Anthoran Sports Broadcasting Network

by **-Anthor-** » Sat May 14, 2016 9:33 am

OOC: Please do not post in this thread; For My Use Only

Anthoran Sports Broadcasting Network
[ Anthoran Football Council ] [ AIHF ] [ Royal Tennis Association ][ ABL ] [ AGL ]

Per the Sporting Structure Act, the Minister of Sports and Events is the government official in charge of monitoring all professional, amateur and youth leagues, groups and teams. The most popular sport, Association Football, is organized under the Anthoran Football Council which oversee's the two leagues inside of it and answers to the Minister. Decisions to send teams to international competitions are at the discretion of the governing sport body and the Minister's role is mostly oversight and final regulatory approval.

International Appearances

Ice Hockey
World Cup of Hockey XXIX - Finished Second to Last in Group
World Cup of Hockey XXX - Finished Second to Last in Group
World Cup of Hockey XXXI - Eliminated in Round of 16
World Cup of Hockey XXXII - Eliminated in Round of 16
World Cup of Hockey XXXIII - Obtained Third Place
World Cup of Hockey XXXIV - Eliminated in Quarter Finals
World Cup of Hockey XXXV - Eliminated in Round of 16
World Cup of Hockey XXXV - Won Championship
World Cup of Hockey XXXVIII - Eliminated in Group Stage (4th)
World Cup of Hockey XXXIX - Eliminated in Round of 16
World Junior Ice Hockey Championship 15 - Won Championship
World Cup of Hockey XLI - Eliminated in Group Stage (3rd)

Association Football
Baptism of Fire 61 - Eliminated in Round of 16
World Cup 74- Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished Second to Last)
World Cup 75 - Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished 5th)
AOCAF LI - Eliminated in Group Stages
World Cup 76 - Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished Last)
AOCAF LII - Eliminated in Quarter-Finals
World Cup 77 - Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished 4th)
World Cup 78 - Eliminated in Qualifiers(Placed 6th)
World Cup 79 - Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished 4th)
Cup of Harmony 71 - Eliminated in Quarter-Finals
AOCAF Cup LV - Eliminated in Group Stages
Di Brandi Cup 42 - Eliminated in Round of 16
World Cup 81 - Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished 4th)
Di Brandi Cup 43 - Eliminated in Group Stages
World Cup 83 - Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished 4th)
World Cup 84 - Eliminated in Qualifiers (Finished 4th)
AOCAF Cup LIX - Eliminated in Group Stages

Baseball

World Baseball Classic XXXVII - Tied Second Group Stage
World Baseball Classic XXXVIII - Tied Second Group Stage
World Baseball Classic XXXVIX - Eliminated in Group Stage
World Baseball Classic XL - Eliminated in Group Stage
World Baseball Classic XLI - Swept in Quarterfinals
World Baseball Classic XLIII - Eliminated in Group Stage
World Baseball Classic XLIV - Eliminated in Group Stage
World Baseball Classic XLVI - Eliminated in Group Stage
World Baseball Classic XLVII - Swept in Round of 16
World Baseball Classic XLVIII - Eliminated in Group Stage

Quidditch
Quidditch World Cup VII - Eliminated in the Quarter Finals
Quidditch World Cup VIII - Eliminated in Group Stage

Gridiron Football
World Bowl 32 - Eliminated in Quarter Finals
World Bowl 33 - Eliminated in Group Stage (Finished 4th)
World Bowl 35 - Eliminated in Group Stage (Finished 3rd)
World Bowl 37 - Eliminated in Group Stage (Won division, finished 3rd in league)
World Bowl 38 - Eliminated in 2nd Group Stage (Finished 2nd)
World Bowl 40 - Eliminated in Quarter Finals

by **-Anthor-** » Sat May 14, 2016 9:34 am

Anthoran Football Council
Commissioner: Benjamin Ashton
Deputy Commissioner for Scheduling: Christian Banfield
Deputy Commissioner for Player and Team Relations: Paula Barnett
Deputy Commissioner for International Settings: James Billington
First Season: AE560
Current Season: AE604
List of Champions: Council Finals Ledge
The Anthoran Football Council is the overseeing body over all professional and amateur football within the Kingdom of Anthor. Currently it presides over 2 professional leagues and a wide number of amateur ones. The top-level league is called the Norberry Champion's League and it consists of 16 teams that play 33 matches each season. The bottom 2 sides of the league each here are demoted to the secondary league, the Falthead Secondary League which also consists of 16 teams, who play 24 games. The top 2 teams, ranked by points, are promoted to the Champion's League. In addition to these two leagues, there are two lower leagues which are considered semi-professional officially, designated Tier 3 and Tier 4. They each play a total of 20 games a season, with the top team in terms of points earned being promoted to the next level while the bottom team in terms of points is demoted to the lower level.

In addition to regular season play, each year the Evan's Cup is organized and held as a Football Council wide event; qualification rules vary for each league, for the top 2 leagues, their top 8 teams qualify while for the lower 2 semi-professional leagues their two best teams qualify.A series of playoffs between each will occur, with the leading 2 teams in the Champion's League getting delayed entry into the quarter finals.It is held each here midway through the NCL's season.

Norberry Champion's League

Falthead Secondary League

Monmouth United
Jedburgh Jets
Stamford FC

Rhayguard Dragons
Lanorven Rangers
Thauron Barons
Nancras FC

Blaenavon City
Onceiu FC
Durham United
Greenwich Badgers

Avon FC
Southwell Swans
Ilchester Spirits
Rauret Reds

by **-Anthor-** » Sun May 22, 2016 10:56 pm

OOC: For OOC purposes, this occurs just post-WC74 and before the ongoing BoF
Season AE599
Pre-Season Broadcasting

Here we are back at it again folks, with a new season of football about to get underway here in Anthor, what with the first matches for the Champions here set to begin in three weeks, and me, the ever favorite AFC broadcaster Sébastien Waters, will be joined by a despicable Bolts fan Darin Larson to cover this entire exciting new season for you.

To begin with things, offseason was rather slow, no big new transfers or such to really get hyped over about in unusual form, we're just left to speculate over who will be our dominant teams this year; Bankfoot surprised everyone last year as they won a hotly contested League title over prior champions Dienville and a few others, in fact, they only won the League by one point (54), and there was two runner-ups with 53 points a piece, Dienville, the prior champions, and Tarbert. So, in the end we got some riveting football in the last few matches last year and Bankfoot got their first piece of new silverware since 581, and I can say I'm hoping to see that same kind of football, but perhaps a little bit earlier on. Preston FC at Hawick, Dienville at Ashingdon and Merton at Evesham kick off our season for us, and honestly, Preston has a lot of work to do, don't you agree Darin?

Indeed they do Seb, arguably one of the most historic teams in the League, they seem to have fallen on a rough spell these last few years and even with the best young blood with Jason Rigsby, they are having a tough time converting into wins; they're performing on high cylinders for sure, they led the league in goals last year (44) but also led the league in goals against (42), so clearly the defense needs a big surge this year, and they're gonna get one heck of a test against Hawick whose midfielders were on fire last year.

Don't forget Dienville either Darin, fighting very hard to try to win a repeat title, narrowly lost after an upset loss to Holyhead of all teams and they are most definitely out for blood this year, rumors have been a talk about a fierce off-season training regime, and even one for while the season is on, and really I mean, what else to expect from a team whose won 3 titles in six years and had not one but four of their players on the national team at the World Cup last year, clearly they're doing something right and I'm eagerly looking forward to their football this year.

Myself as well, while I'm also hoping out for some improvement from the bottom of the table, and even perhaps some promotions at the end of this year from the Secondaries. Ainharp finished dead last with a meager 22 points, only 6 wins, this year and Holyhead and Ashingdon weren't far ahead of them, so they need to ramp it up this year especially with the new promotion-demotion rules implemented over the off-season; you also can't ignore the play from Greenwich and Monmouth down in the secondaries, played incredibly well, have the goals to show for it with 30 and 37 respectively a piece, and both are chomping at the bit for a chance to get into the Champions, Monmouth especially ever since they were knocked down in 576. Is it also a coincidence that both have some of the best U21 development programs in the country? Probably not.

Anyways, this is Sébastien and myself signing off, we'll see all of you for our coverage of the games soon!

by **-Anthor-** » Mon May 23, 2016 12:23 pm

Season AE599
Part One - MD1 - 5

Match Day 1

Match Day 2

Match Day 3

Match Day 4

Match Day 5

 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Holyhead FC             5    3   2   0     4    1   +3    11
 2 Hawick Royale           5    3   1   1     5    2   +3    10
 3 Goodwick FC             5    2   3   0     8    4   +4     9
 4 Stanton FC              5    3   0   2     5    3   +2     9
 5 Preston FC              5    3   0   2    10    9   +1     9
 6 Kendal Arrows           5    2   2   1     8    4   +4     8
 7 Senades Blitz           5    2   2   1     8    6   +2     8
 8 Tarbert Huskies         5    2   2   1     4    3   +1     8
 9 Evesham United          5    2   1   2     8    6   +2     7
10 Bankfoot Bears          5    2   1   2     3    4   −1     7
11 Tiranges Bolts          5    1   2   2     3    7   −4     5
12 Ashingdon United        5    0   4   1     4    5   −1     4
13 Edington Chiefs         5    1   1   3     6   10   −4     4
14 Ainharp Bards           5    1   1   3     5   10   −5     4
15 Dienville Lancers       5    0   2   3     3    6   −3     2
16 Merton Ajax             5    0   2   3     1    5   −4     2]

Solid performance from Holyhead and some eeked out wins from Hawick Royale have them currently sitting at the top of the table; I'm personally looking forward to Jason Rigsby and McKenzie, who appear to be our best strikers, possibly the best we've seen since Horn's Preston days some forty years ago, but we have the rest of the season to see about that.

by **-Anthor-** » Wed May 25, 2016 9:56 pm

Season AE599
Part Two - MD6 - 10
Top Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, Evesham United: 5 goals, 6 assists
League Leader: Holyhead FC, 3-2-0, 11 pts

Match Day 6

Match Day 7

Match Day 8

Match Day 9

Match Day 10

                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Hawick Royale          10    5   3   2    11    7   +4    18
 2 Evesham United         10    5   2   3    15   11   +4    17
 3 Holyhead FC            10    4   4   2     8    7   +1    16
 4 Senades Blitz          10    4   3   3    15   11   +4    15
 5 Preston FC             10    5   0   5    14   13   +1    15
 6 Tarbert Huskies        10    4   3   3    10    9   +1    15
 7 Kendal Arrows          10    4   2   4    12    9   +3    14
 8 Stanton FC             10    4   2   4     7    8   −1    14
 9 Edington Chiefs        10    4   2   4    10   13   −3    14
10 Goodwick FC            10    3   4   3    10    8   +2    13
11 Dienville Lancers       9    3   3   3     8    8    0    12
12 Ashingdon United        9    2   5   2    10    9   +1    11
13 Merton Ajax            10    2   5   3     7    8   −1    11
14 Ainharp Bards          10    3   2   5     8   14   −6    11
15 Tiranges Bolts         10    2   3   5     8   13   −5     9
16 Bankfoot Bears         10    2   3   5     6   11   −5     9

by **-Anthor-** » Fri Jul 29, 2016 10:00 pm

Season AE600
Pre-Season Broadcasting

Welcome back all listeners, subscribers and general football fanatics, as I, Sébastien Waters, with my compatriot in arms Darin Larson begin our pre-season coverage of the upcoming AE600 season for the Norberry and Falthead leagues. This year in the booth, our benevolent overlords have made an addition and added on the sterling Samuel Beake, who has spent the last five years covering primarily the Secondary league and our U18 and other development programs, welcome Sam.

Yes, thank you Sebastien, I can't begin to say enough on how excited I am to see this season, specifically the most massive reason many shipping companies have been swamped with deliveries this last few weeks, and the reason I've joined you in the booth to provide our fans with better coverage and commentary, this is of course, the first promotion & regulation under the rules debuted last season, which is the Ainharp Bards after they lost the regulation match against Bankfoot at the conclusion of the last season, aand the return of Snowdownia City to the Norberry League, their first time in it since 556 I might add, they got booted out that following year and been trying to return ever since, and o boy, have they indeed.

Indeed Sam, they made some dazzling acquisitions in the off-season, they've picked up forward Peter Simmonds from Senades, who just felt under-appreciated there after Michael King's breakout season last year where he really came into his own, City picked Simmonds up for a cool £54,000,000, and from what I've heard from clubhouse sources, they're really trying to use him to help prepare their players for the completely different experience they're about to witness here in the big league.

