. Finley slide-tackled Ace Newman, the ball fell to Murcutt who drilled a cross-field pass into the path of an unmarked Thatcher who drilled a diagonal ball into the path of right winger Caolan Coveny, who made no mistake and smashed the ball past Tukhbatulin.

The second half, things got rougher, especially Union’s tackling - Finley picked up a slightly generous yellow for annihilating Newman and was quickly replaced by 36-year old Brady Monroe, in his last appearance before retirement. Kuralay and Murcutt followed suit, before in the 81st minute, Scout Given was beaten by the pace of Melo and, spotting the danger, hacked him to the ground by kicking him full in the calves. The red was inevitable, and Hertel sent the free kick… into the crossbar. Van Robben and Urquhart both went for the rebound - and Urquhart got the ball while van Robben got Urquhart’s face with her studs.

Ten men for both, then - Nathan Musendo raced on to deputise between the posts as Union’s last substitute, Kuralay shifted out of position to rightback, a 4-4-1 adopted - and that halted FAS’ growing momentum, particularly as Union remained threatening with the 22-year old substitute Montanari waiting off the last man’s shoulder to pounce on any counterattacks. She got the last touch of the game, as it happened, with Murcutt clearing the last FAS attack of the game. Montanari raced between Lopez and Gutierrez, but scuffed the shot straight into Tukhbatulin’s chest. It was no matter, though. The referee blew the final whistle, and Union had secured international glory for Brenecia for the first time.

CD FAS 0 - 1 Northern Union

A-LEAGUE FINAL MATCHDAY
Francisca Orient 3-0 Falkner United
Sharrow 1-2 Guilder
Northern Stallions 1-0 Kingsgrove
Southside Wanderers 2-0 Lotus Park
Rosbank Town 3-2 Marque
Westpike United 2-4 North Hall
Pikemouth 0-0 Northern Union
Rozelle United 1-3 Rozelle

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Rozelle                  30  20   5   5  79  33  +46  65
  2 Rozelle United           30  20   5   5  80  37  +43  65
  3 Pikemouth                30  19   7   4  57  23  +34  64
  4 North Hall               30  20   4   6  53  27  +26  64
  5 Northern Union           30  18   8   4  45  25  +20  62
  6 Lotus Park               30  11  12   7  50  35  +15  45
  7 Kingsgrove               30  10   9  11  52  40  +12  39
  8 Falkner United           30  10   8  12  36  36   +0  38
  9 Northern Stallions       30   9   7  14  43  53  -10  34
 10 Marque                   30   8   8  14  54  58   -4  32
 11 Westpike United          30   7   9  14  29  54  -25  30
 12 Rosbank Town             30   7   8  15  34  58  -24  29
 13 Francisca Orient         30   6   9  15  34  53  -19  27
 14 Southside Wanderers      30   6   7  17  26  58  -32  25
 15 Guilder                  30   6   5  19  25  57  -32  23
 16 Sharrow                  30   5   5  20  28  78  -50  20

TOP SCORERS
21 - Lilley (ROZ)
17 - Lynch (LTP), Salvai (ROU)
15 - Brittain (PKM)
14 - Ingolfsson (ROU)
13 - Gardot (KNG), Farrell (ROZ)

AWARDS
Golden Boot (Goals Scored): Tevin Lilley (ROZ)
Golden Ball (Player of the Year): Elsie Drover (ROZ)
Golden Fist (New Player of the Year): Ambram Salvai (ROU)
Golden Heart (U-21 Player of the Year): Aidan Hartigan (WPU)
Team of the Year: Waterdown (PKM); Szukala (FLK), Melkmarsson (PKM), Farina (NTH), Senterekoesima (ROU); Drover (ROZ), Gryphon (NTU), Sheehan (PKM); Salvai (ROU), Lilley (ROZ), Lynch (LTP)
Manager of the Year: Cillian Najdorf (ROU)

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                  P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 AFC Swanbridge       30  19  3   8  64  28  +36  60
  2 Southern Star        30  18  5   7  48  22  +26  59
  3 Ridgeway United      30  17  7   6  43  23  +20  58
  4 Scaffield            30  17  7   6  45  29  +16  58
  5 Snowden River        30  16  8   6  44  24  +20  56
  6 Chafford             30  16  7   7  52  24  +28  55
  7 Gallant Cross        30  12  9   9  56  40  +16  45
  8 Saint Alexander      30  13  4  13  29  23   +6  43
  9 Proudcastle          30  12  6  12  24  31   -7  42
 10 Westpike             30  10 10  10  28  27   +1  40
 11 Thrush               30  10  4  16  38  45   -7  34
 12 Swayback             30   8  8  14  42  57  -15  32
 13 Mount Roland         30   7  7  16  19  42  -23  28
 14 Sutbyrne             30   8  4  18  35  64  -29  28
 15 Marque Rovers        30   7  4  19  25  59  -34  25
 16 Rushden              30   1  5  24  16  70  -54   8

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Crest                   30  19  6   5  58  27  +31  63
  2 Fort Keller             30  20  3   7  47  29  +18  63
  3 Stourhead               30  15 10   5  55  26  +29  55
  4 Fentonbridge            30  16  7   7  52  24  +28  55
  5 Glassfields             30  16  6   8  59  42  +17  54
  6 Spearcove Mariners      30  16  4  10  66  40  +26  52
  7 Knightstone FC          30  15  7   8  47  31  +16  52
  8 Saint Essex             30  13  7  10  47  41   +6  46
  9 Falkner Wanderers       30  12  8  10  40  38   +2  44
 10 Dannecliff Rovers       30   8  9  13  41  43   -2  33
 11 Platwood                30   7  9  14  35  53  -18  30
 12 Hammerton               30   7  8  15  40  54  -14  29
 13 Saint Wessex            30   7  7  16  35  59  -24  28
 14 Norbyrne                30   7  7  16  34  72  -38  28
 15 Highden                 30   6  5  19  27  55  -28  23
 16 Gallow Park             30   1  7  22  19  68  -49  10

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Fist           30  23  1   6  86  36  +50  70
  2 Dalgallen               30  19  7   4  61  36  +25  64
  3 Chrysler Town           30  19  5   6  68  33  +35  62
  4 Brookden                30  16  7   7  47  29  +18  55
  5 Rozelle Alliance        30  15  7   8  51  30  +21  52
  6 Corder Town             30  14  8   8  53  36  +17  50
  7 Pikemouth United        30  14  7   9  59  44  +15  49
  8 Pride of the South      30  12  9   9  45  37   +8  45
  9 Pryde Wanderers         30  11  7  12  44  54  -10  40
 10 South Ridgeway          30   9  9  12  42  45   -3  36
 11 Hooker Ridge            30   8  6  16  26  40  -14  30
 12 Suttonstrand FC         30   8  5  17  32  63  -31  29
 13 AFC Conomore            30   6  8  16  28  53  -25  26
 14 Shenworth               30   7  3  20  23  47  -24  24
 15 Garfield                30   6  6  18  18  47  -29  24
 16 Arkwood                 30   3  5  22  13  66  -53  14

by **Brenecia** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 3:41 am

SEASON 66?

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Union           30  22  4   4  67  21  +46  70
  2 North Hall               30  21  4   5  49  21  +28  67
  3 Kingsgrove               30  17  7   6  58  34  +24  58
  4 Rozelle                  30  16  5   9  55  37  +18  53
  5 Lotus Park               30  15  3  12  49  44   +5  48
  6 Northern Stallions       30  13  6  11  53  50   +3  45
  7 Marque                   30  13  5  12  42  36   +6  44
  8 Pikemouth                30  12  7  11  49  36  +13  43
  9 Falkner United           30  11  9  10  41  37   +4  42
 10 Rozelle United           30  11  5  14  49  50   -1  38
 11 Rosbank Town             30  10  7  13  35  52  -17  37
 12 Francisca Orient         30   8  4  18  22  39  -17  28
 13 Southern Star            30   7  7  16  35  63  -28  28
 14 Westpike United          30   7  5  18  37  57  -20  26
 15 AFC Swanbridge           30   7  5  18  33  68  -35  26
 16 Southside Wanderers      30   5  7  18  22  51  -29  22

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                  P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Scaffield            30  21   5   4  50  17  +33  68
  2 Gallant Cross        30  18   8   4  56  21  +35  62
  3 Ridgeway United      30  16   8   6  37  17  +20  56
  4 Chafford             30  15   8   7  47  24  +23  53
  5 Guilder              30  12  12   6  31  24   +7  48
  6 Westpike             30  12  11   7  44  20  +24  47
  7 Snowden River        30  13   8   9  41  24  +17  47
  8 Proudcastle          30  12  10   8  25  31   -6  46
  9 Swayback             30  13   6  11  43  50   -7  45
 10 Sharrow              30  13   5  12  46  39   +7  44
 11 Saint Alexander      30   8  11  11  31  30   +1  35
 12 Mount Roland         30   5  10  15  18  38  -20  25
 13 Thrush               30   5  10  15  30  55  -25  25
 14 Crest                30   4   9  17  19  45  -26  21
 15 Fort Keller          30   4   4  22  22  55  -33  16
 16 Sutbyrne             30   3   7  20  17  67  -50  16

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Fentonbridge            30  21   6   3  65  26  +39  69
  2 Rushden                 30  17   8   5  53  34  +19  59
  3 Knightstone FC          30  17   7   6  63  29  +34  58
  4 Glassfields             30  18   4   8  74  44  +30  58
  5 Marque Rovers           30  18   1  11  63  39  +24  55
  6 Stourhead               30  12  13   5  55  30  +25  49
  7 Northern Fist           30  12  10   8  57  44  +13  46
  8 Hammerton               30  11   9  10  49  39  +10  42
  9 Dannecliff Rovers       30   8  12  10  36  45   -9  36
 10 Saint Essex             30   9   7  14  29  54  -25  34
 11 Platwood                30   7  11  12  34  37   -3  32
 12 Saint Wessex            30   8   8  14  28  43  -15  32
 13 Norbyrne                30   7   7  16  34  60  -26  28
 14 Dalgallen               30   6   6  18  35  70  -35  24
 15 Falkner Wanderers       30   4   8  18  20  54  -34  20
 16 Spearcove Mariners      30   5   3  22  31  78  -47  18

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Chrysler Town           30  19  7   4  62  23  +39  64
  2 Rozelle Alliance        30  19  6   5  61  28  +33  63
  3 Pride of the South      30  16  7   7  46  30  +16  55
  4 Alexavale FC            30  16  6   8  62  46  +16  54
  5 Highden                 30  15  8   7  43  28  +15  53
  6 Brookden                30  15  6   9  56  40  +16  51
  7 Shaleport Rangers       30  11 10   9  51  40  +11  43
  8 AFC Conomore            30  11  9  10  37  41   -4  42
  9 South Ridgeway          30  10  9  11  38  43   -5  39
 10 Hooker Ridge            30  10  7  13  30  34   -4  37
 11 Pikemouth United        30   9 10  11  39  44   -5  37
 12 Suttonstrand FC         30   9  8  13  41  50   -9  35
 13 Gallow Park             30   5  9  16  26  44  -18  24
 14 Shenworth               30   6  6  18  12  42  -30  24
 15 Pryde Wanderers         30   5  7  18  30  71  -41  22
 16 Corder Town             30   5  3  22  22  52  -30  18

This may take some time to sort out.

by **Brenecia** » Sun Jul 02, 2017 4:10 am

A-LEAGUE CYCLE 67 PREVIEW

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Union           30  22  4   4  67  21  +46  70
  2 North Hall               30  21  4   5  49  21  +28  67
  3 Kingsgrove               30  17  7   6  58  34  +24  58
  4 Rozelle                  30  16  5   9  55  37  +18  53
  5 Lotus Park               30  15  3  12  49  44   +5  48
  6 Northern Stallions       30  13  6  11  53  50   +3  45
  7 Marque                   30  13  5  12  42  36   +6  44
  8 Pikemouth                30  12  7  11  49  36  +13  43
  9 Falkner United           30  11  9  10  41  37   +4  42
 10 Rozelle United           30  11  5  14  49  50   -1  38
 11 Rosbank Town             30  10  7  13  35  52  -17  37
 12 Francisca Orient         30   8  4  18  22  39  -17  28
 13 Southern Star            30   7  7  16  35  63  -28  28
 14 Westpike United          30   7  5  18  37  57  -20  26
 15 AFC Swanbridge           30   7  5  18  33  68  -35  26
 16 Southside Wanderers      30   5  7  18  22  51  -29  22
 
  1 Scaffield            30  21   5   4  50  17  +33  68
  2 Gallant Cross        30  18   8   4  56  21  +35  62
  3 Ridgeway United      30  16   8   6  37  17  +20  56
  4 Chafford             30  15   8   7  47  24  +23  53

AWARDS
Golden Boot (Goals Scored): June Gardot (KNG)
Golden Ball (Player of the Year): Graciano Farina (NTH)
Golden Fist (New Player of the Year): Alora Heher (ROZ)
Golden Heart (U-21 Player of the Year): Brun Carrack (LTP)
Team of the Year: Winterfyll (KNG); Baez (ROZ), Espinosa (FLK), Farina (NTH), Hourihane (NTH); Drover (ROZ), Arroyo (LTP), Heher (ROZ); Coveny (NTU), Gardot (KNG), Branch (KNG)
Manager of the Year: Aisling Crowan (ROS)

by **Brenecia** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:31 pm

For the first time in A-League history, kick-off is made without Northern Union taking part. Union would kick off their fourth-tier campaign with a 3-0 hammering of freshly semi-professionalised Randwick Town. Kingsgrove seemed to enjoy the free space, kicking off their campaign more or less as anticipated by crushing Southern Star 5-0, Kyra Ferrant unable to do anything more than watch on in horror as her defence left her exposed time and again while her countrywoman Elena Culbreth snapped a hat-trick past her on her debut. Marque matched that scoreline, somewhat surprisingly, against Northern Stallions, Bram Merchant falling to pieces and the defence following suit. New Stallions signing Steed Fowler did not look impressed, but his abject lack of pace didn’t help the cause either. Rozelle United kicked off their season by being hammered 4-1 at home by Pikemouth, Katrina Brasic another new Cosumarite forward to really show her teeth, and Fiona Sylver’s managerial debut endured a punishing 3-0 defeat at the hands of North Hall as her side failed to even trouble Etxabeguren. Both newly-promoted sides scrapped their way to 1-1 away draws against more established names, with Cross goalkeeper Suffolk exceptional on her debut.

The first round may as well not have happened, though, judging by these results. Both Scaffield and Gallant were smashed by three goal margins, with Scaffield in particular barely laying a glove on Falkner as Southern Star rebounded from their 5-0 opening-day defeat. It was Kingsgrove who won that match, and the Stallions who lost another 5-0, but when the two collided it was the Northerners who came out on top. Bram Merchant redeemed himself by saving an early penalty and from then on Kingsgrove just didn’t look at ease under constant pressure from Danielle Granger’s physical Stallions, with a late brace from teenage substitute Griffin Riordan proving decisive. Sylver’s Black Swans overcame a 2-1 deficit at half-time and, indeed, at 80 minutes to smash through Lotus twice in the dying seconds of the game. Swanbridge forecast what could be a very long season for the Jacks, with Azedo, Ashbrown and Courser handing Francisca a 3-0 defeat as Zezena found himself barely tested. Most startling of all, Rozelle United overturned their own opening-day thrashing to smash Rozelle 4-0, as the Saints found themselves badly missing the industry of Drover in the middle of the park. June Gardot is equal top-scorer with three at the moment, evidently eager to retain the Golden Boot and prove Kingsgrove were wrong to find a shinier replacement in Culbreth.

Last season’s finalists Sharrow’s defence earned some respite, after opening their B-League account with a 8-1 hammering from Swayback - admittedly, they also failed to trouble Chrysler Town much in front of goal, but Seren Frazier came up with the goods and saved two penalties well, watching another get hacked into the sky. Northern Union got to face some A-League opposition again, but Conrad Keane’s Lotus Park were in no mood to show respect. “They’re a fourth-tier side and we’ll be treating the occasion as an appropriate opportunity to rotate some fresh legs in,” Keane said before the game, and appropriately rocked up with a second-string. Union fans could only watch as 16-year old debutant Hawke Ziegenhorn put two goals past their goalkeeper, Blaze Ch… Che… Chyz… past their Anglatian goalkeeper, whose excellent reflexes were all that stopped it from getting worse. There were many goals, but most came from outrageous thrashings against hapless semi-professional opposition, but Northern Fist and Westpike United contrived between one another to score three goals in extra time. Each. Julia Taylor’s single penalty save was, in fact, the only save either goalkeeper managed to make after regulation time. Scaffield and Marque were picked off by other A-League sides while a complacent Pikemouth were scalped at home by lowly Platwood, while Rozelle had the misfortune of running into Rozelle United yet again. It wasn’t a 4-0 pasting this time, but they still came out second-best, and crash out in the first round due to a goal from the maligned Julia Kerrigan.

Scaffield get off the board in an admittedly really boring match, as neither they nor Swanbridge have the technical ability to get out of the midfield battle that results. In the end, Ruby Shreveport’s flying header from an excellent Romeo corner is the difference between them. Westpike United will be pretty happy about putting three goals past Kingsgrove, but Genova Conrad will be significantly less pleased at conceding six at the other end, with 22-year old Aidan Hartigan’s blind spot at his near post (and dealing with crosses, and free kicks…) horribly exposed. North Hall chalk up an early lead against Rozelle as Riel scores in the 13th minute and then Swanton’s sent off just two minutes later for hacking Farrell down, and the Saints capitalise with Alora Heher given far, far too much space to dominate the game.

See, Althea Chenoweth, Lotus Park shows how it’s done. Conrad Keane withdraws Northstead to throw a third body into midfield in the form of sprightly 20-year old Bard Oarsman, whose job is to man-mark Alora Heher to within an inch of her life. Meanwhile, Baez is cut to ribbons by Kella, who gets a goal and an assist for Jess Curtin as the Foresters show their teeth. Scaffield get another precious 1-0 win, this one away from home - Bonnie Coventry saves a penalty before a piledriver from Lance Maclaren seals three valuable points for Scaffield. The dance of the artists formerly known as Rathians sees the Southerners triumph, after they go ahead within three minutes after a flicked Nathan Ward header. Ashton doubles their lead before countryman Mbomba is sent off on the stroke of half-time, but thanks partially to uncompromising defence and partially to six saves from Kyra Ferrant, the Stallions only get half the goals they need - that, yet again, from the spiky Riordan in injury time, who infuriates her own teammates by celebrating the goal instead of rushing the ball back to the halfway line.

Bizarrely, Rosbank Town find themselves the closest side to the capital remaining in the tournament - after a tense, gripping match, they knock out Kingsgrove after Culbreth’s penalty slams into the crossbar, Rozelle Alliance are pulped 8-0 by Westpike United, Conomore are outmuscled by the Stallions’ B-listers and Rozelle United are, bizarrely, unable to get past lowly Dalgallen. North Hall, who have been dodgy in the league, are sent crashing out by a spirited Chafford side thanks to a set piece and a penalty, while A-League bottom-feeders Francisca Orient and Gallant Cross clashed. Both bravely threw in strong sides - a major strength of the low-density Brenecian calendar is that pretty much every team feels confident to tilt for the Cup - and while Cross got plenty of chances they couldn’t finish, Lucas Cabral’s aptitude in front of goal made Orient’s chances count.

In spite of North Hall’s shakiness, their visit to Kingsgrove is still a barometre of their title hopes. They’re both helped when Rozelle, probably the third realistic title contender, stalls away against Francisca Orient and is undone by a late Gideon Muller header from a great Breckinridge corner. Kingsgrove get off to the perfect start, Mathew Evans with a piledriver to set them ahead in the third minute (could Etxabeguren have done better?) but then Hall really gets their teeth into the game, Fallon hits a post and Brittain’s there to turn in the rebound, and just when it looks like they’ve turned the screw… Gabrielle Hourihane throws on Brae Crowther to, more or less, fight her own daughter Saoirse. It’s a fight that the teenage Crowther wins decisively in the 86th minute, turning her inside out before rifling the ball across Etxabeguren at a seemingly impossibly narrow angle, smacking into the net off the inside of the far post. Yet again, questions raised of the goalkeeper, but Brae Crowther is very definitely the heroine. In other news, getting booked once for persistent fouling is impressive. Getting booked twice and sent off? Hats off to Algirdis Mikaucis and his one-man pulverising spree of Pikemouth’s midfield. It helps earn Scaffield a useful point.

Brae Crowther’s surprisingly handed a start, and the result is that Kingsgrove fucking murders Lotus Park 5-0, away. Conrad ‘Defensive Solidity’ Keane’s Foresters collapse under the pressure of an 18-year old girl - well, okay, it isn’t so much Crowther’s win, but she does look lively and score again. In the Marque derby, the Privateers simply overrun the Jacks, and another teenager in Alweather is hugely impressive cleaning up in midfield (though it’s seasoned international Tony Uist who gets both goals). Meanwhile, Rozelle United rely on Béâúñîä Andisori livening up the math off the bench to lay off an assist for Beretti to beat Southern Star in the 94th minute, a game in which Sarkozy Zsuska, 19, came on after the hour mark for the opposition. Plenty of green shoots in this modern A-League, that’s for certain.

Swanbridge have that sinking feeling again. Rozelle beat the shit out of them, bluntly, as Alora Heher strolls calmly through the broken bodies of the Swans’ midfield and does whatever she goddamn pleases - the score ends 5-0 to the visitors. Unfancied Scaffield pick up a nice win thanks to an inelegant but effective new strategy, kicking long balls through the high Marque line and letting the junkyard dog Claire Holden chase them. It works a treat, though Marque make things interesting by pulling a goal back late. Lotus Park admirably recover from their humiliating defeat to beat Gallant Cross 3-1 away, after Keane switches out half the side. 23-year old goalkeeper Glenn Murnane makes his league debut, and it’s a mixed affair - he concedes and then, well, concedes one penalty, but saves a second. With Lucas d’Araby fast approaching 40 years old, the time may be right for the burly local to take over. The second penalty could have put Cross ahead 2-1, but they fold after the save and fall apart.

Francisca Orient hosted Gallant Cross, both sides still winless. Surprisingly, a proper match broke out - Cross struck first, Gwen Threlkeld’s hit-and-hope cross bouncing in the area and Steed Arrowsmith burst onto the end of it, heading it home. But Francisca benefited from another Cross goal being called off for a marginal offside, and then struck back - first from Breckinridge’s free kick, then a Lucas Cabral penalty and finally, late in the first half, Asaj Sotelo found the top corner from just outside the area. Cross pressed and pressed, and did find a goal through Gjallskald’s header off a Salinger corner, but the day, in the end, was Orient’s. Swanbridge get smashed by a five-goal margin for the second consecutive match, conceding seventeen goals in their last four games as former Audioslavian international goalkeeper Zezena, presumably a man used to fine, tight defences, must be staring at the hapless Goodman and Strand in front of him every training and wondering what in God’s name he’s signed up for.

Falkner are, as always, predictably unpredictable - and Rozelle United are in freefall. Mark Deleuze has been quietly excellent for the quietly… above-average Hunters this season, just given the space and confidence to finally thrive after seemingly falling off the map and he runs the show here, getting a goal and chalking up assists for Capricorn and the blazingly attack-minded fullback Fyrcynn Gerfalcon. Swanbridge look to be having one of those days again when former Royal Jill Goodman does her former employers a nice favour by hacking down Culbreth within… a minute… but then Kezia O’Byrne’s penalty is beaten away by Zezena. It’s the catalyst for a brilliant, end-to-end 3-2 win for the Swans that lifts them away from trouble, and comes in no small part thanks to more Zezena saves as well as the exhilarating Ashbrown and the finishing of Azedo. Not even Luke November’s sending-off late in the game can dampen Swan spirits, though it probably ought to - prospective replacement Trouble Pearce turns 33 come next match, and has very much struggled at A-League level thus far. Their next opponents, Gallant Cross, finally pick up their first win of the season by just outrunning and outfighting fellow promoted outfit Scaffield, and Berdesagar and impact substitute Eoin Colchester open their accounts for the season for an invaluable 2-0 win.

Kingsgrove, as expected, lead the pack at the first major milestone of the campaign after comfortably taking care of Rosbank 3-0 - they’re four points clear after Marque and Pikemouth play out a stalemate, and have scored more than three goals a match. Rozelle, after trashing Falkner 6-1, and the Northern Stallions round out the UICA places. Mired in midtable, Rozelle United’s fourth defeat in a row at the hands of North Hall doesn’t really do enough to help Hall, either, who have a perfect five wins and five defeats thus far. Scaffield, despite scoring the equal-fewest goals in the league with just seven, are five points from danger after a feisty 2-2 against Southern Star. At the nasty end, Gallant pick up a second straight win over the sievelike Swans through goals from Munson and Baeza to pick themselves off the foot of the table into the lustre of 13th, with the Swans 14th. That’s better than Francisca and hapless Rosbank, mired in the relegation slots - and Fiona Sylver’s already received her feared vote of confidence from the board. Still, it’s all close enough that one unexpected win could turn it all on its head...

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove             10  8  0  2  31  12  +19  24
  2 Marque                 10  6  2  2  21   6  +15  20
  3 Rozelle                10  6  2  2  23  13  +10  20
  4 Northern Stallions     10  6  2  2  14  12   +2  20
  5 Pikemouth              10  5  3  2  15   9   +6  18
  6 Falkner United         10  5  2  3  17  14   +3  17
  7 North Hall             10  5  0  5  12  10   +2  15
  8 Southern Star          10  4  2  4  16  17   -1  14
  9 Lotus Park             10  3  3  4  15  19   -4  12
 10 Westpike United        10  3  3  4  13  17   -4  12
 11 Scaffield              10  3  3  4   7  14   -7  12
 12 Rozelle United         10  3  1  6  12  16   -4  10
 13 Gallant Cross          10  2  2  6  11  18   -7   8
 14 AFC Swanbridge         10  2  2  6  11  24  -13   8
 15 Francisca Orient       10  1  4  5   8  15   -7   7
 16 Rosbank Town           10  2  1  7   7  17  -10   7

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Proudcastle             10  6  3  1  14   5   +9  21
  2 Sharrow                 10  6  3  1  17  15   +2  21
  3 Chafford                10  6  1  3  19  11   +8  19
  4 Snowden River           10  6  0  4  13  10   +3  18
  5 Guilder                 10  5  2  3  12  10   +2  17
  6 Westpike                10  5  1  4  12   8   +4  16
  7 Swayback                10  4  3  3  22  11  +11  15
  8 Ridgeway United         10  3  6  1   7   4   +3  15
  9 Crest                   10  3  3  4  14  14   +0  12
 10 Mount Roland            10  3  3  4   9  11   -2  12
 11 Southside Wanderers     10  3  3  4   7   9   -2  12
 12 Saint Alexander         10  3  2  5   7  11   -4  11
 13 Rushden                 10  3  2  5  13  18   -5  11
 14 Thrush                  10  3  0  7   7  16   -9   9
 15 Knightstone FC          10  2  2  6   9  17   -8   8
 16 Fentonbridge            10  1  2  7   8  20  -12   5

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Marque Rovers          10  8  1  1  27  12  +15  25
  2 Stourhead              10  7  2  1  22  10  +12  23
  3 Chrysler Town          10  7  1  2  21  13   +8  22
  4 Northern Fist          10  7  0  3  34  18  +16  21
  5 Twin Saints            10  6  3  1  27  14  +13  21
  6 Rozelle Alliance       10  5  2  3  25  13  +12  17
  7 Shaleport Rangers      10  5  2  3  17   8   +9  17
  8 Falkner Wanderers      10  4  2  4  16  12   +4  14
  9 Glassfields            10  4  2  4  18  24   -6  14
 10 AFC Conomore           10  2  5  3  10  12   -2  11
 11 Pride of the South     10  3  1  6  19  25   -6  10
 12 Dannecliff Rovers      10  2  2  6  16  23   -7   8
 13 Platwood               10  2  1  7   7  17  -10   7
 14 Hammerton              10  2  1  7   6  34  -28   7
 15 Alexavale FC           10  1  2  7   9  21  -12   5
 16 Dalgallen              10  1  1  8   9  27  -18   4

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Union          10  8  1  1  24   8  +16  25
  2 Razorback Hill          10  7  1  2  16  11   +5  22
  3 Heathgrove              10  6  2  2  14   9   +5  20
  4 Pikemouth United        10  5  2  3  16   9   +7  17
  5 Coppersmith             10  5  2  3  16  15   +1  17
  6 Suttonstrand FC         10  4  3  3  16   8   +8  15
  7 Randwick Town           10  4  2  4  10   9   +1  14
  8 Chafford Saracens       10  4  1  5  14  17   -3  13
  9 Spearcove Mariners      10  3  3  4  19  15   +4  12
 10 Pryde Wanderers         10  4  0  6  16  20   -4  12
 11 Southrons-Errant        10  2  5  3  18  16   +2  11
 12 Brackford Rovers        10  3  2  5  11  16   -5  11
 13 Falkner Crescent        10  2  4  4  10  14   -4  10
 14 Steelrush Myrmidons     10  3  0  7  10  20  -10   9
 15 Dale Athletic           10  3  0  7  13  27  -14   9
 16 AFC Goldshore           10  2  2  6   8  17   -9   8

by **Brenecia** » Sat Jul 08, 2017 4:33 pm

Francisca threw off the kid gloves as a well-rotated side let off some steam against Francisca Orient. Connie Garrard has one goal from nine league appearances, but manages to force four past Dale’s plucky goalkeeper en route to a 7-0 win. Platwood endure a similar thrashing, arguably all the worse for being on home soil, though at least they manage one goal. Shame about the Stallions’ six. Lotus Park and Westpike United are the sole A-League casualties, while Saint Alexander and Southside Wanderers avoid top-tier opposition, pick up home wins and progress to the quarterfinals.

Things are shaking up at the business end of the table. Marque are flying high in second, but are brought crashing down to earth when Rozelle gets their game face on and gets down to business, Tevin Lilley’s season finally flares up and when the dust settles it’s 4-1 to the Saints, and it would’ve been 4-0 without a late, rather sheepishly celebrated consolation from Esther Tavistock in injury time. More startling than that, however, is Pikemouth really clicking into gear. Brasic and Karigomu, the Cosumar Connection, dominate down the right flank and leave Clementine Raven’s defensive weaknesses thoroughly exposed. There isn’t much Winterfyll can do, and though Kezia O’Byrne manages a fleeting equaliser in the first half, the Royals fold in the second and ultimately lose by the same 4-1 scoreline.

With Lotus Park and North Hall, you know what you’re getting. Solid managers in Keane and Chenoweth who get their solid teams to play solid football, solidly. The unkind would put an extra ‘t’ between the s and o of all those adjectives, but in any case, discipline and power and stability. Right? Well, no, because the two sides play out an utterly mental eight goal thriller marked by a goalkeeping howler on each side, remarkable mutual inability to defend set pieces, Bryony Swanton conceding an own goal by making a decisive blind pass to the place Etxabeguren had been four seconds ago when last she’d looked and the remarkable sight of a long throw from Hourihane bouncing twice in the box before being glanced home by what seemed to be Victoria Brittain’s straining neck. The eventual winner, of course. “That was an aberration,” said an unimpressed Conrad Keane after the match. Meanwhile, a Rozelle derby is billed as a straight battle between Culbreth and Lilley, and while that’s moronic, it isn’t helped by the fact that the two players score all four goals. Culbreth’s hat-trick not only secures an important win for the Royals but, insanely, means she’s now scored thirteen goals from twelve games.

Unsurprisingly after that trainwreck, Lotus Park fans breathe a sigh of relief to see the steadfast Lucas d’Araby replace the erratic Glenn Murnane between the posts to face Falkner in the derby. The Schottic goalkeeper doesn’t disappoint, and is rock-solid as he helps Lotus Park keep a clean sheet, and at the other end Jeremiah Makasi scores just his fourth and fifth goals of a disappointing season thus far - both headers from superb Kella crosses. Meanwhile in Rozelle, Algirdis Mikaucis gets sent off again, for two brutal fouls. Not that it helps the cause - Scaffield are blown out 3-0 by United anyway, Charmine Beretti proving too hot for Ironclad rightback Horlock to handle.

A week of small results but remarkable occurences. For instance, Francisca Orient don’t lose. They don’t win, either - let’s not get carried away - but the long-suffering Greig Larsson gets the job done. Swanbridge look to seal the deal early against Rozelle United - first goals from Azedo and Lindstrom in the first 20 minutes and then, on the stroke of half-time, United midfielder Harper Conroy is sent off for a rash scything challenge on Courser. But they pull one back anyway with the last kick of the first half from Charmine Beretti’s moment of brilliance, equalise early in the second half when Jack Cranshaw gets on the end of Donachy’s corner and then, as the Swans stretch to reclaim the lead, Béâúñîä Añdìsörì scores her third of the season off the bench against a stretched Swanbridge. Zigor Zezena looks like a man on the end of his tether. The Stallions, meanwhile, crash and burn to a red-hot Pikemouth. The defence does alright on its own merits but the Stallions are just overmatched in midfield, and it shows badly - so the ball just keeps coming back onto them again and again, and the cracks finally split open in the second half. Pikemouth wins 3-0. “If we’re going to be fighting at the sharp end of the league,” Danielle Granger acidly told the press, “we’ll need to put an end to shite like that.”

The dress rehearsal for the final day round, and that’s ominous for Rosbank, Francisca, Star, Cross, Scaffield, Westpike and Swanbridge - each of the relegation battlers faces a UICA-chasing side and each is defeated. If it’s any consolation, they will, at least, all be at home. It’ll be almost no consolation for Gallant Cross, however - they’re another notch in the rising career of Brae Crowther, who scores the opener and lays on an assist, and of the Elena Culbreth experience, as the Cosumarite forward extends her lead at the top of the Golden Boot charts with a perfect hat-trick. She hadn’t scored in the past three matches - a veritable drought by her standards this season. As far as concerns at the top of the table go, Northern Stallions put up a real fight against Rozelle, twice equalising - but they matched moments of inspiration from Heher and Farrell with brute force, Fowler heading home a set piece and Madigan coolly converting a penalty won by Cronin. Yet again the substitute Riordan comes on and is lively, hitting the crossbar with a header in injury time… but the ball comes right back at the Stallions on the counterattack, and fiery Nepharim winger Tess Pell scores her first goal of the season when she bursts clear on the break and chips a stranded Merchant.

Pikemouth’s five consecutive wins come to a screeching halt as Rozelle United pick them apart on the counterattack in a game played at breakneck pace. Of the two sides’ mercurial wingers, Brasic goes missing somewhere inside Senterekoesima’s pocket while Beretti has a Midas touch for the 90 minutes, chalking up a goal and two assists. 3-0 might be a touch harsh, and Andrea Rohan makes some sharp saves to preserve her clean sheet, but on the whole United are just far too good. Scaffield - and specifically goalkeeper Coventry, who’s had a solidly six out of ten season - should be kicking themselves. They dominate the pitch against a hapless Francisca, Mikaucis doing his thing of crushing anyone who gets the ball as soon as they get it, and Nightjar Evans comes flying down the left to find her way onto the end of a rather speculative Capehart cross, rising up all her 5’2” in the air to snap ahead of a flat-footed Gideon Muller (6’4”) and head home across Larsson.

The true measure of a genuinely toothless side is when you let poor Zigor Zezena pick up his second clean sheet of the season. When was his first? In the reverse fixture. Francisca Orient have failed to score against the Swans in 180 minutes, and it’s almost more of a reason than the ‘they have one win from seventeen matches’ - Tiferet Ashbrown’s late winner just twists the knife. Meanwhile, the second Rozelle derby is a crowd-pleaser, with a scything pass from Donachy cutting open the Saints’ defence on the counter, Beretti streaking out ahead of the pack and slipping the ball past an outrushing Jonah Nkutu. But Nkutu makes a brilliant double save soon afterwards, first from Beretti and then Gardot trying to bundle in the rebound before an Alora Heher free kick is muscled home by Niko Szubanski. Rohan and Nkutu each make further saves but then at just the wrong time Daniel Radbury, big reliable centre-half, is presented with a big floaty cross from Baez, and heads it… well, glances it, really, towards the ground, where it bounces. Tevin Lilley doesn’t have much time with Cranshaw closing but, somehow, volleys it into the top corner past an incredulous Rohan. What a… an A-League way to finish.

Westpike United steal the show as they just… inexplicably, really, batter Kingsgrove 3-0. They got themselves very hyped up and just smashed past the Royals to every second ball and 50-50, with two goals from disciplined set pieces and a third from Griffin Ascroft’s penalty. Pikemouth are back to winning ways after simply dominating Lotus Park, with Emerald Sheehan orchestrating the match and Denarian, Rafferty and Lindbloom providing the finishing touches. At the bottom of the table, Scaffield hold out against Swanbridge and hit twice on the counter through, more or less, Claire Holden’s terrier-like ability to chase after seemingly lost causes and turn them into goals, while Rosbank finally get another win! Admittedly, it’s against Francisca Orient, at home. Admittedly, it’s 1-0. And admittedly the winning goal’s only scored in the 67th minute, but the sound of Culhane lofting the ball into danger and Redalen half-volleying it past a flat-footed Larsson is as sweet as anything, and Fiona Sylver looks like a woman reprieved of execution on the touchline. “I never lost hope,” she barks to the press. Sure, Fi, sure.

Kingsgrove stagger to a third successive loss, going toe-to-toe with Rozelle United in a game of rapidfire punch-and-counterpunch until, in injury time, Shanna Donachy pops up with a low, vicious shot that just has too much pace for Winterfyll and secures a valuable win that really, really opens up the title race. Rozelle don’t seize their chance, tripped up by Lotus Park thanks to Jess Curtin’s penalty and d’Araby’s clean sheet, but Pikemouth predictably make short work of Francisca and the Stallions break down their determined Rathian rivals. Gallant Cross miss a great chance to claw themselves away from the relegation zone - first Westpike’s journeyman midfielder Kelman is sent off after 35 minutes, then Casano around the hour, but Aidan Hartigan is in inspired form and can’t be beaten on the night. Indeed, even with nine men, the Pikemen find the last and best chance of the game and Caitriona McCabe strikes clear on the counter… but a slightly heavy touch allows an extremely grateful Suffolk to get on the end of it.

The top four all win to crest the 40-point mark. Kingsgrove, who could have fallen to fifth had they lost to North Hall, just had too much pace and guile for the Northerners and manage to keep at the top of the table, locked on points with Pikemouth who make heavy weather of taking down Scaffield but get the job done nonetheless through a late intervention from Mairin Wakefield. Rozelle are next, and it says a lot about Francisca Orient that Rozelle rested seven regular starters and still raced to a comfortable 3-1 win, while the Stallions edge Falkner 2-1. North Hall hold onto fifth, and even they’re just five points off top spot - but Westpike, Rozelle United, Marque (who have slumped badly after their fantastic early run, and have lost three from their last four) and Lotus Park are all sniffing at their heels with real hope of taking a top five spot.

Rosbank Town, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, win their third straight game after a convincing 2-0 win over Swanbridge. “We just needed to keep the faith, keep doing the right things - it was always going to click once we gave it the air to,” said manager Fiona Sylver piously. Gallant Cross, on the other hand, get pumped 4-0 by Rozelle United - they’re on a dreadful run of just two points from their past nine matches. It’s really remarkable that Francisca are even fucking worse. It looks, by this stage, at two from the bottom three of sieve-like Swanbridge, freefalling Cross and fucking dreadful Orient, as even the workmanlike Scaffield have a sort of baseline competence about them. There’s more certainty, at least, on who will replace the two luckless losers - in the second tier, Proudcastle are thirteen points clear of third and look all but certain to join the top tier for the first time next season.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              20  14  0   6  51  26  +25  42
  2 Pikemouth               20  13  3   4  35  17  +18  42
  3 Rozelle                 20  13  2   5  41  25  +16  41
  4 Northern Stallions      20  12  4   4  31  23   +8  40
  5 North Hall              20  12  1   7  31  21  +10  37
  6 Westpike United         20  10  5   5  30  23   +7  35
  7 Rozelle United          20  11  1   8  35  25  +10  34
  8 Marque                  20  10  3   7  41  28  +13  33
  9 Lotus Park              20   9  4   7  31  29   +2  31
 10 Falkner United          20   8  5   7  27  27   +0  29
 11 Southern Star           20   6  3  11  25  33   -8  21
 12 Rosbank Town            20   5  4  11  18  32  -14  19
 13 Scaffield               20   4  4  12  14  33  -19  16
 14 AFC Swanbridge          20   3  4  13  19  46  -27  13
 15 Gallant Cross           20   2  5  13  17  39  -22  11
 16 Francisca Orient        20   1  6  13  10  29  -19   9

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Proudcastle              20  15   3   2  32   9  +23  48
  2 Sharrow                  20  12   5   3  40  23  +17  41
  3 Chafford                 20  10   5   5  30  17  +13  35
  4 Snowden River            20  11   2   7  27  19   +8  35
  5 Guilder                  20   9   7   4  24  20   +4  34
  6 Swayback                 20   9   4   7  35  26   +9  31
  7 Southside Wanderers      20   9   4   7  20  16   +4  31
  8 Ridgeway United          20   6  12   2  18   9   +9  30
  9 Westpike                 20   9   1  10  27  20   +7  28
 10 Saint Alexander          20   6   5   9  16  23   -7  23
 11 Crest                    20   6   4  10  26  29   -3  22
 12 Mount Roland             20   5   7   8  19  23   -4  22
 13 Rushden                  20   5   3  12  20  42  -22  18
 14 Fentonbridge             20   4   5  11  17  30  -13  17
 15 Knightstone FC           20   4   5  11  19  33  -14  17
 16 Thrush                   20   4   0  16  12  43  -31  12

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Marque Rovers           20  16  1   3  49  22  +27  49
  2 Chrysler Town           20  15  2   3  47  22  +25  47
  3 Stourhead               20  14  3   3  39  16  +23  45
  4 Twin Saints             20  13  3   4  49  28  +21  42
  5 Rozelle Alliance        20  11  4   5  50  25  +25  37
  6 Northern Fist           20  10  3   7  55  39  +16  33
  7 Glassfields             20   8  6   6  32  31   +1  30
  8 Platwood                20   8  3   9  20  25   -5  27
  9 Shaleport Rangers       20   7  2  11  27  29   -2  23
 10 Alexavale FC            20   6  4  10  35  36   -1  22
 11 Falkner Wanderers       20   5  4  11  21  31  -10  19
 12 AFC Conomore            20   4  7   9  17  27  -10  19
 13 Dannecliff Rovers       20   5  4  11  28  40  -12  19
 14 Pride of the South      20   5  2  13  30  43  -13  17
 15 Dalgallen               20   3  4  13  18  49  -31  13
 16 Hammerton               20   3  2  15  13  67  -54  11

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Union           20  14  2   4  47  15  +32  44
  2 Spearcove Mariners       20  11  4   5  36  21  +15  37
  3 Heathgrove               20  11  4   5  29  18  +11  37
  4 Razorback Hill           20  10  5   5  30  26   +4  35
  5 Pikemouth United         20  10  3   7  27  20   +7  33
  6 Chafford Saracens        20  10  3   7  34  29   +5  33
  7 Coppersmith              20  10  3   7  31  26   +5  33
  8 Randwick Town            20   9  2   9  24  19   +5  29
  9 Falkner Crescent         20   8  5   7  28  27   +1  29
 10 Suttonstrand FC          20   7  5   8  24  23   +1  26
 11 Brackford Rovers         20   6  6   8  19  29  -10  24
 12 Southrons-Errant         20   4  8   8  32  34   -2  20
 13 Dale Athletic            20   6  2  12  35  55  -20  20
 14 AFC Goldshore            20   4  5  11  15  27  -12  17
 15 Pryde Wanderers          20   5  2  13  24  49  -25  17
 16 Steelrush Myrmidons      20   5  1  14  18  35  -17  16

by **Brenecia** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:17 pm

A lot of thrashings get handed out as the season hits the home stretch. Northern Stallions, who find themselves unexpectedly in the mixer, take advantage of this privileged position to bash Westpike United up. Griffin Riordan has probably muscled her way into the starting equation by now but even so Thorn Cronin gets a goal coming off the bench, and there’s more than enough to go around - five, in all, unanswered. Lotus Park go to Kingsgrove confident that they’ll hold out, and instead concede six goals. An interesting strategy, it doesn’t work out for them. Meanwhile, in the Marque derby, Francisca Orient not only take an early lead through Odin Breckinridge and then, bizarrely, hold onto it. Marque’s habit of shooting straight at Greig Larsson probably has something to do with that. It’s Orient’s second win of the season.

Zanak Ankorsson makes the difference in the B-League clash as a painfully dull match between Saint Alexander and Southside ends with a goal of the season contender as Ankorsson curls a ball beautifully from 30 yards. Becki Haggard almost, almost gets there, fingertips brushing against the strike as it slams into the stanchion. Orient are on a hot streak. They’ve now scored three goals in their last three games. Swanbridge, however, level late on through Tiferet Ashbrown in injury time, converting from a narrow angle past Larsson’s near post. Falkner and the Stallions grind out an uncharacteristic scoreless draw while the 34-year old Orlando Sarasua, of all people, makes the difference late on for the Black Swans with a thumping half-volley past Ferrant.

Fun times with maths in Rozelle! United beat the Stallions 2-0 thanks to, essentially, midfield dominance. Kingsgrove, thanks again in large part to the increasingly disgusting form of Elena Culbreth (who nets her 19th and 20th goals of the season), conquer an unusually tough Orient with four goals. Or, at least, unusually punchy. Rozelle? The Saints themselves? Yeah, they put eight unanswered goals past a miserable-looking Zigor Zezena, who’s too old for this shit. 20-year old centre-back Mark Chenery had been trialled a few times and started this match. It did not work out well for him. “It was one of those matches,” says a shellshocked Aisha Salthouse after the fact. Yeah, that’s one way to put it - especially as a bracing win for Gallant Cross overtakes them on goal difference and sees the Gallants reach safety. It had, before this, been quite a small difference...

The second leg of the B-League clash is everything the first wasn’t. Mostly, it was good value. Southside just aim to sit back and take it, but Hadley Slater disagrees, hurtling past Guinness and firing low and hard past Armstrong for the opener, and forces the Wanderers to fight back. This, they do. First aging captain Rowena Gowan unluckily diverts Kaci Messer’s cross into her own net before Cameron Bennett charges down a clearance from the luckless Gowan and passes across for Judith Prutton to finish and put her side 2-1 ahead on the stroke of half-time. The Saints fight back hard to dominate the second half, Cherith Torrell flicks a header into the top corner in the dying minutes of the game, and Edgebaston forces a brilliant save from Armstrong, but it’s not enough to deny the Wanderers a semifinal berth. This makes up, neatly, for the other matches being pretty terrible - a few hilarious defensive errors from Swanbridge aside. You’d probably mark the Wanderers as favourites to beat Orient.

Swanbridge recover, which is to say they almost don’t lose against Marque. They do, however, lose against Marque. Gallant Cross can really put some distance between themselves and the Swans with a win over Orient. They do not, however, beat Orient - Greig Larsson more or less stonewalls them, but it’s also a steady defensive effort that Cross’ lacklustre forwards can’t break down. Esmeralda Suffolk makes two impressive saves one-on-one with Matias Azedo to at least give the hosts a point. At the top of the table, Kingsgrove smash Scaffield. It’s their fourth straight win, Scaffield’s fifth straight loss, and never even remotely looked in doubt.

Ohhh, dear. Well. First up, Westpike United are pegged back by North Hall who just smash through them, finding themselves another victim of Aelfwynn Bannion’s exceptional run of form in the second half of the season. Rozelle beat Pikemouth with a 90th-minute equaliser and a 92nd-minute winner as a 10-man Pikemouth just falls asleep at the wheel - a rare goalkeeping howler from Waterdown for the first goal, as Connell’s shot slips horribly under her arm, twists the knife, while flying Nepharim winger Tess Pell pretty much just sprints the second into the net. Gallant Cross choke a second six-pointer in a row, Daniel Salinger missing from injury, Keith Baeza missing a penalty in his absence and Esmeralda Suffolk missing the trajectory of Nightjar Evan’s shot through her near post. Scaffield breathe a sigh of relief, distancing themselves from danger after a dismal run of form. You know who isn’t free from danger? Swanbridge. Swanbridge do score through Marc Lindstrom. Shame it’s 8-1 by then. Culbreth left after 55 minutes, having completed her hat-trick, while goals from Branch, Evans (twice), Brand, Sinde, Stenberg and Montrose seal the deal for the Royals. Ten fucking one. Jesus Christ.

Not a lot to talk about - this particular Cup saw all the good sides peel away early doors. The Stallions excepted, granted - they edge past the Black Swans through a goal from Dallas Keighran, but they’re playing with a second-string as they chase a Champions’ Cup spot. The Southside Wanderers are unexpectedly tame and get beaten down by a furious Orient, who continue to stubbornly refuse to play like they are in the league in the Cup. Maybe they think it’ll be like before the merger with Mareibat, where Cup winners Westpike got reprieved from relegation and became one of the twelve sides to stay in the top flight? Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work that way anymore.

Salthouse shunts most of her defence into a cell somewhere and throws the key away. It’s a return for Peter Lorne, their nominal number 1, who helped them to promotion. Peter Lorne, it turns out, is a very bad goalkeeper, and fails to make a single save as Gallant Cross smash through them. Berdesagar, Baeza, Salinger and the substitute Ashling Moore do the damage, and a second 1-0 away win in a row for Scaffield through Claire Holden’s flicked header puts a lot of distance between the Swans and safety. Oh, and it’s a formality, but Orient lose too - and Kingsgrove win again as the sides behind them trip over one another to drop points. It’s now a trial by fire for Kingsgrove - beat Pikemouth and Rozelle in the next two matches, and they’ve probably got the title sewn up. But that is such a big if...

Orient bizarrely smash past the Wanderers. Connie Garrard, who has one league goal to her name from twenty-two appearances, scores a hat-trick. The Stallions rotate a bunch of players again but hold out against a limp Rosbank attack, Galen Shea with a rare goal in the 59th minute to basically kill the game.

Kingsgrove rock up to Pikemouth dressed to kill… and within eighteen seconds, Amani Chimbonda, the most expensive non-Union signing in A-League history, fucks up a pass straight to Rafferty, who cuts along for Katrina Brasic to score. That isn’t great. But Kingsgrove recover, with O’Byrne scoring a peach of a free kick and then Esther Rohan, trusted more in a physical, high-pressure game, turns Brunswick Green inside out before lashing the ball against Waterdown’s near post. Culbreth goes for the rebound, but it’s cleared… only as far as O’Byrne, who rifles it into the net before Waterdown can get across. But in the 86th minute, with Kingsgrove cruising with 62% possession, Pikemouth rally and thanks to Sheehan’s long ball and a brilliant chip from Denarian, catches both the Kingsgrove defence and, uncharacteristically, Jakk Winterfyll, off-guard. Helpfully for Kingsgrove, though, local rivals Rozelle manage to haemorrhage goals as Jonah Nkutu picks a really bad time to save one of five shots on target. Rozelle, by contrast, bombard Marque but get far less luck or, for that matter, accuracy. Which still involves scoring three, just, that isn’t enough to avoid slipping behind. At the bottom of the table, Swanbridge and Francisca both pick up points - but Gallant Cross have flicked a switch somewhere, and trash Rosbank. It’s looking like a foregone conclusion by now, unless Francisca can learn to score goals or Swanbridge can stop conceding them.

The decisive matchday. It doesn’t initially pan out that way, until Gallant Cross puts a final nail in the Swans’/Jacks’ coffins by engineering a hard-fought 1-0 win over Pikemouth as Valentijn Munson, who has often struggled with the A-League’s physicality, breaks free in the 83rd minute to find Daniel Salinger’s through-ball and slips it past Jess Waterdown. Kingsgrove, then, need only kill off Rozelle. Away. That isn’t easy, and Rozelle draw first blood from Matilda Farrell but when Kezia O’Byrne equalises six minutes later you just get the sense it’s Happening for the Royals. And so it unfolds - in the second half, Elena Culbreth nets a brace to yet again drag the Royals forward. Kingsgrove lead by nine points, with nine left to play for… but their goal difference advantage, padded out by that 10-1 trashing of Swanbridge (who the Stallions crush 4-1, debutant goalkeeper Taurus Rhind facing a baptism of fire), is nearly insurmountable.

Rozelle smash Gallant Cross 3-0, Pikemouth break Southern Star 4-0… but all Kingsgrove need is anything, any single point, from the next three games. They get it at the first time of asking. Esther Tavistock does actually score the first with a neat, swaying backheel past Winterfyll, but young firebrand Brae Crowther secures the Royals’ victory with a dashing diagonal run to get on the end of Line Stenberg’s incisive through-ball, one that finally cuts Marque’s stubborn defence apart. Kingsgrove are the first champions after the Union Event - what else matters right now?

Kingsgrove enjoy their privilege at the top, putting out a very young side that battles to a 3-3 draw with Falkner United. Isidra Corvey, 19 and highly promising, scores twice from the left-wing with Avery Goddard opening his account for the season for the equaliser as Elena Culbreth is rested for the first time all season, top scorer status basically secure. Pikemouth choke again, outmuscled by the Stallions to actually bounce outside the top 5 - Rozelle beat Southern Star comfortably to find themselves second, ahead of the Stallions on goal difference, while easy wins for Hall and Rozelle United ensure they’re in the Globe Cup places as well. At the bottom of the table, God only knows when resistable force Francisca and movable object Swanbridge actually mathematically got relegated. In Orient’s case, it was probably around the start of the season. But not even Marque slamming Gallant Cross 8-1 changes the paradigm at the bottom. Proudcastle and Sharrow, it is now confirmed, will be replacing them.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              29  20   3   6  85  38  +47  63
  2 Rozelle                 29  18   4   7  66  36  +30  58
  3 Northern Stallions      29  18   4   7  46  30  +16  58
  4 North Hall              29  18   2   9  45  25  +20  56
  5 Rozelle United          29  17   2  10  50  28  +22  53
  6 Pikemouth               29  15   6   8  48  31  +17  51
  7 Marque                  29  15   5   9  62  39  +23  50
  8 Westpike United         29  12   9   8  40  40   +0  45
  9 Lotus Park              29  11   7  11  39  45   -6  40
 10 Falkner United          29   8  12   9  36  41   -5  36
 11 Southern Star           29   9   5  15  32  45  -13  32
 12 Rosbank Town            29   7   8  14  29  44  -15  29
 13 Scaffield               29   7   4  18  21  50  -29  25
 14 Gallant Cross           29   6   6  17  30  55  -25  24
 15 AFC Swanbridge          29   3   7  19  27  83  -56  16
 16 Francisca Orient        29   2   8  19  14  40  -26  14

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Proudcastle              29  23   3   3  46  14  +32  72
  2 Sharrow                  29  19   7   3  66  37  +29  64
  3 Chafford                 29  17   5   7  50  21  +29  56
  4 Southside Wanderers      29  14   6   9  33  22  +11  48
  5 Snowden River            29  14   5  10  41  29  +12  47
  6 Ridgeway United          29  11  13   5  25  15  +10  46
  7 Westpike                 29  14   3  12  43  27  +16  45
  8 Swayback                 29  13   5  11  52  37  +15  44
  9 Guilder                  29  10   9  10  27  30   -3  39
 10 Saint Alexander          29  10   6  13  26  33   -7  36
 11 Crest                    29  10   4  15  36  44   -8  34
 12 Mount Roland             29   7   8  14  23  32   -9  29
 13 Fentonbridge             29   7   7  15  26  46  -20  28
 14 Knightstone FC           29   6   7  16  28  53  -25  25
 15 Rushden                  29   6   4  19  25  57  -32  22
 16 Thrush                   29   5   0  24  19  69  -50  15

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Marque Rovers           29  21  2   6  70  36  +34  65
  2 Chrysler Town           29  20  5   4  68  34  +34  65
  3 Twin Saints             29  20  4   5  76  34  +42  64
  4 Stourhead               29  17  7   5  48  24  +24  58
  5 Rozelle Alliance        29  16  5   8  66  31  +35  53
  6 Northern Fist           29  16  4   9  78  50  +28  52
  7 Glassfields             29  12  9   8  43  40   +3  45
  8 Platwood                29  11  4  14  28  37   -9  37
  9 Pride of the South      29  10  4  15  49  55   -6  34
 10 Falkner Wanderers       29   9  6  14  30  38   -8  33
 11 Alexavale FC            29   8  6  15  50  61  -11  30
 12 Dannecliff Rovers       29   7  8  14  35  55  -20  29
 13 Shaleport Rangers       29   8  3  18  35  46  -11  27
 14 AFC Conomore            29   5 10  14  26  45  -19  25
 15 Dalgallen               29   6  5  18  29  75  -46  23
 16 Hammerton               29   3  4  22  18  88  -70  13

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Spearcove Mariners       29  17  5   7  57  31  +26  56
  2 Northern Union           29  17  4   8  61  23  +38  55
  3 Heathgrove               29  16  6   7  41  24  +17  54
  4 Razorback Hill           29  15  7   7  48  34  +14  52
  5 Coppersmith              29  15  6   8  52  34  +18  51
  6 Pikemouth United         29  14  7   8  38  28  +10  49
  7 Chafford Saracens        29  14  4  11  46  43   +3  46
  8 Randwick Town            29  12  6  11  38  30   +8  42
  9 Falkner Crescent         29  11  8  10  41  41   +0  41
 10 Suttonstrand FC          29  10  7  12  33  37   -4  37
 11 Southrons-Errant         29   8  9  12  46  47   -1  33
 12 Steelrush Myrmidons      29   8  4  17  29  52  -23  28
 13 Brackford Rovers         29   6  9  14  26  54  -28  27
 14 Dale Athletic            29   7  5  17  42  71  -29  26
 15 Pryde Wanderers          29   7  5  17  36  67  -31  26
 16 AFC Goldshore            29   6  6  17  22  40  -18  24

by **Brenecia** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 5:08 pm

A-LEAGUE FINAL RESULTS
Francisca Orient 1-2 Falkner United
Gallant Cross 0-1 Kingsgrove
Scaffield 0-1 Lotus Park
Southern Star 1-2 Marque
AFC Swanbridge 0-3 North Hall
Northern Stallions 2-1 Rozelle
Rosbank Town 4-3 Rozelle United
Westpike United 2-1 Pikemouth

No real fanfare in the A-League, with everything basically sorted out in time. Kingsgrove underline their title with a comfortable win over Gallant Cross, with Elena Culbreth’s stooping header her 26th goal of the season. Second plays third for the Champions’ Cup spot, and it’s the Stallions that win out - Alora Heher opens the scoring, though Merchant should probably have saved it, but it’s rendered irrelevant by Faolain Madigan’s unerring strike into the stanchions from 30 yards before a wild passing move somehow sees leftback Corryn Tallant as the furthest man forward. Mona Gentile feeds him and he hacks the ball past Nkutu regardless for his first A-League goal. Rozelle United and Pikemouth both choke to let Marque, who had stumbled after their amazing start to the season, steal ahead of both of them with a narrow win over Southern Star.

B-LEAGUE FINAL RESULTS
Chafford 0-2 Snowden River
Knightstone FC 1-1 Ridgeway United
Rushden 1-3 Proudcastle
Fentonbridge 1-0 Thrush
Southside Wanderers 1-2 Swayback
Crest 0-2 Westpike
Sharrow 0-3 Saint Alexander
Guilder 1-0 Mount Roland

The B-League was all settled, with Proudcastle champions, Sharrow second, Rushden and Thrush going down… unless Rushden could hammer Proudcastle. They lost 3-1, and Knightstone managed a draw anyway to make it irrelevant.

C-LEAGUE FINAL RESULTS
Stourhead 1-1 Hammerton
AFC Conomore 1-1 Glassfields
Shaleport Rangers 0-1 Falkner Wanderers
Alexavale FC 0-2 Dannecliff Rovers
Pride of the South 3-0 Twin Saints
Rozelle Alliance 1-2 Platwood
Chrysler Town 3-3 Marque Rovers
Dalgallen 1-1 Northern Fist

The top two - Marque Rovers and Chrysler Town - play one another on the final matchday, blazing one another down to an exhilarating 3-3 draw. Twin Saints, a point behind, have a chance to overtake them both and win the title… but instead lose 3-0 to midtable Pride of the South. Marque Rovers win the league, then, on… goals scored, by two. Conomore ensure their safety by drawing Glassfields, and Dalgallen can’t capitalise in any case, going down with Hammerton.

D-LEAGUE FINAL RESULTS
Pryde Wanderers 2-6 Suttonstrand FC
Brackford Rovers 2-3 Pikemouth United
Southrons-Errant 0-1 Northern Union
Steelrush Myrmidons 2-3 Spearcove Mariners
Randwick Town 0-1 Heathgrove
Falkner Crescent 3-0 Dale Athletic
Coppersmith 1-0 AFC Goldshore
Chafford Saracens 2-1 Razorback Hill
Still all up for grabs in the fourth tier, but it all ends up as it started. Goldshore and Pryde squander their chance to escape the drop with defeats, while Dale and Brackford, who would’ve been in danger, lose themselves. Spearcove win a blistering end-to-end 3-2 to steal back the trophy from Union, who only beat Southrons-Errant through some dubious officiating… and had they not managed it, Heathgrove would’ve overtaken them. Another season in the fourth tier would surely have been unacceptable - not winning it at a canter was bad enough for the fans and board.

CUP FINAL
Francisca are fucking terrible and have been resting their best players in anticipation of this match, but their best is smashed like a cockroach by Granger’s rampant Stallions. Griffin Riordan smashes home a first-half hat-trick, and despite a Lucas Cabral penalty making the scores a little more palatable, Mona Gentile twists the knife on the stroke of half-time. 4-1 at half-time, but thanks largely to Greig Larsson between the posts, the score doesn’t get worse - the substitute Priscilla Maitland strokes home her first goal of the season in any competition to add at least a bit of gloss to the scoreline. But make no mistake - this isn’t Orient’s season. This is the Stallions’.

Francisca Orient 2 - 4 Northern Stallions

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              30  21   3   6  86  38  +48  66
  2 Northern Stallions      30  19   4   7  48  31  +17  61
  3 North Hall              30  19   2   9  48  25  +23  59
  4 Rozelle                 30  18   4   8  67  38  +29  58
  5 Marque                  30  16   5   9  64  40  +24  53
  6 Rozelle United          30  17   2  11  53  32  +21  53
  7 Pikemouth               30  15   6   9  49  33  +16  51
  8 Westpike United         30  13   9   8  42  41   +1  48
  9 Lotus Park              30  12   7  11  40  45   -5  43
 10 Falkner United          30   9  12   9  38  42   -4  39
 11 Rosbank Town            30   8   8  14  33  47  -14  32
 12 Southern Star           30   9   5  16  33  47  -14  32
 13 Scaffield               30   7   4  19  21  51  -30  25
 14 Gallant Cross           30   6   6  18  30  56  -26  24
 15 AFC Swanbridge          30   3   7  20  27  86  -59  16
 16 Francisca Orient        30   2   8  20  15  42  -27  14

AWARDS
Golden Boot (Goals Scored): Elena Culbreth (KNG) - 26
Golden Ball (Player of the Year): Elena Culbreth (KNG)
Golden Fist (New Player of the Year): Elena Culbreth (KNG)
Golden Heart (U-21 Player of the Year): Catsidhe Alweather (MAR)
Team of the Year: Winterfyll (KNG); Festa (NTS), Cranshaw (ROU), Farina (NTH), Siddique (ROZ); Heher (ROZ), Alweather (MAR), Madigan (NTS); Harper (MAR), Culbreth (KNG), Branch (KNG)
Manager of the Year: Danielle Granger (NTS)

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Proudcastle              30  24   3   3  49  15  +34  75
  2 Sharrow                  30  19   7   4  66  40  +26  64
  3 Chafford                 30  17   5   8  50  23  +27  56
  4 Snowden River            30  15   5  10  43  29  +14  50
  5 Westpike                 30  15   3  12  45  27  +18  48
  6 Southside Wanderers      30  14   6  10  34  24  +10  48
  7 Swayback                 30  14   5  11  54  38  +16  47
  8 Ridgeway United          30  11  14   5  26  16  +10  47
  9 Guilder                  30  11   9  10  28  30   -2  42
 10 Saint Alexander          30  11   6  13  29  33   -4  39
 11 Crest                    30  10   4  16  36  46  -10  34
 12 Fentonbridge             30   8   7  15  27  46  -19  31
 13 Mount Roland             30   7   8  15  23  33  -10  29
 14 Knightstone FC           30   6   8  16  29  54  -25  26
 15 Rushden                  30   6   4  20  26  60  -34  22
 16 Thrush                   30   5   0  25  19  70  -51  15

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Marque Rovers           30  21   3   6  73  39  +34  66
  2 Chrysler Town           30  20   6   4  71  37  +34  66
  3 Twin Saints             30  20   4   6  76  37  +39  64
  4 Stourhead               30  17   8   5  49  25  +24  59
  5 Rozelle Alliance        30  16   5   9  67  33  +34  53
  6 Northern Fist           30  16   5   9  79  51  +28  53
  7 Glassfields             30  12  10   8  44  41   +3  46
  8 Platwood                30  12   4  14  30  38   -8  40
  9 Pride of the South      30  11   4  15  52  55   -3  37
 10 Falkner Wanderers       30  10   6  14  31  38   -7  36
 11 Dannecliff Rovers       30   8   8  14  37  55  -18  32
 12 Alexavale FC            30   8   6  16  50  63  -13  30
 13 Shaleport Rangers       30   8   3  19  35  47  -12  27
 14 AFC Conomore            30   5  11  14  27  46  -19  26
 15 Dalgallen               30   6   6  18  30  76  -46  24
 16 Hammerton               30   3   5  22  19  89  -70  14

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Spearcove Mariners       30  18  5   7  60  33  +27  59
  2 Northern Union           30  18  4   8  62  23  +39  58
  3 Heathgrove               30  17  6   7  42  24  +18  57
  4 Coppersmith              30  16  6   8  53  34  +19  54
  5 Razorback Hill           30  15  7   8  49  36  +13  52
  6 Pikemouth United         30  15  7   8  41  30  +11  52
  7 Chafford Saracens        30  15  4  11  48  44   +4  49
  8 Falkner Crescent         30  12  8  10  44  41   +3  44
  9 Randwick Town            30  12  6  12  38  31   +7  42
 10 Suttonstrand FC          30  11  7  12  39  39   +0  40
 11 Southrons-Errant         30   8  9  13  46  48   -2  33
 12 Steelrush Myrmidons      30   8  4  18  31  55  -24  28
 13 Brackford Rovers         30   6  9  15  28  57  -29  27
 14 Dale Athletic            30   7  5  18  42  74  -32  26
 15 Pryde Wanderers          30   7  5  18  38  73  -35  26
 16 AFC Goldshore            30   6  6  18  22  41  -19  24

by **Brenecia** » Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:31 pm

A-LEAGUE CYCLE 68 PREVIEW

by **Brenecia** » Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:32 pm

by **Brenecia** » Sun Nov 12, 2017 10:38 pm

And the season kicks off! And… goddamn, Marque are mad about going out of the Globe Cup early, and they take out their frustrations on a miserable Scaffield side. They’re meant to be a good defensive side at least but pretty much all of them have abject nightmares, Bonnie Coventry stands like a statue on her line, Barry Horlock expertly lofts a header into his own net… yeah, it’s ugly. But cathartic, for the Privateers. In the Rooks’ first top-flight match, Daniel Snowden understandably sets them up to defend hard and uncompromising when travelling to Kingsgrove. It almost works, but the pressure eventually tells as Kezia O’Byrne’s 76th-minute strike squirrels underneath the unfortunate Cevenni. Pikemouth, too, have a statement of intent to make, and run absolute roughshod over Westpike United as Katrina Brasic tapdances on Casano’s head all game, notching up two goals and two assists. “Hopefully she can keep that form up across the season,” Bethany Donnell tells the press pointedly after the match.

Proudcastle now host the Hunters, aiming to earn their first A-League points. An early setback, as Fyrcynn Gerfalcon rattles a shot off the inside of both posts before it nestles into the net within two minutes, and in the tenth minute an unsettled Proudcastle give away a careless penalty when Rosewaters sticks out an arm to block Capricorn’s shot. Russell… rattles the crossbar with the penalty, then Rohan’s attempt to pounce on the rebound is snaffled by a grateful Cevenni before, late in the first half, Conan Hawkine levels with a flying header. Snowden’s men hold out valiantly to secure an important draw. Marque continue their flying early form, trashing the Stallions 4-0 away in a result that comes from nowhere but has its roots in some shaky goalkeeping from Bram Merchant. Still, all credit to the Privateers - and especially Malia Polandre, making an early impact in the A-League. Meanwhile, Sharrow fight back bravely against an early two-goal Gallant Cross lead, Cantor hits a post and Eloise Namara does hit one back on the edge of half-time, but Cross hold out. Tailtiu Brennan reacts by… resigning, two days later, making cryptic but worrying sounds about ‘not feeling as though the board’s support was there’ and ‘uncertain about the club’s finances’. Oof.

Sharrow don’t get a new manager in in time for the Cup tie, and up steps assistant manager Aaron Collins to take over in time with a very young squad. “I find myself very much auditioning for the role full-time,” Collins boasts, and then watches in horror as Falkner United crushes them 9-0 on home soil. The scoreline is, in fairness, mirrored in the north of the country as North Hall annihilate Steelrush Myrmidons, while Pikemouth crash through lowly Rushden 10-0 and Northern Stallions trash Heathgrove 7-1 away - but those sides are, at least, semi-professional. Corynn Turati, in the process, sets a Cup record with six goals against the Myrmidons - and she’s not even a first-choice striker for Hall! Northern Union are bullish about attaining Cup glory but it’s put on hold as AFC Swanbridge’s Matias Azedo, Marc Lindstrom and Sentinel Collins put them down 3-0. Scalp of the round? Middling third-tier Dannecliff Rovers take the fight to a flat-footed Rozelle, notching up an early two-goal lead. In the second half, the Rovers tire out and Rex Coyle and young leftback Felix Millar pull the Saints level, and the pattern looks set to continue in extra time… until Dannecliff winger Martin Howard snaps onto a loose Millar pass and then just sort of runs past… everyone, before toebashing it past a charging Chris Byrnford in goal. The best value has to be in Marque, as Eloise Lingard’s on-form Privateers come from behind to take out Kingsgrove 3-2. There’s an interesting rural south derby on offer, as well - when South Rathia stopped being South Rathia and became Southern Star, it meant focusing less on the region (which they’d occasionally tour around) and more on the large town of Randwick itself. Southron-Errants, a splinter club formed to replace the spirit of old South Rathia with ambitions of reaching the A-League, defiantly come to visit and put up a good show. Sadly for the narrative, the D-League promotion favourites are just slower and less technical, and despite holding a 1-1 scoreline into the hour mark they collapse late on and lose 4-1 to a Kara Ciogach hat-trick. They’ve certainly done themselves credit, though.