Stepping aside from the exciting new addition to the league, let's talk transactions real quick Sebastien and Sam. Simmonds was probably the largest pickup by any club, but we had alot of strategic movements of the foundation blocks to speak, we witnessed a number of young, and surprisingly international talent being brought in. Bankfoot especially, it missed regulation by literally a goal, it gutted it's defense and forwards, dropping Brookfield and Garrett and bringing in a Filopines national Equan Durant who is barely meets the 18 age limit for the league, but he's been impressing scouts ever since he was signed to a youth academy here in the Kingdom. What really had them turning heads was his high speed, unusually fast for someone his age, he was outpacing pros of the game when he was 16 and he knew how to combine the velocity with a pretty nasty slide tackle from alot of angles. It apparently led his academy mates to start calling him the Panther, and now he's playing with the Bears, making the Starting XI in his rookie season, and the Bears are hoping he can led to a revolution in their defense which was a league-worst last season. In addition to this, they've brought up Lance Dempster, a forward, from their U18 teams and he's taken over Leggett's spot from last year, the former being released at the end of last year.

Now while Durant is making the headlines on the defensive sides of things, many are excited to see him play alongside the great Cartwright, another fellow is making headway on the other side of the game. A Cosumarian by the name of Buck Stringfellow, he came into the Kingdom last year on the U18 team for Ashingdon United in a non-binding contract, they liked what they saw apparently, he was developing well according to their reports, made significant improvements and turned crossing into one of his key weapons, but Tarbert beat them to offering him a contract, and he got signed with them for a £350,000 pound contract for 2 years, one of the largest ever offered to a foreign national of his age (18).

Now of course, if we're talking offense, you just have to mention these two names; Rigsby and McKenzie. Rigsby having a record worthy season, posting up 35 goals, which was enough to win him Golden Ball, however Golden Boot was stolen from him by none other then McKenzie herself, who racked up Rookie of the Year as well, posting 39 goals, 17 assists, in Evesham's best run in years. Both are looking to perform better, Preston is eager to prove it isn't resting on it's historical laurels and Evesham is out to fill up on some silverware, and I say the former has a better shot at it unless Preston can address the concerns with it's defense having a hard time containing all the high-power offenses we see them play.

Regardless, the first matches will kick off on Monday, with Preston FC taking on the greenhorns Snowdownia, being played at Preston's own field, so the rooks better bring their best game face, because they have one hell of a debut into the League. Otherwise, until then, this is ASBN's premier football broadcasting team signing off.

by **-Anthor-** » Sat Jul 30, 2016 1:07 am

OOC: Apologies for the unfinished debut season, I lost my files and therefore the results of the remaining games, so I decided a new season was the best route.
Season AE600
Part One - MD1 - 5

Match Day 1 - Season Kickoff

Preston FC 2-2 Snowdownia City
'30 Black (PRES)
'50 Rigsby (PRES)
'68 Balfour (SNOW)
'88 Day (SNOW)

Well we challenged the Hawks to come in with their best game face, and did they ever, earning themselves a draw in their first league match in half a century. Certainly not the win and the 3 points they were all hoping for, but let's be honest here; they faced one of the most powerful offenses in the country, and not only did they limit them to 2 goals, they managed to score 2 of their own to prevent them from winning. Early on, it certainly looked to be going Preston's way, Rigsby and Hunt were just owning the entire box with little challenges from City defenders, and it cost them with Black drew first blood at the 30 minute mark, and then Rigsby following up just five minutes after they returned from the half. After that, I guess the double ringing knocked them on the head and woke them up because they started playing very aggresively, much like you saw Sam during their last season in the Secondaries; Lord and Elsmore especially with those clean, quick crosses, they easily were dominating the flanks of the pitch and widening the match out, making the Preston midfielders having to work over time and they really aren't known for their endurance. Balfour connected first and then the celebrated Michael Day scoring just before the final whistle; hopefully Preston is already looking to address it's lackluster defense or this will continue to harm them, I mean if City can do this to them, what happens when you get a team that has a possessive collection of midfielders who can dominate the full length of the pitch? Losses, that's what happens, and even Jason Rigsby can't change that.

Senades Blitz 1-0 Evesham United
'81 Hugo (SEN)

The Blitz are still looking like they're rebuilding that once infamous lethal front end of theirs, Evesham was fighting them to the death the entire match; McKenzie once again proving she's useful for much more then scoring, she racked up 2 tackles of her own, and her comrade Alistair Dolan pulling off 3 as well - their team in total netted themselves a club record of 10 for the whole match, and they didn't slip up until after Hawkins, Dolan and McKenzie were subbed out. A tough loss and certainly not the way they wanted to go out, but we're sure they're going to recuperate next week.

Stanton FC 3-0 Bankfoot Bears
'34 Stone (STAN)
'66 Kemp (STAN)
'82 Kemp (STAN)

Well, a very upsetting beginning for the Bears who were hoping to beat the failures of last season behind them quickly, they've dropped a possible 3 points for just as many goals, and to Stanton of all teams; there's a rumor the AFC gave Stanton as their opener so they could get an easy win, a rumor that of course elicited jeers from Stanton fans, especially after this match. Stone got one in early to begin the massacre, but to Bankfoots credit they made their opponents fiddle around with the ball for another half hour before Kemp proved how he earned the captain's band, scoring his first goal at the 66 minute mark and the second one just eight minutes shy of the final whistle blow. In his Anthoran professional debut, Equan Durant performed well for a rookie; he was closely on target with any oncoming attackers, even managed to get in 2 tackles, one of which he won possession and he showed his ability to keep up on pace with others. Hopefully he provides a spark, and one soon, before the Bad Bears continue into a second season.

Merton Ajax 0-2 Hawick Royale
'44 Harrison (HAW)
'77 Irving (HAW)

Hawick is looking like its going to repeat that early on success that they found last year, and unlike last year, Griffiths is actually playing like the high-paid footballer he is, while he didn't score today he chalked up an assist on both goals; looks like those "how to share the ball" classes he attended two seasons ago are finally paying off. Harrison as usual is proving why he's the teams current offensive star, he was a great contender for Golden Boot and Ball last year, and this year he's already on a great start to repeat this run. On top of this, Irving and amazing positioning and defensive work from Gaskell and Cassidy are proving that pretty much all areas of this team are on the same page and performing; how long they keep it this way, remains to be seen.

Ashingdon United 2-2 Dienville Lancers
'28 Tate (DIEN)
'45 Tate (DIEN)
'65 Blewitt (ASH)
'87 Bailey (ASH)

Another exciting match among the crop this week, both Ashingdon and Dienville have big reasons to fight hard, Ashingdon looking to scoop up some more silverware after their last addition seven years ago and the Lancers, former league powerhouses taking home the big silver in 595 - 598, but last year their proverbial lance seemed blunted. Many blaming Moreau's age, as well as that most of the training staff departed after a rift between manager Matthew Armstrong and most of his fellow coach and trainer staff was leaked to the papers. None the less, both clubs made substantial ground over the offseason, and despite the scores, even the defenses were very present in the game and those attackers had to get past some stiff opposition to score it in. Dienville brought it in early, with the game heading into the mid break with the score 0-2, but Ashingdon manager William Baird must have given one heck of a rousing speech, because United came back on the field looking like a maverick; Blewitt cracked the Lancer's fullbacks first, racking up their first point at the sixty five minute mark and then Bailey managed to prevent the loss just three minutes before final whistle; a fantastic and well played draw, and I'm sure both are looking to get 3 points next week after such performances for not much reward this week.

Tarbert Huskies 1-2 Holyhead FC
'53 Garrett (HOLY)
'61 Evans (HOLY)
'73 Richelieu (TAR)

Holyhead had argubly the best season in club history last year, for so long, decade after decade they and Ainharp formed the 'Dismal Duo' just barely avoiding regulation while also displaying mud-scraping dismal shows, and then last year in manager Ian Smith's first year into his 3 year term, he manages to take the league by a firestorm and wins the league title by five points, their first in nearly a century, and the Pemsbroke Cup, and now, the champions are back, looking for more. Their debut match against Tarbert, who ended up in the middle of the table after a competitive season knocking around with the typical middleweights, Holyhead just really outperformed in almost every area, their front end was just completely shredding the Huskies defense, though in a glimmer of light for Tarbert, hyped rookie Buck Stringfellow despite not scoring performed quite well, he even somehow managed a tackle just a few feet from Holyhead's box and put in the team's only three shots, all decently placed and if he had some support from the other eleven Huskies, would have stood a better chance to score. Richelieu was their only saving grace, he didn't start the game but came on later in the half and put their only goal in at the 73 minute mark, by which point Garrett and Evans had already both netted one in per for Holyhead, giving the champions their first, of what their hoping, to be many wins.

Edington Chiefs 1-1 Kendal Arrows
'56 McCracken (KEN)
'70 Rey (KEN)

Edington had a chance last year to enter what are considered the traditional "middleweights" of the League but a string of landslide losses in the last 8 matches instead saw them just barely finishing above demotion zone, and they're hoping to finish just a little better this year I'm told. Kendal, in a similar situation but has a amazing offense, but it's coupled with one of the league's most inconsistent defenses. Regardless, the early draw here gives each team a tiny reward to try and feed to their players to earn and perform better this season.

Tiranges Bolts 0-0 Goodwick FC

Last year set a AFC record for the amount of draws, and the amount of scoreless draws, and here we are again with another. Tiranges's international veteran acquisition left the game early with an apparent leg injury, later confirmed to be a mild strain that should heal before next match, but none the less, his performance had little impact on the game and they conclude out the week's final match, and the 3rd draw.

Match Day 2

Evesham United 3-1 Preston FC
'38 Rigsby (PRES)
'49 Wardell (EVES)
'56 McKenzie (EVES)
'74 Fishburn (EVES)

What gets ignored more in Anthor, the poverty situation in the southern provinces by the Prime Minister, or Preston's atrocious defense? Evesham made up for lost ground, and McKenzie and company got a bit of "in your face" action in their 3-1 victory over Preston this week. Rigsby started things off in his typical fashion, early off of a absolutely gorgeous cross from the right side of the pitch by Rolfe and him banging it in from outside the box, but after this, his defense just continued to let him down. Wardell, looking to prove himself after his three injuries last season, scored first off of some quick short passes after the touch off following the return from halftime, and then McKenzie herself flamed one in just under ten minutes later, and then she shared the ball with Fishburn at the 74 mark, netting an assist off of a long pass to Fishburn who was half in the box and then he finished it by booting it up and into the top right corner of the net. Preston manager Geoffrey Dunster insists they're working overtime to adapt their defense, some scouts are carefully putting out Arthur Roche's name who was acquired three seasons ago from Kendal and has progressed very slowly, but they say his recent performances at team training sessions have seemed to, at the very least, do far better then the shite form coming from Howell and Clifford. Keep your eyes on the transfer market, I bet these boys are looking to make a move very soon.

Senades Blitz 3-0 Snowdownia City
'42 Hewitt (SEN)
'58 Hugo (SEN)
'72 King (SEN)

The Blitz revved up this week properly and stuck it to the newcomers, who might have had their ego's a little inflated after last week's draw against Preston because Senades was slamming them in from everywhere today; Hewitt brought his in five meters from outside the box, Hugo got his in on a header off of a corner kick and King netted his in from the far right side on a amazing diagonal cross that was just inside the corner of the box - Snowdownia's keeper Brennan might wanna get his eyes checked after this one, and get better gloves for next week.

Hawick Royale 3-0 Stanton FC
'31 Harrison (HAW)
'56 Gaskell (HAW)
'77 Griffiths (HAW)

Hawick continues to make major headway on cementing their place in the Top 5 for when the first tables get posted at the start of next month, taking down scrapper club Stanton with three goals, and once again, the match performances are showing that the team is being capable of scoring from any area of the pitch and from any position, their 4-4-1-1 working out very well for Manager Martin Baggs and his team. Harrison took in the first ringer of the day, and then Gaskell showed up with the firehead Nigel getting his season's first just before the 80 minute mark, giving Hawick their second win and letting them celebrate a little before continuing to train.

Merton Ajax 1-0 Bankfoot Bears
'66 Gardener (MER)

Merton was another club that is constantly clamoring to get into the middle of the tables every season, which is surprising since they have not one but two members of the national team on their starting twelve, and this week they made some success in their journey as they joined in on the beating session on Bankfoot; though, to the Bears credit, they were showing marked increase in defensive performance, young Durant racked up three tackles, netting possession on two, and Anthony Davis as well as Rutherford both penciled in two well placed shots that Lady Physics just seemed to hate for the afternoon. Davis spoke with ASBN reporters in the clubhouse after the match and expressed optimism in the upcoming matches and expressed hope in the continued progress of recovery, even if it was "baby step after baby step"

Holyhead FC 1-0 Ashingdon United
'43 Bissette (HOLY)

The Friars are defending their title very well, fighting a hotly contested match against Ashingdon United and managing to carry off the win and it's associated points on the back of Bissette's sprinting shot goal that came in literally a minute before the halfway whistle got blown. Holyhead in a rare move altered their formation slightly in game and seemed to have their midfielders do the brunt of the attacking and if they could, cross or pass it in to positioned forwards in or near the box. It seemed to work well, Bissette only managed the goal because of a tackle at midfield that he just ran with, probably because he thought it was nearing the whistle as the ref's were keeping those whistles close by. Regardless, we're curious to see if this adaption will continue to be employed, if it will become their standard formation and how effective it will be.