Former Southern Star manager Phoebe Osbourne takes over at Sharrow, just in time to host her former club. Julian Conrad quickly puts Star ahead but Jayson Herrera levels, pulling the ball back across Arbroath with a freestyler’s flair before lashing in a shot deflected off Atha Troy’s calf that wrongfoots a helpless Ferrant. Osbourne, a weary and dreary manager by the end of her long spell with the Lions, looks slimmer, healthier and generally revitalised after a year away from the game… right until Jorm Vahn, quiet all game, links up with a low Catterail cutback and backheels it past a stranded Drummond for a late winner. A frustrating night for Nikita Loeher, as the Saints’ marquee striker fails to make her mark in the minor Rozelle derby (though they hate that name) - she should have a couple of goals, but misses from five yards and aims a free header straight at a grateful Rohan. It’s a dull game, that aside, and Rozelle can’t find a way through with a 0-0 draw seemingly inevitable. The Stallions pick themselves right back up after their failure against Marque, outmuscling Kingsgrove - yes, another Bram Merchant error sees him beaten at his near post by the irrepressible Brae Crowther but in Griffin Riordan they’ve got their own young, fiery Patriot, and she proves lethal in front of goal. One goal and, through a flicked header, an assist for the clinical Carsten Vincent sees their way to a 2-1 away win. Marque are just starting to dial down their freakish early intensity, and restrict themselves to a comfortable 2-0 cruise past Westpike United, but they’re still setting the pace at the moment with twelve unanswered goals in three league matches.

The Stallions take a strong side to Chromatika, but they’re outfoxed by Orcas playmaker Elizabeth Addison, who rifles one goal in low past Merchant before orchestrating a lovely assist for young marksman Olimpia Vidal. It’s an end-to-end affair in the second half and quite the surprise, aided by good saves from both goalkeepers, that the score isn’t ramped up further. “We put three past Bastion and Ulsa at home,” says a bullish Griffin Riordan, who missed a couple of good chances. “We’ll do the same again.”

Twelve minutes into their visit to Rozelle United, Marque concede their first goal of the season, Charmine Beretti weaving her way through Glamorgan and slotting the ball low past Bannatyne. It doesn’t last, as Marque stream forward for their equaliser and get it just four minutes later, Kelly Harper lashing home a vicious half-volley that leaves Rohan motionless. And they keep charging forward, keep looking to go ahead… playing exactly into United’s hands, and Martinelli breaks up an attack before lofting the ball over for Beretti and suddenly it’s 3 v 3 at Marque’s back. Beretti, though, ignores the other two and just scores her second all on her own, dancing by Brander and slipping the ball across Bannatyne. The Privateers keep chasing the result, but Beretti’s corner is met by Jack Cranshaw’s head to secure the three points for Cillian Najdorf’s lads. The Saints face a tough trip to North Hall. The sort of place where you need to make the most of your chances, because you aren’t going to get many, and oh, look at that, Hall are ahead 35 minutes in through Raven Cashin’s grass-cutter, and Lingard’s not actually playing Loeher, letting the Nepharim international stew on the bench before unleashing her like a coiled spring 55 minutes in. The effect is immediate - just three minutes later, she’s more or less bullied Blackwood into coughing up the ball, bore down on goal before hammering her first A-League goal past Etxabeguren. Six minutes later, she doubles her money with a graceful flicked header from an impeccable Farrell cross, and Rozelle take home the three points. Lotus Park, meanwhile, are simply left for dead by a Pikemouth side attacking with style and grace, as Emerald Sheehan rolls back the clock to dominate the affair with three assists - Denarian, Rafferty and marauding rightback Karigomu getting the goals in a convincing 3-0 win.

Given the open draw that just throws all 64 national teams in at once, the second round always looks so much clearer than the first. Three scalps already, remember, and four more join them - Gallant Cross lose to Francisca Orient on penalties after a dreary 1-1 draw, Scaffield get outplayed by Lotus Park, the well-rotated Stallions come off worse in a flurry of three extra-time goals that electrify another dire match while Chris Bestler appears to punch home Guilder’s extra time winner against Westpike United. It wasn’t picked up, though, and the Pikemen are out too. Southern Star are improbably set against Alexavale, another jilted town in the old catchment, and put them down 4-1 as well, Ciogach notching up another two goals. Turati, who heads home the winner against a resilient Westpike, remains the tournament’s top scorer for the time being. Dannecliff, conquerers of Rozelle, tragically can’t account for lowly (though still, relatively, higher) Platwood - they score three in the first hour, concede three in the next half-hour, both sides look too exhausted to really compete in extra time but the Rovers’ terrible penalties knock them out. Meanwhile, Swanbridge get flashbacks to last season as Rozelle United rip them to shreds on the counterattack, winning 5-0 in the end.

The Stallions do not get the promised three goals at home. Hell, they don’t even get the one at home, as Lhor comes in hoping to suffocate the Stallions and manages to do exactly that.

Marque are pegged back again, this time simply outmuscled by a vigorous North Hall. Farquhar smashes home her first goal for her hometown club and minutes later puts her studs through Polandre to set the tone for the match, and Brittain doubles the Northerners’ advantage soon afterwards. Flahavan restores hope, before Brittain’s second destroys it. Falkner United host Southern Star and it is very much one of those days for the Lions, as Esther Rohan bolds and underlines her value to Falkner’s front line, ripping Glavan’s career to shreds to the point where she’s pulled off at half-time in favour of throwing in… a 34-year old Neilson out of position at leftback. It sort of works, but only enough to turn 3-0 at half-time into 4-1 after 90 minutes. Kingsgrove have endured a shaky start to the season, but they look back to their best as they breeze past Rozelle United 2-0. Nobody’s reading too much into that, right? “The title is ours to lose,” crows Amani Chimbonda after an admittedly flawless Man of the Match performance. Sssso… nevermind that.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Bonnie Coventry managed the most saves in the league last season, without ever looking brilliant - she’s been dropped now for Jason Veart, who manages a few sprawling saves to keep the score down. But well-placed shots into the bottom corner from marksman Caitriona McCabe leave him without a chance, and despite a late consolation from Nightjar Evans it’s yet another defeat for Scaffield. Sharrow are surprisingly not pumped by Rozelleb but they, too, lose. It’s a good thing eyes are on the actual good football this round, and there’s plenty to be getting on with. Marque get back into their early form by annihilating Lotus Park, a 4-0 win giving Tony Uist a scarcely credible eight goals to open the season. Hall face off against Kingsgrove but they’re simply overrun in midfield, with Line Stenberg’s endeavour, pace and ambition swinging the pendulum in the Royals’ favour to the tune of a 3-1 away win. Pikemouth race to a 3-1 lead over a shellshocked Gallant Cross but then a senseless crushing challenge from Pavic puts Baeza out of commission and pulls a red card from the referee’s pocket. In the second half, Cross turn the tide and some tidy finishing seals a massive 4-3 win away.

Rotated squads ease to victory against more obscure Esportivan sides. Isidra Corvey especially catches the eye for Kingsgrove, with two goals and an assist to her name.

Kara Ciogach is trusted with a start against a Pikemouth side still reeling from their glass-jaw antics last week, and after carving through semi-pros in the Cup she takes to the league like a duck with a hot knife to buttery water. Two crisp finishes are enough to make the difference against a Pikemouth side that struggles to convert their chances. Other teenagers impressing - Kingsgrove wingers Crowther and Corvey are both unleashed against Roisin Fairbairn and the 33-year old Jorn Ombudsman, with rock-solid international rightback Brun Carrack wincing in the stands as Lotus Park are shredded 5-1. And, in a rather derisive sign of the status pointless Sharrow occupy in the league, Marque let their C-listers at them. Lenka Skarsgaard is too old to start regularly but she chalks up a nice little partnership with 18-year old Solstice Cronin, making her first senior start, and links up for an assist and a goal apiece as the Privateers glide to a 3-0 win.

The Stallions show the weakness of their depth as their second string crashes and burns against a resilient, disciplined Phoenixux. Still, they were never going to lose by the 3-0 required. Kingsgrove, also rotating heavily, put down Venividicci with ease.

Two late heartbreakers this week - North Hall finally get past Jason Veart in the 89th minute when Galahad Blackwood forces home a corner, while Kingsgrove rely on a thumping strike from Line Stenberg to take them past a Sharrow side lucky to still be in the game. It means that both Scaffield and Sharrow are stranded on the bottom of the table with No, Zero, points. Rosbank, as the fears were in preseason, are simply overrun in midfield by a rampant Pikemouth, who have sputtered in a stop-start beginning to the season - this 4-0 win, at least, is hopefully cathartic.

  Group C                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   HdU  RCU  LxV  Kgr
1 Handon United             SCT    6    5   0   1    13    6   +7    15    —   1–2  3–0  3–2
2 Raynor City United        VAL    6    2   2   2     6    6    0     8   1–2   —   1–0  1–1
3 Lexington Victory         NGD    6    1   2   3     2    7   −5     5*  0–2  0–0   —   1–1
4 Kingsgrove                BRE    6    1   2   3     7    9   −2     5*  1–2  2–1  0–1   — 
* Lexington Victory ahead of Kingsgrove on head-to-head points

  Group G                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   MSr  SfM  DMa  NSt
1 Mar Sara FC               VAL    6    5   1   0    13    5   +8    16    —   3–1  2–1  4–2
2 Sabrefell Moths           NPH    6    2   2   2     5    7   −2     8   0–0   —   2–1  1–1
3 Dí Maozöxê                FFD    6    2   0   4     7    9   −2     6   0–2  2–0   —   2–1
4 Northern Stallions        BRE    6    1   1   4     7   11   −4     4   1–2  0–1  2–1   —

Tough groups, as the Champions’ Cup always provides, and slightly underwhelming performances from Kingsgrove as they slump out of the tournament, pipped even to third by Lexington on head-to-head. The Stallions might well be happier with their performances, and while they looked a bit off the pace in a group Mar Sara dominated, they did well enough just to get this far.

  Group F                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   BOB  Car  NHl  RQt
1 Bassabook Old Boys        ZWZ    6    5   1   0    14    5   +9    16    —   3–1  3–1  1–0
2 Carter FC                 JSY    6    2   3   1     8    7   +1     9   1–1   —   2–1  2–0
3 North Hall                BRE    6    2   1   3     9   10   −1     7   1–4  0–0   —   4–0
4 Royal Queenstown          NGD    6    0   1   5     4   13   −9     1   1–2  2–2  1–2   —

  Group L                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Smj  Ocs  KlM  Roz
1 Samaj FC                  COS    6    4   2   0    11    4   +7    14    —   0–0  3–1  3–0
2 SC Oceanside              NFX    6    2   3   1     8    7   +1     9   1–2   —   1–0  4–3
3 Kelsy Merchants           PCR    6    1   2   3    10   13   −3     5   1–2  1–1   —   3–3
4 Rozelle                   BRE    6    0   3   3    11   16   −5     3   1–1  1–1  3–4   —

North Hall’s group was strange - Bassabook were dominant, Royal Queenstown genuinely terrible. Carter FC gave each a draw, the only non win/loss respectively either had, and took a crucial four points from the Northerners to edge them into second. Mediocre results, then, but the only Brenecian side not to lie at the foot of the table. On the other hand, Rozelle were massively disappointing. They didn’t even manage a win, and their sieve of a defence was breached 16 times.

Gallant Cross will be kicking themselves. They really ought to have it in them to close out a 2-1 scoreline with five minutes plus injury time left, right? Unfortunately, they’re playing Kingsgrove, the normally reliable Suffolk can’t hold a shot from the effervescent Brae Crowther and Culbreth taps the rebound in. Rubbing salt into the wound, Crowther goes one better by nutmegging Vliet-Vaquera and then casually chipping Suffolk for a 92nd-minute winner. A pseudoderby in the North which is picking up intensity ends in dramatic fashion. The Northerners maintain a 1-0 lead through most of the game but a second caution for Paula Farquhar seems to mean danger for North Hall. And then, as Griffin Riordan races through on goal, taking the ball past Etxabeguren, she seems hacked down desperately by Swanton - and she too is sent off for denying an open goal. Replays reveal that Riordan initially hurdled the contact before hurling herself to the ground. Even so, Madigan converts the penalty and with ten minutes left against nine men it feels like there’s another goal in it. There is. Trouble is, from a Stallions perspective, Sisann Riel scores it, weaving through the midfield after a careless turnover and slamming the ball into the top corner with seemingly the sheer power of annoyance. That’s the sort of moments of magic they got her for.

Annoyingly for fans of competitiveness everywhere, Kingsgrove thump Southern Star 4-1, racing five points clear at the top after winning nine of their first ten matches. Second are Marque, who fall late on to a Sekulovski equaliser to remain a nose ahead of a Stallions side that haven’t succumbed to the rigours of rotation in the way that many predicted. Falkner United, off to an impressive start under Sara Fairhall, and North Hall round off the top five, with newly-battered Southern Star slipping out of it after their second straight defeat.

Rozelle United are actually ahead of Rozelle on the lesser-spotted tiebreaker of… ‘wins’, at the very bottom of the list. Rozelle and Pikemouth, slumming it in midtable, grind out a 0-0 draw. Rozelle have dropped Jonah Nkutu for a new goalkeeper after their abject Champions Cup run, and Laura Mirren’s forced into five sharp saves in a match that just isn’t that… good. Proudcastle beat Gallant Cross with a late Hawkine header with a hint of offside, but you’d suspect both they and Rosbank would be happy to be well clear of the relegation slots.

At the bottom of the table, Sharrow host Scaffield, the sides having precisely one point between them. Predictably, it’s awful. Sharrow are dominant, and do chalk up some joy through Jayson Herrera but Fairbrass just can’t cut it at A-League level and Vandara Cole, well, was once but is now 34. Even so, Cole does thump a couple shots in but Veart’s equal to them. The breakthrough comes against the run of play in the 81st minute, when Herrera dwells in possession and Mikaucis wrestles the ball off him, then hoofs it upfield, hoping for Claire Holden to do something. She does - with the sheer power of spite, it feels like, muscling past Aubreigh and Mullen before toebashing it beyond Lenore Drummond. Just as Sharrow press for the equaliser, with all their substitutes used… Jess Peacock stumbles awkwardly, and has to be stretched off. After the match, it’s revealed to be a horrible ACL and MCL tear, and it’s a genuine career-threatener for the notoriously glassy 31-year old. Not long afterwards, Phoebe Osbourne is sacked, and Sharrow have gone through two managers before anyone else has even ditched one.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove             10  9  0  1  26   9  +17  27
  2 Marque                 10  7  1  2  28  10  +18  22
  3 Northern Stallions     10  6  2  2  19  13   +6  20
  4 Falkner United         10  5  4  1  15   9   +6  19
  5 North Hall             10  6  1  3  15  12   +3  19
  6 Southern Star          10  5  2  3  18  18   +0  17
  7 Rozelle United         10  4  2  4  10  10   +0  14
  8 Rozelle                10  3  5  2  10  10   +0  14
  9 Pikemouth              10  4  1  5  20  14   +6  13
 10 Proudcastle            10  4  1  5   9  12   -3  13
 11 Rosbank Town           10  3  3  4  14  16   -2  12
 12 Westpike United        10  4  0  6  13  21   -8  12
 13 Lotus Park             10  3  2  5  12  21   -9  11
 14 Gallant Cross          10  3  1  6  16  21   -5  10
 15 Scaffield              10  1  1  8   5  20  -15   4
 16 Sharrow                10  0  0 10   5  19  -14   0

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Swayback                10  8  1  1  20   4  +16  25
  2 Snowden River           10  7  3  0  19   7  +12  24
  3 Francisca Orient        10  6  2  2  18   5  +13  20
  4 Chafford                10  6  2  2  12   8   +4  20
  5 Guilder                 10  4  4  2  11   6   +5  16
  6 AFC Swanbridge          10  4  3  3  17  14   +3  15
  7 Southside Wanderers     10  4  3  3  10   9   +1  15
  8 Saint Alexander         10  4  2  4   5   5   +0  14
  9 Westpike                10  3  4  3  10   8   +2  13
 10 Marque Rovers           10  4  1  5  14  15   -1  13
 11 Fentonbridge            10  3  3  4   7   8   -1  12
 12 Ridgeway United         10  3  2  5   9  13   -4  11
 13 Knightstone FC          10  2  2  6   8  19  -11   8
 14 Crest                   10  1  3  6   4  20  -16   6
 15 Chrysler Town           10  0  5  5   6  18  -12   5
 16 Mount Roland            10  0  2  8   8  19  -11   2

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Stourhead              10  7  1  2  17  10   +7  22
  2 Spearcove Mariners     10  5  4  1  22  14   +8  19
  3 Northern Union         10  5  3  2  26  10  +16  18
  4 Pride of the South     10  6  0  4  28  21   +7  18
  5 Rushden                10  5  3  2  17  11   +6  18
  6 Falkner Wanderers      10  5  2  3  12   9   +3  17
  7 Rozelle Alliance       10  5  1  4  21  19   +2  16
  8 Shaleport Rangers      10  5  1  4  16  15   +1  16
  9 Twin Saints            10  4  3  3  16  11   +5  15
 10 Glassfields            10  4  3  3  20  17   +3  15
 11 Northern Fist          10  4  2  4  16  10   +6  14
 12 Thrush                 10  4  0  6  12  24  -12  12
 13 Alexavale FC           10  2  4  4  13  16   -3  10
 14 AFC Conomore           10  2  1  7  11  19   -8   7
 15 Platwood               10  1  2  7   9  25  -16   5
 16 Dannecliff Rovers      10  0  2  8   7  32  -25   2

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Finbar Stalwarts        10 10  0  0  27   4  +23  30
  2 Razorback Hill          10  6  1  3  14   8   +6  19
  3 Chafford Saracens       10  5  3  2  16  11   +5  18
  4 Heathgrove              10  5  3  2  14   9   +5  18
  5 Suttonstrand FC         10  5  2  3  17  10   +7  17
  6 Falkner Crescent        10  3  5  2  19  17   +2  14
  7 Pikemouth United        10  4  2  4  17  19   -2  14
  8 Fisher Kings            10  3  4  3  17  14   +3  13
  9 Steelrush Myrmidons     10  4  1  5  20  20   +0  13
 10 Coppersmith             10  4  1  5  13  16   -3  13
 11 Brackford Rovers        10  3  2  5  13  18   -5  11
 12 Hammerton               10  2  5  3  15  23   -8  11
 13 Southrons-Errant        10  2  3  5   6  10   -4   9
 14 Dale Athletic           10  2  3  5  10  21  -11   9
 15 Randwick Town           10  2  1  7  13  20   -7   7
 16 Dalgallen               10  1  2  7  10  21  -11   5

by **Brenecia** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 12:41 am

A lot of the big hitters have crashed out already and another goes down swinging tonight. Is it complacency? Or is the Swayback project really getting somewhere? Because a late brace from the second-tier flier’s leading striker, Kurtis Southwell, sees them edge out Marque away. A lot of the other top-flight sides knock one another out of contention - a treacherously skimming strike from Brunswick Green outfoxes Sander Bergman to see Pikemouth past Rosbank, while Esther Rohan’s moment of magic takes Falkner past Rozelle United and North Hall just break down Southern Star with yet another Turati goal late on. Guilder, former champions themselves, trash Twin Saints 3-0 with Knightstone managing the same scoreline against Platwood. In fact, Marque are the only losing side to even score a goal this round.

Rozelle haven’t had the best start to the season, and nor has Nikita Loeher, who came in with real intentions to take the league by storm. She was meant to have more than three league goals by now. Well… now she has six, a flicked header, a left-footed piledriver and a right-footed tap-in ensuring they destroy Falkner. Proudcastle manage to take the fight to a complacent Southern Star, and yet another performance to be proud (heh) of ensures that the supposedly weak Rooks are steadily being predicted to stay up after all… and that young manager Daniel Snowden is very much in the shop window. And as much as it would be great to ignore the bottom clubs for just one match, Scaffield sack Gerrard Burr after a late brace from impressive Cross midfielder Destin Chaplin breaks down the uninspired Ironclads. Tailtiu Brennan, last seen quitting Sharrow, takes over.

Lowkey home wins in the CEdC. Football Miracle Izaki’s incredible name ensures that a quickly patched-together group of Northern Union fans, starved for professional football to watch, rally together and take close to 3,000 newly-minted Izaki fans to the Stallions, where they watch their brave lads get an away goal in a narrow defeat. Even so, the A-League sides remain favourites to progress.

Okay, who unleashed this new, thrilling Rozelle? Marque aren’t quite flying like they were at the start of the season but they’ve still put in some impressive performances, and you’d expect them to put up a fight against the Saints. They, uh, don’t. Rozelle lead 4-1 after an end-of-end first half and Loeher’s got a second consecutive hat-trick. She strides off for Lilley to a standing ovation from the away fans in the 48th minute and Lilley puts the last nail in Marque’s coffin not long after. Falkner United hold firm against North Hall and are deadlocked in the 90th minute until Fabricio Santos clatters Cashin in the box. Calamity! But Victoria Brittain, handed the responsibility of converting, sees her effort beaten away by Jancis Adrian! The 27-year old goalkeeper’s been in career-best form this season, but- what’s this? Yes, the referee actually calls for a retake through the obscure rule of encroachment, and replays do reveal that Paul Crossman had sprinted two whole strides into the box before Brittain’s boot hit the ball. She does better the second time, rifling it into the ceiling. Meanwhile, in Scaffield, Tailtiu Brennan’s first match in charge sees the Ironclads edge out Southern Star 1-0. Standard stuff - the muscular Dimitar Kovalov hits in a decent cross, Claire Holden steals a march in front of the Star defence and heads it home - but it means the world.

While it seems as though there may actually be legs to FMI’s new Brenecian fandom, and they do seem to have been adopted semi-ironically by Union’s fanbase (seventeen fly to Damukuni), Brenecia’s actual representatives progress after resilient away performances.

In the Rathia derby, the Stallions have every right to be bullish - the Lions arrive on their doorstep on a run of four straight defeats, while the Stallions won their past two 4-0. They’d still be confident after an end-to-end first half, Kyra Ferrant particularly well-worked between the Lions’ posts. But this is football, and specifically the A-League, so of course Rico Hemnes’ hit-and-hope from 30 yards deflects off Giord’s calf to wrongfoot Bram Merchant and bobble into the net for the winner! Another case in point: Sharrow go 3-1 up over Rozelle United after a stunning opening half, as just for the time being Jayson Herrera finds a Midas touch in midfield. Sharrow hunker the hell down after the break, and while they almost fumble it - Charmine Beretti activates beast mode and scores a brace - they do at least hold out for an impressive point. Rozelle may be playing catchup but they claw their way closer to the top after a dominant 4-2 win over Kingsgrove, just the one Loeher goal this time, but Alora Heher is the real story of the game with the kind of casually dominant performance that’s been lacking this season.

Suddenly, ‘Kingsgrove in crisis’ is the storyline. Oh, fickle press. Admittedly, it’s really not a good look when they host Marque and things almost immediately go wrong, captain Kezia O’Byrne limping off with a hamstring injury seven minutes in. Two minutes later and the Privateers are ahead, Tony Uist’s flicked header doing the damage. Still, it’s 1-1 at the half-time break as O’Byrne’s lesser-spotted replacement, Mathew Evans, rifles home a leveller but in the second half? Well, the Royals start brightly, forcing Bannatyne into some strong saves, but they get caught on the break by Kelly Harper and after then, heads just drop. They’re terrible for the last half-hour as Marque rolls up the scoreline to 4-1, the same scoreline as a Rozelle side in flying form beats a flat-footed Proudcastle by. Meanwhile, a tense Falkner derby is settled when Wen Xiaoli, who the Lotus Park faithful have taken to heart in a rather mediocre season so far, rattles a late shot into the ceiling of the net in the 89th minute and… goes crowd-surfing. The referee doesn’t book him, with Wen already on a yellow - when asked why by the press, he retorted; “Park are at home. Do I look like I have a death wish?”

The Kingsgrove in crisis storyline has to be shed for the weekend as yet another late goal - Mathew Evans again - in the 91st minute forces journalists to delete their leads all across the country and takes Kingsgrove past an unlucky Falkner, but there’s plenty more to talk about. Marque put on the best show, with a dizzying performance that really shows Proudcastle what the step up to A-League level is all about. 5-0’s the final scoreline, with forwards on song but, less glamorously, Catsidhe Alweather working as the Fun Police in midfield and stopping them from doing anything. Rozelle United just overpower Southern Star with pace, heart and power, and it’s a rare poor match for Kyra Ferrant who lets a couple savable efforts get past her. Still, in a 4-0, there’s plenty of blame to spread around - not least to Star’s fullbacks, who look badly in need of refurbishing.

Falkner United are already in a screaming downslide, a genuinely horrific run of form with five straight defeats. But the true sign of the freefall? SHARROW HOLD OUT FOR A SCORELESS DRAW. Titania Pratchett looks haunted on the touchline, and has every right to. No longer on a downslide are Kingsgrove, easing past Proudcastle 3-1 as three of their competitors, North Hall (sunk 1-0 by the Lions with Treon Ashton leading by example), Rozelle (caught out on the break by Northern Stallions, losing 2-1) and Marque (unable to break down Scaffield who coast on the strength of an early Maclaren goal, just his second of the season) all travel and lose.

More convincing wins, with young stars excelling. Greyson Coulthirst scores a well-worked hat-trick away against the Natanian outfit, while Kingsgrove’s man of the match is, oddly, teenage rightback Steve Fox.

The ultimate balm for a Gallant Cross side that has sustained three straight 2-0 defeats - they get to go to Sharrow! But shock and horror, Sharrow are on a hot streak of one point from their last one game, and they double their money here when Eoin Colchester’s ugly tap-in is countered by a lashed strike from Cormac Hamilton that’s too hot for Suffolk to handle, and slips agonisingly into the net. “We will stay up!” roars interim manager Kennedy Steer after the match, which is really bold words for a manager yet to win a game over halfway through the season. North Hall aren’t known for attacking flair but today they show up with one of those absolutely dominant performances that just destroys lesser teams. Rosbank deserve credit: they play the role of ‘the lesser team’ to perfection, just sort of standing and watching and getting destroyed as no less than three headers are powered past Kendall Childress in a 4-0 win. With Pikemouth, Rozelle and Marque coming up, the timing’s good for Althea Chenoweth’s resilient Northerners.

The Brenecian sides ease past their opponents. Next round, though, is the real test - the two Christopheran representatives have both survived, and are drawn against the Brenecians.

Lotus Park haven’t been… great, this season, and there’s some scrutiny over Conrad Keane’s job (particularly with him leaving at the end of the season anyway). But this was pretty textbook stuff, as his squad held firm against Rosbank, Murnane made some decent saves and then, in the second half, the weary Black Swans were taken apart, Lynwood twice seizing on defensive errors before Kella’s inch-perfect cross met Johansson at the far post for the third. Last season’s top two, the Stallions and Kingsgrove, go head-to-head, and it’s dead even at 2-2 for the first hour. But the Stallions’ Achilles heel comes back to bite them. Just look at the bench - Kingsgrove bring on young gun Isidra Corvey to force an opening and create a chance for Culbreth to finish, and then seasoned heads Hansen and Woods shut the game down. The Stallions have… Dallas Keighran. It’s not a fair contest. The minor Rozelle derby is pretty boring, honestly, but United just play with more intensity and put Rozelle off their game. Beretti hits a post in the 36th minute and young forward Andisori gets on the end of the rebound to tap it past a helpless Mirren for United’s winner, the game’s only goal.

Oof. Rosbank take out their frustrations on Sharrow and mirror their 3-0 defeat from earlier. Scaffield’s recovery continues with a smash-and-grab to take out Falkner, Tailtiu Brennan glowing after the impact substitute Capehart gets them a thoroughly undeserved winner. Their resurgence puts other clubs on notice - such as Gallant Cross, who are abject at home as Southern Star take them apart 4-0 and Proudcastle come off worse in a staggering 7-3 defeat to the Stallions. They don’t score a lot of goals, the Rooks, and they’d expect to take the three points home when Braehead, Hawkine and the otherwise peripheral Ullman set them on their way. But it’s already 3-4 at half-time, and the Stallions just overwhelm them in the second half as Thorn Cronin, the only person in the world who believes she can take back her starting place from Griffin Riordan, slams home a hat-trick in a rare start.

So much for crisis - Kingsgrove annihilate a ten-man Rozelle United 5-1 away, five different scorers underlining how dominant the Royals have been in this brave new post-Union era. Their closest rivals, yet again the Stallions against the odds, fall further away after being held by a resurgent Scaffield. But a rejuvenated Rozelle and North Hall are both in the hunt as well after solid victories as Southern Star maintain fifth, with Marque, after their defeat to Hall, remaining in sixth.

At the lower end of the table, Falkner break a ten-match losing streak with a convincing 2-0 win away against the Lions, and it’s relief on Titania Pratchett’s face. It’s really well-timed, given what’s happening beneath them. Proudcastle lead most of the game against Westpike but are pegged back by an increasingly rare Byron Johansson goal in the dying embers, and while Westpike aren’t in a great position, Proudcastle are suddenly in danger - and Gallant Cross, beaten 2-1 by Rosbank, with them. For they are only a point above Scaffield, written off so early, as Brennan’s side have somehow gotten 17 points from just 11 goals. Even Sharrow’s scored more. But what they’ve not done, as a disappointing Pikemouth almost absent-mindedly sweep them 4-0, is win a game, and a beleagured Kennedy Steer remains at the interim helm amid talk of real upheaval behind the scenes. Fifteen points adrift, ten games to play… relegated, surely?

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              20  15  2   3  47  25  +22  47
  2 Northern Stallions      20  13  3   4  45  25  +20  42
  3 Rozelle                 20  11  5   4  36  19  +17  38
  4 North Hall              20  12  2   6  31  18  +13  38
  5 Southern Star           20  11  2   7  34  30   +4  35
  6 Marque                  20  10  2   8  44  27  +17  32
  7 Rozelle United          20   9  4   7  29  26   +3  31
  8 Rosbank Town            20   9  4   7  30  29   +1  31
  9 Pikemouth               20   8  4   8  33  22  +11  28
 10 Lotus Park              20   8  4   8  22  28   -6  28
 11 Falkner United          20   6  6   8  24  26   -2  24
 12 Westpike United         20   7  3  10  19  29  -10  24
 13 Gallant Cross           20   5  3  12  24  41  -17  18
 14 Proudcastle             20   5  3  12  18  39  -21  18
 15 Scaffield               20   5  2  13  11  30  -19  17
 16 Sharrow                 20   0  3  17  12  45  -33   3

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Swayback                 20  15  3   2  43  12  +31  48
  2 Chafford                 20  13  3   4  30  16  +14  42
  3 Francisca Orient         20  12  5   3  28   8  +20  41
  4 Snowden River            20  11  7   2  30  15  +15  40
  5 Westpike                 20  10  6   4  22  11  +11  36
  6 AFC Swanbridge           20   9  4   7  31  23   +8  31
  7 Southside Wanderers      20   8  6   6  21  20   +1  30
  8 Saint Alexander          20   9  3   8  14  13   +1  30
  9 Guilder                  20   7  6   7  19  23   -4  27
 10 Marque Rovers            20   7  4   9  25  27   -2  25
 11 Ridgeway United          20   5  7   8  19  25   -6  22
 12 Knightstone FC           20   4  6  10  17  29  -12  18
 13 Fentonbridge             20   4  3  13  12  28  -16  15
 14 Crest                    20   3  5  12  11  36  -25  14
 15 Chrysler Town            20   1 10   9  12  29  -17  13
 16 Mount Roland             20   1  4  15  13  32  -19   7

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Stourhead               20  13  5   2  35  19  +16  44
  2 Shaleport Rangers       20  12  3   5  32  20  +12  39
  3 Northern Union          20  10  7   3  42  19  +23  37
  4 Twin Saints             20   9  8   3  33  19  +14  35
  5 Pride of the South      20  11  2   7  50  37  +13  35
  6 Spearcove Mariners      20   9  6   5  42  25  +17  33
  7 Falkner Wanderers       20   9  5   6  30  25   +5  32
  8 Rushden                 20   7  9   4  32  26   +6  30
  9 Glassfields             20   7  8   5  37  34   +3  29
 10 Rozelle Alliance        20   8  5   7  36  35   +1  29
 11 Northern Fist           20   6  6   8  33  29   +4  24
 12 Thrush                  20   6  2  12  22  44  -22  20
 13 Alexavale FC            20   4  6  10  28  36   -8  18
 14 AFC Conomore            20   4  4  12  22  37  -15  16
 15 Platwood                20   3  3  14  18  47  -29  12
 16 Dannecliff Rovers       20   0  5  15  12  52  -40   5

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Finbar Stalwarts         20  15  2   3  41  10  +31  47
  2 Coppersmith              20  12  3   5  36  24  +12  39
  3 Heathgrove               20  10  6   4  28  16  +12  36
  4 Razorback Hill           20  10  4   6  26  18   +8  34
  5 Suttonstrand FC          20   9  5   6  27  26   +1  32
  6 Falkner Crescent         20   8  6   6  41  33   +8  30
  7 Pikemouth United         20   8  6   6  29  28   +1  30
  8 Steelrush Myrmidons      20   8  4   8  36  38   -2  28
  9 Southrons-Errant         20   7  6   7  29  23   +6  27
 10 Chafford Saracens        20   6  9   5  26  24   +2  27
 11 Randwick Town            20   7  4   9  26  29   -3  25
 12 Fisher Kings             20   6  5   9  29  30   -1  23
 13 Brackford Rovers         20   5  6   9  28  35   -7  21
 14 Dale Athletic            20   4  5  11  24  46  -22  17
 15 Hammerton                20   3  7  10  27  48  -21  16
 16 Dalgallen                20   1  4  15  15  40  -25   7

by **Brenecia** » Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:53 pm

Having just broken their winless run, Falkner go two-for-two though there’s late drama - things are comfortable right up until the 79th minute, when Espinosa hacks down Spurrock and gets his second yellow for his trouble as the referee points to the spot. Madigan powers the penalty past Adrian, and now the Hunters must hold onto their slim lead with ten men. Thanks to some sharp saves from Adrian, though, they do. The Stallions drop points, but Kingsgrove can’t take full advantage, hacked and niggled by a brutal North Hall and having Stenberg’s opener cancelled out when Brittain hammers home a cross from the lively Cashin, who has enjoyed a real breakthrough season on the right. At the bottom of the table, Proudcastle alone find a win. In keeping with the week’s theme, it’s a scrappy one, Kirrough thrown to the ground by Andrea Rohan’s rough claim of a one-on-one and Ullman nervelessly rifles home the penalty.

Swayback’s run at the Cup, for all the bullish talk pre-match, grinds to a screeching halt as goals from Ullman, Hawkine, Braehead and Grapnell put paid to their ambitions. “Say what you will about the league,” says a nonchalant Proudcastle manager, Daniel Snowden, defending a basically full-strength selection, “but the game’s about glory.” Falkner understand this, going full tilt for North Hall with an intensity that their league play has sorely lacked until recently, forcing uncharacteristic errors from the Northerners’ defence and seeing Rohan and young winger Broune take full advantage. Pikemouth are dominant over Lotus Park and secure a fairly standard win while two well-worked set pieces from Knightstone, both headed home by hulking striker Vauxhall Hayne, give them the edge over Guilder.

Two extremely good away wins for the Brenecian sides. Blue Coast are a very strong side on paper, but they can’t find a way past the Stallions’ defence and just as the game’s trickling down, the fresh substitute Galen Shea slices through them on the counterattack to get a crucial away goal. Willox Street, meanwhile, also fall victim to a cruel late winner - this one arguably more in line with the run of play, at least, but unusual because it’s Roisin Staunton’s first senior goal. She just gets the ball thirty yards out, senses her moment and twats it. Into the top corner.

After the soporific last round of fixtures, this is much more like it. Falkner’s good run of form is gone, outplayed conclusively by Rosbank and losing 2-0. The Stallions are now winless in three after Westpike United rouse themselves after a 1-0 half-time deficit and go on to win 3-1. That buoys Kingsgrove, who pull nine points clear at the top with eight to play as they bulldoze Lotus Park 3-0 away. Marque demolish Sharrow 4-0 and Rozelle, thanks to Gallant Cross’ considerate refusal to put any pressure on talisman Alora Heher, pump them 5-0. In the context of results like these, Proudcastle holding firm after the second-minute winner from North Hall’s Bannion is almost a good scoreline, while Scaffield’s dreary scoreless draw against Rozelle United seems downright heroic.

Swayback almost mount a comeback. Almost. Snowden can be forgiven after a 4-0 away win against a second-tier side for resting almost all his best players but the second string almost blow it, and only a decisive double-save from Standingstone in the dying moments of the game stops it from going to extra time. Falkner do blow it, but then unblow it as Esther Rohan comes off the bench to strike back in the 86th minute. Pikemouth conclusively blow it as Lotus Park smashes them 3-0, Maxine Lynwood coming off the bench in the last half-hour to hit a brace. Knightstone blow it perhaps most spectacularly of all as they visit Guilder. A Keenan Penate brace and a final nail in the coffin from Constantine Curran heading home a corner sees them off, and they’re oddly muted after midfield battler Bart Wright is sent off on the stroke of half-time.

Oh my. Northern Stallions are the heroes of the hour, and absolutely stomp the defending champions 5-1 on their own turf. Griffin Riordan, of course, leads the way with a hat-trick - just how much longer will she be in the A-League? Kingsgrove, like the Stallions, gallop to an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Crowther and Culbreth. All to the good, right? But then their paths diverge - when Riordan gets her second for the Stallions, Sascha Falkenrath pulls one back for the Pirates with a thumping half-volley, and then another teenager, Artin, makes things really interesting with a piledriver that agonisingly scrapes past Winterfyll’s fingertips on the way in. But Kingsgrove hold out for the last twenty minutes, and the all-Brenecian final is confirmed.

It’s mostly been pointless to report on Sharrow results lately but yeah, the top team by a landslide went to the bottom team by a landslide and annihilated them 9-0. A lot is going on behind the scenes at Sharrow, little of it good - it feels distinctly pre-Steiner Report over there. The match doesn’t bear report - it isn’t really a match at all. It’s a slaughter. In fact, it’s a pretty predictable week overall - the good teams win, the bad teams lose. The only really notable event occurs in the Falkner vs. Westpike match, which ends in bizarre circumstances after Capricorn wins a penalty. Deleuze rifles it low and hard into the post but the luckless Keyes, running back into the rebound, doesn’t see its power coming and accidentally toebashes it into his own net. Predictably, with God evidently on their side, Falkner battle to a 2-1 win.

Kingsgrove march on, and it seems almost like a procession to the title at this rate - they casually swat Gallant Cross aside 4-1, and that’s resting a couple of key players. Cross can only watch in vain as Scaffield hold out for a brave draw against Park, looking fit and organised under Brennan, while Proudcastle collects their three points from Sharrow. Elsewhere, Hall host the Stallions and it’s a spicy affair blossoming into a genuine rivalry - this game will only contribute to its history. With Hall fans calling the recently-rebranded, nouveau-riche Stallions and their fans a ‘plastic club’, a Stallion banner accusing Hall of being ‘Union B’, and a game full of snapped tackles, fouls and contentious refereeing decisions as the officials lose control of the game, it’s almost an afterthought that all three goals are incredible. Sienna Fallon’s beautiful arcing free kick starts things off, a flying header from Carsten Vincent to meet a Tallant cross at the far post levels the scores on the verge of half-time before a cool run past three defenders is finished by Bannion’s nonchalant sweep into the bottom corner with the outside of a boot, ensuring the Northernrs go away the happier side.

Two pretty dull affairs, and even the one goal - Proudcastle’s Hawkine scuffing home after a pinball in the box - is rather ugly. But Guilder in particular will feel confident, shutting down Park entirely after a resilient, dogged away performance, almost snatching the win utterly against the run of play, but 33-year old Audioslavian striker Keenan Penate somehow hits the post from four yards out with an open goal in front of him.

This is incredibly bad news for Tailtiu Brennan, and for Scaffield. Jeered throughout by a tiny away crowd, Brennan can only watch in dismay as Sharrow - between injury and mutiny, looking decidedly understrength - take the lead through Niall Rathburn’s neat cushioned header in the 23rd minute and hold out valiantly for their first win of the season. They are still extremely relegated, but it’s a massive missed opportunity for the Ironclads. Neither Cross nor a ten-man Proudcastle can fully take advantage, holding each other to a 1-1 stalemate.

Nothing happens in Falkner, and that isn’t good enough for the Hunters as newly-promoted Proudcastle get the job done. All to play for in Guilder, but sadly the home side show nothing of their earlier resilience and are torn apart by Park’s pace, intensity and discipline in front of goal. Virgil Bowen’s own goal, slicing Kella’s cross into his net, sets things off before another brace from Maxine Lynwood seals the deal. Even so, the Falkner Derby Final is conclusively denied.

Two matches have seven goals each - the other six have six goals between them. Most importantly, Scaffield recover from their travesty last match, and a vastly improved performance of heart and pace with Algirdis Mikaucis defensively dominant in the centre of the park ensures a 2-0 away win over a diffident Gallant Cross. Evans and Holden, as has usually been the case, secure their breakthrough. It’s made better when Kara Ciogach latches onto Vahn’s cushioned header, guides it past Cevenni and takes Star past Proudcastle. At the top of the table, North Hall and Rozelle United are both essentially reactive sides, so the scoreless draw isn’t really surprising, but it gives the big teams a chance to speed by them, which they duly do. Most emphatically, of course, is Kingsgrove - Elena Culbreth charging back to the lead of the Golden Boot standings with a hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition of the Black Swans.

Amidst a variety of largely predictable results - bad teams lose, good teams win - eyes are drawn to the Royals, who host Rozelle next up but will take the title here and now if they can negotiate a tricky visit to Pikemouth. They sure as hell start like a champion, quick goals from Branch and O’Byrne (a penalty won by Crowther, felled by Karigomu) underlining their credentials. They’re strolling to victory, right? But Pikemouth, the team of very flaky, talented individual brilliance… well, Bethany Donnell turns it the fuck on after half-time. Suddenly Denarian scores twice in quick succession, then lays unselfishly off for Greig to put them ahead. Kingsgrove do equalise against the new run of play, looking distinctly unbalanced despite Chimbonda heading home O’Byrne’s inch-perfect corner, but it’s a band-aid over a gaping wound, and the substitute Lindbloom’s second goal of the season gives Pikemouth a deserved win. Panic in Rozelle? Evidently not. “This just means we get to celebrate the win on home soil,” says a philosophical Gabrielle Hourihane after the match.

An important day at the bottom of the table, as Proudcastle are put away cleanly by Pikemouth and they can only watch helplessly as Claire Holden’s strike puts Scaffield past the Black Swans and Gallant Cross, after an ill-disciplined, end-to-end car fire of a match, cling to their survival hopes with a 3-2 win over Westpike United orchestrated by the tidy, clever Destin Chaplin. A fiery Rathia derby ends with two goals apiece and three reds in total, a contentious offside decision denying Griffin Riordan a late winner - she channels these energies into grabbing Star goalkeeper Ferrant by the throat, causing a brawl. Riordan’s now suspended for the last two matches, key for the Stallions to have a chance at second place… but not, crucially, the title. Because the title, predictably, is already the Royals’ after an intense Rozelle derby. They’re arguably fortunate to come out with a draw after Rozelle pummel them hard and fast early on, but that’s what having a top-class goalkeeper like Winterfyll gets you, and Brae Crowther stuns them on the break. The Saints redouble their pressure after half-time, Loeher hits the post before Matilda Farrell finally gives them a deserved equaliser… but it’s not enough. Kingsgrove defend their title, with the same cruising swagger that many predicted upon the fall of Northern Union.

Kingsgrove’s victory procession takes the form of a 2-0 cruise past Marque in a matchday that confirms basically every important place. Second place is the big question still in doubt - North Hall put themselves in pole position with a 2-0 win over long-dead Sharrow after Rozelle choke, held to a 1-1 draw with Proudcastle. They’re now a point behind, but with far better goal difference. The Stallions, too, slip up to the same scoreline after a late equaliser from Rosbank striker McCabe - they can reach second if they win and both Stallions and Rozelle lose. At the foot of the table, Proudcastle’s point secures their safety. It’s been a long, hard season, but they’ve shown the spirit to stay up. Scaffield have the chance to secure their safety as well, but their hearts are broken late on when Veart misjudges his wall placement and Emerald Sheehan calmly places a free kick into the gap - but it proves irrelevant, because the Gallants are anything but as they’re tamely put down by Rozelle United. They can mathematically overtake Scaffield… mathematically. Swayback and, after a decisive penultimate matchday, Snowden River will replace them in the top flight next season.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              29  21  4   4  78  33  +45  67
  2 North Hall              29  18  5   6  45  23  +22  59
  3 Rozelle                 29  17  7   5  55  26  +29  58
  4 Northern Stallions      29  17  5   7  58  35  +23  56
  5 Pikemouth               29  15  5   9  56  34  +22  50
  6 Southern Star           29  14  5  10  44  42   +2  47
  7 Rozelle United          29  13  7   9  39  31   +8  46
  8 Marque                  29  13  5  11  58  39  +19  44
  9 Rosbank Town            29  12  7  10  40  42   -2  43
 10 Westpike United         29  10  6  13  31  40   -9  36
 11 Falkner United          29   9  7  13  34  41   -7  34
 12 Lotus Park              29   9  7  13  25  40  -15  34
 13 Proudcastle             29   7  5  17  22  48  -26  26
 14 Scaffield               29   7  4  18  17  39  -22  25
 15 Gallant Cross           29   6  4  19  30  64  -34  22
 16 Sharrow                 29   1  3  25  15  70  -55   6

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Swayback                 29  21   5   3  67  22  +45  68
  2 Snowden River            29  18   8   3  50  18  +32  62
  3 Chafford                 29  18   5   6  43  24  +19  59
  4 Francisca Orient         29  17   6   6  38  15  +23  57
  5 Westpike                 29  16   8   5  34  15  +19  56
  6 AFC Swanbridge           29  15   6   8  54  29  +25  51
  7 Guilder                  29  11   7  11  28  32   -4  40
  8 Southside Wanderers      29  10   9  10  27  29   -2  39
  9 Marque Rovers            29  11   5  13  40  37   +3  38
 10 Saint Alexander          29  10   6  13  17  22   -5  36
 11 Ridgeway United          29   6   9  14  21  44  -23  27
 12 Chrysler Town            29   4  13  12  26  39  -13  25
 13 Knightstone FC           29   6   7  16  23  51  -28  25
 14 Fentonbridge             29   6   6  17  17  36  -19  24
 15 Crest                    29   4   6  19  13  56  -43  18
 16 Mount Roland             29   2   8  19  18  47  -29  14

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Union          29  17   8   4  66  28  +38  59
  2 Stourhead               29  16   8   5  44  27  +17  56
  3 Twin Saints             29  15   9   5  44  23  +21  54
  4 Shaleport Rangers       29  16   5   8  41  29  +12  53
  5 Pride of the South      29  16   4   9  72  49  +23  52
  6 Rozelle Alliance        29  14   7   8  54  43  +11  49
  7 Spearcove Mariners      29  12   9   8  57  40  +17  45
  8 Glassfields             29  11  11   7  52  43   +9  44
  9 Rushden                 29  10  11   8  45  41   +4  41
 10 Falkner Wanderers       29  11   7  11  36  44   -8  40
 11 Northern Fist           29   9   8  12  51  42   +9  35
 12 Alexavale FC            29   6   9  14  40  51  -11  27
 13 Thrush                  29   8   3  18  36  67  -31  27
 14 AFC Conomore            29   7   5  17  33  56  -23  26
 15 Platwood                29   4   5  20  27  71  -44  17
 16 Dannecliff Rovers       29   2   7  20  24  68  -44  13

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Finbar Stalwarts         29  20   3   6  61  21  +40  63
  2 Coppersmith              29  19   3   7  50  29  +21  60
  3 Razorback Hill           29  15   6   8  36  23  +13  51
  4 Heathgrove               29  13   9   7  42  26  +16  48
  5 Falkner Crescent         29  13   8   8  66  45  +21  47
  6 Chafford Saracens        29  12  11   6  44  31  +13  47
  7 Pikemouth United         29  13   7   9  43  38   +5  46
  8 Southrons-Errant         29  12   9   8  41  30  +11  45
  9 Suttonstrand FC          29  11   9   9  33  35   -2  42
 10 Steelrush Myrmidons      29  10   6  13  45  61  -16  36
 11 Randwick Town            29   9   8  12  37  40   -3  35
 12 Brackford Rovers         29   9   8  12  38  43   -5  35
 13 Fisher Kings             29   9   5  15  40  41   -1  32
 14 Dale Athletic            29   5   6  18  35  66  -31  21
 15 Hammerton                29   3   8  18  32  78  -46  17
 16 Dalgallen                29   3   6  20  24  60  -36  15

by **Brenecia** » Sat Nov 18, 2017 2:41 am

A-LEAGUE FINALE
Kingsgrove 4-1 Falkner United
Sharrow 0-1 Lotus Park
Proudcastle 1-3 Marque
Gallant Cross 0-2 North Hall
Scaffield 2-2 Rozelle
Southern Star 1-2 Rozelle United
Northern Stallions 0-0 Pikemouth
Rosbank Town 1-4 Westpike United

No real dramas in the final day, with basically everything sorted out in advance. North Hall need only beat all-but-mathematically relegated Gallant Cross to retain second place… and, well, Fallon’s speculative cutback makes an opening when Seth Calderon slips in the chase, and an unmarked Harriet Payne slots it calmly into the bottom corner. Three minutes in. In the 28th minute, the Northerners get the job done - Cashin’s cross, Brittain’s header, 2-0. They shut up shop and smugly wait for news elsewhere - Rozelle are broken anyway when Scaffield smashes and grabs a late equaliser, former Rozelle defender Ruby Shreveport glancing home a header off Romeo’s free kick, while the Stallions are held by Pikemouth. Kingsgrove at the top of the table have something of a victory procession, strolling to a breezy 4-1 win over Falkner - with the CEDC Final coming up, neither they nor the Stallions pick strong sides. Neither do Proudcastle, beaten easily by Marque but safe regardless in their first season, or Lotus Park - but then, they only have Sharrow to contend with, an easy 1-0 win. Done and dusted. Kingsgrove? Well done! Gallant Cross? Rest in peace. Sharrow? What the fuck?

B-LEAGUE FINALE
Chafford 1-1 Snowden River
Chrysler Town 2-0 Ridgeway United
Marque Rovers 1-1 Swayback
Francisca Orient 0-0 Westpike
AFC Swanbridge 1-1 Saint Alexander
Knightstone FC 0-1 Mount Roland
Fentonbridge 2-0 Guilder
Southside Wanderers 3-2 Crest

Unlike the A-League, where basically everything was already decided, literally everything had already been decided in the second tier. That’s probably a good thing for the top two, given they both stutter to draws, and frustrating to bottom-placed Mount Roland who notch up just their third win of a dismal season.

C-LEAGUE FINALE
Glassfields 2-0 Stourhead
Northern Union 1-0 Falkner Wanderers
Spearcove Mariners 2-1 Dannecliff Rovers
Thrush 0-4 Twin Saints
Rushden 1-0 Platwood
AFC Conomore 0-1 Northern Fist
Shaleport Rangers 2-1 Rozelle Alliance
Alexavale FC 1-3 Pride of the South

Massive celebrations in the North - Union mathematically confirm their already-sealed title victory with a 1-0 win over Falkner, and can now re-enter the professional ranks. Expect yet another promotion to follow. Stourhead are in the driver’s seat for the other promotion place, but drop the ball completely with a lacklustre 2-0 defeat to middling Glassfields. Twin Saints capitalise, obliterating Thrush 4-0 away. Already relegated, Platwood and Dannecliff both lose.

D-LEAGUE FINALE
Finbar Stalwarts 2-0 Suttonstrand FC
Hammerton 2-5 Pikemouth United
Dalgallen 1-5 Heathgrove
Brackford Rovers 1-3 Dale Athletic
Southrons-Errant 1-2 Fisher Kings
Steelrush Myrmidons 1-0 Razorback Hill
Randwick Town 1-2 Chafford Saracens
Falkner Crescent 2-2 Coppersmith

Yet again, nothing to play for. Finbar, just up from the state leagues, underlines their title win by beating Suttonstrand and Coppersmith, drawing away at Falkner, comes second. Dalgallen and Hammerton both ship five goals and secure consecutive relegations. Up come north coast outfit AFC Cairnshore and rural southern Alnwick Glade, neither club terribly ambitious.

CEdC FINAL
Nobody can accuse either side of being boring - both sides went hammer and tongs at each other from the start. Both sides are inclined to press high and punish one another’s mistakes, neither is noted for its strength at the back. The breakthrough is delayed somewhat, with Winterfyll making an exceptional stop at Riordan’s feet early on, but the young striker made up for it in the 21st minute when crashing Corwen Spurrock’s cross into the net with her chest. But just as Winterfyll underlined the value of a good goalkeeper early on, so too does Bram Merchant underline the risk of a mediocre one on the stroke of half-time. Branch hits a high cross and in a press of bodies Merchant loses it, fumbling it into the path of Elena Culbreth. She’s scored harder ones in her career than that.

The tempo redoubles in the second half, and it’s largely the Stallions in the ascendancy. This tournament, after all, is their bread and butter. Giord is a colossus in defence for them, successfully keeping Culbreth quiet, and springing free on the break Vincent hits the post… but overall, when Line Stenberg powers home a shot from the edge of the box after a period of sustained pressure, it’s a deserved lead for the Royals. It’s Stenberg responsible for the lethal third goal, too, just after the hour mark - after a number of slick passes leaves the Stallions’ defence hopelessly out of shape, it’s the young Schottic midfielder who finds the pass to release the undetected run of Crowther. Mapleton gets after her but a slick turn from Crowther leaves her sliding out of play, before Crowther cuts inside and drives it past Merchant. The Stallions press hard to get back into the game, and they do make things interesting in the 89th minute when Giord’s towering header guides Madigan’s free kick beyond Winterfyll… but the score remains 2-3 against them despite a valiant last charge, culminating in Vincent thumping a shot against the foot of the post from a narrow angle. Kingsgrove, then, take home the CEDC for the third time - the Stallions are out, but with honour.

Northern Stallions 2 - 3 Kingsgrove

CROWN CUP FINAL
Far less happens in the Cup Final, in all honesty, and it’s to be expected between two unsubtle, disciplined sides. The first half in particular is paralytically dull, neither side quite ready to test the other’s defence, both quite happy to test the viewer’s patience. But most of the time, what these games need is a goal - Garvan Braehead, who has flared to life on Proudcastle’s left wing in the second half of the season, blazes past the otherwise excellent Brun Carrack and cuts back for an unmarked Kirrough, who awkwardly stretches to toebash it into the net. Ugly, but effective - and Lotus Park, with forty minutes to play and a superior side, can do nothing to break through. The perfect season for Proudcastle. Conrad Keane, who has overseen a turgid campaign, leaves by mutual consent a week later.

Proudcastle 1 - 0 Lotus Park

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              30  22  4   4  82  34  +48  70
  2 North Hall              30  19  5   6  47  23  +24  62
  3 Rozelle                 30  17  8   5  57  28  +29  59
  4 Northern Stallions      30  17  6   7  58  35  +23  57
  5 Pikemouth               30  15  6   9  56  34  +22  51
  6 Rozelle United          30  14  7   9  41  32   +9  49
  7 Marque                  30  14  5  11  61  40  +21  47
  8 Southern Star           30  14  5  11  45  44   +1  47
  9 Rosbank Town            30  12  7  11  41  46   -5  43
 10 Westpike United         30  11  6  13  35  41   -6  39
 11 Lotus Park              30  10  7  13  26  40  -14  37
 12 Falkner United          30   9  7  14  35  45  -10  34
 13 Scaffield               30   7  5  18  19  41  -22  26
 14 Proudcastle             30   7  5  18  23  51  -28  26
 15 Gallant Cross           30   6  4  20  30  66  -36  22
 16 Sharrow                 30   1  3  26  15  71  -56   6

AWARDS
Golden Boot (Goals Scored): Elena Culbreth (KNG) - 23
Golden Ball (Player of the Year): Graciano Farina (NTH)
Golden Fist (New Player of the Year): Artem Giord (NTS)
Golden Heart (U-21 Player of the Year): Brae Crowther (KNG)
Team of the Year: Winterfyll (KNG); Swanton (NTH), Giord (NTS), Farina (NTH), Siddique (ROZ); Heher (ROZ), Martinelli (ROU), Stenberg (KNG); Crowther (KNG), Culbreth (KNG), Fallon (NTH)
Manager of the Year: Daniel Snowden (PRC)

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Swayback                 30  21   6   3  68  23  +45  69
  2 Snowden River            30  18   9   3  51  19  +32  63
  3 Chafford                 30  18   6   6  44  25  +19  60
  4 Francisca Orient         30  17   7   6  38  15  +23  58
  5 Westpike                 30  16   9   5  34  15  +19  57
  6 AFC Swanbridge           30  15   7   8  55  30  +25  52
  7 Southside Wanderers      30  11   9  10  30  31   -1  42
  8 Guilder                  30  11   7  12  28  34   -6  40
  9 Marque Rovers            30  11   6  13  41  38   +3  39
 10 Saint Alexander          30  10   7  13  18  23   -5  37
 11 Chrysler Town            30   5  13  12  28  39  -11  28
 12 Fentonbridge             30   7   6  17  19  36  -17  27
 13 Ridgeway United          30   6   9  15  21  46  -25  27
 14 Knightstone FC           30   6   7  17  23  52  -29  25
 15 Crest                    30   4   6  20  15  59  -44  18
 16 Mount Roland             30   3   8  19  19  47  -28  17

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Northern Union          30  18   8   4  67  28  +39  62
  2 Twin Saints             30  16   9   5  48  23  +25  57
  3 Stourhead               30  16   8   6  44  29  +15  56
  4 Shaleport Rangers       30  17   5   8  43  30  +13  56
  5 Pride of the South      30  17   4   9  75  50  +25  55
  6 Rozelle Alliance        30  14   7   9  55  45  +10  49
  7 Spearcove Mariners      30  13   9   8  59  41  +18  48
  8 Glassfields             30  12  11   7  54  43  +11  47
  9 Rushden                 30  11  11   8  46  41   +5  44
 10 Falkner Wanderers       30  11   7  12  36  45   -9  40
 11 Northern Fist           30  10   8  12  52  42  +10  38
 12 Alexavale FC            30   6   9  15  41  54  -13  27
 13 Thrush                  30   8   3  19  36  71  -35  27
 14 AFC Conomore            30   7   5  18  33  57  -24  26
 15 Platwood                30   4   5  21  27  72  -45  17
 16 Dannecliff Rovers       30   2   7  21  25  70  -45  13

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Finbar Stalwarts         30  21   3   6  63  21  +42  66
  2 Coppersmith              30  19   4   7  52  31  +21  61
  3 Heathgrove               30  14   9   7  47  27  +20  51
  4 Razorback Hill           30  15   6   9  36  24  +12  51
  5 Chafford Saracens        30  13  11   6  46  32  +14  50
  6 Pikemouth United         30  14   7   9  48  40   +8  49
  7 Falkner Crescent         30  13   9   8  68  47  +21  48
  8 Southrons-Errant         30  12   9   9  42  32  +10  45
  9 Suttonstrand FC          30  11   9  10  33  37   -4  42
 10 Steelrush Myrmidons      30  11   6  13  46  61  -15  39
 11 Fisher Kings             30  10   5  15  42  42   +0  35
 12 Randwick Town            30   9   8  13  38  42   -4  35
 13 Brackford Rovers         30   9   8  13  39  46   -7  35
 14 Dale Athletic            30   6   6  18  38  67  -29  24
 15 Hammerton                30   3   8  19  34  83  -49  17
 16 Dalgallen                30   3   6  21  25  65  -40  15
Promoted: AFC Cairnshore, Alnwick Glade

by **Brenecia** » Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:04 am

A-LEAGUE CYCLE 69 PREVIEW

League Run: 2nd
Stadium: Fenbrook Stadium (26,500)
Nickname: the Northerners
Manager: Russ Shorten
Captain: Sienna Fallon
Top Scorer: Aelfwynn Bannion (14)
Likely Starting XI: (4-4-2) 1 - Etxabeguren; 18 - Swanton, 4 - Blackwood, 6 - Farina (c), 3 - Hourihane; 13 - Harlech, 23 - Farquhar, 15 - Payne, 11 - Fallon; 21 - Brittain, 10 - Bannion
In: Nikita Crowe (Marque Rovers, 2m), Derrick Byrne (Ridgeway United, 2m), Caleigh Swan (Northern Stallions, 1.5m)
Promoted: Arran Berryman (RAM, 19), Lucius Card (CAM, 20), Selena Ninetails (CB, 19), Erica Weaver (RB, 19)
Out: Graciano Farina (Sabrefell Athletic, 10m), Aelfwynn Bannion (Goldstaff City, 3.5m), Sisann Riel (Crystal Guard HC, free), Joshua Harriott (Bankfoot Bears, free), Beibhinn Harlech (FC Capri, free), Gwitheryn Kirill (Swayback, free)
Retired: Elias Melendez (CB, 36)

Althea Chenoweth is out the door. With their best manager of recent times, headed to Exton, followed the A-League's best defender and a Brenecia international striker, and their captain, and a number of other key personnel. Their replacements are a couple guys from the second tier, the Stallions' 31-year old backup defensive midfielder and a guy who has never managed before in Russ Shorten. Say what you will about the Northerners, when they start the rebuilding process, they bloody mean it. Shorten allegedly wowed the board in his interview with a really memorable series of PowerPoints, so presumably he has some plan for Champions' Cup glory while using... ? Well, it's a solid defensive unit, drilled to an inch of their lives (even if it's missing its best player), with a slightly fragile midfield propped up by the intensity of local Farquhar. Sienna Fallon on the left has slowed with age (though at 29 retains a fair run of pace), and is now the team's major creative outlet in a fast-paced, high-intensity forward line. Up front, Drawkish colossus Corynn Turati needs to get her shooting boots on, though her all-around play as a hold-up target woman was impeccable when called upon last season. So it's a rock-solid side (with the best defence in the league last term) that can threaten teams as long as the intensity's cranked up - all in all, Shorten could ask for little better in his first role as manager. But will the fractured remnants of last season's side be enough to cling on to a top five place, let alone top two?

PREDICTION - 5th.

League Run: 4th
Stadium: The New Road (24,000)
Nickname: the Stallions
Manager: Danielle Granger
Captain: Faolain Madigan
Top Scorer: Griffin Riordan (17)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 12 - Ajaara; 14 - Festa, 2 - Giord, 3 - Cantrell, 20 - Mapleton; 4 - Skorupska, 8 - Redweald, 21 - Madigan (c); 15 - Vincent, 9 - Ducaldo, 10 - Kvist
In: Upsin Ajaara (Alikki-Corra, undisclosed), Aleksandra Skorupska (Trothwands Evolution, 4m), Soren Kvist (Hussards, 1m), Leonardo Ducaldo (Grasshopper Club, free)
Promoted: Dani Carlin (LB, 19), Christian Kearnan (ST, 18), Keane Mathers (CB, 18)
Out: Griffin Riordan (Klyde, 6.5m), Rowena Sierra (Violence Chariots, 2m), Bram Merchant (IFK Aldenskoett, free), Corryn Tallant (FC Capri, free), Dallas Keighran (Wexax United, free)
Retired: Steed Fowler (CB, 37)

The Stallions have discovered a legendary new strategy among the A-League's elite, electing to... spend money. 'Spending' this 'money' allows them to do many wondrous things, such as ... look stronger than they did last season. Far stronger - in fact, downright menacing. The investment starts at the back, between the sticks, where flaky shot-stopper Merchant has been traded out for a seasoned former international in the 31-year old Vilitan Upsin Ajaara. Artem Giord excelled last season pulling together a sometimes ragged and exposed defensive unit, and at 27 is only likely to improve further - very much worth the minor international incident surrounding his signing. A hard-nosed midfield of Skorupska, a veteran of international class, young Redweald and captain Faolain Madigan combines guile with flair, and more than a bit of hard edge to it as well. Up front is the only true question mark, though one fancies Carsten Vincent will only get stronger after an already-flying start last season. But Soren Kvist, snaffled up from the lowly Legaskari, and Ducaldo, a survivor of Boney greasy churning (though excelling in Bonesea to all accounts) will need to prove themselves, the latter in particular having the boots not only of gifted Griffin Riordan but of the popular Thorn Cronin to fill. The Stallions have proven the doubters wrong, and appear ready to inflict more pain on their opponents with their now-familiar brand of high, hard and organised pressing.

PREDICTION - 4th.

League Run: 9th
Stadium: Rosary Stadium (28,000)
Nickname: the Black Swans
Manager: Fiona Sylver
Captain: Aisling Chester
Top Scorer: Keogh Bolivar (9)
Likely Starting XI: (4-4-2) 12 - Childress; 2 - Chester (c), 13 - Duffy, 5 - Connolly, 3 - Levein; 20 - Kerris, 6 - Culhane, 8 - Townsend, 11 - Sekulovski; 17 - Bolivar, 10 - Cronin
In: Thorn Cronin (Northern Stallions, 2.5m)
Promoted: Justine Brunskill (CM, 18), Dan Snowe (ST, 19), Hazel Fetlocke (LB, 20), Wolfe Riflegreen (RM, 19), Daniel Spires (GK, 19)
Out: Brigid Levein (Marque, 2.5m), Phoenix Abernathy (Na'Malsille Mariners, free), Cullen Bray (Manechester City HC, free), Fabian Dawson (FC Mirola, free), Angela Miller (Ponyville Galaxy, free)
Retired: Sander Bergman (GK, 36)

The Black Swans floated serenely along in midtable all season, which is more or less their place in life. That's a good situation to rebuild, to ensure that you're putting out the next generation of Brenecian talent, and it's only through a finely-honed youth network that small clubs like Rosbank can stay comfortable like this. One such, Brigid Levein, was snapped up by Marque, giving them the cash in turn to buy dissatisfied Stallions striker Thorn Cronin, a proven striker at this level who should thrive feeding on the massive Bolivar's scraps. The duty of feeding those ravenous forwards relies on the pacy wingers, especially Sekulovski, a fine orthodox player with a peach of a left boot. A water-carrying central midfield is about as workmanlike as you'd expect. At the back, Sturritch has big boots to fill, and seems significantly flakier defensively than Levein, but they can always rely on captain Chester at rightback to retain solidity, while Roland Duffy had a real breakthrough season as a defensive bulwark. If they all fail, Kendall Childress is there, an acrobatic if inelegant goalkeeper. Rosbank play fast and direct, partially because they don't have the cattle for slow and technical, partially because, well... it works. This season, it will like as not continue working.

PREDICTION - 10th.

League Run: 3rd
Stadium: Rosary Stadium (38,000)
Nickname: the Saints
Manager: Eleanor Lingard
Captain: Niko Szubanski
Top Scorer: Nikita Loeher (17)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 1 - Nkutu; 2 - Báez, 5 - Blackburn, 6 - Szubanski (c), 3 - Siddique; 8 - Heher, 4 - Moss (c), 11 - Connell; 13 - Hearkener, 9 - Loeher, 10 - Farrell
In: Lukas Bernholm (Kiiarana City, undisclosed), Scott Whitewoods (Southside Wanderers, 1.7m)
Promoted: Gemma Urban (ST, 20), Capricorn Marlowe (DM, 21), Christian Saunders (GK, 19), Bellamy Wright (RB, 21)
Out: Jonah Nkutu (Crystal Heart City, free), Markus Tawney (Richland City, free), Rex Coyle (Goulding Sport, free), Auburn Brassfellow (New Oxford Nucleus, free), Laura Mirren (Mareseilles HC, free)
Retired: Niko Moss (DM, 35)

After a reasonable third-place finish, Rozelle have attempted to consolidate and try and gain ground on the Royals. Buying an excellent goalkeeper in the unflashy but commanding and reliable Bernholm was a very good move to further shore up the defence, with a depth defender in Whitewoods brought in. The real question mark was allowing Markus Tawney, a pretty good rightback, to leave on a free. They presumably had a replacement lined up, but whatever their plan was, it fell through - leaving them with either young, unproven Wright or the aging, declining Baez to fit there. Still, Szubanski and Siddique are exceptional defenders at this level and should help. As far as the midfield is concerned, young destroyer Marlowe and the bustling Connell exist more or less in service of Alora Heher, a brilliant player who can turn games on a flash. Stop Heher, and you stop Rozelle - but there's a big difference between knowing it in theory and getting it done in practice. Up front, Nikita Loeher can score anywhere, anytime, as can the more powerful but waning Cosumarite veteran Lilley off the bench. Under Lingard (the elder), the Saints play a front-foot style of football, pressing high and either catching teams with the pace of their wingers or more often relying on their midfielders to provide the killing blows. Rozelle are a good team, and they're in with a shout of the title without a doubt, but they are still a player or two away from Kingsgrove's level.

PREDICTION - 2nd.

by **Brenecia** » Sat Jan 27, 2018 1:47 am

UICA Preliminary Rounds
A strong preseason sees four Brenecian sides make it to the groups, with two having to negotiate qualifying rounds to get there. North Hall hold their ground impressively in convincing wins over FC Atlantis of the Whirl Islands and Di Maozoxe to join Kingsgrove in the Champions’ Cup. Northern Stallions also easily navigated their fixtures, but Gyoto Mountaineers of Damukuni knocked out Pikemouth thanks to a 2-1 win in Brenecia. An early disappointment for Bethany Donnell’s side.