Tarbert Huskies 1-0 Dienville Lancers
'88 Stringfellow (TAR)

Huskies definitely are taking their defense seriously, unlike another club I can glare at, and it showed off this week, center backs were looking much fresher and coordinated, Ainsley and Combs seemed to be providing a nice tandem leadership that worked highly effective on blocking the Lancer's attack runs, and rookie Stringfellow managed to net his first professional goal just before extra time; it also marks the first time in fifty two years since a foreign national scored a goal in a professional game.

Goodwick FC 1-1 Edington Chiefs
'49 Albertson (GOOD)
'78 Fowler (EDT)

Goodwick making their first match try to count, they failed as the Chiefs came into town looking to prevent a repeat of the previous week and partially succeeded thanks to a last minute goal that saved their collective hides and dashed Goodwick's ideas of starting the season on a positive note. However, their defense came out looking particularly aggressive, especially Johansen and Brisbois who were actively double teaming with good timing and tackling at every presented opportunity. If they can keep up that play, and maybe get Jacobs to join in on it, they might finally get themselves out of the bottom of the tables for the first time this decade.

Tiranges Bolts 3-2 Kendal Arrows
'20 Couture (TIR)
'36 Toller (TIR)
'42 Rey (KEN)
'80 Summers (TIR)
'86 Rey (KEN)

Bolts manage to wrap up their first season win on some nice offensive play; Gomez remained bench due to the injury from last week, and Belanger stood in for him, providing assists on both Couture and Summers' goals, and the midfielders are showing again that Tiranges might need to adopt an approach even the champions seem comfortable doing - having midfielders do your legwork and then just having the strikers be putters more or less. Kendal put in a valiant effort too, but some shoddy footwork and pacing on behalf of their midfielding crew, might have to do with Stark being pulled unusually early and MacRae having the full pitch to make a fool out of himself. We're all pretty sure that Wyman ran straight by him unchallenged around '57, but you can form your own opinion.

Match Day 3

Preston FC 1-3 Senades Blitz
'32 Irving (SEN)
'55 Rolfe (PRES)
'61 Irving (SEN)
'82 Hugo (SEN)

Irving is having a marvelous streak right now, 3 goals in 2 matches, and is providing the Blitz with the motivation and the spirit to live up to their team name. Angela Rolfe got the sole Preston goal in just a little after the headway mark, but what is most significant is Rigby being pulled off after being slide tackled by Reeve around the seventy nine minute mark; it was perfectly legal and clean, but he was definitely in pain and he had to be replaced for the remainder of the match and word is still out if it's going to be an extended duration injury.

Evesham United 1-0 Snowdownia City
'75 Hawkins

Hawkins getting in his second goal of the season thanks to a nice double tap pass from McKenzie-Murphy, and Evesham sails into yet another win after some very nice cleanup play on behalf of their centerbacks who managed to lock down anything that even got past the iron wall at midfield for United. Richard Holloway recording four tackles, taking down quite a few of the poor lads from Snowdownia and he shared the wealth, Duncan and Boyce got one apiece, possession was gained on all but Boyce's, so Evesham is firing on full sides here, and looks to continue to plow upwards in the tables.

Stanton FC 2-0 Merton Ajax
'35 Hurell
'66 Hagerty (STAN)

Stanton gets revenge as its best served, cold and hard on the team that took them down the week prior and they bring down fellow scrapper club Merton with two goals that completely bewildered Ajax keeper Hackshaw, I don't think he was even looking in their direction when they slammed into the net.

Hawick Royale 4-0 Bankfoot Bears
'34 Cassidy (HAW)
'51 Harrison (HAW)
'65 Griffiths (HAW)
'78 Harrison (HAW)

Any defense that manages to shut Harrison down to even just one goal a game needs to wire a how to guide to every other club in the league out of courtesy, the man is positively on a white-hot streak; 4 goals in three matches in a performance streak that has done the near-impossible, bringing some maturity and finese out of Griffiths, who himself scored a goal off of a Jones assist to bring his count up to two. Bankfoot just seemed to completely forget everything it fixed on the defensive side of things; Preston needs a good fullback and these guys need a good trainer and someone who can straighten that bunch out at midfield; hint, hint, trade?

Ashingdon United 0-0 Tarbert Huskies

Huskies pulled off some interesting things this week, with Buckfellow leading a rally from his other forward and midfielders in doing most of the defensive work - I guess it was nice of them, but maybe they should have also focused on scoring a goal so they could go home with an extra three points instead of one lone addition.

Holyhead FC 2-1 Dienville Lancers
'40 Javier (DIEN)
'50 Maddox (HOLY)
'72 Abrahams (HOLY)

Holyhead continues the lecturing on the pitch this week, now showing off that their substitues are just as capable of high caliber performance as their top twelvers, with Garrett being subbed out over the halftime, Joe Maddox making his first cap since mid last season and he did so in high fashion, scoring a goal off of a nice series of crosses from Bissette-Clement, and then Evans on a short pass for the assist. Hopefully Dienville can recover and try to win some of these games, because if it can only produce wins against lower ranking teams, it's going to be in for another rough season.

Edington Chiefs 1-2 Tiranges Bolts
'31 Couture (TIR)
'52 Atkins (EDT)
'68 Summers (TIR)

Their first clash with fellow competitive middleweight Edington went Tiranges way, thanks to some high level performance from their star midfielders with Couture and Summers both stepping up to the plate, on both the defensive and offensive sides, both netting two tackles and both netting their sides two goals, and the Bolts get to go home with the three points.

Goodwick FC 2-0 Kendal Arrows
'48 Dickman (GOOD)
'88 Lémieux (GOOD)

Lémieux nets up his first goal in his sophmore season as a starting striker, helping Goodwick continue it's climb upwards and over the Arrows for the second time this season.

Match Day 4

Snowdownia City 0-2 Preston FC
'41 Martin (PRES)
'78 Rigsby (PRES)

Clifford got canned in favor of David Everett and the defense seemed to manage well enough, getting a revenge win on their debut drawers from City thanks to two well placed goals on Martin and Rigsby's behalf; Martin snuck his around three defenders and then booted it in while Rigsby drew a wonderful volley and smashed it in right under the keeper's dive.

Evesham United 3-2 Senades Blitz
'23 Dolan (EVES)
'53 McKenzie (EVES)
'47 Hugo (SEN)
'68 Fishburn (EVES)
'84 Bassett (SEN)

Gotta a little close there for a moment, but Evesham managed to continue it's plow as it stifled Senades latest blitz-streak and take yet another win, their third in a row, off of some masterful back and forth passing between Murphy and McKenzie and the midfielders; that's certainly one thing this club has down pat, in that sharing the ball is vital to a victory on the pitch and they do it very well, they led the league in assists last year, and it was evenly spread even to defenders and that pattern is repeating itself again here.

Bankfoot Bears 1-2 Stanton FC
'37 Dempster (BANK)
'49 Caston (STAN)
'68 Stone (STAN)

The rookie records Bankfoot's first goal of the season and his career first; I'm not sure what's sadder, that it had to happen on such a poorly finished strike or that it took the club four matches to score a goal. Stanton makes up for recent routs and their star striker finally puts the boot through for his first goal as well, and they end up taking the win home as the Bears continue their now two season long descent.

Hawick Royale 1-0 Merton Ajax
'51 Griffiths

Hawick is currently tied for first place with Holyhead and they're playing just as good, though Ajax certainly was putting up a serious fight on the defensive front, they managed to limit Hawick's possesion to 47%, the first time they've gone sub-50% this season, and managed to stave off the inevitable until Griffiths connects a perfect volley into the top left of the net for the game winner just a few minutes after they returned from halftime.

Dienville Lancers 1-4 Ashingdon United
'22 Allen (ASH)
'41 Hull (DIEN)
'57 Blewitt (ASH)
'69 Allen (ASH)
'81 Carter (ASH)

Nothing quite takes the cake away from your first win, especially after 3 hard fought draws, but Ashingdon United did it in style after completely killing the Lancer's recent hot streak, knocking them way down in the tables after killing them 4-1 this afternoon. Ashingdon midfielder John Allen really came into his own, the twenty nine year old scoring a career high two goals in one game, and even recording a few steals as well; Carter joined in the mix and got his first goal this season and Blewitt whose continuing to perform well brought in the final one. To top it off, Moreau went down with a injured MCL in his right knee in the first half and is expected to be gone for, at minimum, a month.

Holyhead FC 1-0 Tarbert Huskies
'30 Garrett (HOLY)

Holyhead natched up it's fourth win today in as many games, the currently streaking striker Garrett scored early and after that, manager Ian Smith used all the subs he could just to get his people some playing time and stretch out their game legs. A post-match interview he said it was to get them ready so injuries didn't become a fatal setback, and one could hardly blame him look at Dienville, dealt a huge loss and the loss of their veteran striker and his backup has only had 8 caps in the last three seasons.

Kendal Arrows 3-3 Edington Chiefs
'20 Stark (KEN)
'38 Lécuyer (KEN)
'47 Thomas (EDT)
'51 Atkins (EDT)
'67 Stark (KEN)
'87 Fowler (EDT)

Nicholas Stark is starting to catch up to his goal count from last season and you just gotta wonder how someone has good as him hasn't left for a better club yet. He would have guided the Chiefs to their second win too, had their bench backs not let in a goal with 2 minutes to spare.

Goodwick FC 4-1 Tiranges Bolts

'34 Lockwood (GOOD)
'41 Lémieux (GOOD)
'51 Fox (GOOD)
'60 Gomez (TIR)
'77 Lémieux (GOOD)

Lémieux is stopped just one goal shy of his fifth career hat trick, but he leads Goodwick to a monster victory over the Bolts for what appeared to be an easy three points - they racked up four goals, six tackles, and 8 interceptions, so both the offense led by Lémieux and the defense which rallied around Johansen provided exactly what they needed to reverse recent fortunes and eek out that win.

Match Day 5

Preston FC 1-5 Evesham United
'21 Murphy (EVES)
'32 McKenzie (EVES)
'45 Hunt (PRES)
'51 McKenzie (EVES)
'77 McKenzie (EVES)
'81 Murphy (EVES)

Preston's humiliating slide into the gutter of the tables was nailed shut with the horrifying massacre that Evesham handed them; United strikers McKenzie and Murphy connected for five goals, McKenzie scoring her season first hat trick and getting one assist on one of Murphy's goals and Murphy scored two goals and racked up two assists, but they weren't alone in their efforts, Oliver Wardell racked up four tackles, 2 steals and 2 interceptions, Alistair Dolan posted similar numbers, as did Holloway.

Snowdownia City 7-6 Senades Blitz
'15 Day (SNOW)
'22 Elsmore (SNOW)
'32 King (SEN)
'39 Grant (SEN)
'44 Day (SNOW)
'47 King (SEN)
'59 Day (SNOW)
'64 Irving (SEN)
'67 Simmonds (SNOW)
'70 Thomas (SEN)
'79 Thomas (SEN)
'85 Simmonds (SNOW)
'90 Balfour (SNOW)

In the last 23 years I've been broadcasting, this has to join the collection of "best games to cover" ever, because it was such a thrill and ride from the first whistle, all the way to the very last one. Senades had to restart their high power offensive after going down in low score counts and shot numbers, and they brought the power, but unbelievably not only so did Snowdownia, they managed to best Senades too. Michael Day becomes the second player this season to score a hat trick, and Snowdownia becomes the first club in more then 5 years to score more then 5 goals in a game, as does Senades. What we also want to mention is someone needs to rebrainwash their defenders, sure the match was fun to watch but that's because they were giving up a goal on average every ten minutes. That's even worse then Preston's fullbacks have been playing.

Stanton FC 0-1 Hawick Royale
'25 Irving (HAW)

Tied for first still with the Friars, Hawick continues their domination of the middleweights and hands Stanton a hard loss as it's been in pretty good form the last few weeks, and heads back down sadly. Of worrying note is the form coming from Gaskell and Harrison, both started off above excellent and now both are two matches cold and with really unimpressive matchwork. Certainly hoping they do extra drilling in between matches, the race is already heated to remain in the top spot.

Bankfoot Bears 0-2 Merton Ajax
'22 Elliot (AJAX)
'77 Warwick (AJAX)

Merton thrashes the Bears for the third time this season and Bankfoot and Preston are in a race to see who can become the worst the fastest while everyone else joins the hot race for the Top 5 seeds in the tables.