What a welcome back to the A-League! “It’s everyone’s dream to come to Royal Park,” sighs Bryan Shaughness, Snowden captain, perhaps only meaning every Brenecian’s. “We’re living it up right now.” Perhaps he feels differently after his side are pulped 5-0, thoroughly outclassed by Gabrielle Hourihane’s charges who just outpaced them to every ball and cut the defence to ribbons whenever they felt like it. Swayback enjoy significantly more luck in their first A-League game, though it doesn’t feel like it when Ironside’s shot takes a heavy deflection off Platero to bounce past a scrambling Waugh in the eighth minute. But a cross from Keegan, a knockdown from Hayne and a neat finish from Southwell levels things up soon after before Csihar, in his first top-flight game in a while, just… lamps it. From like thirty yards. Catching Adrian off her line, and winning the game. By comparison, the ‘biggest’ match of the round - Rozelle hosting the Stallions - is a fairly dull scoreless draw, but at least it’s a good start for the respective sides’ goalkeeping reinforcements, Bernholm and Ajaara.

“It’s not about the disappointment,” says Snowden captain Shaughness, quickly becoming a source of zen quotes. “It’s about how you recover.” For the second time in as many matches, Falkner take an early, slightly fortunate lead over a newly-promoted side, Shaughness completely losing track of Russell at the far post who nods home Rohan’s cross for her first goal of the season. For the second time in as many matches, they blow it, teenage dynamo Cathal Keynes beating Jancis Adrian at her near post before Kirkegaard’s cutback is rifled in by Drake for the winner. Swayback can’t kick on, simply forced out of the game by intense Proudcastle defending before Garvan Braehead thunders home a powerful volley. Southern Star, meanwhile, are yet to pick up their first goal or even point of the season, with Constantine Champali’s Lotus Park notching up their second straight 3-0 win. Maxine Lynwood’s hit three already, equal top of the goalscoring charts, and looks to be making up for how tepid last season was - Murnane, for the first time, looks a truly convincing goalkeeper.

The pleasures of an open draw in the first round. Southside Wanderers pick up most of the headlines, beating North Hall’s second-string 2-0, looking very comfortable. They aren’t alone, as A-League sides are picked off like flies - Snowden River beaten 1-0 by Westpike, Scaffield beaten 1-0 by Ridgeway, Falkner 2-0 by Stourhead. Pikemouth come close to following, and it takes Cail Coghlan’s first senior goal in extra time to see off Heathgrove, while semi-professional Finbar Stalwarts actually lead Kingsgrove 2-1 on the hour before just running out of steam and being sunk. Perhaps most notable of all, Swayback host a Northern Union side that’s cannibalised a lot of existing second-tier talent. With the Knights bringing in their B-list, Union actually go in favourites with the bookies despite a tepid start to the season, and they do indeed have the better of the game… but their finishing is absolutely abject. Carrying into the penalty shootout, even. Which ends… 3-0, to Swayback, as the eccentrically-named Destiny Hourglass palms two spot-kicks away strongly and watches a third, decisive one clank into the crossbar above her head.

All eyes to the top of the table, though Snowden’s 1-0 win over Scaffield (Marquis with a spectacular goal to liven up a dull game) and Southern Star getting off the board with a 2-1 defeat of Swayback are worth mention. Most eyes, though, are on top of the table clashes, the most straightforward of which is North Hall’s solid, determined performance to break down Pikemouth, who just can’t finish their chances. The hugely impressive Raven Cashin lashes home a brace from her forays down the right wing. In the minor Rozelle derby, the Saints take home the bragging rights, goals from Loeher and Bard within the first half-hour giving them the advantage. Bernholm’s forced into some sharp saves, but while a Corby Wheeler thunderbastard adds intrigue to the fixture, United can’t find an equaliser as Wright surprisingly dominates Beretti on the wing. Across town, the most fascinating fixture of the round sees Kingsgrove lead the Stallions within ten minutes, Djuric instantly getting on the good side of the home crowd by charging inside of Mapleton before a cheeky outside-of-the-boot finish strands Ajaara. That sort of cheek apparently won’t be tolerated, though. Ajaara technically gets an assist after his goalkick bounces awkwardly for Kingsgrove’s defence, and Leonardo Ducaldo steals inside and taps past an incensed Winterfyll. The veteran goalkeeper soon had cause to be angrier with himself, after letting a fairly routine distant strike from Madigan slip through his hands, but there’s nothing he can do for the two powerful counterattacks that see Kingsgrove off. Tess Montrose makes it 4-2 late on, but it’s scarcely even a consolation.

A dull match, but potentially a key moment - Rozelle can’t break through North Hall by means fair or foul, even a late, desperate dive from Alora Heher not paying dividends beyond earning her a caution. By then, North Hall have their goal, Corynn Turati’s absurd height meaning that even an ordinary cross requires an extraordinary stooping header to batter past Bernholm, and they hold onto it with no holds barred. Lotus Park drop points for the first time all season, giving Pikemouth a little too much respect, and Pikemouth’s midfield cherish that space. Padmore in particular shines. Still, Constantine Champali’s off to a great start. Marque… Marque it up against Rozelle United, going up to a 1-0 lead in the first half, making it 2-0 by the hour and then, well, Murgen Knox’s homicidal challenge on June Gardot earns him a red and her a stretcher and a penalty, converted nervelessly by Martinelli. Andisori replaces Gardot… and scores a hat-trick, to seal the deal, though Marque captain Flahavan scores a goal of the season contender, a volley that arcs beautifully into the top corner, to make the last few minutes interesting.

Quite a quiet round, in all honesty, livened up by two penalty shootouts. Marque lose one of them to Ridgeway United after a 2-2 thriller. Swayback really don’t have time for a Cup run, and are swatted aside 3-0 by Pikemouth. Constantine Champali marked the Cup as a key target for the season ahead, but can only sniff disapprovingly as Angharad Northstead’s airswing in front of goal spares Southside… who then mark their second scalp with a lovely header off a corner from Andre Matthews. Proudcastle’s defence ends as they’re edged 1-0 at home by Westpike United, but the Stallions sure as hell aren’t about to join them, instead preferring to annihilate Chrysler Town 9-1, promising 21-year old striker Greyson Coulthirst netting four.

You want to talk about the underdogs in a league. You want to see the little guys doing well. You want Scaffield, in their new high-intensity form, attacking the Stallions tirelessly to turn a 2-0 scoreline at half-time into a draw. You want Falkner United to dominate Southern Star from the starting whistle, Ironside, Broune and Yvete seeing them to a 3-1 win. You want Kingsgrove to be picked off on a set piece, losing 1-0 to Rozelle United at home. But sometimes, the underdogs are just… genuinely goddamn terrible. Snowden vs. Westpike already has the feel of a six-pointer despite the Mariners’ decent start, but they’re pulverised 5-1 at home here, Clementine Nebelhorn opening her account for the season. With a hat-trick. Swayback, meanwhile, host Pikemouth. And following first-half red cards to Keegan and Kirill, before a late injury to Csihar leaves them with just eight men on the pitch for the final 14 minutes, they come away having been pounded 9-1. But, hey, lightning can’t strike twice, can it?

Lightning can strike twice. At least Swayback do manage two goals this time, from Southwell and the leftback Kindrogan, but the shell-shocked Destiny Hourglass (deputising for Waugh, who was understandably dropped) ships nine at her own end. No red cards this time, and no excuses. Russ Shorten has had a promising start to his tenure at the head of North Hall, but he was grimacing for ninety long minutes as Kingsgrove all too easily waltzed through his side’s defence, strolling to a 3-0 win away. As for Marque, well, every A-League season needs at least one meme. It seems as though wild-haired, musclebound Murgen Knox will be that meme. He storms into Champali’s press conference after Marque have won 2-1, thanks in no small part to Knox’s defending, and dunks an ice bucket over his head. “Welcome to the A-League, motherfucker!” he bellows, laughing madly as he’s pulled away by apologetic teammates.

Decimus Blake keeps faith in Destiny Hourglass, but her confidence is shot. In a mere 4-0 humiliation on home ground by Marque, who just stroll through Swayback’s midfield like it’s not there (Csihar’s still missing), she could and should have kept two of them out. Marque are also missing Murgen Knox, who is being given ‘time to cool off’ in manager Eloise Lingard’s words. But at least Swayback aren’t alone this time! Also near the foot of the table, Falkner United batter Rosbank 4-1 with Esther Rohan continuing to drag her side to victory, Rozelle shred Proudcastle 4-0 and Southern Star, surprisingly, bely their poor form to pump Pikemouth by the same scoreline, Sarkozy Zsuska finally waking up and stamping an iron boot on the match.

Murgen Knox gets back in the team, and the headlines, scoring two headers off set pieces to set Marque off to a comfortable win over Proudcastle. But it does appear that the first of these has a little bit of a boost, as he hauls himself up with Marisa Kyon’s braid… Swayback actually do manage to recover somewhat, Waugh coming back with a vengeance to make a number of sharp saves as Corren Wane impresses in his first start at rightback. Kirill… might just be cooked, by this stage. They still lose, because it’s Kingsgrove at home, but a 2-1 scoreline is damn respectable. A frenetic finish sees Rozelle United 1-0 Northern Stallions become 3-3 just in the last fifteen minutes, with Corby Wheeler doing her hype machine no harm at all with two late assists.

  Group E                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   MMt  Rev  30C  NHl
1 Marinos Metropolis        VLD    6    4   0   2    11    7   +4    12    —   1–2  3–0  2–1
2 Revolutionaries           EUR    6    3   1   2    13   10   +3    10   2–0   —   4–2  2–2
3 1830 Cathair FC           AUD    6    3   0   3    10   11   −1     9   1–2  3–2   —   3–0
4 North Hall                BRE    6    1   1   4     6   12   −6     4   1–3  2–1  0–1   —

  Group G                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   CtH  Kgr  Fla  Hon
1 Centralis Heart           ETM    6    6   0   0    18    4  +14    18    —   3–1  2–0  4–0
2 Kingsgrove                BRE    6    2   0   4     7    9   −2     6   0–1   —   3–0  2–1
3 Flanders FC               COM    6    1   2   3     8   13   −5     5*  1–3  3–1   —   2–2
4 Hondo FC                  VAL    6    1   2   3     8   15   −7     5*  2–5  1–0  2–2   — 
* Flanders FC ahead of Hondo FC on goal difference

Disappointment for North Hall, though beating 1830 Cathair 2-1 at home thanks to goals from Cashin and Crowe will live long in the memory. Still, they’re a side in transition, and they were very much the weakest side in a very tough group. Kingsgrove limp into the second round despite four defeats, as Centralis Heart manage to sweep the entire group. Home wins against Flanders and Hondo, who draw twice with one another, prove enough.

  Group F                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Roz  HSn  LnC  AvL
1 Rozelle                   BRE    6    4   1   1    12    7   +5    13*   —   0–1  1–1  2–1
2 Hinode Supernova          HIN    6    4   1   1    12    6   +6    13*  1–3   —   5–1  2–0
3 Lonngeylin Coast          VIL    6    1   3   2     8   11   −3     6   1–2  1–1   —   2–2
4 Avenida Leal              FFD    6    0   1   5     6   14   −8     1   2–4  1–2  0–2   — 
* Rozelle ahead of Hinode Supernova on head-to-head goal difference

  Group K                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Spg  RGS  AxU  NSt
1 Spartangrad               EUR    6    4   1   1     9    4   +5    13    —   2–3  2–1  0–0
2 RGS Athletic              EFL    6    3   1   2    12    7   +5    10   0–1   —   2–1  6–1
3 Alexandria United         ESH    6    2   1   3     7    7    0     7   0–1  1–1   —   3–1
4 Northern Stallions        BRE    6    1   1   4     3   13  −10     4   0–3  1–0  0–1   —

Despite extremely strong opposition from obscure Hinode Supernova, who hammer Lnngeylin Coast 5-1 at home, Rozelle manage to top their group and qualify fairly easily on the whole. Avenida Leal will be desperately disappointed to manage just the single point. Northern Stallions, meanwhile, score just three goals and endure a 6-1 slaughter at the hands of RGS Athletic, bowing out.

Always a worrying sign when the most prominent Brenecian on the pitch isn’t even on the A-League’s side. Yes, it’s another happy return for Ursula Rankin, as an RGS side that beat the Stallions 6-2 on aggregate now faces lowly Proudcastle. But Daniel Snowden’s Rooks put up a hell of a fight, and while RGS dominate possession 67-33, Thiel heads Ullman’s corner past Petratos before a blistering strike from swashbuckling Marisa Kyon secures an impressive 2-2 draw against the far more heralded Eastfielder side.

Proudcastle double their goal tally for the season, surprisingly to take an early lead against Kingsgrove - Conan Hawkine opening his account for the season to head powerfully past Winterfyll. They never really look like holding onto it, despite some frenetic defending in the first half - miscommunication between Banerman and Cevenni is pounced on by Corvey who slots it home from a narrow angle, before more conventional goals from Stenberg and Culbreth ensure a comfortable victory for Kingsgrove by a two-goal margin, scoring more goals in the second half, to stress the fact again, than Proudcastle have managed this season. The two promoted sides face off, and Snowden win 2-0 - Winona Bedullin with a couple of tap-ins after flowing moves, Donagh making some sharp saves at the other end. A minor Northern derby is a fairly dour match, but Ajaara continues his march into cult hero status by saving Sienna Fallon’s penalty. To add insult to injury, four minutes later, the Stallions score the only goal of the game through Carsten Vincent’s piledriver.

It’s tight as hella at the top right now, the top five all winning and seperated by just three points. It’s Kingsgrove, predictably, ruling the roost at this stage, though they rely on an injury-time winner from Culbreth to secure it, with Rozelle United casually smashing Falkner 3-0 to stay second. Northern Stallion, North Hall (who have conceded just four goals thus far, but scored just eleven) and Pikemouth round things out, the latter clambering over Rozelle thanks to a 1-0 away win over them. Nikita Loeher has an off day in front of goal, and if Loeher isn’t scoring goals, what is she doing? Katrina Brasic shows her how it’s done with a curling drive late on. Marque are beaten 1-0 by Rosbank Town, while Lotus Park are pummeled 4-1 by Northern Stallions at home, really falling off the pace after a promising start. They round out the top half, but Snowden River in ninth (thanks to Vanessa Way’s blistering strike from leftback that bounced cruelly past Cevenni) sure feel like winners at the moment, already ten points clear of the drop.

Falkner and Rosbank are basically on their own little island, on eleven points. Beneath them, it’s a scrap, everyone for themselves. Southern Star are very much in the relegation conversation at this stage, but Swayback, stunningly, are only fourth-last despite eight defeats and 32 goals conceded. They clamber closer to safety by overtaking a stilted, almost constipated Scaffield, simply bypassing the terrors of Mikaucis in midfield and allowing Hayne and Southwell to get a goal each through the direct route. Proudcastle and Westpike United are both defeated, and currently lie beneath the cutoff.

In the second tier, Chafford have 28 points from a possible 30 and are cantering easily to the top of the table, and surprisingly it’s Twin Saints right there alongside them. Northern Union, despite heavy investment and high hopes, are well off the pace in 8th. Fentonbridge and Knightstone FC have just two points apiece, somehow already nine points from safety.

Southside Wanderers are agonisingly close to going three scalps for three, but their hugely impressive run crashes to an unceremonious halt as Westpike United, bottom of the A-League, crash home an extra time winner through 19-year old striker Niall Bremner. Rozelle sink Northern Stallions, Nikita Loeher atoning somewhat for her failures with a ferociously taken strike that slams into the back of the net hard enough to rip some of the links out of the foundation. She provides the cutoff for Matilda Farrell to hit the clincher late on. Southern Star also crash out, with backup goalkeeper Cole Bruin fumbling Sekulovski’s cross into the path of Cronin, who just slides home the winner. Third-tier Shaleport Rangers are still in the draw for the quarterfinals after an extra time winner from Kellen Storey, a 32-year old part-time librarian, sees off the ambitious Twin Saints.

It’s unclear precisely how Proudcastle can be so bad in the league but so prolific in tournaments. Five goals in the Cup, and now four in all against RGS Athletic. This time, RGS dominated possession even harder, but they’re hit on the break by Rascal Kirrough before Paschalis Seretis heads home another great free kick from Ullman. But RGS fight back, almost casually find holes in the Rooks’ defence and Ursula Rankin finds the space to tap in one, then two. Only an exceptional save at her feet from Cevenni prevents a winner, but somehow despite pressing more and more intensely RGS just can’t break through. And then the shoot-out… and Cevenni, with two crucial saves, is the toast of the town. Four clinical penalties, despite their first - from Ullman - being clawed away by Petratos, leads to a hugely impressive victory for the lowly Rooks.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove             10  8  0  2  26  12  +14  24
  2 Rozelle United         10  7  2  1  22  11  +11  23
  3 Northern Stallions     10  6  4  0  18   8  +10  22
  4 North Hall             10  7  1  2  11   4   +7  22
  5 Pikemouth              10  7  0  3  25  13  +12  21
  6 Rozelle                10  5  3  2  19   7  +12  18
  7 Marque                 10  5  1  4  20  14   +6  16
  8 Lotus Park             10  5  1  4  15  12   +3  16
  9 Snowden River          10  4  3  3   9  15   -6  15
 10 Falkner United         10  3  2  5  14  15   -1  11
 11 Rosbank Town           10  3  2  5   7  13   -6  11
 12 Southern Star          10  2  2  6  12  17   -5   8
 13 Swayback               10  2  0  8   9  32  -23   6
 14 Scaffield              10  1  2  7   6  18  -12   5
 15 Proudcastle            10  1  2  7   2  18  -16   5
 16 Westpike United        10  1  1  8  11  17   -6   4

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Chafford                10  9  1  0  20   4  +16  28
  2 Twin Saints             10  8  0  2  21  10  +11  24
  3 Gallant Cross           10  5  3  2  20  12   +8  18
  4 Saint Alexander         10  5  2  3  11  11   +0  17
  5 Westpike                10  4  4  2  12   7   +5  16
  6 Southside Wanderers     10  4  3  3  15   9   +6  15
  7 Francisca Orient        10  4  3  3  13   9   +4  15
  8 Northern Union          10  4  2  4  13  12   +1  14
  9 AFC Swanbridge          10  4  1  5  16  17   -1  13
 10 Guilder                 10  4  1  5   9  14   -5  13
 11 Marque Rovers           10  3  3  4  11  15   -4  12
 12 Ridgeway United         10  2  5  3   9   9   +0  11
 13 Chrysler Town           10  3  2  5  14  19   -5  11
 14 Sharrow                 10  3  2  5   7  15   -8  11
 15 Fentonbridge            10  0  2  8   5  18  -13   2
 16 Knightstone FC          10  0  2  8   7  22  -15   2

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Pride of the South     10  8  2  0  31   8  +23  26
  2 Stourhead              10  7  3  0  16   4  +12  24
  3 Rozelle Alliance       10  6  4  0  26  13  +13  22
  4 Crest                  10  6  2  2  21   9  +12  20
  5 Glassfields            10  6  1  3  19  13   +6  19
  6 Shaleport Rangers      10  4  2  4   9  15   -6  14
  7 Finbar Stalwarts       10  3  4  3  12   8   +4  13
  8 Mount Roland           10  3  3  4  10  10   +0  12
  9 Alexavale FC           10  3  2  5   8  17   -9  11
 10 Rushden                10  3  2  5   8  17   -9  11
 11 Northern Fist          10  3  1  6  17  27  -10  10
 12 Coppersmith            10  2  3  5  10  11   -1   9
 13 Spearcove Mariners     10  2  3  5   7  12   -5   9
 14 Thrush                 10  2  3  5  16  27  -11   9
 15 Falkner Wanderers      10  2  2  6   7  13   -6   8
 16 AFC Conomore           10  1  1  8  10  23  -13   4

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Platwood                10  8  0  2  19  13   +6  24
  2 Chafford Saracens       10  7  1  2  26   4  +22  22
  3 Falkner Crescent        10  7  1  2  18   8  +10  22
  4 Heathgrove              10  6  1  3  22  11  +11  19
  5 Dannecliff Rovers       10  6  0  4  26  18   +8  18
  6 Randwick Town           10  5  2  3  16  15   +1  17
  7 Southrons-Errant        10  5  1  4  16  15   +1  16
  8 Fisher Kings            10  5  0  5  11  10   +1  15
  9 AFC Cairnshore          10  4  2  4  23  17   +6  14
 10 Razorback Hill          10  4  1  5  12  12   +0  13
 11 Alnwick Glade           10  3  3  4  11  15   -4  12
 12 Pikemouth United        10  2  4  4  12  17   -5  10
 13 Brackford Rovers        10  3  1  6  11  17   -6  10
 14 Suttonstrand FC         10  3  0  7  14  19   -5   9
 15 Steelrush Myrmidons     10  2  1  7  11  26  -15   7
 16 Dale Athletic           10  1  0  9   9  40  -31   3

by **Brenecia** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 1:32 am

Yeah, okay, this is the Kingsgrove we’re all used to, the Royals asserting themselves at the top of the table with a 6-1 annihilation of Rosbank Town. Despite switching to a 4-5-1 with essentially three defensive midfielders, Rosbank still never manage to pin down Line Stenberg, who more or less just does whatever she wants. Southern Star manage to pull further away from the bottom two after just destroying Snowden River, Jorm Vahn flaring to life with a hat-trick after having scored just two all season prior to this. But the biggest plaudits, surely, belong to Swayback who come away from visiting the Stallions with the three points. Despite constant pressure, Waugh is solid between the posts, while up front two goals from Southwell, a crisply-driven strike from Fey and most impressively of all an injury-time killer that slams in off the underside of the crossbar from Alek Csihar sees off the high-flying Stallions.

Narrow wins for Brenecian second-strings against stalwart opposition. Both sides will have to do better than that to come away victorious in what is sure to be a pair of tough away trips to Filindostan.

Another brace for Kurtis Southwell, and more surprisingly… not terrible defensive work from the Knights’ defence, ensures that Swayback canter to a 4-1 annihilation of a desperately poor Westpike side. Ingram Stonesworth is sent off late on for a brutal challenge on Vauxhall Hayne, a proper leg-breaker, but Hayne shrugs it off and chokeslams his huge opponent into the ground, earning him a red of his own. Scaffield also pick up valuable points, Nightjar Evans’ usually wayward finishing vanishing as she finds the bottom corner of Ferrant’s net. Meanwhile, a breathless match between Marque and Rozelle is more or less a constant battle between Murgen Knox and the hot-tempered Nikita Loeher, who notches a decisive brace to win Rozelle the game late on - but not before appearing to give the much larger Knox a noogie in proper bullying Nepharim style at a corner.

That’s more like it. Significantly stronger A-League sides make the trip and come away with significantly more convincing victories.

Two derbies, both with decisive victors that reflect the current balance of power. In the Rathia derby between the Stallions and Lions, Danielle Granger’s hosts effortlessly pick Star apart. Ajaara doesn’t have many saves to make, though is very much equal to his tests, while the intensity of their pressing forces constant errors and turnovers from the Lions’ wayward defence and midfield, and even the usually peerless Kyra Ferrant at one point kicks the ball straight to Ducaldo, who immediately dashes around her and scores. The Rozelle derby, meanwhile, is, uh. Conclusive. It’s conclusive. Without any of the controversy of last time around, Rozelle are just annihilated 4-1 by Kingsgrove, and as absolutely anyone who has seen a football match could have predicted, traffic cone Bellamy Wright is unable to keep up with 10-million pound man Matt Branch. The result is anarchy around Rozelle’s goal, and a hat-trick of assists for the Cosumarite winger.

Rozelle do recover admirably from defeat, rolling over Snowden River 4-0 away, but not nearly so well as the Stallions capitalise on their momentum. A quite respectable Rosbank Town should hold out alright, but they, uh, don’t, absolutely hammered 8-1. Things looked quite good for them back in the 12th minute, where Thorn Cronin managed to score against her former club, and shushed the home crowd. That was inadvisable. The Stallions got really mad about that, and Cronin ended up limping off on the hour mark after Artem Giord slammed through her shins. North Hall are almost the latest victims of Swayback’s recent run of form, but are bailed out by a late brace off the bench from Connor Morbrand. Morbrand’s expected to leave at the end of the season in search of more first-team football, but on evidence like this, perhaps he’s making a last push for regular starts.

Six draws from the eight results, with only Pikemouth and North Hall chalking up wins. In the former’s case it’s a genuinely impressive performance from Thorvald Padmore in the centre of the park to orchestrate affairs, though Hoffmann continues to be lowkey one of the signings of the season with some sharp glovework. As ever, Swayback are worth watching, with Gwitheryn Kirill back in a starting role due to Wane’s injury… and making up for her poor form with a beautiful diagonal cross that was just glanced home by Catherine Sulphur for her first goal of the season, a valuable point away at a Lotus Park side that will be kicking themselves. Falkner earned a tasty point at Kingsgrove, though at 2-0 up at half-time they’ll wonder what could have been had Jancis Adrian been sharper at her near post, while the viewing of the round was surely an energetic 4-4 slugfest between Marque and Snowden River. Cathal Keynes surely put his name in the attention of many scouts across the world by scoring, of all things, a second-half hat-trick to turn things around - a towering far-post header and then two lashed left-footed shots that left Bannatyne with no chance.

When Proudcastle collapse this badly defensively, what’s left? 4-1 down at the hour mark, the unlikely figure of Cormac Kashkett comes up with a late goal to pull it back to a two-goal deficit, but things still look bad for the Rooks.

Damaging defeats and draws for pretty much all the big teams… except Kingsgrove, who hammer Snowden 4-0 away. Rosbank are particularly impressive, utterly dominating an aimless Rozelle United side and ultimately bullying them to a 3-0 win. Scaffield get a win over Marque in slightly controversial circumstances - 2-1 up but a man down, a lovely pass from Ponandre appeared to have set Cronin through on goal… until a desperate hoof of a ball from the technical area from, naturally, Murgen Knox hit her in the back of the head to interrupt play. Knox has been hit with a three-match ban, but that’s little consolation for a Marque side who will feel robbed of a potential equaliser. “Maybe there’s a reason a man of his talent hasn’t made it to the top flight until now,” a clearly upset Cronin tells the press afterwards.

Proudcastle take very much a second-string side to Lonngeylin, and they acquit themselves brilliantly. Admittedly, Lonngeylin’s taken the opportunity to rest a few of their key players too. An energetic, entertaining 2-2 draw - not enough for the Rooks, though, and it was never going to happen from the moment Coast took a thirteenth-minute lead.

Disaster for the Royals, who manage to dominate play but just can’t cut through the final third. Loconstead make them pay, and a clinical bullet header from veteran Chromatik striker Alexandria Chesser gives United a 1-0 lead heading into the home leg. North Hall do the thing again of a fairly dire, drawn-out 1-0 win at home, relying on Blackwood heading home Fallon’s outswinging corner.

The rest evidently does Proudcastle a world of good, as they come up refreshed against Swayback. The Knights’ depth is… very poor, and they’re nursing a couple of injuries, and overall look extremely jaded. Gentian Lennon does manage to convert a lovely strike from outside the box against the run of play, but their inability to close down Ursula Ullman is one they will pay dearly for. She provides the assist, threading the ball through for Conan Hawkine to just about manage to hook home, before the lack of pressure on her in the 62nd minute enables her to pick her target and almost gently place the ball into the top corner from 30 yards. Rozelle slip yet again, this time to dynamic teenage striker Niall Bremner somehow being first to a rebound in the box that the Saints’ defence, unaccountably, fails to close down. A 2-2 draw with Westpike United at home… no wonder the fans are jeering.

No talk of Kingsgrove dominance this time - Loconstead are the better team from the off, and though Kingsgrove pull back two goals and lead on away goals on the hour, they just look tired, and vulnerable… and do, in the event, get taken apart. Not so North Hall, who clinically dismantle West Namagoro with goals from Brittain, Crowe and Farquhar.

A great day for Scaffield, as Tailtiu Brennan’s charges run roughshod over a hearty but guileless Snowden River. It has to be admitted that for all his virtues, Bryan Shaughness is not an A-League defender, and all he could do was sluggishly chase after all-action forward Claire Holden all afternoon. Holden, for her part, genuinely looks to be enjoying herself at the spearhead after two seasons of fruitless dirty work. Northern Stallions think they’ve managed to contain Kingsgrove after ninety minutes, which is the worst mistake you can make since that’s about when Elena Culbreth manages to loop the ball over the head of Giord and effortlessly twist away to hook the ball past a startled Ajaara for the winner. The minor Rozelle derby, meanwhile, is pretty bad value for money. In the end, Rozelle United just have more about them, and a scrappy late winner from Ross Huorn is just about what they, and the match, deserved.

North Hall just outlast Rozelle, grinding their stalling attack into pieces before Cashin lashes home a late winner. Rozelle have just two points from their last five games, and it’s the death knell, somewhat surprisingly, for Eleanor Lingard, a manager charged with having lost the dressing room after some disinterested performances. Former Rozelle captain Justin Vauxhall takes over managerial duties in a caretaker role to the end of the season. Meanwhile, Swayback take part in a scoreless draw against Rosbank. Let that sink in. Admittedly, Clementine Nebelhorn missed one golden chance and one, perhaps, bronze chance to seal it, but lashed into the side netting both times.

Kingsgrove are very nearly fucked, trailing 2-0 by half-time through goals from Zelaya and Caceres. However, they manage to drag themselves out of the hole they’ve made, with Steve Fox (culpable for Caceres’ goal) atoning with a brilliant disguised pass to see Culbreth pull one back before powering home a surprising equaliser. Late on, the Royals are genuinely dominant, and when Branch is felled in the box for a penalty and O’Byrne, the substitute captain, effortlessly dispatches the penalty, it’s no more than they deserve. Even so, Marinos are very much still in the tie with two away goals and the home leg to come.

Always says a lot when your goalkeeper - Rozelle’s Lukas Bernholm - is man of the match. Though when this was put to Vauxhall after his first match in charge, he hotly fought back; “the goalkeeper is a member of the team, it’s not as if his contributions don’t count.” Fair point, but he’ll feel fortunate for escaping with a 1-1 draw thanks to Bernholm and from Sheila Connell’s blistering strike in the 90th minute.

The title race might just be won, though it never pays to write teams off. Certainly it’s now between Pikemouth and North Hall, and after the former win 1-0 and the latter lose 1-0, it’s now a seven-point gap that seperates them. North Hall have a spectacularly good defence, at least, but have scored fewer goals than any of the top half. Or Lotus Park in ninth. Or Swayback in 14th, who manage to peg back Pikemouth in a spectacular 5-3 win enlivened by a red card on each side. Unfortunately for Pikemouth, theirs happens to Gerald Hoffmann half an hour in for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, and unproven backup Sabatka is unequal to the task. They and the Stallions (beaten 1-0 by Scaffield) are twelve points out from the top, Rozelle United (beaten by Kingsgrove) a point further behind. On the outside looking in, Marque and Rozelle are within striking distance. At least Vauxhall can stir some passion out of his side, judging by a 4-1 hammering of Lotus Park. Park join Southern Star and Scaffield on sort of a midtable island all to their own - all safe from relegation, none likely to reach the top five.

At the danger end of the table, by now it’s looking like the bottom six are the final candidates for relegation. Rosbank Town and Snowden River, who both draw, are best-placed to avoid it, though it has to be admitted that Snowden are in a dismal run of form at the moment. Westpike United, who Snowden drew with, are in a precarious position, while Swayback’s victory over Pikemouth lifts them out of trouble for now. Falkner, slammed 3-0 by Southern Star in a match they never really got to grips with, are second-last, but still within touching distance. Proudcastle, somehow, take part in a 3-3 draw with Rosbank Town. That’s their seventh, eighth and ninth league goals of the season, despite downright prolific form in other tournaments. They’re six points from safety, and things look grim for Daniel Snowden’s charges. Chafford will almost certainly join them, still unbeaten and having conceded just seven goals while sitting sixteen points clear of third. Gallant Cross, Twin Saints and Northern Union tussle over the remaining spot.

Perhaps the best performance of the cycle from Kingsgrove, who might not be dominating the A-League to the degree expected but are sure as hell making up for it now. Djuric’s intensity in front of goal is too hot to handle, with Culbreth and Stenberg also getting on the scoresheet as Roisin Staunton and Jakk Winterfyll excel on the defensive end.

In a tightly-contested fixture, a top-quality striker makes the difference. Rozelle have just equalised through Matilda Farrell and are in the ascendancy before Sigurjonsdottir’s cross is met beautifully by Vega Zeale-Riddick, evidently lost in the sun by Szubanski and Siddique, for the winning goal.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              20  16  1   3  52  20  +32  49
  2 North Hall              20  13  3   4  26  11  +15  42
  3 Pikemouth               20  11  4   5  44  27  +17  37
  4 Northern Stallions      20  11  4   5  37  20  +17  37
  5 Rozelle United          20  11  3   6  30  24   +6  36
  6 Marque                  20  10  3   7  39  29  +10  33
  7 Rozelle                 20   9  5   6  37  22  +15  32
  8 Southern Star           20   8  4   8  28  25   +3  28
  9 Lotus Park              20   8  4   8  28  27   +1  28
 10 Scaffield               20   8  3   9  24  28   -4  27
 11 Rosbank Town            20   5  5  10  20  38  -18  20
 12 Snowden River           20   5  5  10  20  44  -24  20
 13 Westpike United         20   4  5  11  22  32  -10  17
 14 Swayback                20   5  2  13  29  53  -24  17
 15 Falkner United          20   4  4  12  25  36  -11  16
 16 Proudcastle             20   2  5  13   9  34  -25  11

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Chafford                 20  17  3   0  35   7  +28  54
  2 Gallant Cross            20  12  3   5  39  19  +20  39
  3 Twin Saints              20  12  2   6  32  22  +10  38
  4 Northern Union           20  10  5   5  26  19   +7  35
  5 Southside Wanderers      20   9  6   5  25  15  +10  33
  6 Westpike                 20   8  7   5  23  14   +9  31
  7 AFC Swanbridge           20   8  6   6  35  26   +9  30
  8 Francisca Orient         20   7  7   6  23  17   +6  28
  9 Saint Alexander          20   8  3   9  21  22   -1  27
 10 Guilder                  20   7  3  10  17  25   -8  24
 11 Marque Rovers            20   6  5   9  23  31   -8  23
 12 Chrysler Town            20   5  6   9  24  31   -7  21
 13 Ridgeway United          20   4  7   9  17  22   -5  19
 14 Fentonbridge             20   4  4  12  10  27  -17  16
 15 Sharrow                  20   4  3  13  11  40  -29  15
 16 Knightstone FC           20   2  4  14  16  40  -24  10

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Rozelle Alliance        20  14  4   2  44  21  +23  46
  2 Stourhead               20  12  6   2  32  13  +19  42
  3 Pride of the South      20  12  5   3  47  19  +28  41
  4 Glassfields             20  10  5   5  39  23  +16  35
  5 Crest                   20   9  7   4  35  21  +14  34
  6 Mount Roland            20   9  5   6  27  18   +9  32
  7 Shaleport Rangers       20   9  4   7  23  22   +1  31
  8 Finbar Stalwarts        20   6  7   7  23  20   +3  25
  9 Spearcove Mariners      20   6  7   7  20  23   -3  25
 10 Alexavale FC            20   7  4   9  19  36  -17  25
 11 Northern Fist           20   6  6   8  33  40   -7  24
 12 Coppersmith             20   5  6   9  21  26   -5  21
 13 Falkner Wanderers       20   4  6  10  16  27  -11  18
 14 Thrush                  20   3  7  10  29  50  -21  16
 15 Rushden                 20   3  5  12  16  38  -22  14
 16 AFC Conomore            20   2  2  16  12  39  -27   8

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Chafford Saracens        20  14  1   5  52  12  +40  43
  2 Southrons-Errant         20  13  3   4  54  27  +27  42
  3 Platwood                 20  13  3   4  35  24  +11  42
  4 Falkner Crescent         20  11  6   3  26  14  +12  39
  5 Heathgrove               20  11  4   5  34  18  +16  37
  6 Fisher Kings             20   9  4   7  29  19  +10  31
  7 Dannecliff Rovers        20   8  5   7  44  37   +7  29
  8 Razorback Hill           20   7  7   6  22  20   +2  28
  9 Randwick Town            20   7  6   7  24  28   -4  27
 10 AFC Cairnshore           20   7  5   8  37  30   +7  26
 11 Alnwick Glade            20   6  5   9  24  35  -11  23
 12 Suttonstrand FC          20   6  4  10  24  32   -8  22
 13 Pikemouth United         20   4  8   8  27  34   -7  20
 14 Brackford Rovers         20   4  3  13  19  39  -20  15
 15 Steelrush Myrmidons      20   4  2  14  22  60  -38  14
 16 Dale Athletic            20   2  2  16  16  60  -44   8

by **Brenecia** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 12:46 am

Is it a symbol of Swayback’s rise that they go a third match unbeaten, and manage a second clean sheet across that run, against Rozelle? Or a mark of Rozelle’s decline? Realistically, it’s both, and the absence of Nikita Loeher through injury doesn’t help as it becomes sadly apparent that, well, even heroes grow old and lose their dynamism as Tevin Lilley ‘celebrates’ his 35th birthday in Platero’s pocket, managing to at least thump a couple of shots into Waugh. More notably, though, this is the match that keeps the title alive. North Hall absolutely have to win, travelling to Kingsgrove, and predictably the Royals dominate throughout. What they don’t account for is an outstanding performance in goal from Eamon Falconet, Farquhar and Swan managing to stifle Kingsgrove’s supply line before a hopeful cross from Raven Cashin is swept home late on by substitute striker Victoria Brittain. The gap is cut to four at the top.