Ashingdon United 0-1 Holyhead FC
'77 Garrett (HOLY)

Hawick nearly ended up owing Ashingdon big time, the perennial middleweight fought Holyhead to a standstill for nearly the entire match until they slipped up and let Garrett do what he's do very well all season and put his boot through the ball, and shove it down the net'.

Dienville Lancers 4-1 Tarbert Huskies
'38 Hull (DIEN)
'43 Javier (DIEN)
'58 Ackerman (DIEN)
'65 Stringfellow (TAR)
'78 Victore (DIEN)

This was a victory that the Lancers sorely needed, and they did it at the perfect time. No better way to say you're doing fine even with your best striker out but scoring four goals without him, having your defense shored up and performing in top level class and form, and showing off to the league you're still here for quite a few more rounds of fighting.

Edington Chiefs 1-0 Goodwick FC
'89 Padmore (EDT)

You really can't complain I suppose when you win within the last thirty seconds, and the winning and only goal scored by you is by a substitute only ten minutes off of the bench. Padmore came on around '77 for Fowler and ends up scoring his tenth career goal to give the Chiefs their second win they've been sorely searching for the last few weeks.

Kendal Arrows 6-1 Tiranges Bolts
'27 Couture (TIR)
'37 Rey (KEN)
'48 Lécuyer (KEN)
'59 Rey (KEN)
'65 Peck (KEN)
'77 Stark (KEN)
'82 Stark (KEN)

So in one week, we get three clubs to reach that milestone of 5+ goals in a single game, and Kendal becomes that third club to do it, and very fittingly being how their the most unpredictable and inconsistent team in the entire upper leagues. I mean, the only thing consistent is Stark is going to score a goal, and they're always fighting to get above 10th seed. Speaking of which, 4 goals in 2 games for Nicholas Stark and Rey is going on a hot streak as well.

                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Hawick Royale           5    5   0   0    11    0  +11    15
 2 Holyhead FC             5    5   0   0     7    2   +5    15
 3 Evesham United          5    4   0   1    12    5   +7    12
 4 Senades Blitz           5    3   0   2    15   11   +4     9
 5 Stanton FC              5    3   0   2     7    5   +2     9
 6 Goodwick FC             5    2   2   1     7    3   +4     8
 7 Tiranges Bolts          5    2   1   2     7   13   −6     7
 8 Edington Chiefs         5    1   3   1     7    7    0     6
 9 Merton Ajax             5    2   0   3     3    5   −2     6
10 Kendal Arrows           5    1   2   2    12   10   +2     5
11 Ashingdon United        5    1   2   2     6    5   +1     5
12 Dienville Lancers       5    1   1   3     8   10   −2     4
13 Tarbert Huskies         5    1   1   3     3    7   −4     4
14 Snowdownia City         5    1   1   3     9   14   −5     4
15 Preston FC              5    1   1   3     7   13   −6     4
16 Bankfoot Bears          5    0   0   5     1   12  −11     0

                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Monmouth United         5    3   2   0     8    4   +4    11
 2 Nancras FC              5    3   2   0     5    1   +4    11
 3 Southwell Swans         5    2   3   0    11    7   +4     9
 4 Greenwich Badgers       5    2   3   0     6    3   +3     9
 5 Lanorven Rangers        5    3   0   2     5    3   +2     9
 6 Blaenavon City          5    2   2   1     5    3   +2     8
 7 Avon FC                 5    1   3   1     4    3   +1     6
 8 Rauret Reds             5    1   3   1     5    6   −1     6
 9 Jedburgh Jets           5    1   3   1     4    5   −1     6
10 Ainharp Bards           5    1   2   2     3    3    0     5
11 Rhayguard Dragons       5    1   2   2     3    5   −2     5
12 Onceiu FC               5    1   2   2     2    4   −2     5
13 Stamford FC             5    0   3   2     4    7   −3     3
14 Durham United           5    0   3   2     2    5   −3     3
15 Ilchester Spirits       5    0   3   2     3    7   −4     3
16 Thauron Barons          5    0   2   3     3    7   −4     2

by **-Anthor-** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 10:04 pm

OOC: A brief interruption in the AFC season for this spotlight on Qasden's competition. Next round for AFC will be posted tomorrow. This is covering Qasden's little domestic/foreign cup, check him out!

Evesham See's Success Overseas
EU became the first club to participate in a foreign competition outside of the Cup this month, and they're doing well.

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Gnaeus Tanicius Vopiscus (@Gnaeus Tanicius Vopiscus)(TH)
^{Baltha 51, 600AE 8:12 AM | Vaumort, Anthor}

Forward Jennifer McKenzie of Evesham United celebrating her goal in their latest matchTH photo

Vaumort, Anthor(Herald) — So maybe Adrian Darby wants to tune into a Qasden football network, because right now, Evesham United is over there participating in a competition, and in a rare moment for Anthoran teams, winning!

Qasden is one of our fellow neighboring nations in Atlantia Oceania, and they've recently made their own foray into international competitions, and this year they've also started a new domestic cup, the Prince's Cup, which features all squads from their two premier leagues, as well as spots for four foreign teams, and the AFC managed to get it's way to send an Anthoran team, and they chose Evesham United, approximately three weeks ago just after the last round of matches here domestic side. Deputy Commissioner for International Settings James Billington made the announcement with the rest of the Commisssioners flanking him on stage announcing that they had selected Evesham from the other Top 5 nations, and made the selection based on their "unique explosiveness on the front side of the pitch and the talent they bring in."

Now, we all know who that talent is, and sure, it could be Richard Holloway, who easily makes it uncontested into anyone's "Best Defenders of this Century" list, or it could be Peter Hawkins who is also one of the best midfielders in the AFC, but without a doubt, it was referencing the, in my opinion, hottest player this season, and almost as good last as well; Jennifer McKenzie herself.

Now, for our foreign readers or if you've lived under a Thermalian marsh-rock this past three years, Jennifer made her debut last season with Evesham, the first season under the new gender-intergration rule that had been adopted by the AFC and all participating clubs; she was a number of female players in the now defunct female amateur leagues that had heavily impressed scouts and analysts, but she was really the only one that took off. She came up with the Golden Boot last year, stealing it from perennial winner Jason Rigsby, with some 29 goals and almost half as many assists, and this year she's already leading the league, sitting at 7 goals in fewer then that matches, and it looks like we'll get another fun to watch competition as she and Evesham try to beat out Holyhead second year around for that domestic title; but really, let's focus on what she's led her club to internationally.

They joined the Prince's Cup in the Preliminaries, the other three foreign clubs being Treftadaeth Alliance (Consumar), S.C. United and Metropolitan (Coraspia/GVH), and Moaria F.C. (Islana Lunigo). Manager John Greenwood said that he brought on some additional training staff to help them prepare for this new challenge, as they would play domestic matches and these foreign ones all held in Qasden, and they did something that the national team has failed to do in the last 2 World Cups; produce goals, and produce wins. They played Open Flame FC, a domestic Qasden club with a brace of brilliant defenders, and they openly slaughtered the home team, Jennifer herself scored two of the four total goals, and then her ever-budding partner in crime Murphy scored a third and Dolan scored a fourth, and they only gave up one goal, on a pretty well put together header off of a corner kick.

After that, they flew home, kicked some butt in similar fashion here in the Champion's League, and then they had two days turn around before flying back to Qasden to take on what pundits had predicted to be the dominant foreign side, Treftadaeth Alliance, as Consumaran teams are known for their proficiency and tactics, and they surely didn't disappoint as they battled Evesham into a draw after full time, and after many nail biting shots from both sides, and then something clicked, possibly the two substitutions used by Greenwood in extra time, and they finished off the Consumaran team off of a cross induced volley from Wardell, and they, amazingly, became the first Anthoran team to qualify for a foreign competition, and moved on to the proper rounds of the Prince's Cup; and before you think that they had poured they're all out into this match and come up short once faced with proper Qasden opposition, rethink that because in their first match, they halted AC Bornice Italia on a quick 2 - 1 score, and came so close to a total shutdown as Qasden didn't even score till the 84' minute mark. Right now, they're looking strong as we've had a nice domestic break in matches allowing them to remain there and not get jet lagged as they play both sides, and they've found training fields where they've been practicing every day.

Jennifer herself was kind enough to allow a quick interview, and was asked how she and her team mates were preparing for this, and what their mindset was and she stated that "You know, me and Dom have come up with some pretty nice attack plans with Samantha and John, and we've gotten Peter and the mid-men in on it, and you know, we've run it real well out here on the practice field and hopefully we can continue to translate that success over to the pitch in the real deal."

Gnaeus Tanicus Vopiscus contributed to this article.

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AmazePunkRed · 8 minutes ago
Really surprised and happy for Jennifer, her and all the others around the league just proving you don't need to be a man to succeed in football, I really hope to see them on the stage with the trophy!
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AshUnited4Life · 3 hours ago
Not a fan of Evesham's recent victories domestic side, but they're doing all of us a great honor by restoring our national football image!! So, for the only time, go Evesham!
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Locke · 4 hours ago
I wonder if she's talking about a new formation, perhaps something that brings Wardell and Hawkins into an attack role, that could be deadly with their performances so far this season
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by **-Anthor-** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:45 pm

Season AE600
Part Two - MD6 - 10
Top League Scorer: Cole Harrison, 5 goals, 6 assists (Tied with Jennifer McKenzie, 5 goals, 3 assists)

Match Day 6

Senades Blitz 3-1 Preston FC
'34 Hugo [SEN]
'48 Hewitt [SEN]
'61 Rigsby [PRES]
'77 Thomas [SEN]

Senades was eager to redeem themselves after the struggles from last weeks and they're still seeking to solidify their spot in the Top 5, they were literally tied at 9 points with Stanton FC and both teams have been struggling to find some consistent play, but they definitely found their balance here. Preston tried to take to the counter-surge early, drawing Senades' Thomas and King in before pouncing on them with their midfield, but King demonstrated an advanced aptitude with crossing, he lit up Hugo and Grant, even playing with his halfbacks, and Hugo trumped it in first at the thirty four minute mark, with Hewitt following along next off of a volley from Grant, putting them up two nil just a little into the second half. They subb'd out Morrish and Neil and Preston tried to capitalize on this, Rigsby going on a long sprint showcasing that endurance of his and booted one in to try and mount a come-back, but Thomas promptly shut that down with the final goal of the night, ensuring the Blitz stay up in the tables and Preston is still struggling for answers.

Snowdownia City 0-0 Evesham United

Once again, the City boys are really showing off how Simmonds with the team trainers have prepared these boys for the big leagues, they're coming off a bloody victory in one epic match, and so was Evesham; Snowdownia playing some of the finest offensive work, stuff that comes right alongside the Preston of yesteryears and Senades in their hey day, Evesham rips down rival Preston in a landslide, so you've got both teams coming in real hot, and they're blunted completely. McKenzie and Murphy are looking to continue that dynamic relationship they have on the pitch, and they were just completely shut down by some amazing defensive plays from Peter Ross and Neal Hanson who were effectively leading their defense against the league's star midfielder, but on the same end, City's Simmons was clearly frustrated, his midfielders gave him plenty of attack avenues that all ended in 4 mildly on target shots, with 3 from himself and 1 from Michael Day. Both teams are probably taking this as a learning experience as they trudge on, Evesham looking to make a consecutive league trophy while City just hopes to stay in it for their inaugural season.

Merton Ajax 0-2 Stanton FC
'44 Douglas [STAN]
'69 Douglas [STAN]

Stanton continues its strong season, coming into this match against Ajax whose been looking to do the same as Stanton and found some recent mixed success and Stanton just completely took the rug from under them, first half of the match was pretty even sided, both sides were kind of probing each other, you saw cross-pitch lobs from Gardener, Warwick and Kendall, but it was completely stunted by Stanton's captain, Samuel Kemp who led the defense with 6 tackles and 2 interceptions. This strong outing from him and his defense just made the midfield dominated in possession by Stanton, some 65% for the whole match, and Douglas comes one goal shy of a career first hat trick, but it's still enough to continue their climb up the tables

Bankfoot Bears 0-3 Hawick Royale
'35 Irving [HAW]
'66 Harrison [HAW]
'87 Gaskell [HAW]

Hawick continues it's domination of the tables in this match, which really, turned out exactly as predicted; top 3 offense meeting the third worst defense (11 goals against in 5 matches), and well, it turned out pretty predictably. As they have been all year, Hawick leading the surge from the mid to feed the ball towards the forwards, and Irving takes first blood a few minutes before the half, and then Harrison continues his superb form, making his sixth goal of the season in as many matches and Gaskell then seals the deal on a three nil victory for the Royale; three excellent goals, three much needed points as they continue to dog the other 4 top teams as they seek their trophy

Tarbert Huskies 2-0 Ashingdon United
'40 Stringfellow [TAR]
'68 Richelieu [TAR]

Tarbert took on their long-time rival Ashingdon and really, I was expecting better footballing out of United, they had a surge early on this season and I was hoping for them to ride it out but the last three weeks they've just really faltered and the Huskies were just in excellent form taking in this victory, foreigner Buck Stringfellow scoring his third goal of his rookie season and helps the Huskies climb a bit in the cellar, those last eight spots or so are currently held by just 1 or 2 points and it's all very much in flux so these three points definitely help them out, they just need to stay in form and continue their current pace, and I think we may see a Top 8 outing from them, which would be a very nice treat indeed.

Dienville Lancers 1-5 Holyhead FC
'30 Evans [HOLY]
'44 Abrahams [HOLY]
'52 Clement [HOLY]
'61 Javier [DIEN]
'75 Garrett [HOLY]
'89 Lachlan [HOLY]

Holyhead was tied for the top seeding at the end of last month and only 3 points ahead of Evesham who was hot on their trail, competition between the two was fierce last season and it's just as hot if not even better this time around so the Friars needed a big win, and they certainly got it against another cellar team, honestly after those three first goals, even after that failed rally on Javier's spot, I think I considered this more of a mutual shooting practice then a full blown match.

Tiranges Bolts 2-4 Edington Chiefs
'22 Gomez [TIR]
'34 McCaig [EDT]
'52 Padmore [EDT]
'61 Adkins [EDT]
'74 Fowler [EDT]
'88 Couture [TIR]

The two bottom holders in the Top Eight met up and both were looking for a win, they both needed a win with tougher schedules for both looming this match was the one to advance, and the Chiefs ultimately preveiled in splendid fashion, even with the Bolts getting first and last words in, it wasn't enough to surmount that middle second half assault the Chiefs mounted, McCaig scored once, his partner Adkins followed up and then Padmore scored the Chief's first relief goal of the season, putting them three points up and possibly casting the Bolts out of that hard fought Top 8 position they had. Gomez did have excellent form, notably his early on goal and three well placed shots that only were saved by some excellent goalkeeping from Edington, but he was definitely visibly frustrated walking off of the pitch today.

Kendal Arrows 1-0 Goodwick FC
'59 Stark [KEN]

Nick Stark's faulty start has all but vanished, he helped his club out in perfect form last match in that thrilling five to one win over Tiranges, and he just continued to help his Arrows climb who are slowly making the journey further up into the ranks of the tables, and honestly if Stark continues as is, maybe he can show off some of his amazing footwork skills to his strikers, Kendal might have a decent run here this year, but only if this holds up.

Match Day 7

[align=]Preston FC 4-1 Snowdownia City
'25 Elsmore [SNOW]
'31 Rolfe [PRES]
'49 Black [PRES]
'77 Hunt [PRES]
'89 Rigsby [PRES]

Well its nice to see that atleast Preston can manage to show it's the senior club to Snowdownia, who were handed a very embarressing loss, once again at the hands of Preston. Post-match interviews with Manager Cowdry chalked it up to "my guys are probably shades of themselves, we've played two of the most offensive clubs in the league and won, and drew, so yeah, am I upset we lost, sure, but I also understand they're all longing for a rest."

Meanwhile, Jason Rigsby took to the field to celebrate a little bit, and admittedly, it was nice to see some of the other players scoring besides him, Angela Rolfe picking up her season first goal and Hunt and Black adding to their totals so far. Does this spell a change in winds for Preston, who were still second worst in the league? I don't really think so, but you never know.[/align]

Senades Blitz 1-2 Evesham United
'35 Grant [SEN]
'68 Murphy [EVE]
'79 McKenzie [EVE]

Evesham coming off of a bye week and the Blitz looking to recover after some bad losses, but United came back with just as intense fury as it had before, if somewhat out of gears a bit. Senades took on the early offensive, dominating possession 61 - 29 in the first half, especially around upper field where they put in no less then 5 shots on United's goal, but clearly United manager John Greenwood got some sense into them because the Dynamic Duo screamed into action around the '50 mark, with Dolan, Fishburn and Hawkins taking the cue off of some impressive defensive fortitude from Wardell, Holloway and Boyce, and deleted the entire "blitz" from Senades, and then passed it over to the Duo, McKenzie getting the first goal in off of a quick double pass from Hawkins-Murphy, and then they switched roles to assist Murphy with a goal not even ten minutes later to give them the lead, and the three points they needed to stay in the race between themselves, Hawick and Holyhead for that coveted top seed spot.

Stanton FC 1-0 Bankfoot Bears
'30 Hurell [STAN]

Stanton looking to recover after that defeat last week, and I mean really, they couldn't have had an easier day against Bankfoot, unless perhaps maybe Preston or Snowdownia but both are showing some sparks of decent football, while it almost hurts to watch these Bears stumble around the pitch like, well, bears.

Merton Ajax 0-2 Hawick Royale
'28 Jones [HAW]
'60 Irving [HAW]

In slightly concerning fashion, Griffiths is pulled only fifteen minutes into the game on an apparent leg injury, and manager Martin Baggs has refused further commentary at this time, beyond stating that at current junction, it was not serious, but still could be potentially game changing to their so far excellent performance this season. Jones get's in the first score a little bit after the injury and after that the match remained relatively back and forth, got in some good attacks from Harrison, but it was ultimately Irving that would score again late in the last half to seal in yet another win for Hawick.

Ashingdon United 4-4 Dienville Lancers
'22 Tate [DIEN]
'39 Ackerman [DIEN]
'41 Griffins [DIEN]
'49 Allen [ASH]
'55 Victore [DIEN]
'62 Carter [ASH]
'69 Blewitt [ASH]
'79 Bailey [ASH]

Talk about a defensive breakdown and possibly one of the better offensive comebacks we've seen mounted this season, as John Stone led his United attackers to just barely draw and prevent a terrible defeat at the hands of the Lancers who were so desperately looking for those three points, and unfortunately are walking away with just one. They certainly opened up scoring early on, Tate and Ackerman netting themselves one each before the half and then Allen coming in and blasting one through right after resuming the match but from there on, par Victore's amazing header from a corner, it was entirely United and they completely smashed the Lancer's offense, scoring three goals in a matter of 17 minutes, which just has to be a record of some kind.

Tarbert Huskies 1-4 Holyhead FC
'20 Keegan [TAR]
'40 Maddox [HOLY]
'52 Clement [HOLY]
'68 Bissette [HOLY]
'87 Maddox [HOLY]

Friars are rolling, even steaming right on through every team in this league, plowing their way to a 4-1 victory over the Huskies who had been resurgent on the tables up to this point, and they looked to be even in this game, scoring the first goal at twenty minutes in and then putting up astounding defensive play to force the half to cease with them leading at one nil, but they must have worn out their defenders early on, because Holyhead came back from the break and came back hot, Maddox scoring a goal within a minute of returning, the fastest this season and then the ever productive midfielders Clement and Bissette follow up with one each and Maddox repeating himself a few minutes before final whistle; the young man has been an amazing spark off the reserves, scoring four goals this season, two this game while Garrett was given a reprieve to rest and, well, it didn't backfire for sure.

Edington Chiefs 0-1 Kendal Arrows
'35 MacRae [KEN]

That's three matches in a row now for the Arrows, coming out of that high-scoring week two weeks ago and they're moving on now with the best of them, they're definitely looking more motivated and drilled then they have in past seasons, possibly a product of the new training staff hired over the off season by Player-Coach Richard Howe, he himself not a stranger to the league having played forward with Monmouth, Dienville, and Ajax over his 17 years [573 - 590], scoring 340 goals in about 517 caps, and he's been a real asset apparently this season, youngster Stark has taken a liking to him and he's helped the front end develop a bond both on and off the pitch; he possibly may be the driving force from the sidelines to help the Arrows end up somewhere positive.

Tiranges Bolts 7-2 Goodwick FC
'20 Summers [TIR]
'28 Lémieux [GOOD]
'38 Wyman [TIR]
'49 Toller [TIR]
'54 Couture [TIR]
'64 Couture [TIR]
'70 Gomez [TIR]
'81 Gomez [TIR]
'90 Albertson [GOOD]

Well apparently the Tiranges that let themselves be beat the last three weeks had finally had enough of it, and brought the pain this week to the failing Goodwick, absolutely crushing them and tying Snowdownia's earlier score for the highest match score this season, with Gomez and Couture contributing a pair each and followed up with five other goals from their supporting midfielders and of course, Toller had to get one in to retain that arm band. All in all, a very good day from the Bolts offensive measures, definitely enjoyed watching the way Gomez has slowly taken to his team-mates and begun to play off of each other, maybe they can mount a resurgence and do something with it.

Match Day 8

Evesham United 2-0 Preston FC
'34 McKenzie [EVE]
'69 Murphy [EVE]

As predicted, Preston falls once more and continues it's residence at the bottom of the tables, while Evesham grabs up the happily rewarded points as it continues it's trip to, and to remain, at the top of the league.

Senades Blitz 3-0 Snowdownia City
'14 Hewitt
'73 Hugo [SEN]
'88 Grant

Snowdownia messed up a string of some pretty noteworthy performances by just a terrible outing today, everyone looked beaten and exhausted and Senades just took the ball and ran all over it. Though, to their credit, they did hold off the onslaught for the most part, Hewitt scored first off of some brilliant crossing between him and Thomas, and then you had to wait till the final twenty minutes before you saw a nice charge from Hugo and Grant, and that just sealed the deal for this match.

Hawick Royale 1-1 Stanton FC
'33 Griffiths [HAW]
'59 Caston [STAN]

A tactical match if I ever saw one, Stanton's defense was definitely struggling to win over the midfield ground for most of the match, their midfielders looked outclassed and overrun, but their defense proved to be a pretty strong backbone to rest on. Griffiths ended a short goal drought and put on in a few minutes before halftime, but then Stanton rallied strong and Caston equalized with his season's first goal and the two remained drawn for the rest of the match. Hawick will have to watch it, Evesham and Holyhead are still blowing away full steam and it's ill of a time to drop any kind of points, either drawing or losing.

Merton Ajax 0-2 Bankfoot Bears
'28 Davis [BANK]
'64 Harris [BANK]

Bankfoot with a surprising outing, if anything we predicted a late 1 nil win for Ajax, but a two nil victory for the Bears to mark the first light in just a dreadfully poor season. Captain Anthony Davis, who despite his team's failures has seen to be in top form all season, finally finds the back of the net for a goal and Harris joins him later on in the second half and the Bears are walking away with their first victory.

Holyhead FC 3-1 Ashingdon United
'51 Lachlan [HOLY]
'63 Blewitt [ASH]
'77 Garrett [HOLY]
'89 Evans [HOLY]

Holyhead continues its dominance of the league, coming off a thrilling 4-1 stomping on Tarbert last week, it almost appeared like United might get the hold over them, with the equalizer in the 63rd minute, but then in the last 20 minutes, the Friars showed up, Garrett scoring off a gorgeous volley from Bissette and then Evans on the final minute of the game on a long sprint. At this point in the season, you're starting to wonder, are they too good to stop this year?

Tarbert Huskies 1-3 Dienville Lancers
'22 Stringfellow [TAR]
'25 Tate [DIEN]
'36 Javier [DIEN]
'64 Hull [DIEN]

Lancers are starting their attempt to recover from a batch of tough matchups against really in-form oppositions, and especially after the huge loss to Holyhead two weeks ago (5-1) and then the fierce clash that led to a draw last week, many Lancer fans were worried the early built up steam was finished, but they showed up to recover that today, the young Consumarian Buck Stringfellow continuing to impress with his sixth goal of the season, he's currently on par with the elite strikers of the league like McKenzie and Harrison, and he's really proving to be one of the few good things for Tarbert this year but even his form couldn't stop the onslaught from the lancers. Tate and Javier continuing their scoring streak with a goal apiece, with Hull joining in the fray late into the second half.

Goodwick FC 0-0 Edington Chiefs

What's a week in the AFC if you don't get at least one draw, and sure enough, perennial bottom feeders Edington and Goodwick are here to give us our weekly draw; Chiefs midfielders looked to be in unusually better form, especially the sub'd in Thorvald Padmore who had a number of impressive tackles and a few interceptions, while Goodwick's strikers just failed to properly compensate, Albertson failed especially hard today in a surprise.

Tiranges Bolts 1-2 Kendal Arrows
'54 Rey [KEN]
'71 Couture [TIR]
'88 Stark [KEN]

A pretty thrilling match, the Bolts and Arrows here won Match of the Week with their electric performances. The first half was a kind of probing type of football, Kendal would launch a few crosses but only a few shots on the goal (3) while the Bolts flexed their midfield muscle and then the minute the second half began, both hit the gas hard. Arrows managed to make it work first, with Rey scoring the first goal of the match and the away crowd for Kendal seemed to be ecstatic, but a equalizer goal from Tiranges captain Couture in the 71st minute silenced the whole stadium. For the next nineteen minutes, every successful cross, long pass, tackle or interception won cheers, but it was young Stark's goal in the final two minutes of the game that drew microphone-shattering jeers. He continues to perform, and with him, Kendal is having a very good outing so far.