The A-League matchups go about as expected. Rosbank are just the better side against Westpike United, aided by not having to care about relegation, and the ability to use Thorn Cronin guilt-free pays off as the seasoned striker nets a brace. Pikemouth edge out a Rozelle side that continues to lack teeth, a spectacular backheeled finish from Denarian seeing them off. Do Kingsgrove take Guilder lightly? Well, okay, yes, that isn’t really in doubt, but a second-string defence should still manage to hold out against Guilder. They’re unafraid to sit back and hit on the break, even at home, and it pays dividends with three goals. The eccentrically-named Dryad Barber, replacing evergreen Keenan Penate, accounts for two of them. Ridgeway, surprisingly, get turned over by third-tier Shaleport, with Kellen Storey’s scissor-kick a goal of the season contender.

Hall scrape to another 1-0 win, Ephraim Kochansky’s glanced header seeing off Unaio.

The Saints finally prove they can do it without Loeher, leaning heavily on their wingers. It’s a rare start for Donna Besat, and she more than makes the most of it, showing a lightning pace that Matilda Farrell can no longer display. They’re one-upped across town, though, as United rip shreds out of Scaffield. By now, Beaunia Andisori’s entrenched her place in the starting lineup, and the 21-year old looks every inch the sister of Starling striker Keira with a neatly-taken brace, both shots from seemingly impossible angles. It’s Kingsgrove who let the capital down, as a disciplined, patient performance from Lotus Park sees them off at the back before the fault-lines start to appear in the Royals’ defence. Passes from Wen and then Kella are the killing blows, and all Lynwood has to do is tap them in.

Westpike United… melt. They don’t pick a weak team, but they just get conclusively battered by Rosbank and somehow, thanks in part to some submissive goalkeeping from Lachlan Kenway, wind up on the receiving end of a 6-0 thrashing. At home. Needless to say the crowd is unamused. Rozelle against Pikemouth is a free-flowing context, but two early Pikemouth goals make it very hard for Rozelle to come back. Lilley does break his goal drought with a thumping volley late on to bring some cheer back to the Saints, but it’s not enough. Kingsgrove, of course, hammer Guilder at home- no, that’s a lie, they get turned over 4-3 in yet another flurry of counterattacks. The Royals’ faith in youth is unwavering, perhaps, it seems, to a fault. Shaleport, meanwhile, continue to be sublime, and make another 2-0 win over former A-League champions Ridgeway look easy.

North Hall are yet to so much as concede a goal in the CEdC, and their fine form continues. A resilient performance away is a little nervewracking at times, but eventually Christian Falken’s strike sees them through. Their fourth 1-0 win in a row.

A lot of people expected Falkner United to have fired Titania Pratchett by now. It’s unlikely she’d still be in the job had it not been for her heroic record as a player for them. She needs to turn things around, and fast. Beating Rosbank last match was a step in the right direction, but things look pretty dire for the Hunters at half-time, with Aidan Hartigan looking unbeatable for the Pikemen as a defensive slip was capitalised upon by McCabe for the only goal, until in the second half, the Hunters have a rocket shoved up their collective backside. And as has been so often the case, it’s Esther Rohan with the brace to haul them out of danger and clinch a second straight victory from the jaws of calamity. North Hall break their spree of 1-0 wins with a frankly decadent 3-0 win over a freefalling Scaffield.

“We’ve turned a page. Rounded a corner,” announces a relieved and still-employed Titania Pratchett, shortly before Falkner get dunked 3-0 by an almost casual Pikemouth. A crunch match at the bottom of the table sees Swayback host Snowden River, and the forceful defending of the Knights has its detractors. Alysia Sandstone among them, her “WHAT THE FUCK, SEND THE DIRTY CUNT OFF!” carrying to all Brenecian homes through the effects mic. Riona Drake gets gingerly to her feet after that specific challenge, but limps off two minutes later from the aftereffects. Without their creative fulcrum, Snowden capitulate to Swayback’s pressure, and despite some sharp work from Donagh between the posts the goals from Csihar and Fey are basically inevitable.

Pikemouth manage to outmuscle Rosbank, with an opportunistic Bolivar header only the slightly fly in the ointment - it’s clear, though, that Pikemouth are going to wrest back control. Rosbank have been using Childress for all competitions and the capable young goalkeeper keeps them in the game… right up until Mordred Greig ‘accidentally’ steps on her wrist while trying to pass her, and then falls over. Childress is ruled out for the rest of the season, and while Denarian karmaically misses the penalty that is unaccountably given, he scores one and assists another for Padmore to seal the win. Far less eventfully, Guilder edge out Shaleport with the unique strategy of ‘not letting themselves get hit on the break’. Take notes, Ridgeway.

A turning point in the title race? Perhaps not, but the nation is desperate for intrigue. Kingsgrove are stunned by the simplest of diagonal crosses from Devan Guinness, and Vahn takes it on the chest, effortlessly outmuscles Sinde before firing past Winterfyll. In the 83 minutes remaining, by hell or high water, they just… cannot find a way past Kyra Ferrant. North Hall face no such difficulties, effortlessly brushing past a poor Westpike United side, Turati scoring a brace and Nikita Crowe, oddly goalshy and arguably unselfish to a fault, lashing home an unusually assertive third. In other news, Falkner get dunked 3-0 again, this time at home to Rozelle United, while Katrina Brasic’s Goal of the Season contender volley into the ceiling of the net sees Pikemouth edge out a jaded Rozelle.

No controversy this time, though Rosbank are still without Childress, and understudy Alicia Sheafing could perhaps have done better to stop Brasic’s strike curling in between her outstretched feet. Nothing she could have done for the fourth on aggregate, though, the normally fairly lowkey Alen Pavic finding the top corner. Sadly, it’s the end of the road for Shaleport Rangers. They can’t find a way back after Guilder open the scoring, and though they do equalise, they’re cut apart twice on the counterattack. The Phoenix make it to the Final as a B-League side, but for many people, Pikemouth have that one pretty much in the bag. Still, you can never count the Phoenix out.

With Tuw Turk and Kira Koromin up front for Celtic, the Gelderlish side is always in with a chance. Thus it proves when Turk’s masterful disguised pass enables Koromin to dart past a flat-footed Chimbonda, round a scrambling Winterfyll and drive the ball home to silence the home crowd, a point she underlines with a finger to her lips. Even so, the Royals play with confidence, just as if they haven’t conceded at all, and lashed strikes outside the box from Mathew Evans and the lesser-spotted Niki Hansen are enough to give Kingsgrove a narrow edge going into the away leg.

Kingsgrove assert their place at the top of the table with a 6-0 hammering of Rosbank Town, and while North Hall grind to a halt against Rozelle United, Pikemouth pick up the slack with a 2-0 win over Marque fuelled by Padmore in the centre of the park. Swayback, who have form for total defensive collapses, suffer a second straight 4-0 defeat, this time to the Stallions. Snowden River almost have their first win in ages… and then let it slip through their grasp, Aoife Cresci’s quickly-taken free kick in the 87th minute just carving open their unprepared defence and it’s lashed home by Conrad, and the home crowd are in uproar. At least it’s a point, but Proudcastle, edging a disinterested Scaffield 1-0 through Ullman thrashing home a shot from thirty yards, take three.

It appears as though nobody told Kingsgrove they were the away side - they put their boots on Celtic’s neck from the start. The first half ends with Culbreth’s flicked header across the face of goal, accidentally scuffed home by the luckless Hugh Kendall. Kendall atones for it with a solid second-half showing, but there’s nothing he or goalkeeper Eliot Horn can do when Kezia O’Byrne off the bench lashes one into the top corner from just outside the box.

Crunch time in the title race. With Pikemouth resurgent, they can really pull in the Royals with a home win today. North Hall have a chance to steal a march on them both, and Turati looks to be seeing them to a breezy win over Falkner with a breezy tap-in. Still, not for the first time this season, Pratchett’s Hunters orchestrate a second-half turnaround. The constant pressure down the flanks tells, and Falkner race to a 3-1 lead before an overenthusiastic challenge from Chilford allows North Hall back into the game. Nikita Loeher lamps the resulting free kick into the top corner, via the underside of the crossbar, but a sharp save from Adrian in injury time stops Besat from striking home an equaliser. Pikemouth also let slip of their first-time lead - dominant through the first 40 minutes, Line Stenberg’s piledriver levels things on the stroke of half-time. The Kingfishers just aren’t the same in the second half, and despite some sharp work from Hoffmann, Kingsgrove’s belated winner - driven home by Djuric in the 82nd minute - is the least they deserve. Meanwhile, both Swayback and Snowden River are pummeled 4-0, with Proudcastle picking up an impressive point away against the Stallions - but is it too late for them?

Good news for Swayback: after three successive 4-0 defeats, they don’t lose by the same scoreline. Hooray! Bad news: they lose 6-0. At home. Someone’s still got to get pumped 4-0, though, and it’s Scaffield at Rosbank’s hands, but it scarcely matters in the greater scheme of things - as, sadly, does an intense, almost tortuous Rathia derby, a grinding 1-1 between Star and the Stallions livened up by moments of individual brilliance from Ashton and Kvist respectively for the goals. Pikemouth play badly, but win anyway, while North Hall are unable to break through Lotus Park. But Rozelle, desperately inconsistent Rozelle, haul back their city rivals, Nikita Loeher returning from injury with a bullet header that gives them a slightly fortunate 2-1 win over Kingsgrove.

The Royals were resting a couple of players for this. After all, how many more legitimate shots at the Champions Cup will they ever get? They’re off to a good start in a first half where they may not have dominated, but clinical finishes from Djuric and Culbreth set them to a 2-0 lead. On the hour mark, they’re pegged back as Konrad Gosforth more or less just charges through their lines, shrugging off Skorupska and Redweald, dummying past Cantrell and rifling past Ajaara, but hold out for a valuable, if narrow, lead.

Football is mental. Kingsgrove can clinch the title this match, they just need a result, any result, against Marque. They… lose 5-1. What? A controversial squad selection sees them drop many of their best players for Champions Cup ties, but nobody expected them to pay so forcefully for their complacency. Five different scorers - Uist, Harper, Levein, Polandre and Kellond - get on the scoresheet for the Privateers. North Hall just need to beat lowly Swayback, at home, the side that has conceded 18 without reply over the past six games. They lose 1-0, of course, their third straight defeat to hand Kingsgrove the title, and adding insult to injury Pikemouth casually thrash Scaffield 7-0 to overtake them. Rozelle United are probably safe in the top five, with Northern Stallions rounding it out after a 2-2 draw with Rosbank. Rozelle are in with a shot, after a comfortable 2-0 win over Snowden.

Speaking of Snowden River, they’re back in the drink as Swayback’s desperate win takes them a point above them. They’re now split by a point, but Snowden have a vastly superior goal difference. Proudcastle, beaten 1-0 by Rozelle United, are now officially relegated, their slim hopes of survival snuffed out. Coming up, Chafford were finally beaten 3-1 at home by Swanbridge, but canter to victory anyway. Northern Union are likely to follow, but were they to lose, Gallant Cross would overtake them with victory.

Unfortunately, the fact remains that Mâ Alâmëómë are just better at football than Kingsgrove. The Royals were drawn into playing their game, and got massacred at the back. A late consolation from Isidra Corvey, at least, ensures they’re out on a high note.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              29  20  1   8  68  35  +33  61
  2 Pikemouth               29  17  5   7  61  31  +30  56
  3 North Hall              29  17  5   7  37  17  +20  56
  4 Rozelle United          29  17  4   8  50  31  +19  55
  5 Northern Stallions      29  15  9   5  56  28  +28  54
  6 Rozelle                 29  15  7   7  49  26  +23  52
  7 Marque                  29  15  5   9  56  38  +18  50
  8 Southern Star           29  10 10   9  38  33   +5  40
  9 Lotus Park              29  11  7  11  38  38   +0  40
 10 Scaffield               29   9  5  15  32  52  -20  32
 11 Rosbank Town            29   8  7  14  34  53  -19  31
 12 Falkner United          29   8  5  16  34  51  -17  29
 13 Westpike United         29   7  7  15  32  43  -11  28
 14 Swayback                29   7  3  19  36  79  -43  24
 15 Snowden River           29   5  8  16  25  60  -35  23
 16 Proudcastle             29   3  8  18  15  46  -31  17

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Chafford                 29  21  7   1  45  14  +31  70
  2 Northern Union           29  19  5   5  50  22  +28  62
  3 Gallant Cross            29  18  5   6  54  25  +29  59
  4 Twin Saints              29  15  3  11  42  33   +9  48
  5 AFC Swanbridge           29  12  9   8  48  34  +14  45
  6 Westpike                 29  11 10   8  33  23  +10  43
  7 Francisca Orient         29  10 10   9  31  25   +6  40
  8 Saint Alexander          29  11  7  11  30  31   -1  40
  9 Marque Rovers            29  10  7  12  38  47   -9  37
 10 Southside Wanderers      29   9  8  12  29  29   +0  35
 11 Guilder                  29   9  8  12  26  35   -9  35
 12 Chrysler Town            29   7 10  12  34  49  -15  31
 13 Ridgeway United          29   7  9  13  21  29   -8  30
 14 Knightstone FC           29   5  7  17  24  49  -25  22
 15 Fentonbridge             29   4  8  17  17  40  -23  20
 16 Sharrow                  29   4  7  18  18  55  -37  19

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Stourhead               29  18   8   3  49  20  +29  62
  2 Rozelle Alliance        29  18   7   4  65  37  +28  61
  3 Crest                   29  16   9   4  51  26  +25  57
  4 Mount Roland            29  15   8   6  45  22  +23  53
  5 Pride of the South      29  14   7   8  55  32  +23  49
  6 Spearcove Mariners      29  12  10   7  41  33   +8  46
  7 Glassfields             29  12   6  11  49  48   +1  42
  8 Northern Fist           29  11   7  11  53  52   +1  40
  9 Finbar Stalwarts        29   9  11   9  37  31   +6  38
 10 Shaleport Rangers       29  11   5  13  35  44   -9  38
 11 Coppersmith             29   8   9  12  33  39   -6  33
 12 Alexavale FC            29   8   8  13  32  56  -24  32
 13 Falkner Wanderers       29   6   8  15  36  48  -12  26
 14 Rushden                 29   5   9  15  27  49  -22  24
 15 Thrush                  29   5   8  16  40  72  -32  23
 16 AFC Conomore            29   2   4  23  20  59  -39  10

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Southrons-Errant         29  19   6   4  80  40  +40  63
  2 Platwood                 29  19   5   5  46  29  +17  62
  3 Chafford Saracens        29  18   5   6  69  21  +48  59
  4 Falkner Crescent         29  17   8   4  43  25  +18  59
  5 Heathgrove               29  14   6   9  45  27  +18  48
  6 Randwick Town            29  12   7  10  33  37   -4  43
  7 Dannecliff Rovers        29  11   9   9  55  47   +8  42
  8 AFC Cairnshore           29  12   5  12  52  43   +9  41
  9 Fisher Kings             29  11   6  12  39  32   +7  39
 10 Razorback Hill           29   9   9  11  34  33   +1  36
 11 Suttonstrand FC          29  10   6  13  41  45   -4  36
 12 Pikemouth United         29   7  10  12  36  47  -11  31
 13 Alnwick Glade            29   6  11  12  33  50  -17  29
 14 Brackford Rovers         29   7   5  17  32  56  -24  26
 15 Dale Athletic            29   4   3  22  30  81  -51  15
 16 Steelrush Myrmidons      29   4   3  22  30  85  -55  15

by **Brenecia** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:01 pm

LOWER LEAGUE ROUNDUP
In the bottom two tiers, there’s not much left to sort out. With Stourhead and Rozelle Alliance both secure, the intrigue is all at the bottom, where Thrush and Rushden both tussle over the final relegation place. Thrush do manage a brave 2-0 win over Shaleport Rangers, but Rushden, unfortunately for them, are facing the already-relegated AFC Conomore, and beat them by the same scoreline to stay afloat. Southrons-Errant and, after a routine victory, Platwood, will join them. Dale Athletic and Steelrush Myrmidons drop out of the league.

In the B-League, with Chafford already confirmed title winners (they beat Ridgeway 1-0 away), it comes down to Cross against Union. The Gallants take care of their end of the bargain immediately, racing to a 3-0 first-half lead over Southside Wanderers - it ends 4-1. The suspense comes in North Hall, as Union concede first to Saint Alexander… but unfortunately for the Gallants, they turn it around in the last 10 minutes with a brace from Elyn Hennessey. At the bottom, Knightstone confirm their survival with a 2-0 away win over Marque Rovers. Thanks largely to Sharrow being terrible and suffering a second straight relegation, the Knights have pulled off a truly great escape.

A-LEAGUE ROUNDUP
With the title out of reach, the final match comes down to two key things. Four sides scuffle over one Champions’ Cup slot - Northern Stallions playing Pikemouth for the chance to overtake North Hall (visiting Proudcastle, but on a run of three straight defeats), with Rozelle United visiting Southern Star. If United or the Stallions slip, Rozelle can overtake them by beating a Scaffield side that has more or less tapped out since their survival was secured. At the bottom of the table, Snowden River must get a better result hosting Marque than Swayback do hosting Lotus Park. Kingsgrove, for their part, beat Falkner United 2-0 for a fitting backdrop to present their trophy to their home fans - they deserve the title. A slimmer margin, this time, but still deserved.

Things immediately go wrong for Rozelle, predictably, with Claire Holden glancing home a goal for Scaffield just two minutes in. Worse still, Dimitar Kovalov, tipped to be leaving the club in the off-season, doubles their advantage with a leaf-cutting strike. Pikemouth take the lead against the Stallions with Padmore firing home through a sea of legs but let it slip not long after, Hoffmann with an uncharacteristic error from a corner leading to pinball that Giord hammered home. Rozelle United and Southern Star also trade blows, but Star take the lead on the stroke of half-time - as do Swayback, Vauxhall Hayne’ propelling them to safety with a powerful, thumping header past Glenn Murnane.

In the second half, Rozelle start to fight back through the influence of their veterans. Nikita Loeher scores the first, after Delamora fumbles a shot from Alora Heher, before Heher plays a more conventional assist for Ross Hearkener to hammer home. 2-2, and it’s the same in Star vs. United when Ambram Salvai chips a stranded Ferrant. Thus it would remain for United, but there was more intrigue to come for Rozelle. Swayback were pegged back through a neat passing move from Lotus that culminated in an unmarked Lynwood tapping into an empty net to celebrate her final match before retirement. Northern Stallions have, by this stage, raced to a 4-1 lead over Pikemouth, and so it would stay, putting the pressure on North Hall to carve out a result… which they managed, at last. Hall’s attack has been toothless of late, but a lumped Crowe corner pings around in the box a bit, Proudcastle unable to deal with it before Blackwood pretty much just falls onto the ball to clumsily chest it into the net. Proudcastle, predictably, can’t score - and Hall are secure in second. Rozelle let their momentum get the better of them, and get dunked on the counterattack, Nightjar Evans racing through no less than three flat-footed defenders, rounding Bernholm and rolling the ball home. Resolutely, Snowden have had a non-event against Marque, uninspired up front but determined at the back. It’s about to see them fall to relegation… right up until the 86th minute, when Lotus Park’s Wen Xiaoli picks up possession from a seemingly innocuous position, sizes up his range, and almost casually drives a beautifully arcing shot past Waugh from well outside the box. Lotus win 2-1, Swayback go down and Snowden River, who almost but not quite threw themselves away after a strong start, cling on to their top-flight status.

CEdC Final
North Hall are yet to so much as concede a goal in the CEdC thus far as they’ve strode confidently to the final. That run ends just six minutes into the final, the evergreen Alexandria Chesser stretching out a boot to nudge a cross past an agonised Falconet, who neither twisted nor stuck and paid the price. The Northerners needed to add a new string to their bow, the ability to force a win while behind, something they’ve almost never managed to do this season. And Loconstead are no pushovers, having taken down Kingsgrove earlier. Fortunately, Corynn Turati comes to the rescue, almost slamming through two defenders to get her head to Cashin’s cross on the stroke of half-time, changing the tone of a rather dour game. In the second half, things grind to a halt, and it’s genuinely tortuous to watch… right up until North Hall force the winner in the 67th minute. Bless their hearts, it’s from a long throw, Saoirse Hourihane just fucking lobbing it into the box. Turati lashes it into a defender’s shin, it bounces clear for Crowe, who lashes it in at goal. With a heavy deflection, it deceives the goalkeeper and in the ugliest possible fashion, Hall have won the regional trophy. All credit to Loconstead, who proved difficult opposition and did, of course, stand in the way of another all-Brenecian final.

Loconstead United 1 - 2 North Hall

Crown Cup Final
Pikemouth can perhaps be forgiven for their abject final-day capitulation in the race for second place, but it was more for their regulars looking jaded than anyone being rested. As a result, Bethany Donnell controversially rests a few of her veterans. For the Cup final. Admittedly a Cup final against a second-tier outfit, but one that put seven goals past Kingsgrove over two games. Their intentions for this match, however, are more or less just to kill it, and with some punishing challenges in midfield they force Jameson, understudy to Pavic, off the pitch to be replaced by the Pasargan anyway on the half-hour mark. That proves a mistake. It’s Pavic, in the end, who strikes the only goal of the game in the 56th minute, his run perfectly-timed (or perhaps just lucky) to coincide when Brunswick Green’s low cross is deflected off the inside of Byrne Crawley’s calf, and after the ball briefly gets stuck between his feet Pavic manages to dig it out, twist past Crawley and lash the ball into the ceiling of the net. Guilder strive to come back from it, and Barber manages to hit the post with a quick turn-and-shoot away from Haukland, but ultimately, Pikemouth are good value for their trophy and can call this season a success.

Pikemouth 1 - 0 Guilder

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              30  21   1   8  70  35  +35  64
  2 North Hall              30  18   5   7  38  17  +21  59
  3 Northern Stallions      30  16   9   5  60  29  +31  57
  4 Pikemouth               30  17   5   8  62  35  +27  56
  5 Rozelle United          30  17   5   8  52  33  +19  56
  6 Rozelle                 30  15   7   8  51  29  +22  52
  7 Marque                  30  15   6   9  56  38  +18  51
  8 Lotus Park              30  12   7  11  40  39   +1  43
  9 Southern Star           30  10  11   9  40  35   +5  41
 10 Scaffield               30  10   5  15  35  54  -19  35
 11 Westpike United         30   8   7  15  35  45  -10  31
 12 Rosbank Town            30   8   7  15  36  56  -20  31
 13 Falkner United          30   8   5  17  34  53  -19  29
 14 Snowden River           30   5   9  16  25  60  -35  24
 15 Swayback                30   7   3  20  37  81  -44  24
 16 Proudcastle             30   3   8  19  15  47  -32  17

AWARDS
Golden Boot (Goals Scored): Elena Culbreth (KNG) - 21
Golden Ball (Player of the Year): Line Stenberg (NTH)
Golden Fist (New Player of the Year): Upsin Ajaara (NTS)
Golden Heart (U-21 Player of the Year): Steve Fox (KNG)
Team of the Year: Ajaara (NTS); Fox (KNG), Blackwood (NTH), Szubanski (ROZ), Hourihane (NTH); Stenberg (KNG), Martinelli (ROU), Padmore (PKM); Brasic (PKM), Culbreth (KNG), Beretti (ROU)
Manager of the Year: Tailtiu Brennan (SCF)

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Chafford                 30  22   7   1  46  14  +32  73
  2 Northern Union           30  20   5   5  52  23  +29  65
  3 Gallant Cross            30  19   5   6  58  26  +32  62
  4 Twin Saints              30  15   4  11  42  33   +9  49
  5 AFC Swanbridge           30  12   9   9  48  35  +13  45
  6 Westpike                 30  11  11   8  33  23  +10  44
  7 Francisca Orient         30  11  10   9  32  25   +7  43
  8 Saint Alexander          30  11   7  12  31  33   -2  40
  9 Marque Rovers            30  10   7  13  38  49  -11  37
 10 Southside Wanderers      30   9   8  13  30  33   -3  35
 11 Guilder                  30   9   8  13  27  37  -10  35
 12 Chrysler Town            30   8  10  12  36  49  -13  34
 13 Ridgeway United          30   7   9  14  21  30   -9  30
 14 Knightstone FC           30   6   7  17  26  49  -23  25
 15 Sharrow                  30   5   7  18  20  56  -36  22
 16 Fentonbridge             30   4   8  18  17  42  -25  20

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Stourhead               30  19   8   3  52  21  +31  65
  2 Rozelle Alliance        30  18   7   5  66  39  +27  61
  3 Crest                   30  17   9   4  53  27  +26  60
  4 Mount Roland            30  16   8   6  47  23  +24  56
  5 Pride of the South      30  14   7   9  56  34  +22  49
  6 Spearcove Mariners      30  13  10   7  44  34  +10  49
  7 Northern Fist           30  12   7  11  55  52   +3  43
  8 Glassfields             30  12   6  12  50  51   -1  42
  9 Finbar Stalwarts        30   9  11  10  37  33   +4  38
 10 Shaleport Rangers       30  11   5  14  35  46  -11  38
 11 Coppersmith             30   8   9  13  33  42   -9  33
 12 Alexavale FC            30   8   8  14  33  59  -26  32
 13 Falkner Wanderers       30   7   8  15  39  48   -9  29
 14 Rushden                 30   6   9  15  29  49  -20  27
 15 Thrush                  30   6   8  16  42  72  -30  26
 16 AFC Conomore            30   2   4  24  20  61  -41  10

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Southrons-Errant         30  20   6   4  84  41  +43  66
  2 Platwood                 30  20   5   5  48  29  +19  65
  3 Chafford Saracens        30  19   5   6  73  21  +52  62
  4 Falkner Crescent         30  17   8   5  44  29  +15  59
  5 Heathgrove               30  14   7   9  46  28  +18  49
  6 Randwick Town            30  13   7  10  35  37   -2  46
  7 AFC Cairnshore           30  13   5  12  55  44  +11  44
  8 Dannecliff Rovers        30  11  10   9  56  48   +8  43
  9 Fisher Kings             30  11   6  13  40  35   +5  39
 10 Razorback Hill           30   9  10  11  35  34   +1  37
 11 Suttonstrand FC          30  10   6  14  41  46   -5  36
 12 Pikemouth United         30   8  10  12  37  47  -10  34
 13 Alnwick Glade            30   6  12  12  34  51  -17  30
 14 Brackford Rovers         30   7   5  18  32  60  -28  26
 15 Dale Athletic            30   4   3  23  30  83  -53  15
 16 Steelrush Myrmidons      30   4   3  23  30  87  -57  15
Promoted: Otter Ferry, AFC East Coast

by **Brenecia** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:23 pm

A-LEAGUE CYCLE 70 PREVIEW

League Run: Champions
Stadium: Royal Park (42,000)
Nickname: the Royals
Manager: Gabrielle Hourihane
Captain: Jakk Winterfyll
Top Scorer: Elena Culbreth (21)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 1 - Winterfyll (c); 17 - Fox, 5 - Stray, 6 - Gray, 3 - Raven; 7 - Evans, 4 - Staunton, 8 - Penhallow; 13 - Đuric, 9 - Culbreth, 11 - Corvey
In: Olympia Gray (Myrmidon, 6.5m), Boskenna Penhallow (Crystopolis City, 5m), Thornley Stray (AC Izotz Zubia, 2m)
Promoted: Erin Forster (DM, 20), Harris Lyston (CM, 21), Caspar Pardoner (LW, 18)
Out: Amani Chimbonda (Semar Reclamation, undisclosed), Line Stenberg (Handon United, 10m), Matt Branch (Artiglieria, 2.75m), Kezia O'Byrne (West Coast Warriors, free), Soren Sinde (released), Niki Hansen (released)

'Just' five points clear of North Hall by the end, but really it always seemed a sure thing that the Royals would clinch the title. They had the best young players, a manager who knows how to dominate at this level and a striker who scored six more goals than Proudcastle, as well as that familiar assertive style that is hammered into every player at every level of this club. Unfortunately, it was a chastening offseason - the Semar Reclamation cost them their centre-halves, Handon bought their best player, their captain left for the SPL and Matt Branch was controversially sold at a massive loss. Two reliable foreign centre-halves were brought in to replace them, and Equestrian international Penhallow will hopefully be the next Stenberg, but all in all the side has weakened since last time around in what is probably going to be Hourihane's last season. And Union are back. So they won't win this season, then? Nah, they're still favourites by a distance. Even at 36, Winterfyll is still the best goalkeeper in the league, with incisive overlapping fullbacks, a technical and athletic midfield, and most notably of all an unchanged front three. Djuric and Corvey still wreak havoc on unprepared defences, with Elena Culbreth an instinctive finisher who is happily at home at the spearhead of a fluid attack. The days of Kingsgrove striding opposed to the title might not be over yet, not until Union can get back to full force... but things are really starting to get competitive. While circumstances forced their hand to sell, will they regret not doing more to rebuild?

PREDICTION - Champions.

League Run: 8th
Stadium: Lotus Park (31,000)
Nickname: the Foresters
Manager: Constantine Champali
Captain: Wen Xiaoli
Top Scorer: Maxine Lynwood (12)
Likely Starting XI: (4-4-2) 1 - Parry; 2 - Hamilton, 5 - Seretis, 19 - Well, 3 - Fairbairn; 13 - Griffiths, 4 - Arroyo, 16 - Wen (c), 11 - Kella; 12 - Karuizawa, 21 - Northstead
In: Paschalis Seretis (Proudcastle, 2.25m), Sumireko Karuizawa (Cornellians, loan)
Promoted: Keziah Broxham (RB, 18), Murphy Collins (GK, 19), Jakob Silas (CB, 19)
Out: Sandra Chilton (Rozelle, 3m), Glenn Murnane (Rozelle United, 2m)
Retired: Gretchen Colback (CB, 36), Maxine Lynwood (ST, 35), Jorn Ombudsman (RB, 35)

Lotus Park were the best of the rest last season, stranded in eighth outside the UICA race. Constantine Champali will be content enough with that. What he won't be happy with is losing a number of key players over the window, with Nepharim journeywoman forward Maxine Lynwood hanging up her boots, steady defender Chilton and much-improved goalkeeper Murnane migrating to the capital. Champali's made some intriguing replacements - Seretis was safe as houses for relegated Proudcastle, while 18-year old forward Karuizawa's brought in on loan from Cornellians, an agile, cat-like threat with a neat touch and two goals already for her parent club. There's other strong talents here, too - Hamilton is an assertive, confident rightback who combines well with the young, dynamic Griffiths, and indeed the entire midfield is strong. Kella's an excellent conventional winger, Wen a true box-to-box man while Arroyo keeps it all clean. Watch out for Keziah Broxham, as well - unlikely to start many games yet, but already on the Young Galactico shortlist. Parry between the posts is a potential weak point, the 30-year old having never been a recognised A-League starter before. Expect more of the same from Park this season - more well-drilled, disciplined, urbane competence, and more young guns readying themselves to be picked off by richer outfits in the transfer window.

PREDICTION - 10th.

League Run: 7th
Stadium: Privateer Arena (28,000)
Nickname: the Privateers
Manager: Eloise Lingard
Captain: Portia Flahavan
Top Scorer: Tony Uist (12)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 1 - Bannatyne; 2 - Hofmann, 5 - Knox, 6 - Bradach, 3 - Levein; 11 - Flahavan (c), 4 - Shotbolt, 7 - Polandre; 15 - Harper, 10 - Gallagher, 23 - Tavistock
In: Ariane Gallagher (Depri Lanar Red Hawks, 2.5m), Svante Whitfield (free agent)
Promoted: Lyndon Haynes (LW, 21), Cobalt Layman (DM, 20), Lauren Scowcroft (RW, 19), Cooper Wainwright (RB, 18)
Out: Solstice Cronin (Northern Stallions, 3m), Tori Apcutt (KT Izalovalle, free), Gordon Kellond (KT Izalovalle, free), Jane Glamorgan (KT Itzalovalle, free), Martin Brander (Rosenpfelblatz City, free), Hayden Glamis (Riuwiee United, free)

A frustrating season for Marque, who were nominally on the fringes of UICA qualification without every actually seeming like they'd make it. As per their norm, they simply lacked the consistency to make a real impact on the league week after week, and poor discipline (looking at you, Murgen Knox, and your league-high three red cards) often cost them dear. They lost Solstice Cronin in the window, and released a sheaf of players, three of whom went to a desperate Itzi side. They brought in a load of young players, including the tidy-off-the-ball, liability-on-it 18-year old Eastfielder Whitfield, as well as Ariane Gallagher, a smooth, intelligent young Schottic forward who didn't seem quite up for the SPL but was too strong for Chromatika. Which seems about right for the A-League, then. Really, Marque lack a genuine star, seeming to rely instead on a smorgasboard of generally pretty good footballers. Bannatyne's a sharp stopper, Levein's a tenacious, intelligent leftback, Polandre and Flahavan are creative midfielders who make things happen and Harper on the right wing is a threatening proposition at this level with a blinding turn of pace. Even the depth's pretty good, with Tony Uist still lethal in front of goal at 33. They're attractive to watch, too, excelling at sweeping forward moves utilising the creativity of their midfield and the pace of their forwards with an intimidating if limited defence. But a UICA team? Right now, you'd have to say no.