Match Day 9

Evesham United 1-0 Snowdownia City
'50 McKenzie [EVE]

Did you know that Snowdownia has set a AFC record for the most jersey sales in the first third of the season? They've smashed their way to £513,000 pounds worth of jersey sales in the last nine weeks, which bet the old thirty year old record, not even Rigsby managed to get Preston's this high, but the fan favorites have failed here on a hard loss, they managed to hang on for the first half but United just cleared them off the field with the purely amazing teamwork from the midfielders and forwards; I mean, really, time in and out we've seen Wardell nab the ball from the defense, dribble amazingly around a few defenders, give a short cross over to Dolan, Dolan sprints, lobs it to Hawkins who then feeds it to either McKenzie or Murphy, and those two are nothing short of legendary; Murphy with his amazing strength and endurance, he's almost a bull on the field but has been lucky this year with few yellow cards, and McKenzie has the best technique and footwork I've seen on a striker in years, and it shows with her domination of the field.

Stanton FC 0-0 Merton Ajax

Here's that weekly draw folks; I think Ajax was still dazed after that loss last week, but Stanton must have left their boots at home because I wouldn't have rated any of their players performances any higher then 5.4.

Hawick Royale 0-2 Bankfoot Bears
'27 Rutherford [BANK]
'73 Davis [BANK]

This match had to be the most stunning ninety minutes played on a pitch this season so far, short of that aggressive Snowdownia City match a few weeks back, but the Bears have shown up Hawick Royale in the biggest upset in the season, as Royale drops to the #3 spot in the tables and Bankfoot is ear to ear with grins, and well earned. Star midfielder Davis gets another notch of a goal late in the second half, but Rutherford is showing some improved form off of a bicycle kick off of a cross only twenty and some minutes in. That's two wins in a row for the Bears, perhaps we're going to see a comeback here?

Ashingdon United 1-0 Tarbert Huskies
'61 Mooney [ASH]

Youngster Mooney showing he's a force to be reckoned with coming off of the bench, and after the outing last week, Ashingdon gets a cleaner win this week, sending the Huskies down in loss on a simple 1 nil victory.

Holyhead FC 3-0 Dienville Lancers
'11 Evans [HOLY]
'59 Bissette [HOLY]
'72 Maddox [HOLY]

I think the fans and even we were looking for a better showup this week, but we forgot that old rule; in this league, when two offensive giants meet, one of two things happens. Either you get a thrilling, back and forth, close game, or you get absolute domination from one side, aaand that former option was what happened here this week, with even the Friar's bench scoring in the form of developing youth forward Maddox.

Edington Chiefs 0-1 Tiranges Bolts
'56 Summers [TIR]

Bolts managed to make up for a three week string of terrible showings with a nice simple win over the Chiefs here, with Summers scoring in the winning goal just fifteen minutes into the second half, and the Bolts continue their quest to avoid relegation, as the Chiefs get closer to that zone themselves.

Goodwick FC 0-0 Kendal Arrows

This week we're extra special, we get two draws, as Kendal's offensive sputtered out against Goodwick's likes of Johansen and MacCullum, who are improving apparently each week and soon Goodwick might have a nice formidable defensive front to wield.

Match Day 10

Preston FC 2-0 Stanton FC
'25 Rigsby [PRES]
'50 Black [PRES]

Preston finally manages to find it's footing and Rigsby and Black combine for a goal apiece to continue their climb to try and avoid having the club's worst season in two decades.

Senades Blitz 0-0 Merton Ajax

A bit surprising with this turn-out, the Blitz's forwards and midfielders seemed to be performing as they used to perform three years ago, but Ajax just managed to find the right combination to completely stump them, but without finding a goal of their own; wasn't without a try, they put in no less then 12 shots.

Evesham United 5-2 Hawick Royale
'17 Murphy [EVE]
'27 McKenzie [EVE]
'44 McKenzie [EVE]
'52 Irving [HAWK]
'65 Dolan [EVE]
'71 Griffiths [HAWK]
'80 Fishburn [EVE]

This had to be the most fun to broadcast in four weeks, we were all looking forward to this match-up since the league calendars were released, the league's #2 and #3 seeds slamming into each other was sure to be a fun spectacle, and we weren't disappointed, as United just stormed all over Hawick Royale, who in the past three weeks has seemed to be a bit weaker, and Evesham has used the last three weeks to just continue to ratch it up and with this thrilling victory, they condemn Royale to the third seed as Evesham secures the #2 seed, here in the first third of the season. McKenzie secures her spot as the best scorer in the league at the moment, with 10 goals in as many appearances, and 6 assists, and her partner Murphy is sitting at a nice 6 goals for himself. In this form, if Evesham continues, it's going to be a tricky run for Holyhead to continue to remain top dog, especially because all it will take is one slip up and United goes up and they go down.

Snowdownia City 1-0 Bankfoot Bears
'48 Day [SNOW]

Snowdownia recover from a string of bad performances and losses and they manage to stunt the Bankfoot comeback, as they come out on top over them for Bankfoot's first loss in two weeks, and maybe City themselves could find a way to the middle of the table.

Ashingdon United 2-0 Edington Chiefs
'29 Mooney [ASH]
'54 Mooney [ASH]

John Allan was removed from the Starting XI of Ashingdon last week and it appears Kerry Mooney got his spot in return, and in his first full cap, he hasn't disappointed, with two solid goals, to give himself three goals in three games and he might be the back that the team pins its chances of a recovery in the tables on.

Tarbert Huskies 1-0 Tiranges Bolts
'71 Stringfellow

Once again, the young star continues to come into his own as he scores the thrilling game winning goal in the 71st minute and sends the Huskies to their first victory in too long.

Holyhead FC 0-0 Goodwick FC

Remember that slip-up we mentioned? Here it is, as in a stunning match, Goodwick's centerbacks manage to completely shut down the Friar's, giving them their first non-win in seven weeks, and Evesham gets one point closer to claiming the top of the table from the Friars. Holyhead is going to have to be careful and develop better tactics if they want to avoid this.

Dienville Lancers 1-3 Kendal Arrows
'49 Victore [DIEN]
'59 Peck [KEN]
'71 Lécuyer [KEN]
'81 Stark [KEN]

Kendal managed a very wonderful performance, the top half of their lineup combining for 3 goals and 3 assists and mostly thanks to midfielder Nicholas Stark's performance, the Arrows secure a place in the Top 5 for the first time in four seasons, and you might wonder, maybe they get a good chance at some silverware this year?

                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Holyhead FC            10    9   1   0    22    5  +17    28
 2 Evesham United         10    8   1   1    22    8  +14    25
 3 Hawick Royale          10    7   1   2    19    8  +11    22
 4 Senades Blitz          10    6   1   3    24   15   +9    19
 5 Kendal Arrows          10    5   3   2    19   12   +7    18
 6 Stanton FC             10    5   2   3    11    8   +3    17
 7 Tiranges Bolts         10    4   1   5    18   22   −4    13
 8 Ashingdon United       10    3   3   4    14   14    0    12
 9 Goodwick FC            10    2   5   3     9   11   −2    11
10 Edington Chiefs        10    2   4   4    11   13   −2    10
11 Preston FC             10    3   1   6    15   21   −6    10
12 Tarbert Huskies        10    3   1   6     8   15   −7    10
13 Merton Ajax            10    2   2   6     3   11   −8     8
14 Dienville Lancers      10    2   2   6    17   26   −9     8
15 Snowdownia City        10    2   2   6    11   22  −11     8
16 Bankfoot Bears         10    2   0   8     5   17  −12     6

by **-Anthor-** » Sun Sep 11, 2016 7:16 pm

Season AE600
Part Three - MD11 - 15
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 10 goals, 6 assists

Match Day 11

Merton Ajax 1-1 Preston FC
'39 Warwick [AJAX]
'76 Rigsby [PRES]

Rigsby saves the day once more for the faltering Preston football club, Ajax was looking to make up for some dismal performances the last month and hit a ringer in just six minutes before half time, Warwick getting his third goal this season off of a long pass from Noel Elliot on the left side of the pitch, with Warwick just entering the box and he slipped it right by Abel Reed. Though, in retrospective, the Preston's defense seems to have improved a bit, this week marks the third cap for youngster Arthur Roche, who was seemingly taken over the semi-normal starter spot at left fullback that John Howell used to hold; Howell is apart of the rather terrible defensive outing by Preston this last, really this last two seasons, and Geoffrey Dunster seems to be wanting to change things up a bit, Roche putting in some solid work, let's see if he and some others can help contribute to something meaningful in the coming matches.

Hawick Royale 2-1 Senades Blitz
'27 Grant [SEN]
'71 Jones [HAWK]
'85 Griffiths [HAWK]

Hawick was looking for a solid victory here today after some poor turnouts the last two matches, a bad draw and then next, a very bad upset thanks to Bankfoot, but they really turned it around here as they walked out the victors on a home match against Senades here, who are still building a come-and-go again momentum to recover their standing to go back to a perennial Top 5 club instead of a middle feeder which is where they've dropped the last two seasons. The Blitz led the charge, as usual, but after their first goal, Hawick's manager Martin Baggs must have said something to really stoke them up, because the defense just came back on fire, I haven't seen George Fenton and Richard Carter play with such ferocity since their U21 days, it was really nice to see, and that Jones goal was a feast for the eyes indeed. The ever improving budding star Nigel helped end the equalizer, with a dramatic goal done in style off of a beautiful header that slipped right in under the cross bar, really hoping here they can continue to win so they get back on top of this show.

Bankfoot Bears 0-3 Evesham United
'46 Hawkins [EVE]
'62 McKenzie [EVE]
'80 McKenzie [EVE]

Well, leave it to the new #2 seeder to put a hold to Bankfoot's dreams of staying out of the relegation zone this year, because Evesham came to Whitby Stadium and completely wrecked their plans, scoring a massive three nil victory over the Bears and continuing Evesham dream of doing what was just so closely stolen from them last year by Hawick and Holyhead; winning the Champion's League. Frankly, if this front end stays in the superb form they've been in the last month or two, I don't see what could stop them.

Stanton FC 1-0 Snowdownia City
'50 Douglas [STAN]

Stanton's thrown more dirt on the grave of Snowdownia this week, as City returns home from this match in Witham Stadium with a sour loss, Douglas's goal coming off a penalty kick from a questionable penalty called on Paul Johnson; the ref alleged he tripped Bernard Stone, but some replays showed it might have been Stone taking a dive; the call drew alot of heckles, from fans and players, both during and after the game and Charles Brennan badly missed deflecting the goal, only adding insult to injury. Stanton continues to try and outpace the recently surging Kendal as it tries to stay in a Top 5 seeding to get top billing and later stages in the pending Evans Cup, which is just around the corner.

Tiranges Bolts 1-1 Ashingdon United
'38 Gomez
'75 Allen [ASH]

When you say middleweight, your mind just has to go to at least Ashingdon, and lately Tiranges whose been at the bottom-middle of the tables for the better part of this decade, and they'll stay where they are this week after Ashingdon narrowly avoids defeat and steals that pending celebration from the Bolts with a late goal from center midfielder John Allen who got it in on a crowded goalpost, that corner from John Stone was average at best, and the failed header by Blewitt somehow managed to rebound to Carter, who tapped it to Allen and he quickly put his boot through that ball pretty dang hard, I think it nearly ruptured the net, but it was a good goal all the same.

Goodwick FC 0-2 Tarbert Huskies

'46 Richelieu [TAR]
'81 Woodham [TAR]

The Huskies did well to rally here, their first victory in over a month, and their star-laden forward Buck, or Bucky as his team-mates have begun calling him, did not score, but he notched an assist on each goal and broad smiles for his fellow players when they netted the ball into the opposing goal. Tarbert currently sits two spots from getting into the Evans Cup, and if they can try and build something off of this win, they could qualify for the first time in 5 years.

Kendal Arrows 1-1 Holyhead FC
'28 Stark [KEN]
'51 Evans [HOLY]

Holyhead and Kendal, you know with the Arrow's amazing performances recently I was really looking forward to this match up and I surely wasn't let down. Michael Kylian showed up in decent form, but really the defensive front was turned into an iron front thanks to Peter Kendel and Aksel Wragge, who both had 5 tackles, all won by them, and it's a shame their magnificent effort was stymied by Evan's 51st minute goal, which barely made it in, really was half-luck and half-skill. Nicholas Stark notches yet another goal, that's four games in a row with a goal, a club record and he's leading the Champion's League as the top scoring midfielder, at this rate, he's definitely on Team of the Year.