PREDICTION - 7th.

League Run: 4th
Stadium: The New Road (24,000)
Nickname: the Stallions
Manager: Danielle Granger
Captain: Faolain Madigan
Top Scorer: Carsten Vincent (15)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 1 - Ajaara; 14 - Festa, 2 - Giord, 3 - Cantrell, 20 - Mapleton; 4 - Skorupska (c), 8 - Redweald, 10 - Drake; 15 - Vincent, 9 - Ducaldo, 19 - Cronin
In: Riona Drake (Snowden River, 3.5m), Solstice Cronin (Marque, 3m)
Promoted: Cass Farrell (GK, 20), Damian Fletch (RW, 19)
Out: Soren Kvist (Semar Reclamation, undisclosed), Jordan Nancarrow (Artiglieria, free), Galen Shea (Hollin, free)
Retired: Baird Tamworth (GK, 35)

The Stallions have it all figured out. They're nicely consolidated in the UICA area, though Globe Cup qualification came down to the last matchday this time, and quietly strengthened in the window. Kvist did pretty well and is now gone off to Semarland, and while Cronin is still somewhat raw, she burns with promise. Journeywoman playmaker Riona Drake, however, is good enough today. Cass Farrell's a name to keep an eye on, too. However, the UICA picture's just been shaken up by the return of Union - do the Stallions have what it takes to stay relevant? Probably. Ajaara between the posts is among the league's outstanding goalkeepers, Giord is undeniably its outstanding defender (with Szubanski gone, anyway...) and Skorupska and Redweald provide the tenacity and grit in midfield to back Drake up, with the former in particular a hardened international veteran. Carsten Vincent offers the main goal threat, a brutalist magician down the right flank, and Ducaldo's a tidy finisher in his own right. Granger likes to keep them on their toes, though, rotating frequently to balance UICA and Cup concerns with the league, and keeping tactically flexible to ensure they get the edge over their opponents. By default, they try and press hard and spring counterattacks while retaining a solid defensive presence. It's a mixture that works for them, and another top five finish will keep their newly-expectant fans happy.

PREDICTION - 4th.

League Run: 2nd (B-League)
Stadium: Redemption Park (50,000)
Nickname: Union
Manager: Bethany Donnell
Captain: Dani Pendragon
Top Scorer: Elyn Hennessey (14)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 12 - Blanton; 2 - Sommer, 5 - Balthorst (c), 6 - Horgan, 3 - Holden; 13 - Considine, 14 - Slate, 8 - Menard; 7 - Kvanderwyk, 9 - Hayne, 10 - Hennessey
In: Kit Kvanderwyk (Cornellians, 9m), Paul Sommer (Sardin United, 5m), Vauxhall Hayne (Swayback, 2.5m), Ioghan Balthorst (Barbury Town, 2.2m), Saskia Holden (New Belfast Warriors, 2m), Charmaine Menard (CA Paulinthal, 2m), Erika Blanton (AC Ruby, free)
Out: Brad Fabianski (Saint Alexander, 1m), Gregor Kinnock (Marque Rovers, 600k), Lash Eldison (Ridgeway United, 200k), Eleanor Forbes (Sharrow, free)
Retired: Chris Broadhead (ST, 36), Brady Monroe (CB, 40)

Finally. Union are back. Three straight promotions, though only one title and indeed on two separate occasions promotion has relied on the last day, but while it hasn't exactly been the romping to victory that was anticipated they blew over twenty million pounds on ensuring they're ready for an immediate impact here. Former Brenecia international Erin Camden, who had to step up a couple of years ago from the academy to take over, now steps down gracefully for the time being to act as the assistant to new manager Bethany Donnell, a manager used to getting the best from far smaller Pikemouth. True to their tradition, Union picked up a bunch of foreign veterans to bolster their stocks of sturdy local lads. The defence has been overhauled completely, with assured shot-stopper Blanton, hulking destroyer Balthorst and steady fullbacks in Sommer and Holden brought in, with bruising local Horgan likely to finish the unit. Menard's a clever, technical playmaker in the centre of the park, and her main job - indeed, the entire team's job - is to feed Kit Kvanderwyk, a genuine coup, dropping in from Cornellians. He's now 31, but he's never been quick - not for a winger, anyway - and always relied on a featherlike touch, a sharp instinct for skinning fullbacks and a keen eye for a killer ball. The main surprise is that the best striker they could find was Vauxhall Hayne, a powerful, muscular but somewhat limited forward who scored a modest eight goals last season, albeit for a relegated side. Amidst the sheaf of departures, Brady Monroe retires, though he only managed four second-tier appearances anyway. Perhaps more surprisingly, Dani Pendragon did not, and managed to secure a contract renewal for one last top-flight charge. Really, as a 37-year old winger who always relied heavily on pace, Pendragon is likely cooked at A-League level... but who's going to tell her that? Nobody. Pendragon will retire when she says she will retire. Despite the change of manager, Union will probably play the same as ever, built around being hard to break down, uncompromising in the challenge and relying on a few stars to break down defences. They're the hardest to place of any side in the league, but you'd have to say they're likely to reach the UICA places... and that a genuine title challenge would be a stretch too far.

PREDICTION - 5th.

League Run: 6th
Stadium: Rosary Stadium (38,000)
Nickname: the Saints
Manager: Justin Vauxhall
Captain: Alora Heher
Top Scorer: Nikita Loeher (15)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 1 - Bernholm; 2 - Gerfalcon, 5 - Blackburn, 6 - Chilton, 3 - Siddique; 8 - Heher (c), 4 - Marlowe, 11 - Connell; 7 - Bard, 9 - Crawford, 10 - Evans
In: Jackie Crawford (Eastern Stars, 7.5m), Nightjar Evans (Scaffield, 3.5m), Fyrcynn Gerfalcon (Falkner United, 3m), Sandra Chilton (Lotus Park, 3m)
Promoted: Joscelyn Parrett (RW, 20), Jasper Morant (ST, 20)
Out: Niko Szubanski (1830 Cathair, 8m), Nikita Loeher (Chenoworth Harriers, 2.5m), Matilda Farrell (Depri Lanar Red Hawks, 2m), Tevin Lilley (Ramusok United, undisclosed), Adán Baez (Stalliongrad HC, free), Ross Hearkener (Dangerford, free)

A pretty dismal season for the Saints, and it cost Eleanor Lingard her job. Not only were they twelve points away from the title, but they didn't even get into the Globe Cup, four points adrift of fifth. Justin Vauxhall, somewhat surprisingly, kept the reins - and at least he was a legend for them as a player. But the transfer window went off with a bump as 1830 Cathair representatives helicoptered into the Brenecian capital, reportedly handed over a black suitcase stuffed with eight million in cash, and left with Niko Szubanski's signature. They also lost some older players who slowed down last season - the combative Loeher probably unlamented, but Farrell, Lilley, Baez and Hearkener certainly will be. But they've shopped for mostly young replacements, mostly within the league, with Chilton and Gerfalcon known quantities in the defence, Nightjar Evans a sporadically brilliant winger who really broke through last season and, from abroad, hulking metahuman Crawford, a striker with formidable international experience and a cool, professional demeanour. On the whole, that all shapes up to be improvements up front, but with all respect to Chilton, a gaping hole in the back. Bernholm's a rock-solid goalkeeper, though not getting any younger, but Rozelle can still count on Siddique, probably the league's best leftback. But at the end of the day, it all flows through Alora Heher... in theory. She slowed down last season, and Justin Vauxhall will need to re-invigorate her to get the best out of this side. His tactics from what he showed last season emphasise getting the basics right, fighting for each other, and playing with full intensity, no matter the opposition. Last season was a setback, but the lack of UICA football does at least present an opportunity. If they can keep tight at the back, they have the goals to take on Kingsgrove.

PREDICTION - 2nd.

League Run: 5th
Stadium: Violet Park (22,000)
Nickname: United
Manager: Daniel Snowden
Captain: Caprice Martinelli
Top Scorer: Charmine Beretti (13)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 20 - Murnane; 2 - Spector, 5 - Gamble, 13 - Moran, 3 - Walker; 8 - Conroy, 6 - Martinelli (c), 15 - Donachy; 7 - Salvai, 9 - Andisori, 16 - Beretti
In: Glenn Murnane (Lotus Park, 2m), Paige Walker (Westpike United, 2m), Scout Morwen (Chrysler Town, 1.75m)
Promoted: Derek Corren (CB, 19), Gared Serafinowicz (ST, 20)
Out: Corby Wheeler (Goldstaff City, 6m), Jack Cranshaw (North Sabrefell, 1.5m), Senter Senterekoesima (Stoneshore United, undisclosed), Karen Reynolds (Anchors FC, free), June Gardot (Q-Bee Honeyame, free)

A successful last hurrah for Cillian Najdorf, club legend, before he's off to... surprisingly, the Sekundar Ligan, hoping to be the man to turn around the listing sleeping giants, Kaldukosic. Following him to Cosumar is another club hero, Senter Senterekoesima, whose legs were shot, as well as dynamic midfielder Wheeler, off to join Aelfwynn Bannion at Goldstaff. Sturdy defender Cranshaw's off, too, and even journeywoman forward Gardot finally calls it a day as far as the A-League's concerned. Bringing in Lotus Park's decent goalkeeper, Westpike's decent young leftback and an obscure young midfielder from the second tier may not be the way forward, and incoming manager Daniel Snowden is fresh off relegation with Proudcastle. He's a talented young manager! Their new hires are talented young players! But it brings a message that this is a transitional period. Judging by preseason, Snowden appears to be less conservative with a decent team than he was with Proudcastle, maintaining defensive discipline, well-drilled set pieces and a reliance on counterattacks - in which Caprice Martinelli, intelligent holding midfielder and new captain, plays an essential role - with using the industry of his midfield, especially the bombing runs of Conroy, and the inspirational qualities of his fluid front three to get goals. This should be a breakthrough season for Beaunia Andisori, 22-year old biological sister of Keira, while the flashy Beretti just needs to add the string of consistency to her bow. A good, strong side, in safe hands. But not, perhaps, a top five one. Perhaps not for a while.

PREDICTION - 8th.

League Run: 14th
Stadium: Whitegrove (11,000)
Nickname: the Mariners
Manager: Alysia Sandstone
Captain: Bryan Shaughness
Top Scorer: Winona Bedullin (7)
Likely Starting XI: (4-3-3) 12 - Donagh; 17 - Kirkegaard, 13 - Udar, 18 - Lake, 3 - Way; 15 - Marquis, 8 - Petrarch, 4 - Lane; 11 - Reed, 10 - Bedullin (c), 35 - Keynes
In: Taggart Lane (Fentonbridge, 1.75m), Louise Reed (Southside Wanderers, 1.75m), Gus Udar (Dwile Warriors, 1.5m)
Promoted: Garrett Keown (CM, 19), Ruby Sutter (ST, 18)
Out: Cu Roi Garrard (Rene Skae, undisclosed), Riona Drake (Northern Stallions, 3.5m), Rolph Harmer (Nukon, free), Jackson Cornthatch (Klyde, free), Lois Harfleur (New Oxford Nucleus, free)

Snowden River started strongly last season, but slumped to just nine points in their final twenty matches. Right up until the last five minutes of the last match of the season, and Wen Xiaoli's winner against Swayback as the Mariners held out against Marque, they were headed for the drop. As it stands, things don't look great, especially after losing key winger Garrard, bargain of the season Drake and three released players who all seem to fail upwards. Lane and Reed, unremarkable second-tier 23-year olds, are brought in, as is the experience of Gus Udar to sharpen up the back four. River already struggled for goals last season, and in removing their best attacking assets they've seriously blunted their teeth. Without Drake's inspiration, Sandstone's tactics will rely even more on counterattacks, Udar rallying the defence with the flamboyant, confident (perhaps overconfident, if there's such a thing in a goalkeeper) Donagh behind him, the assured Nadia Petrarch in midfield and the rugged Audioslav Kirkegaard pushing forward from rightback and fouling anyone in his way. Up front, the muscular 19-year old winger Cathal Keynes has everything... if he can just add more consistent decision-making to his game. Journeywoman striker Bedullin found A-League defences a harder nut to crack than the Legaskari she'd annihilated for years, but she'll fancy herself to improve on last season's seven goals. On the whole, though, River look ordinary, and unlikely to have the goals they need to stay up.

PREDICTION - 15th.

League Run: 11th
Stadium: Fisherking Road (17,000)
Nickname: The Pikemen
Manager: Genova Conrad
Captain: Ingram Stonesworth
Top Scorer: Caitriona McCabe (9)
Likely Starting XI: (4-4-2) 1 - Kenway; 5 - Noonan, 2 - Stonesworth (c), 18 - Grayndler, 31 - Prentice; 19 - Hamilton, 23 - Ascroft, 8 - Mallory, 20 - Colpher; 17 - Bremner, 10 - McCabe
In: Jacinth Mallory (Francisca Orient, 1.75m), Taurus Rhind (AFC Swanbridge, 800k)
Promoted: Morwen Prentice (LB, 18)
Out: Aidan Hartigan (Metropolis Alligators, 5m), Paige Walker (Rozelle United, 2m), Seb Moran (Westgreen and Trent Albion, free)

Dreadful early on in the season, Westpike took their time to recover but with a late rally managed to pull themselves clear of danger by the end. Genova Conrad should probably have stepped away while she had the chance. She didn't. Instead, she could only watch as star goalkeeper Hartigan, a product the club had groomed into a Brenecia international, finally made his big move abroad, and to add insult to injury they lost their leftback. Their replacement is their most promising academy product, Morwen Prentice, already earmarked for great things. Today, though, she's a callow, defensively naive eighteen-year old. Mallory's a decent enough young player, but she smacks of a desperation buy, and Lachlan Kenway has looked shaky - Rhind was brought in as competition. They do, at least, have a solid central defensive partnership with sturdy, redoubtable Stonesworth and calm Grayndler, Griffin Ascroft breaks things down in midfield. Hamilton adds some guile down the right wing, and her crosses will find... well, McCabe is a solid enough striker at this level, strapping 20-year old Bremner a wild card. And that is, broadly, Conrad's plan - to fight for every ball, to make up for a lack of technique with motivation, to stay solid and go fast and direct. A lot is being gambled on unproven young guns this season, and with two very strong promoted clubs this season for once... it might not be the Pikemen's year.

PREDICTION - 16th.

by **Brenecia** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 5:17 pm

A characteristically cagey opening to the A-League season, with nine clean sheets. Chafford, however, didn’t get the memo. “We really want to make a statement on the league,” says Rook Asquith brusquely, before the forbidding prospect of a visit to Kingsgrove. This was an impenetrable defence in the second tier but is made to look sluggish and naive here, insufficient pressure placed on Kingsgrove’s midfield as Penhallow impresses on debut and Corvey leads Pavel on a merry dance on the wing, setting up two assists and scoring once herself, with a piledriver from rightback Steve Fox arcing over a desperately clawing Brown sealing the deal. All eyes, though, are on Hunter Hall, and Falkner United provide obliging jobbers to Northern Union. It’s only 1-0 in the end, with poor finishing and a slowing near the end meaning that Elyn Hennessey’s far-post header is the only goal of the game, but Bethany Donnell’s new charges showed more than enough here to prove they’re a force to be reckoned with. Justin Vauxhall’s Saints impress against Northern Stallions, dominant throughout, and already there looks to be a solid rapport between Heher and Crawford, the former providing two assists for the latter.

Okay, maybe things aren’t quite so settled for Union. Weirdly enough the team that’s just sort of bolted on every thirty-plus-year old they could find looks slow and disjointed, and Vauxhall Hayne misses one sitter completely and fires another straight down Donagh’s throat. Snowden’s lungs pay off, and they outpace Union at the end of the game, Taggart Lane having acres of space in midfield to force a low, hard shot past Blanton from outside the box. Falkner United come back from behind against Chafford, who notch their first A-League goal in years when Keziah Locke’s speculative strike ricochets off the post and is tapped home by the quick reactions of Milner. Carver is falled in the box by Brown for a penalty that Ironside converts, before Broune pounces on a needless error in possession to chip the helpless goalkeeper. Northern Stallions make short work of Marque in a 3-0 win while Westpike United hold Rozelle impressively in a match where inexperienced goalkeeper Lachlan Kenway looks high on confidence and presence, while Kingsgrove keep up their imperious form with yet another 4-0 dismemberment, this time of Scaffield.

An open draw means that the first round is more or less chaos, the chaff splitting from the wheat, huge scorelines abounding as semi-professional sides are annihilated by full-time pros. Chafford suffer the ignominy of being the only A-League side to fall, beaten almost effortlessly by Rozelle, while across town, Kingsgrove slaughter Gallant Cross 5-0, United hammer Conomore by the same scoreline and even newly-professional Rozelle Alliance get in on the act, annihilating Dannecliff 9-1. Also nice from an A-League perspective is that the ghost of Dani Pendragon’s career manages to see through 61 minutes against Coppersmith, getting an assist for a neat dinked cross for Caitlyn Batt to convert from the other side in a 3-0 win. Her legs have absolutely gone, but the old guile remains.

Westpike United, seeming relegation fodder at the start of the season, mount a late comeback against Marque. Prentice, whose error let in Harper to score Marque’s opener, won back possession for the counterattack that eventually turned into Hamilton’s equaliser, and then hits a beautiful cross that Bremner clambers over Knox to reach, heading past Bannatyne. They remain unbeaten. The minor Rozelle derby is a cagey affair, and Daniel Snowden’s understandable desire to keep tight at the back first and foremost is understandable, but underlines their gradual loss of status. It doesn’t work, anyway - Jackie Crawford crashes through the defence to pounce on a low Bard shot Murnane spilled, lashing the winner into the net. North Hall’s own Drawkish striker, Turati, opens the scores against Pikemouth, but is pegged back by a rare goal from Erin Culhane. Step forward, Harvey Joyce - slipped through by Valles, nutmegging Padmore, cutting inside a flat-footed Birch and lofting a beautiful ball into the top corner over a scrambling Hoffmann with the outside of his boot for the winner. Even Russ Shorten looks surprised.

Northern Stallions have endured a stumbling start to the season, seemingly struggling to maintain their balance across three competitions. That’s as may be, but their home ground is still an unlikely place for Chafford to finally get their first points, Adrian Coyne breaking free to put them in the lead just six minutes in, a sturdy defensive effort keeping an equaliser out before a speculative Milner cross is mishit by Cantrell straight to Coyne, who fires… into a sliding Giord, but the rebound off his knee hits Janos’ chest, and the Chromatik midfielder takes it in his stride and smashes home his first of the season to seal the deal. Rozelle absolutely batter North Hall, who manage to hold their own against the onslaught until Petro Valles’ horrific challenge on Connell leads to a straight red. Losing their shape entirely, Hall are helpless as the Saints shear through them for a 3-0 win, Crawford racing to the top of the scoring charts in a team without other real natural goalscorers. Maybe Culbreth won’t make it four Golden Boots in a row? Marque finally get on the board, Polandre finding the right passes to get past a determined Rozelle United, while Kingsgrove ease past Westpike to secure their fourth straight win and fourth straight clean sheet, scoring twelve goals along the way.

Ahhh, here it comes, ahead of schedule - the one everyone’s been waiting for. Sure, other matches happen too - Scaffield are well beaten, 3-1, by North Hall while a Rathia derby between Stallions and Star goes to penalties, with massive Star backup goalkeeper Bruin the hero by dint of covering about half the goal at any given time. Rozelle United are also dumped out, the first A-League team to lose to lower-league opposition, with Daniel Snowden left to rue an overly-cautious approach against Marque Rovers, who were just happy to go at them and reap the rewards. But by dumb luck of the draw, Kingsgrove face Northern Union. A Kingsgrove side that have won their past five in all domestic competitions by a cumulative scoreline of 17-0. Today looks like it’s going the same way, Kingsgrove’s younger, frankly better side dizzying a Union side that’s either aging or mediocre with trademark fine passing, and while Menard smashes a warning shot against the post from outside the box well against the run of play the Royals eventually take their deserved lead when Steve Fox’s cleverly disguised pass plays in Djuric, who jinks past a wrong-footed Holden and beats Shaw at his near post. But Union fight back, and on the stroke of half-time Menard’s corner is flicked across goal by Hayne and slammed home at the far post by Ioghan Balthorst, who rips his shirt off and celebrates the length of the away end. It’s just like the old days. Kingsgrove continue to dominate the possession stats in the second half but without the assured dominance of the actual play of the first half, and fail to penetrate Union’s hard back line. Their defence looks shaky, and proves it, too, when Sommer swings in a cross and Hayne slams into Stray to flick the ball on to Kvanderwyk, who just has to shimmer past Gray, round the veteran Winterfyll and sidefoot the winner home. It’s official; Union are back, and they’re not to be counted out.

Southern Star have a good thing going. It’s 1-1 on the hour, but they look the better side against Falkner United, right up until Maria Young - already on a yellow - decides; in for a penny, in for a pound, and slides both boots in, studs-up, on Ruadri Broune’s knee. He’s stretchered off, Young is sent off, and Broune’s replacement Leo Radney scores and comes up with a neat dinked cross for Carver to seal the deal, Velvet Sommelier hammering home a fourth that adds insult to injury in a dominant win for the Hunters. Bethany Donnell comes back up against her old side, Pikemouth, and is warmly received by the away fans. She’s got one final gift for the Fisherkings, too, with some truly generous marking at Padmore’s corner enabling Haukland to crash home a late winner. Chafford make short work of Westpike United, physically dominant, with goals from Locke and Coyne seeing them to a 2-0 win, while Kingsgrove continue to stay on target in the league despite going behind early to Rozelle United’s penalty.

Giants clash between the North Hall sides and the capital. Kingsgrove aren’t able to break down North Hall, simply not able to get the right passes to get through their defence, limited to meandering, meaningless possession and almost cold-cocked late on… but Brittain crashes her header against the crossbar. Rozelle, meanwhile, are thoroughly outplayed by a Union side that saves its best league performance for today. Things didn’t seem like they’d go that way in the first ten minutes, though, a dominant, confident Rozelle already forcing Blanton into a couple of sharp saves before Evans is felled by Sommer in the area. Heher steps up, stutters her run… and fires comfortably close to the middle for Blanton to parry away. The game turns, as they do, and Kvanderwyk’s first-half brace seals the points for Union.

Marque’s ugly start to the season continues, dominated in a 3-0 defeat to Union, their most notable resistance being Murgen Knox posing as if he’ll help Kit Kvanderwyk stretch out his cramp and instead giving his calf a Chinese burn. Welcome to the A-League, Kit. Chafford looked dead in the water against better teams early in the season but here manage to put up a stoic resistance against North Hall - aided by Shorten’s decision to rest Harvey Joyce and instead play 4-4-2. Bread and butter for Chafford, and though Bronwyn Taylor comes off the bench to almost get her first goal, passing Brown with too heavy a touch and sidefooting against the post of an open goal, Stafford heads home the game’s only goal off Janos’ corner. Rozelle are flying at their best, but have a glass jaw at their worst, the lack of Szubanski (or, through injury, Chilton) making things a little nervy. A precarious high ball is allowed to bounce freely in the box as Blackburn and Whitewoods run into each other at full pelt, Bernholm hurls himself haplessly at Bedullin who just sort of toes it past him into the net, looking bemused. Still, as a flat-track bully in the Legaskari in the past, Bedullin’s doubtless used to comedy defending. More vexing for Justin Vauxhall, it helps lowly Snowden to a 2-2 draw.

Westpike United have slipped a little off the pace lately, but few would expect the manner to which they’re put to the sword against Falkner. The frictionless Sommelier glides through the midfield time and again, Rohan does her thing well enough to be withdrawn on the hour mark for rest and even frustrating striker Arryn Carver’s on the mark with a brace, and when the dust clears, it’s 5-1 to the Hunters. It mostly goes overlooked, though, as Kingsgrove host Union for the second time already. This time, they make a far better job of it, passing rings around Union’s players, whether old or limited. Elena Culbreth - who else? - puts them ahead with a cushioned header on the hour mark, a long-overdue lead, before Shea Considine’s homicidal challenge on Penhallow (“Every kid from this side of Hall dreams of smashing through a Royal like that,” he sighs to the press afterwards) sees him given a straight red to mar a great game personally. Without that foundation, Kingsgrove press for the killer, and Culbreth forces an outstanding reflex save from Blanton. Unfortunately, she only parries it as far as Djuric, who just puts it in anyway.

  Group B                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Ksg  M l  NrR  XSC
1 Kingsgrove                BRE    6    4   2   0    13    5   +8    14    —   1–1  2–0  4–1
2 Mâ  lâmëómë               FFD    6    2   2   2     8    5   +3     8   1–2   —   1–1  0–1
3 Norrion Rovers            EFL    6    1   2   3     4    8   −4     5*  0–2  0–2   —   0–0
4 X SC                      NFX    6    1   2   3     5   12   −7     5*  2–2  0–3  1–3   — 
* Norrion Rovers ahead of X SC on head-to-head points

  Group G                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   NHl  NvS  Brm  End
1 North Hall                BRE    6    5   1   0    17    4  +13    16    —   2–0  4–1  5–0
2 Navel Sharks              WRL    6    2   1   3     8   13   −5     7   2–3   —   2–1  2–1
3 Brinemouth                NPH    6    1   3   2     9    9    0     6   1–1  4–0   —   1–1
4 FC Endeavour              APX    6    0   3   3     5   13   −8     3   0–2  2–2  1–1   —

The preliminaries were terrible for A-League sides, but Kingsgrove and North Hall - though they may not be in the competition they wanted - both went unbeaten, cruising through difficult groups. Particularly impressive was Kingsgrove managing an upset over Ma Alameome away, the new defensive partnership of Gray and Stray exceeding themselves, while North Hall smashed Brinemouth 4-1 and Endeavour 5-0.

While the Navel Sharks found no joy against North Hall, FC managed significantly better against Pikemouth. Tailtiu Brennan’s side were just a little off the pace all match, no cohesion in the final third, but stalwart defending always left them a chance. That chance was pounced upon late when Thorvald Padmore found space and drilled a lethal shot low and hard into the bottom corner in injury time to level the scores.

A crunch match between sides stranded in danger, as Westpike United play host to the bottom-feeders… Rozelle United? It just hasn’t worked out under Daniel Snowden thus far, and there’s already a few signs calling for him to be sacked. Glenn Murnane has been shaky so far this season, but a sharp save from point-blank as Bremner fails to bury a presentable chance gives him confidence to be solid throughout. Westpike’s fragile spine lets them down in the end, as Beaunia Andisori is just given too many chances, and puts two of them away neatly to lift United to the heady heights of 15th. Lotus Park are another team desperately in need of a result, and they get one as the much-heralded Sumireko Karuizawa finally gets on the scoresheet, a improvised cross with the outside of the boot from strike partner Northstead poked home past Delamora’s near post for a vital winner over Scaffield. Chafford, meanwhile, chalk up another impressive win, outlasting fellow promoted side Northern Union’s pressure. Falchion Hess-Olesen comes off the bench in the 85th minute and converts a snap-shot from a narrow angle in the 87th minute to open his account for Chafford and seal the points.

The Royals have opened up a five-point lead at the top, and are one goal off equaling the goal difference of the entire rest of the top half, prompting one major bookmaker to pay out bids for their title defence already. But Rozelle keep pace with a late winner from substitute Donna Besat over Pikemouth, as to the Stallions with a straightforward win over Lotus Park. Pikemouth are fourth, and Tailtiu Brennan might feel entitled to be a bit smug that she’s outdoing Bethany Donnell’s Union in a respectable 5th. Hall and Marque both win as well, but remain on the outside looking in, while a dull scoreless draw between Chafford and Snowden underlines the good start they’ve both made to sit in the middle of the table. As for the bottom of the table, Rozelle United rely on a 2-1 win over Falkner United to haul themselves out of the bottom two. It’s tight down there, but already the fans are feeling rancorous. Lotus Park replace them in second-last, Karuizawa struggling to adapt to senior football. Meanwhile, Westpike’s early strong start has evaporated, and their fourth straight league defeat pins them to the foot of the table, already three points from safety.

A couple of excitable bookmakers also set Union as Cup favourites for some reason after they took the Royals out. So much for that - they are kept at bay by Rosbank, resting a couple of players in what proves to be a mistake. Alistair Redalen comes off the bench to hammer home the Black Swans’ winner in the 81st minute. Then again, neither of the teams better than Union exactly cover themselves in glory, either. Rozelle make heavy weather of beating Francisca Orient, though Joscelyn Parrett eventually gets the job done as she inelegantly bundles home a brilliant pass from Connell, while North Hall are bundled out on penalties by Southern Star. Pikemouth take the lead against Swanbridge three times and are pegged back three times. They only actually take three shots on target, as Swanbridge opt to just throw enough mud at a wall and see what sticks. It works out for them - after an exhausted, dreary extra time period, Swanbridge win on penalties. Westpike United round out the defeated top-flight teams, well beaten by Marque.

This time, it’s Pikemouth’s turn to endure injury-time heartbreak. Unfortuantely for them, it’s Navel’s second in a 2-2 draw that slips agonisingly between Hoffman’s wrists, and that gives them the win on away goals.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove             10  8  2  0  23   3  +20  26
  2 Rozelle                10  6  3  1  18   9   +9  21
  3 Northern Stallions     10  7  0  3  17  10   +7  21
  4 Pikemouth              10  5  3  2  14   9   +5  18
  5 Northern Union         10  5  1  4  13   8   +5  16
  6 Marque                 10  5  0  5  12  15   -3  15
  7 North Hall             10  4  2  4  11  13   -2  14
  8 Snowden River          10  3  4  3   8   8   +0  13
  9 Chafford               10  4  1  5   9  12   -3  13
 10 Falkner United         10  4  0  6  15  13   +2  12
 11 Scaffield              10  3  3  4   9  14   -5  12
 12 Rozelle United         10  3  2  5  10  12   -2  11
 13 Southern Star          10  3  1  6  10  16   -6  10
 14 Rosbank Town           10  2  3  5  11  17   -6   9
 15 Lotus Park             10  3  0  7  10  19   -9   9
 16 Westpike United        10  1  3  6   6  18  -12   6

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Swayback                10  8  0  2  20   4  +16  24
  2 Twin Saints             10  6  3  1  21  12   +9  21
  3 AFC Swanbridge          10  6  1  3  15  13   +2  19
  4 Gallant Cross           10  5  3  2  16   8   +8  18
  5 Francisca Orient        10  5  3  2  12   7   +5  18
  6 Proudcastle             10  6  0  4  12   8   +4  18
  7 Westpike                10  5  0  5  13  11   +2  15
  8 Rozelle Alliance        10  4  3  3  13  13   +0  15
  9 Saint Alexander         10  3  4  3   7   9   -2  13
 10 Marque Rovers           10  4  1  5  13  17   -4  13
 11 Chrysler Town           10  2  3  5  15  17   -2   9
 12 Guilder                 10  2  3  5   9  18   -9   9
 13 Ridgeway United         10  2  2  6   6  12   -6   8
 14 Stourhead               10  1  5  4   6  13   -7   8
 15 Knightstone FC          10  2  2  6  13  22   -9   8
 16 Southside Wanderers     10  1  3  6   5  12   -7   6

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Crest                  10  9  1  0  30  10  +20  28
  2 Finbar Stalwarts       10  8  1  1  20   5  +15  25
  3 Falkner Wanderers      10  6  0  4  16  11   +5  18
  4 Pride of the South     10  5  2  3  17  11   +6  17
  5 Southrons-Errant       10  5  1  4  22  20   +2  16
  6 Platwood               10  5  1  4  15  13   +2  16
  7 Mount Roland           10  2  7  1  12   9   +3  13
  8 Shaleport Rangers      10  3  3  4  12  14   -2  12
  9 Spearcove Mariners     10  3  2  5  16  19   -3  11
 10 Coppersmith            10  3  2  5  13  17   -4  11
 11 Sharrow                10  3  2  5  12  16   -4  11
 12 Fentonbridge           10  3  2  5   8  14   -6  11
 13 Rushden                10  3  2  5  11  20   -9  11
 14 Glassfields            10  2  3  5  19  22   -3   9
 15 Alexavale FC           10  2  2  6   9  21  -12   8
 16 Northern Fist          10  1  3  6  13  23  -10   6

[size=125D-LEAGUE[/size]

Pos Team                   P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Falkner Crescent      10  7  1  2  22   9  +13  22
  2 Chafford Saracens     10  6  3  1  22   7  +15  21
  3 Otter Ferry           10  5  4  1  19  10   +9  19
  4 Randwick Town         10  5  4  1  13   6   +7  19
  5 Razorback Hill        10  5  2  3  13   7   +6  17
  6 Fisher Kings          10  5  1  4  14  19   -5  16
  7 Pikemouth United      10  5  0  5  20  20   +0  15
  8 Thrush                10  4  2  4  19  16   +3  14
  9 Heathgrove            10  4  2  4  14  12   +2  14
 10 AFC Conomore          10  3  4  3  12  12   +0  13
 11 Suttonstrand FC       10  3  3  4   9  18   -9  12
 12 Dannecliff Rovers     10  2  4  4  12  13   -1  10
 13 AFC East Coast        10  2  4  4  11  18   -7  10
 14 AFC Cairnshore        10  3  0  7  17  18   -1   9
 15 Brackford Rovers      10  2  1  7   5  18  -13   7
 16 Alnwick Glade         10  0  3  7   7  26  -19   3

by **Brenecia** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:19 pm

A bottom of the table clash between Westpike United and Lotus Park is just sad. Misplaced passes, misplaced aggression, poor defence. Teenage Westpike leftback Morwen Prentice gets closest to a goal with a speculative cross that deceives Lennox Parry (mind, most anything can deceive Lennox Parry) and bounces off the top of the crossbar. The point isn’t even enough for Lotus to get out of the bottom two, as Rosbank manage a substantially more impressive draw with Kingsgrove with a late equaliser from Thorn Cronin, and Southern Star beat Chafford with Kara Ciogach’s belated second and then third of the season, both lovely opportunistic little digs. Northern Union dominate Northern Stallions for an hour, but their seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead is pegged back against the run of play when Giord forces home Madigan’s free kick. From there, they’re in full retreat, Riona Drake equalises with a cracking half-volley before playing through Carsten Vincent who drives home the winner past countrywoman Blanton.

“We aspire to be a team that can force through results, the ugly way,” Chafford manager Rook Asquith bullishly told the press after a hard-knuckled 1-0 win over Rosbank Town, featuring a lot of elbows, six bookings, one goal from Janos actually disallowed because Coyne had Duffy’s head in a lock at the time before a late winner from Falchion Hess-Olesen, a looping header that left Childress scrambling. Westpike United, meanwhile, can hold their heads high against Union… though manager Genova Conrad insisted they should have had a goal. Lance Roscoe came off the bench to seemingly make the difference with his first touch, but it was deemed offside. Somehow. “But, you know,” Conrad sighs, “Union get those calls at home. Same old Union.” She’s not wrong, but can take ride in her players defending like giants.

With Ferry Noonan’s cross and Niall Bremner’s towering header past a flailing Donagh, Westpike United’s narrative stops being ‘four games without a goal’ and starts being ‘three clean sheets in a row’ as they take care of Snowden 1-0. Goalkeeper Lachlan Kenway has been in particularly fine form, and makes a both figuratively and literally staggering save, hurling himself up away from his momentum to save a late header from Keynes. Rosbank Town get an important win over Scaffield, too, Chance and Mawson, a player who does not look at ease at this level but put that aside with a late surge and forceful winning strike, securing a 2-1 win, while Star dominate the Rathia derby as Ciogach scores her fourth and fifth goals in three matches. The Rozelle derby is a comparatively placid affair, all tip and no iceberg, a crisp strike from Nightjar Evans levelled by Mathew Evans’ free kick glossing up a lot of passing without much end product.