Edington Chiefs 2-2 Dienville Lancers
'38 Tate [DIEN]
'50 Moreau [DIEN]
'60 Robins [EDT]
'81 Thomas [EDT]

A shame for the Lancers, whose run-ragged defense was over-come by a surge of the Chief's offense, I think this was really a battle of tactics; Dienville used all their subs early on, getting Moreau on for his first return in a month, taking Victore out, and then subbing out their midfielders for some fresh legs, but their defense was running everywhere even before the half trying to contain Edington, and the Chiefs capitalized on that later on as they score two goals to equalize within twenty minutes of each other

Match Day 12

Preston FC 6-2 Hawick Royale
'11 Wortham [PRES]
'25 Rigsby [PRES]
'48 Rigsby [PRES]
'50 Black [PRES]
'71 Griffiths [HAWK]
'80 Rigsby [PRES]
'86 Rigsby [PRES]
'90+1 Irving [HAWK]

Such a thrilling force match, this is the Preston style of football that we know! Quick, rapid passes, crosses to widen the sides out and then hammering them into the box and smashing in some early goals; Wortham in for first blood at just eleven minutes into the match, Rigsby comes in for the first of four goals for him just a few minutes later; Rigsby by the way sets the league record for the most goals in a single match since AE520, when a young man scored 5 for Monmouth United. Such a shame for Hawick, I think they were really hoping to build something off of that win last week, but Cole Harrison, who had previously led the league narrowly in scoring, has cooled off of his impressive form and shrunken into a more disappointment recently, and Rigsby and company completely capitalized on that. A very smashing victory, and well earned.

Senades Blitz 2-2 Bankfoot Bears
'45 Rutherford [BANK]
'55 Dempster [BANK]
'63 King [SENS]
'75 Grant [SENS]

Seems to be that Bankfoot's motto is that if they can't win, they're going to do their best to take a giant wrecking crane to everyone else's season. Drawing against Senades, who have been trying so hard to stop the inconsistent spurts of awesome play, followed by dismal performances against equally dismal teams, will prove a tough pill to swallow for the Blitz; thats two tough endings in a row, and they're really struggling to hang on to their spot in the tables, what with Kendal up and coming, Stanton playing a little more consistently and Tiranges looking goal hungry, same with Ashingdon. A note though, it was some pretty awesome defensive play going on between Cartwright and Durant, they're looking like a very nice duo on the field indeed.

Evesham United 2-2 Stanton FC
'59 Hagerty [STAN]
'65 McKenzie [EVE]
'82 Stone [STAN]
'88 Murphy [EVE]

A total surprise here, Stanton really fought on for dear life to hang this one through and Stone's late goal nearly sent them to win over the favorites to win the championship this year, but a fatigued Murphy came through to at least save the match with an equalizer with just two minutes to go, and it won him a few relieved cheers from the fans. Hard to pinpoint what went wrong, but I'd have to say that Stanton hit the weak point we've pointed out before; if you get past their amazing front and middle ends, Evesham's defensive backs are almost as bad as Preston's, and Bill Duncan really proved my point today. How the hell do you miss that many tackles with the amount of money he's being paid? Rumors are going around that John Greenwood is looking at swapping him with Harold Pye in the reserves for a bit, maybe Duncan got a bit too complacent, who knows?

Snowdownia City 2-0 Merton Ajax
'28 Simmonds [SNOW]
'74 Cooke [SNOW]

Great outing for Snowdownia, they were really aggressive on the outset and then cooled it off; they even took up in a different formation after the mid break, which is showing some nice development in tactics in the squad, showing they're capable of being multifaceted and can adjust to it, even in the pace of a single match. Simmonds finally living up to what they paid for him a bit, Michael King didn't score but looked upbeat still, despite going four matches without a success, hopefully he ends it soon or it might become a (bigger) mental burden.

Ashingdon United 1-0 Goodwick FC
'38 Bailey [ASH]

A pretty balanced match for most of the full time, only abbreviated by the game winning goal off of a brilliant rally from an opposite side interception, captain John Stone using a very well placed forward cross to Blewitt who spun around the defender Hugh Radclyffe and tapped it forward to Bailey who took it right under the keeper's outstretched arm, bouncing just slightly upwards, very well placed indeed. With the Bolts loss, this helps United take their former #7 spot, at least for now.

Tarbert Huskies 0-1 Kendal Arrows
'53 Rey [KEN]

Kendal continues to capatalize on their recent success, came around to turn a page on that draw last time around up against Holyhead and they've now taken down the Huskies, who were looking to emulate the Arrows with a recent lack of victories, but Rey turns one in just after the half and sends the Arrows upwards in the tables with three sweet points.

Holyhead FC 3-0 Edington Chiefs
'30 Evans [HOLY]
'43 Evans [HOLY]
'68 Abrahams [HOLY]

Holyhead, can anyone stop them? It came close last week, but they definitely are fighting to show us they aren't going to trip up and ruin this dream season, with Michael Evans leading the offensive as he scores himself a slick brace of goals, supplemented by a final goal from Abrahams who headed it under the crossbar off of a corner from Garrett, the match just proved that Holyhead is probably the best contender for the title, yet again.

Dienville Lancers 4-1 Tiranges Bolts
'21 Javier [DIEN]
'30 Couture [TIR]
'41 Ackerman [DIEN]
'58 Tate [DIEN]
'82 Moreau [DIEN]

Lancers and the Bolts, both sides are fighting to clammer a way into the Top Ten, try and make that Evans Cup qualification and really, just stay away from that regulation zone that has been growing nearer and nearer; Dienville struggling to jumpstart a rolled back surge in performance and the Bolts, have lukewarm on and off again turnouts, but boy did we see the Lancers of two seasons ago today. Javier, Tate and Ackerman all proving that manager Armstrong is placing his beliefs on a iron-clad midfield, and then Eldon Moreau returning for the first time in 4 weeks from his knee strain and managed to knot himself one just a few minutes before the final whistle. On that note however, Armstrong did state that Kory Victore will remain as the "preferred" starting Striker for the foreseeable future.

Match Day 13

Bankfoot Bears 0-0 Preston FC

Surprising matchup here, we were all intrigued to witness it after Preston's smashing of former #1 seed Hawick Royale and Bankfoot's recent surge in the last three matches, but perhaps predicably, this was a rather boring display of football. While both defenses performed well, heck the Bear's Equan Durant racked up some very highlight worthy five tackles, but other then that, an uninspiring draw.

Stanton FC 1-2 Senades Blitz
'25 Caston [STAN]
'43 King [SENS]
'54 King [SENS]

Senades manages to turn around a demotivating draw against the climbing Bears, and issues a smackdown to Stanton FC after a passionate 2-1 victory. The whole match I'd have to say we were really impressed with the high amounts of passion clearly expressed by players from both sides; Michael King's jubilant celebrations on each goals in his brace were camera-worthy and even then, the pure anger on the Stanton defenders, been awhile since we've seen tempers this hot.

Merton Ajax 0-1 Evesham United
'38 McKenzie [EVES]

Yet another smashing win for McKenzie and company, as they are growing closer to overtaking Holyhead as the top seeded team in the competition. Merton, however, is looking increasingly demoralized, I mean we know the teams are of different calibers but despite the lack of goals today, United really showed them up; Fentral sponsored Gamestats rated not one Ajax player higher then 6.0, while Evesham averaged 7.8 for their players.

Hawick Royale 3-0 Snowdownia City
'43 Griffiths [HAWK]
'55 Harrison [HAWK]
'67 Gaskell [HAWK]

Hawick showed up with an axe to grind after a very embarrassing outing last week against Preston, who has struggled all season and completely obliterated Hawick, and they surely showed it; Cole Harrison snapped an awful drought of goals, netting one in about ten minutes after returning to the second half of the match and Griffiths contributed just before the whistle to mark midway, with Gaskell rounding things out in between. Despite this victory, they're going to have to continue to excel at high form if they want to catch up with Evesham and Holyhead and win the title this year.

Kendal Arrows 0-2 Ashingdon United
'64 Carter [ASH]
'70 Blewitt [ASH]

Ashingdon achieving a surprising victory over the Arrows here who have been in top form; but notably, are without the rising star in Nicholas Star for the next two weeks, as he was involved in a car accident over the weekend that left moderate injuries to his torso and will require two weeks rehab and rest. While his absence wasn't mentioned, you just have to notice the slight loss in passion in his teammates, and United was looking for revenge following an loss earlier in the season.

Edington Chiefs 1-2 Tarbert Huskies
'39 Stringfellow [TAR]
'54 Richelieu [TAR]
'82 Thomas [EDT]

Huskies are joining in the massacre of late for the Chiefs, who have dropped almost five places in the tables into regulation zones, and at the same time slightly making up for the poor outings themselves, with three straight disappointments this victory, especially with such joy coming from youngster Stringfellow who has been referred to by team-mates as a pure joy to be with, will definitely provide a nice morale boost as the Huskies look to enter the Top 10.

Tiranges Bolts 0-0 Holyhead FC

This is precisely the kind of mistake they need to be avoiding, an extremely saddening display here at Shaftes Field, as bottom feeders Tiranges somehow manage to completely stall and breakdown the Friar's offense; which for the record, is a competition best, as was their defense, which is why the Bolts luckily failed to turn the breakdown into a victory for themselves, but with this draw, Holyhead has a mere one point lead in the tables over Evesham, they simply must win next week or they have the potential to lose the top spot.

Goodwick FC 3-2 Dienville Lancers
'37 Lémieux [GOOD]
'42 Albertson [GOOD]
'66 Hull [DIEN]
'76 Griffins [DIEN]
'89 Lémieux [GOOD]

So this showdown was definitely our official Match-Up of the week, because going into this, it's been over two months since Goodwick's last victory, they're leading the league in draws, which is embarrassing really, but dang, Goodwick showed up to put an end to that lukewarm surging we've seen from the Lancers.

by **-Anthor-** » Sun Sep 11, 2016 8:15 pm

Royal Tennis Association
Association President: Michelle Robinson
Chief of Scheduling: Jepson Howe
Chief of Rankings and Registration: Mervin Earle
Chief for Media Relations: Daren Marlow
First Season: AE300
Current Season: AE600

The Royal Tennis Association is the over-seeing authority on all tennis events and competitions within the Kingdom of Anthor. The RTA currently has more then 300 tennis players from within the Kingdom registered with it, and hosts a large number of events almost year round. While it does not operate a "typical season" like more mainstream sports, such as football or hockey, fans of the sport will consider the beginning of the tennis season to be the Hindington Open, which begins on the third week of Gavrach (that's equivalent to January on Gregorian scales). Following the Hindington Open, there are three additional "Major" competitions, roughly corresponding to one of the four seasons of nature; Moorden Open for the spring, Tylheath Open for the summer, Oakwich Open for the fall and the Hindington for the winter. In between each of these four major competitions are two medium tier or "minor" events. In addition to those, there may be dozen more lower tournaments or single/doubles matches throughout the year, organized at the discretion of the RTA and usually dependent on player registration. Rankings are determined by the RTA Rankings and Registration Office, and are updated following the conclusion of each event.

by **-Anthor-** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:39 pm

Season AE600
Part Three - MD11 - 15 (Part Two)
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 10 goals, 6 assists

Match Day 14

Preston FC 3-1 Stanton FC
'29 Rigsby [PRES]
'44 Rigsby [PRES]
'55 Douglas [STAN]
'66 Wortham [PRES]

Well Preston is certainly continuing to show it wants to get back into the Top 5, and get out of this three way tie for middle of the table spot that they currently sit themselves in. Jason Rigsby once again is back in his superstar form, winning Man of the Match easily with a brace of goals for himself and an assist off of Wortham's late dinger; he even scored four pretty impressive tackles for a forward against the Stanton forwards; a turndown for them certainly, as they were looking to pull their fortunes up only for the Comeback Kids to thwart them in the end.

Senades Blitz 1-1 Merton Ajax

'28 Hugo [SENS]
'63 Elliot [AJAX]

That high energy carried over from that passionate beatdown against Stanton last fixture was clearly evident in the Blitz's play style, I don't thin k I've ever seen a team like them ever pull off being so aggressive straight out of the tunnel, and boy did they use it to astounding effect. Almost from the moment of the first whistle to about half time, the Blitz seemed so incredibly dominant. Neville Irving and Terrance Hewitt were all over leading Ajax men and successfully hampered their efforts at a breakout for the Sens goal, though half time seemed to have quieted them down and done the opposite to Merton who came back with a win-axe to grind against Senades; it culminated with the Elliot header off of a cross from Michael Duke which equalized the game, and after that point the Ajax just barely managed to hold of the substitute laden Blitz side and ensure both teams walked away with a single point.