Kingsgrove finally lose a game! Four minutes in against Marque, Staunton uncharacteristically cedes possession to Flahavan, who gets it to Polandre, who chips in a dangerous high ball. Nobody deals with it, Ariane Gallagher nips in, rounds Winterfyll and scores, and at the other end Marcia Bannatyne is forced into nine sharp saves to preserve the lead. Up north, a nice reminder of what a proper North Hall derby should be. Cracking tackles, professional fouls, a red card for Farquhar for scything through Menard and, after what seemed like a generous amount of injury time, a long throw from Saskia Holden being forced home by Shea Considine, who gloats in front of the rancorous away fans. Now, Union are really at home. Elsewhere, Chafford manage a kind of fluky win over Rozelle - Barrister wins a dubious late penalty, but Janos drives it home all the same to win - while Tailtiu Brennan demolishes her former side, Scaffield, who just look all at sea in a 3-0 home defeat.

Westpike United are back to winning ways, another cagey 1-0 win, this time over Rosbank Town. Most agonisingly for Fiona Sylver’s Black Swans, the cause of defeat was an own goal, the increasingly lethal fullback Prentice with a low grasscutter that was going well off-target until being inadvertently slammed past Childress by Rosbank captain Aisling Chester, the sort of own goal that a striker would be proud of scoring at the other end. A real six-pointer. Chafford’s knack for grabbing scruffy results continues. Casey Brown hasn’t been the best of goalkeepers, in all honesty, but comes up for a late corner. In by Janos, flicked on by Stafford, nobody quite managed to clear it but in the pinball Brown took a big runup and slammed the ball into the roof of the net to steal a point. North Hall, not for the first time but more than usual, are indebted to their talisman Harvey Joyce, who scores a lovely first-half hat-trick against an obliging Snowden. He comes off at the 56-minute mark, job done, to a standing ovation - he’s already a club hero.

Chafford do it again! Thanks in no small part to Challinor being slammed into by Conifer but it somehow not being called as a penalty, as well as some sharp saves from Brown, Chafford hold out at the back and take an 84th-minute winner, Adrian Coyne holding back Stray and hooking out a leg to scoop Janos’... well, it was meant to be a shot in its own right, but Winterfyll had it covered until Coyne scooped it over him. It’s just Kingsgrove’s second defeat of the season, while Aleksandra Skorupska’s piledriver sees the Stallions past Rozelle in a match where Crawford spent her time in Giord’s pocket. Lotus Park steal a vital win off Snowden River, who defend stoically throughout. But then Park’s Schottic connection shines through, Kella chipping a diagonal ball into an uncertain area, Udar unable to stick or twist before Karuizawa steals ahead of him, juggles the ball up once, twice, lets it bounce once and slams home a low, powerful half-volley past Donagh. She’s been inconsistent to date at this level, which is presumably why Cornellians wanted her loaned out in the first place, but is slowly improving, and flashes of brilliance like that highlight, well, why Cornellians want her in the long-term. Scaffield, meanwhile, concede three goals for the third time in a row, dismantled by Marque. The sad fact may be that Mikaucis, who turns 33 in a couple of weeks, may be done at this level. The sad fact may also be that Scaffield have no real replacement.

A matchday in which more or less all the teams expected to win, do. Lotus Park will be happy enough to take a point from Southern Star with another Karuizawa strike, played through by Wen and sliding the ball past Ferrant with the outside of her right. Their goal is, however, cancelled out Fraser Pearch - who replaces the dropped Parry - passes under almost no pressure straight to Ciogach, another impressive young Schottic forward, who simply races around him and centres unselfishly for Conrad to tap home. Falchion Hess-Olesen continues to get points for Chafford, and this one is almost unfair, really. All three of Hess-Olesen’s goals so far have caused a result. This one shouldn’t have done, Falkner dominant throughout, peppering Brown’s goal with wayward strikes, only Ironside able to actually trouble the scoreboard in the 29th minute… and it’s cancelled out in injury time, just as all looked safe, when Hess-Olesen flops forward like a spawning salmon to glance Janos’ corner into the net. With his shoulder. But the referee didn’t catch that, the goal was given and Chafford got a handy 1-1 draw.

Scaffield break a run of five straight defeats after reluctantly dropping Mikaucis, Leo Quinn instead sliding the tall, calm Conleth Ballantyne alongside Payne in the double pivot. Despite the weakness that leads to in central defence, they hold out against Chafford, though Keegan and Holden both spurn easy chances to give Scaffield a win. They’ll take 0-0, though - and Chafford, unbeaten in seven, probably will too. Rosbank Town get a scoreless draw of their own, too, against Constantine Champali’s struggling Lotus Park. Champali refuses to shake Fiona Sylver’s hand after the fact, though, too preoccupied arguing with the fourth official about a penalty they ‘should’ have had. Sylver patiently stood, hand out, for a whole minute and a half before Champali stopped arguing and stormed down the tunnel past her in a huff. Westpike will be pleased to get a win in their own right, Niall Bremner continuing to lift the club above and beyond with Mallory steadily growing into the league. The minor Rozelle derby is a spicy affair, with four penalties - the last saved by Murnane, shortly before Rozelle United go up the other end and equalise in injury time with a dinked Andisori finish over a stranded Bernholm. Still, dramas aside, the most decisive result this matchday in terms of the table is when the Stallions host Kingsgrove, hoping to gain serious ground on them in the title race… and get hammered 4-0. Stenberg? Chimbonda? Branch? Who needs them? Culbreth’s second-half hat-trick finishes what Clementine Raven’s half-volleyed piledriver starts.

North Hall and Rozelle clash, Northern silk against Southern steel. Should that not be the other way around? No, not when Rozelle take an early lead through Jackie Crawford using her power to force a shot past Falconet, who gets hands to it but not enough power behind those hands to stop it getting by. It looks awful on camera, and he looks devastated… right up until he’s called upon to make a flying save from Bard. From there, North Hall strike back - a shot from Turati that Bernholm does well to turn aside, before Raven Cashin jinks inside and out of Siddique, who wisely keeps his distance… but then Ward Blackburn rushes across to slam through the winger. Harvey Joyce, who else? Dispatches the penalty nervelessly, and then slots home the winner from outside the box not long after. “He’s flicking dicks at this level,” Russ Shorten says, beaming with pride at the final whistle… though Donna Besat slammed a late shot against the post in injury time. The big winners at the bottom of the table are Snowden River, who unsettle the Stars with intense pressing and the lethal finishing of Winona Bedullin, who gets just eleven touches and uses them to score two goals and lay on an assist for Reed, and Scaffield. Falkner will feel sour about that, dominating the game, 2-0 up at 60 minutes, 2-1 up at 70 through a set piece… and then they just collapse. Riverton’s sent off, then Chilford, Teris equalises and then sets up Lukas Szymon for his first senior goal.

Kingsgrove tighten the hatches a little in a textbook away performance, a goal on the stroke of half-time from Evans’ free kick to Gray’s head and into the net. North Hall were unable to hold the fort the same way, though, as Nonhagatte weaves his way through three defenders to open the scoring. 1-0’s a decent enough away scoreline, but the Rebels double their lead in the dying minutes of the game, Mijatovic forcing Falconet into a sprawling save, the rebound tapped home by an opportunistic Tjete Du Sibiri.

Kingsgrove remain top by a five-point margin, Djuric beating Murnane at his near post to secure victory over Rozelle United. They’ve only conceded eight goals thus far, as Stray and Gray have proven superior replacements to Sinde and Chimbonda as Staunton and Fox continue to improve and Winterfyll remains timeless. The Stallions are probably their only realistic competitors, but will be seriously rueing their home defeat to the Royals - still, a 4-1 hammering of Scaffield restores spirits, as well as faith in Greyson Coulthirst’s ability to lead the line. Rozelle are three further points behind, let down by their own consistency and only beating Lotus Park through Sheila Connell’s 89th-minute screamer. Even that should’ve been parried by Par- uh, Pearch, who continues to make an unconvincing case at best for regular starts. But he only brushes his fingers to it. Pikemouth slip behind on Bethany Donnell’s return as Union manager, but in injury time the substitute Cail Coghlan knocks Hoffmann’s goal kick past Menard and just keeps running. Past Scowen, Holden, Horgan, goalkeeper Blanton before just narrowly sliding the ball into the net at the most acute of angles. They’re fourth, North Hall fifth after beating Marque with Union four points adrift of UICA. In the relegation battle, Rosbank Town leap from last to 12th with a 3-1 win over Snowden in 11th, Thorn Cronin making the difference with a second-half brace after an anonymous first half. The four teams below them all lose - Falkner are crushed 5-1 by Southern Star as Zsuska gets two goals and two assists, Lotus Park, Westpike and Scaffield rounding out the bottom five separated by… one point.

Two strong home performances. Kingsgrove give nothing away against the same Navel side that beat Pikemouth (well, drew twice, but won on away goals) in the Cup Winners’ Cup, dominant in possession. Navel put up a good fight, keep their shape well but eventually they tire, and Penhallow and teenage winger Caspar Pardoner seal the tie late on. North Hall’s result is the most impressive, however. One of the most impressive results in Brenecian history, in fact, as they overturn their sizable 2-0 deficit against superior opposition thanks to trademark defensive grit, excellent work from set pieces (where they get their first and third goals, both times indebted to excellent delivery from Joyce) and a crisp, grass-cutting strike from Fallon on the left wing, the captain celebrating her 31st birthday in style. It almost fades away in injury time, though, and the Northerners’ fans’ hearts are in their throats as Alu finds space away from Card and lashes a shot against the inside of the right post, which rebounds to the inside of the left post before finally Falconet manages to fall gratefully on it, a second before Bazzi can get there.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              20  14  4   2  39   8  +31  46
  2 Northern Stallions      20  13  2   5  34  24  +10  41
  3 Rozelle                 20  11  5   4  33  19  +14  38
  4 Pikemouth               20  10  7   3  30  17  +13  37
  5 North Hall              20  11  3   6  28  22   +6  36
  6 Northern Union          20   9  5   6  26  18   +8  32
  7 Chafford                20   8  5   7  16  19   -3  29
  8 Marque                  20   9  1  10  28  29   -1  28
  9 Rozelle United          20   7  5   8  22  22   +0  26
 10 Southern Star           20   7  3  10  28  30   -2  24
 11 Snowden River           20   5  6   9  17  24   -7  21
 12 Rosbank Town            20   4  6  10  22  32  -10  18
 13 Falkner United          20   5  3  12  22  32  -10  18
 14 Lotus Park              20   4  5  11  13  26  -13  17
 15 Westpike United         20   4  5  11  15  32  -17  17
 16 Scaffield               20   4  5  11  16  35  -19  17

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Twin Saints              20  13  4   3  44  25  +19  43
  2 Swayback                 20  13  3   4  41  17  +24  42
  3 Gallant Cross            20  10  6   4  32  20  +12  36
  4 Francisca Orient         20   9  7   4  27  18   +9  34
  5 Westpike                 20  10  3   7  26  19   +7  33
  6 Proudcastle              20  10  1   9  21  20   +1  31
  7 AFC Swanbridge           20   9  3   8  29  27   +2  30
  8 Saint Alexander          20   8  6   6  19  18   +1  30
  9 Southside Wanderers      20   8  5   7  20  15   +5  29
 10 Marque Rovers            20   8  2  10  22  33  -11  26
 11 Stourhead                20   5  8   7  17  24   -7  23
 12 Chrysler Town            20   5  5  10  27  33   -6  20
 13 Guilder                  20   4  8   8  20  30  -10  20
 14 Knightstone FC           20   5  4  11  22  36  -14  19
 15 Rozelle Alliance         20   4  4  12  23  39  -16  16
 16 Ridgeway United          20   3  3  14  13  29  -16  12

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Crest                   20  14  3   3  42  21  +21  45
  2 Finbar Stalwarts        20  13  5   2  35  10  +25  44
  3 Mount Roland            20  10  8   2  30  15  +15  38
  4 Pride of the South      20  11  3   6  43  22  +21  36
  5 Falkner Wanderers       20  10  2   8  28  24   +4  32
  6 Spearcove Mariners      20   8  3   9  36  34   +2  27
  7 Sharrow                 20   7  5   8  25  26   -1  26
  8 Northern Fist           20   7  5   8  36  38   -2  26
  9 Fentonbridge            20   6  6   8  21  20   +1  24
 10 Coppersmith             20   7  3  10  24  37  -13  24
 11 Southrons-Errant        20   6  5   9  32  41   -9  23
 12 Rushden                 20   6  5   9  24  41  -17  23
 13 Platwood                20   6  3  11  20  27   -7  21
 14 Shaleport Rangers       20   4  7   9  23  37  -14  19
 15 Alexavale FC            20   4  7   9  23  40  -17  19
 16 Glassfields             20   3  6  11  31  40   -9  15

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Chafford Saracens      20  13  5   2  39  11  +28  44
  2 Falkner Crescent       20  14  2   4  41  17  +24  44
  3 Otter Ferry            20  10  4   6  32  25   +7  34
  4 Randwick Town          20   8  9   3  25  14  +11  33
  5 Suttonstrand FC        20  10  3   7  26  28   -2  33
  6 Heathgrove             20   9  4   7  33  17  +16  31
  7 Razorback Hill         20   8  7   5  25  16   +9  31
  8 Fisher Kings           20  10  1   9  25  33   -8  31
  9 Pikemouth United       20   8  3   9  34  37   -3  27
 10 AFC Conomore           20   6  7   7  21  22   -1  25
 11 Dannecliff Rovers      20   6  6   8  23  24   -1  24
 12 Thrush                 20   7  3  10  28  35   -7  24
 13 AFC East Coast         20   4  6  10  25  44  -19  18
 14 AFC Cairnshore         20   5  2  13  31  38   -7  17
 15 Brackford Rovers       20   4  5  11  14  30  -16  17
 16 Alnwick Glade          20   2  5  13  15  46  -31  11

by **Brenecia** » Wed Apr 18, 2018 9:38 pm

Yet again, Kingsgrove find another level to put away a near challenger in North Hall. They aren’t exactly subtle about it, either. Key holding midfielder Staunton is injured, so they just replace her with centre-half Miriam Lechie and slot her there instead. She spends her 24th birthday gleefully kicking seven shades of crap out of Harvey Joyce, before Mathew Evans plays a beautiful through-ball for Djuric to slip beyond Falconet and secure a 1-0 win. The natural mirror plays out in the North, and once again it’s the capital outfit that comes out on top - Union left to rue their lack of pace and consistent quality, thoroughly second best as Rozelle put them to the sword 3-1, that 1 being scant late consolation.

Handily, the two surviving B-League sides are drawn against one another. Daniel Corban’s header seals a 1-0 win for a Ridgeway outfit who aren’t interested in overextending against a quick, dangerous but flaky Swanbridge. Relegation battlers Lotus Park and Rosbank Town both put out strong sides, and cancel one another out - as do Rozelle, the standout favourites to win the whole thing, and Southern Star. Cole Bruin puts in the best performance of his career between the sticks to deny Rozelle so much as a goal, but Sara Fairhall will be left to rue Julian Conrad missing from three yards in extra time. Snowden, meanwhile, canter to a first-half 3-0 lead over a shellshocked Marque, whose manager, Eloise Lingard, had confidently predicted going “full tilt for a victorious Cup campaign”. Lyndon Haynes is thrown in off the bench and pulls a goal back late on, but things still look bleak for the Privateers.

Westpike United are the big winners here, taking advantage of a listless performance from the listing Stallions. Granted, Ajaara isn’t letting the malaise get to him, and the Northern goalkeeper makes some outstanding saves… and Westpike make some appalling misses. But just before the end, Tearney clips in yet another desperate cross and this one, finally, the Stallions do not clear away. Bremner and Giord both go up for it, Giord can only just nudge it away from goal and Clementine Nebelhorn off the bench smashes home the deflection for just her second goal of the season, and a crucial three points. Elsewhere, too, it’s a match focusing on teams finding more within themselves to get across the line. 1-0 down at home against Union with the crowd mutinous, Marque throw veteran poacher Tony Uist on against Union in the 76th minute and, with his brace, win 2-1. Kingsgrove find a late winner from Montrose against a brave 10-man Lotus Park defensive, while Snowden think they’ve managed to snatch a point against Rozelle at the death with a 91st-minute equaliser from Keynes before Rozelle slap the point out of their hands with a 94th-minute winner from Larquin. Through it all, Pikemouth steamroll Star 3-0 - this is a team to be reckoned with.

The B-League is not a particularly good league, and Swanbridge 1-1 Ridgeway is not a good match. Ridgeway progress, and the less said beyond that the better. Rosbank choking to Lotus Park is far better, as the Black Swans find themselves 2-0 up in half an hour and contrive to lose 3-2, 4-3 on aggregate, as Karuizawa nets a hat-trick against a compliant Rosbank defence who just can’t comprehend her drifting between the lines. Southern Star beat Rozelle thanks again to Bruin’s stellar saves, a strong defensive effort and Sarkozy Zsuska’s skill with dead balls, one dropping on Troy’s head for the opener before the clincher is just buried in the top corner from 30 yards, a genuine screamer that left Byrnford without a hope in hell. Snowden keep Marque at arm’s reach all game, Bedullin and Mallister sealing the win in the second half.

Excellent work from the A-League representatives! It hasn’t been the best of seasons thus far for the coefficient, but this should give some hope. Mar Sara find no answer to Corynn Turati’s bulk up front, as for once Harvey Joyce isn’t the danger man - it’s two lethal crosses from Cashin and Fallon, both headed in easily by Turati. Kingsgrove do even better against Telecontare, utterly dominating their more storied opposition, and converting that domination into goals as well. Djuric’s brace and Evans’ goal ensure that even on a quiet day for Culbreth the Royals can get the job done.

It’s time for the Classic, for want of a better term, as Union, winless in four, host Kingsgrove, rampant. “Things are always different come the big rivalry days,” Bethany Donnell breezily predicts, and is proven righteously correct. Out of nowhere, with Union slightly edging early proceedings, Kvanderwyk suddenly cuts inside of Raven and skims a beautiful arcing strike beyond Winterfyll. Kingsgrove are speechless, especially when Kvanderwyk makes it double not long after, a shimmering run taking him past three players, Hayne begging for the ball as the angle narrows and Winterfyll comes across but Kvanderwyk simply chips it over his countryman to make it 2-0. Hayne does get his chance on the stroke of half-time, with Kingsgrove unable to defend Holden’s cross (or, really, anything, that first half) and he eats it up, heading it easily home. Things go from bad to worse in the second half for Kingsgrove, Boskenna Penhallow losing his head and getting sent off, then Kvanderwyk drawing a penalty from an uncharacteristically careless Raven (who has a shocking match, all in all). And by this point, just to rub it in, Dani Pendragon - utterly cooked at this level, turning 38 in about a week - had already arrived on the hour mark. Kvanderwyk generously hands over penalty duties, and Pendragon obliges, hammering Union’s fourth past Winterfyll and finally getting on the board in the A-League again. Humiliation for Kingsgrove. It’s just a shame that Northern Stallions seem uninterested in challenging them for the title, and are tamely beaten by Rozelle United. They’ve managed just one point from their last three games, and fallen back in the race - Rozelle just get a point from Southern Star. Instead, it’s Tailtiu Brennan’s Pikemouth that are fiercely in the fight, and they make short work of Rosbank Town, goals from Brasic and Culhane seeing them off 2-0.

Both sides seal the deal, convincing clean sheet victories in both legs. North Hall just do exactly the same thing against Mar Sara at home, this time with the added benefit of a freezing Northern night and a patchy pitch, and win 3-0. Kingsgrove aren’t nearly as dominant away against Tele, but win anyway with some firm defensive effort, a triumphant return from injury for Roisin Staunton and a crisp finish from Culbreth.

Gabrielle Hourihane just calmly said, after the 4-0 thrashing by Union, “we’ll laugh it off and move on.” Laugh it off? Really? But, to their credit, and Snowden’s pain, they certainly move on by handing River a 4-0 hammering of their own. Penhallow is excellent, while backup striker Tess Montrose, handed a rare start, holds her own with the first goal. Northern Stallions recover against North Hall, the controversial decision to drop Skorupska for captain Madigan paying dividends as the creativity of all three midfielders means they can pick Hall’s tight defence apart. Falconet, admittedly, should have done better for the first goal, Drake’s long-range strike he should have had covered, but he was helpless with the slick passing move that results in Cronin tapping the winner into an empty net. At the bottom of the table, Scaffield are the big winners, Abigail Teris dragging them over the line to a 2-0 away win over Lotus Park.

In all honesty, both matches are pretty terrible. Lotus Park hand Wen and Kella a rest and unsurprisingly find themselves lacking bite up front against a dismal Ridgeway, but Karuizawa has a field day, just doing stepovers and nutmegs all over the place before finally setting up Kochansky for the only goal. Star and Snowden utterly cancel one another out, and even when Conrad earns a penalty for Star, Crispin Donagh saves it with his legs.

Southern Star haven’t had the best of seasons, but Fairhall’s insistence on rotation ensures fresh legs for times like these. Kingsgrove don’t have the same depth… well, not relative to their starters, at least. And so they look a little jaded as Star race to an early 2-0 lead which should be three or four but for the woodwork and some indecisive play in the final third. A triple substitution on the hour mark underlines Hourihane’s displeasure, and what do you know, it’s… not actually a substitute who gets either goal, but Goddard and Pardoner both manage to feed Elena Culbreth decisive passes, and she converts both to snatch a point at the death. Two points dropped more than one gained, however, and some of their rivals take full advantage. The Stallions batter Lotus 3-1, while Pikemouth outplay Rozelle. That doesn’t look to be enough when on the stroke of half-time Crawford rises magnificently to head home Evans’ cross, but a truly spectacular own goal from Ward Blackburn sees Pikemouth level, as he is put under pressure by Greig and blindly passes not to where Bernholm is, but rather where he was last him he checked, resulting in levelled scores. He looks shellshocked for the rest of the match, and it’s little surprise to see him beaten in the air at the death as Denarian, not traditionally an aerial threat, rises high to knock Green’s cross down to Padmore, who seals the turnaround with a composed finish.

Still not vintage semifinals, though there’s twice as many goals as in the first leg. Lotus Park beat Ridgeway despite a general lack of thrust in the final third, but Ridgeway barely even challenge Murphy Collins - the 20-year old goalkeeper preferred in the Cup to the liability Pearch, of late - and a screamer from Wen Xiaoli off the bench seals the deal. Snowden River are unable to press their home advantage into anything meaningful as Star dominate possession and the shot-count, and while Crispin Donagh launches a valiant one-man resistance, a clever ball from Ruskin leads to a tidy finish from Kara Ciogach that he can’t do anything about. Lotus vs. Star, then, a fitting final between teams that haven’t done terribly much in the league this season.

Late heartbreak for Kingsgrove, who push and press Falourr for everything they’ve got early on. They’re dominant in the first hour, goals from Djuric and Evans the least they deserve as Culbreth is denied point-blank twice by goalkeeper Tsattalios. Then, well, they start to tire, and reliable danger man Morgan Fox rifles in a strike at an acute angle that Winterfyll, honestly, should have covered. Momentum shifts and Falourr go on the front foot, Winterfyll redeeming himself with an excellent reflex save to deny Fox his second, and Kingsgrove rightback Steve Fox clearing Kristian Harper’s deflected strike off the line. But in the 92nd minute, Kingsgrove switch off just for a second, Staunton slow to close down Gael Tobin who sets his sights on the top corner and finds it with a powerful finish. Far less drama in North Hall, who tidily put down Somer City with a clean sheet and goals from Joyce and Cashin.

“Marque are tough opponents,” Tailtiu Brennan admits before a trying trip to the Privateers. It does not live up to the billing, after Murgen Knox decides two minutes into the game that an appropriate reaction to being shoved by Donachie at a corner is to suplex him. Oh, Knox. Anyway, Katrina Brasic, who has had an excellent run of form, picks apart Marque’s defence with two goals and an assist, Hoffmann barely having to make a save. Kingsgrove choke at the top, resting basically their entire squad for the Globe Cup in what Fiona Sylver calls an act of “blatant disrespect.” You’d think she’d be more grateful, given her Rosbank side is able to clinch a vital and unexpected 2-1 win away, Nikolai Sekulovski the hero off the bench with a violent strike from just outside the box. Lotus Park are the other big winners at the bottom, a cushioned far-post header from the unlikely source of Liusaidh Kella securing a 1-0 win over a worryingly profligate Westpike United.

Kingsgrove produce a real performance of punching above their weight, with tidy passing and a lot of good runs, but unfortunately Falourr have the discipline and skill to keep them at arm’s reach. Kingsgrove can’t get the goal they need, and Adam Reed finishes them off anyway with a 25-yard piledriver. A towering header from Ben Griffin in the second minute makes things interesting for Somer City, but Harvey Joyce’s equaliser six minutes later kills off the tie. Somer need three more goals against a disciplined side happy to choke the life out of the game, and while Presic manages a spectacular long chip over the goalkeeper, it bounces off the top of the crossbar.

Pikemouth have six wins in a row. Now is the time, as those around them falter, to take the advantage, to kick Kingsgrove in the teeth… but as they host the Royals, it just doesn’t happen for them. The high-octane pressing falls apart, the passing is sloppy, and clinical strikes from Culbreth and Corvey finish Pikemouth off in the last half-hour. “As soon as their backs are against the wall, they manage to find a way,” Brennan muses after the match. “There’s a bit of the old Union in them these days, for sure.” The new Union, for their part, collapse rather lamely to a 2-0 defeat against Westpike, inspired by the free-flowing Hamilton’s service from the right wing, as Scaffield and Lotus Park manage to win away from home 2-1. So do Chafford, but they can’t really be described as relegation battlers by this point, and while it’s true they don’t score goals - Janos has found adaptation to this level difficult, though he’s played almost every minute of the league campaign, and is loved for his clear dedication, while striker Coyne is more workmanlike than inspired - they get results.

Is… is it happening? Is it real? Maybe so, as two injury-time winners shake up the table. Other stuff out of the way, first - a Rathia derby, normally a spicy affair, is pretty flat, as Kara Ciogach sets up Vahn for the easiest of finishes which… he rattles against the post, but Maria Young comes sliding, literally, in from rightback to scuff home the rebound. That sets her goals tally to three, same as her tally of red cards for the season, but she’s been impressive as long as she’s been on the pitch. Westpike United clinch a vital three points over a stalling Snowden with Niall Bremner’s forceful header, and Lotus Park will be happy enough with a point from North Hall. But at the bottom of the table, Scaffield are barely clinging on with ten men against Rosbank, Mikaucis turning from hero with a headed goal in the first half to zero with two yellow cards early in the second, and Townsend’s volley has just sent them to the floor. But somehow, as they absorb pressure at one end, they sucker-punch at the other on a brilliant set piece. Teris, their talisman, hits it beautifully, Holden flicks it on and Harriet Payne bundles it home at the far post. The Black Swans are starting to look in serious trouble. At the top of the table, meanwhile, a weary, jaded Kingsgrove are lucky just to lose 1-0 at home to Rozelle, only the excellent Winterfyll with six saves giving them a chance before Crawford finally sees the rampant Saints to victory. It looks like they’ll be bailed out anyway, as Chafford look to cling onto a draw against Pikemouth… and then 20-year old Cain Woods, an unremarkable third-choice striker, only thrown on because of Pikemouth’s stretched reserves, tries his luck from just outside the box. It deflects painfully off Connell and Brown can’t readjust well enough, the ball slipping through her fingertips, and Pikemouth have a lifeline in what is now, suddenly, a title race.

Far less drama here. North Hall keep tight at the back and punch Olympic twice on the break, Turati and Valles with the goals, Joyce with the assists, Falconet with the clean sheets. It’s how they roll.

Things corkscrew wildly at the top. Pikemouth take an early lead through Greig, but are pegged back by a frankly spectacular own goal from Karigomu. Marque take the lead against Kingsgrove. Penhallow equalises for the Royals, Brasic for Pikemouth and then in the last few minutes Claire Holden has a goal disallowed for a marginal offside, Pikemouth hit back quickly and take the lead through Alen Pavic, their Cup hero of yesteryear, and sit briefly atop the table before Djuric drives home Kingsgrove’s winner. When the dust settles, it is as before for the top two, with Pikemouth a point and ten goals behind. Rozelle formally drop out of the race, unable to break through Chafford, though their title hopes were remote anyway. The Stallions and North Hall round out the top five - Union, beaten 1-0 in a Northern derby where they lose their composure as well as the game, are twelve points adrift in sixth. Impressively, Chafford are level with them on points, in seventh.

At the bottom, it’s crunch time. And many clubs live up to the pressure - Westpike United and Southern Star play out a breathless, tense, strangled affair, broken only by Morwen Prentice, the young, flaky, fearless leftback, sprinting late into the box to snatch onto the end of a loose ball and toebash it into the roof of the net. Titania Pratchett exhorts her Falkner team on to greater things, 1-0 down at half-time to fellow strugglers Lotus Park and a lofted strike from Karuizawa, and gets a reaction in a strong turnaround, Esther Rohan putting in a vintage performance with a goal and two assists to win 3-1. Karuizawa makes a brilliant overhead kick to almost pull one back late on, but an equally brilliant save from Adrian keeps the Hunters safe. Westpike and Falkner - and, for that matter, Star - secure their safety. Lotus Park are still in with a chance of going down, and Snowden River manage to edge ahead of Scaffield thanks to a dreary scoreless draw against Rozelle United. For Rosbank Town, however, it’s the end. Thorn Cronin opens the scoring against her former side, the Stallions, but as ever there just isn’t the spine to hold out. A sloppy defensive error from Connolly lets Vincent open the scoring, and Chester’s slowing pace lets Spurrock race past her and centre for Ducaldo to finish. A beautiful free kick from Madigan clips beyond a motionless Childress, and Fiona Sylver sighs. The Black Swans have been an A-League fixture since the present 16-team format took shape, but it seems, this time, that they just ran out of momentum. Twin Saints, confirmed champions of the second tier, will replace them, and Swayback and Francisca Orient will jostle for the second promotion place.

Within twenty minutes, North Hall’s great start has been pegged back. By the end of the first half, they’re two down, level on aggregate. What exactly does Russ Shorten tell them in the half-time talk? “Nothing,” says Petro Valles, scorer of two goals, either side of Cashin being felled in the box for a penalty Joyce panenkas past Kurovski. “He just glared at us for fifteen minutes. It was spooky, man. But also lit.” Unorthodox management techniques aside, North Hall have made it to the Globe Cup final.

A-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Kingsgrove              29  19  5   5  53  19  +34  62
  2 Pikemouth               29  18  7   4  48  24  +24  61
  3 Rozelle                 29  17  7   5  50  26  +24  58
  4 Northern Stallions      29  17  4   8  47  33  +14  55
  5 North Hall              29  16  5   8  41  27  +14  53
  6 Northern Union          29  11  8  10  38  30   +8  41
  7 Chafford                29  11  8  10  23  27   -4  41
  8 Rozelle United          29  10  7  12  33  33   +0  37
  9 Marque                  29  11  3  15  40  46   -6  36
 10 Westpike United         29   9  6  14  22  36  -14  33
 11 Southern Star           29   9  5  15  37  45   -8  32
 12 Falkner United          29   9  5  15  34  46  -12  32
 13 Lotus Park              29   7  7  15  21  38  -17  28
 14 Snowden River           29   6  9  14  24  39  -15  27
 15 Scaffield               29   7  6  16  28  52  -24  27
 16 Rosbank Town            29   5  8  16  34  52  -18  23

B-LEAGUE

Pos Team                      P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Twin Saints              29  20  6   3  67  29  +38  66
  2 Swayback                 29  16  7   6  52  29  +23  55
  3 Francisca Orient         29  15 10   4  41  20  +21  55
  4 Westpike                 29  15  5   9  38  24  +14  50
  5 Gallant Cross            29  13  8   8  43  33  +10  47
  6 Proudcastle              29  14  4  11  32  25   +7  46
  7 Saint Alexander          29  11 10   8  28  23   +5  43
  8 Southside Wanderers      29  12  6  11  35  29   +6  42
  9 AFC Swanbridge           29  11  8  10  43  42   +1  41
 10 Chrysler Town            29   9  7  13  43  49   -6  34
 11 Marque Rovers            29  10  3  16  27  48  -21  33
 12 Guilder                  29   6 10  13  25  39  -14  28
 13 Stourhead                29   6 10  13  21  41  -20  28
 14 Knightstone FC           29   8  4  17  31  52  -21  28
 15 Rozelle Alliance         29   6  6  17  33  55  -22  24
 16 Ridgeway United          29   6  4  19  21  42  -21  22

C-LEAGUE

Pos Team                     P   W   D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Crest                   29  20   5   4  59  31  +28  65
  2 Finbar Stalwarts        29  19   7   3  54  13  +41  64
  3 Pride of the South      29  18   5   6  69  27  +42  59
  4 Mount Roland            29  12  14   3  39  20  +19  50
  5 Spearcove Mariners      29  14   3  12  53  47   +6  45
  6 Fentonbridge            29  12   8   9  36  26  +10  44
  7 Sharrow                 29  12   6  11  38  33   +5  42
  8 Falkner Wanderers       29  11   6  12  36  43   -7  39
  9 Northern Fist           29  10   6  13  46  54   -8  36
 10 Southrons-Errant        29   9   6  14  43  57  -14  33
 11 Rushden                 29   9   6  14  38  58  -20  33
 12 Shaleport Rangers       29   7  10  12  33  46  -13  31
 13 Coppersmith             29   8   6  15  29  48  -19  30
 14 Alexavale FC            29   6   9  14  31  62  -31  27
 15 Platwood                29   7   5  17  26  44  -18  26
 16 Glassfields             29   3   8  18  37  58  -21  17

D-LEAGUE

Pos Team                    P   W  D   L For  Ag  +/- Pts
  1 Falkner Crescent       29  20  4   5  63  24  +39  64
  2 Chafford Saracens      29  19  6   4  59  19  +40  63
  3 Randwick Town          29  14 10   5  43  20  +23  52
  4 Otter Ferry            29  16  4   9  49  43   +6  52
  5 Suttonstrand FC        29  14  4  11  35  48  -13  46
  6 Razorback Hill         29  12  8   9  40  26  +14  44
  7 Pikemouth United       29  13  3  13  53  48   +5  42
  8 Heathgrove             29  11  8  10  49  35  +14  41
  9 Fisher Kings           29  12  5  12  33  45  -12  41
 10 AFC Conomore           29  10  9  10  31  35   -4  39
 11 Thrush                 29   8  8  13  36  46  -10  32
 12 AFC Cairnshore         29   9  4  16  42  53  -11  31
 13 Dannecliff Rovers      29   7  9  13  35  38   -3  30
 14 Brackford Rovers       29   5 10  14  21  42  -21  25
 15 Alnwick Glade          29   5  6  18  24  59  -35  21
 16 AFC East Coast         29   4  8  17  34  66  -32  20

A-League Newswires (Brenecia Domestic Football)

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