Evesham United 2-1 Hawick Royale
'44 McKenzie [EVES]
'64 Harrison (HAWK)
'86 Murphy [EVES]

This is the second time the two clubs have met, now with their seedings reversed however, and Hawick was looking to avoid yet another embarrassing defeat in a string of them, losing by big numbers to Evesham and Preston, and getting upset by Bankfoot, they came here just to stave off the unstoppable machine that is Evesham United, and for the most part, they nearly did. It took until a minute before half time until McKenzie finally managed to boot one through off of a wild forward cross from just outside her own box by Holloway, and she managed to outpace the only two people between her and her 15th goal of the season; however, even after the return, Hawick was trading blow for blows with Evesham, Harrison culminating the apex of the struggle with a equalizing goal at the sixty four minute mark, and after that, the managers tried to out-strategize the other with instruction changes and substitutions as the exhausted defenders from both sides were switched out for fresher legs; but United rolled right over them, with Murphy scoring an epic strike with just four minutes to go to secure yet another win for Evesham.

Snowdownia City 2-0 Bankfoot Bears
'27 Day [SNOW]
'59 Simmonds [SNOW]

Snowdownia here got handed a pretty bitter shutout defeat by Hawick last week and they certainly came back to play, lighting up the Bankfoot goal with a record 22 shots, only 2 of which actually made it in, with Michael Day scoring in yet another and being joined by a Peter Simmonds who is seeking to prove to Simon Cowdrey he is worth every pound they paid for him; in addition to this, youngster defenders Nathan Pollard and Peter Ross have seemed to build some great chemistry between them, the duet paired up for some highlight reel worthy takedowns, tackles and steals off of the Bears.

Ashingdon United 3-2 Edington Chiefs
'27 Carter [ASH]
'35 Allen [ASH]
'46 Fowler [EDT]
'55 Thomas [EDT]
'86 Bailey [ASH]

Ashingdon was looking to come in and recover some points as they seek to battle it out with the likes of Goodwick, Tiranges, Preston and so many others for a coveted spot in the Evans Cup whose starting date looms even closer and closer. Regardless, United showed up to deliver and in my opinion, absolutely owned the floundering Chiefs, who are certain to be relegated this year unless they can once again grab a hold of Lady Luck on their way out of the door this year. Casimir Fowler continues to be one of the very rarest bright spots for them this year, with him netting Man of the Match for a goal, an assist, four tackles, two interceptions and a steal.

Tarbert Huskies 4-0 Tiranges Bolts
'22 Richelieu [TAR]
'49 Stringfellow [TAR]
'76 Wallis [TAR]
'89 Richelieu [TAR]

Richelieu and rookie sensation Buck Stringfellow continue to be the leaders of the awakening and resurgence in the tables for the Huskies, but today also proved that they are more then entirely comfortable by doing it without them. Richelieu scored early on, drawing first blood before the quarter mark for the first half of the match, and then Buck had to in flashy fashion boot one almost completely through the net just five minutes after they returned to the pitch; he looked fired up, because he managed to pull together quite the game, with a single goal, two assists on his team mates goals and then in addition to that, an astounding free kick that helped redefine the possession stat in his team's favor. The Consumarian is currently living proof that a market for foreign players assuredly exists, and you have to wonder what kind of flood gates his success has opened?

Holyhead FC 0-1 Goodwick FC
'72 Lémieux [GOOD]

Seventy two minutes, in their 16th match; the Friars who have had a dream of a season and a half, have finally lost their top spot, as predicted by pundits both here and abroad; Goodwick came knocking this time and after a share of bad outings, they saw the chance; the ripe time for a huge upset, and the formerly #1 seeded team is defeated by a gorgeous strike from Lémieux's boot, a boot whose team hasn't been above 11th ranking all season. A team, who Jennifer McKenzie and Evesham United will now have to buy at the very least, dinner, because United now holds a slim 2 pt lead in the tables on the Friars. On Holyhead's side, they need to find, or rediscover I should say, their source of motivation; I'm sure last year's was very potent, but now, they've reached the top but you have to redefine and keep going, and they need to get through this stage quickly before things get out of hand.

Dienville Lancers 4-1 Kendal Arrows
'32 Javier [DIEN]
'41 Victore [DIEN]
'65 Griffins [DIEN]
'79 Victore [DIEN]
'88 Stark [KEN]

The Arrows attempted to continue their run, but Kory Victore seems to have awoken something inside the Lancers, something like what we saw in AE596 and 595, but has been absent for so many years now; a sheer brutualness in how they play, for so long we were used to the methodical, calculated moves of Moreau, we have missed the youth and explosiveness up front that Victore affords us, skills that brought him two more goals this week.

by **-Anthor-** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:05 pm

Season AE600
Part Three - MD11 - 15(Part Three)
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 10 goals, 6 assists

Match Day 15

Merton Ajax 2-1 Preston FC
'24 Elliot [AJAX]
'73 Martin [PRES]
'81 Warwick [AJAX]

This match was very much about regression, specifically on the Preston side of things. They've been having an improved run of things, managing to ink out some impressive turn arounds, with the smashing of Hawick Royale just three weeks back, and the thrilling victory over Stanton last week, but this loss, especially against the Ajax side that has had consecutive losses, they've only pulled three wins so far, is really a disappointing turn of events, especially since the winning goal was scored with such little time left; however, Ajax definitely excited to see it can punch through a defense, even one as oft-criticized as Preston's, and was probably even more elated to see it's two main threats each punch one in, so good on them, they'll certainly look for a repeat performance next week.

Hawick Royale 1-1 Senades Blitz
'30 Grant [SENS]
'39 Harrison

Harrison comes up with the save for his team which has probably had a big moral drop in the last two weeks, having lost the #1 seeding and with a string of dismal performances, is barely holding onto that third spot, and really, they needed a win here big time, because Senades is the team right on their heels, granted a draw does continue the peace, but a nice win could have sealed the deal a bit more. Hopefully they can turn out in high gear next week, because the Blitz might just catch up to them sooner or later.

Bankfoot Bears 3-3 Evesham United
'15 McKenzie [EVES]
'26 McKenzie [EVES]
'33 Davis [BANK]
'41 Hawkins [EVES]
'59 King [BANK]
'76 Harris [BANK]

An fantastic match for the millions of us that tuned in to watch it, and really, I think our major highlight for this is how easily Evesham's defense collapsed when Holloway didn't come back after the return for the second half, which apparently is from suffering an apparent leg injury and manager John Greenwood didn't want to risk continuing to play him and aggravating it, so David Gill was subbed in, and he clearly just did not have that central leadership that clearly, Simon Dixon and the others relied on just a tad too heavily, Bankfoot managing to avoid an total collapse with two late dingers, and both teams walk away empty handed. It was also very encouraging to see the young Equan Durant slightly encourage his fellow defenders a bit today, I noticed they were definitely playing it out of the defense more often then they are prone to usually doing today, might be the start of something new and good for the Bears, we'll see.

[align=]Stanton FC 0-4 Snowdownia City
'49 Balfour [SNOW]
'52 Simmonds [SNOW]
'65 Simmonds [SNOW]
'78 Simmonds [SNOW]

What a thrilling day for Snowdownia City, came into Witham Stadium and just completely shredded up the Stowies, who have been searching for an continual improved pace, and Snowdownia just slammed the door in their face without so much as a how do you do. This football was a clearly aggressive, passionate type, something you used to see out of Moreau in his younger days with Dienville, I mean, just look at Simmonds face throughout the match, especially when he scored that hat trick, he and Michael Day have really been a hugely crucial effort to getting this team to 3 wins in the last five matches, so good on them, hope they can continue their rise through the tables.[/align]

Tiranges Bolts 2-1 Ashingdon United
'65 Bailey [ASH]
'75 Gomez [TIR]
'84 Summers [TIR]

The Bolts finally managed to get their stuff together, definitely looked way sharper off the ball this week, and Filopines national Jean Gomez helped the Bolts get a late start in the second half, scoring an equalizer off of a precisely placed corner from Toller, and then Summers came through and did what he's done all season, and closed the deal for the Bolts with just six minutes to go, rapping it in just under the cross bar off of a well placed behind-him pass from Gomez, who earned himself Man of the Match, 1 goal, 1 assist and very sharp form to earn him a 9.1 match rating.

Goodwick FC 0-2 Tarbert Huskies
'40 Wallis [TAR]
'62 Woodham [TAR]

Huskies come in strong off of their toppling of the Bolts last time on their pitch, and they were on the road this week so things were a little stacked against them, but they blew Goodwick right out of the water, and Woodham even knocked in his first in a bit to snap a drought and tie things up in a nice bow for the Huskies, who now have two straight wins as they look for that Evans Cup qualification.

Kendal Arrows 1-1 Holyhead FC
'22 Peck [KEN]
'36 Garrett [HOLY]

A thoroughly uninspiring display, besides yet another addition in the never-ending book that is How Many Offensive Collapses and How They Work; Kendal got in an early morale booster on the end of Peck's boot as he threaded it under the Friars' Byran Kimball, but then just a few minutes later, Fred Garrett managed to get the ball off of an insane lob from Peter Kendel, and no one was even near him, he nearly entered the box uncontested it and booted it in right under the cross bar. The match highlights really end here, besides a few dazzling tackles from Nick Stark per usual, one of those which netted him a yellow card, which earned the official a very loud disapproval from not just fans.

Edington Chiefs 0-1 Dienville Lancers
'73 Somerled [DIEN]

Lancers were looking for a bigger performance here, but Victore went out with a strained ankle just before midtime was called, and that front end was just uninspiring, Moreau looked extremely out of form, you have to wonder if he's even been training with the team as there have been rumors on social media and the news about a gulch in between him and the club on their relationship; but still, substitute Bruce Somerled manages to help end the tense stalemate and earn Dienville a win streak, let's hope they can keep it up, they're just on the fringe of qualifying for the Evans Cup and they're going to need to pick it up to help cement a solid spot.

                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Evesham United         15   11   3   1    33   14  +19    36
 2 Holyhead FC            15   10   4   1    27    8  +19    34
 3 Hawick Royale          15    9   2   4    28   18  +10    29
 4 Senades Blitz          15    7   4   4    31   22   +9    25
 5 Kendal Arrows          15    6   5   4    23   20   +3    23
 6 Ashingdon United       15    6   4   5    22   19   +3    22
 7 Tarbert Huskies        15    7   1   7    18   17   +1    22
 8 Stanton FC             15    6   3   6    16   19   −3    21
 9 Preston FC             15    5   3   7    26   27   −1    18
10 Dienville Lancers      15    5   3   7    30   33   −3    18
11 Tiranges Bolts         15    5   3   7    22   32  −10    18
12 Goodwick FC            15    4   5   6    13   18   −5    17
13 Snowdownia City        15    5   2   8    19   26   −7    17
14 Merton Ajax            15    3   4   8     7   17  −10    13
15 Edington Chiefs        15    2   5   8    16   24   −8    11
16 Bankfoot Bears         15    2   3  10    10   27  −17     9

by **-Anthor-** » Sun Nov 06, 2016 9:55 pm

Season AE600
Part Four - MD16 - 20(Part One)
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 17 goals, 8 assists

Match Day 16

Preston FC 0-3 Hawick Royale
'32 Cassidy [HAWK]
'55 Harrison [HAWK]
'72 Jones [HAWK]

Hawick Royale knew coming into the match that Preston manager Geoffrey Dunster had already announced that Jason Rigsby was down for two weeks with an ankle injury, and they knew they immediately had an upper hand - Thomas Keen has had 11 caps in 2 seasons, not much pitch time at all, and they capitalized on Rigsby's last absence immensely, netting themselves an amazing win, and really, I think this was more then just a turnaround morale victory, we also saw some amazing team play on the field today, I mean Cassidy with his season first goal, and Gaskell with not one, but two, assists. If they can keep up that kind of spacing, it'll be an immensely handy weapon for them to utilize.

Senades Blitz 1-0 Bankfoot Bears
'52 Grant [SENS]

The stomping of Bankfoot by the rest of the league continues, and the Blitz help reassure themselves that they are in perfect form for the Evans Cup, with a nice solid win - took a bit longer then they wanted, especially after Michael King gave off some impressions of a blowout in a pre-game interview, but none the less, a nice three points for their side, and they continue to hold that #4 seed on the tables, with quite the impressive season this year from them.

[align=]Evesham United 3-0 Stanton FC
'43 Murphy [EVES]
'54 Murphy [EVES]
'74 McKenzie [EVES]

For the first time this season, Dominic Murphy gets the last laugh in his amazing friendship and on the field partnership with Jennifer McKenzie, who has continued to take the league by a storm this year, and he scored himself a brace, with a Jennifer goal sandwiched nicely in the middle, getting assists on her goal and getting some help from Oliver Wardell and his supreme crossing skills as well as precision passing from Peter Hawkins as usual; with this victory, Evesham continues to stretch the narrow lead they have on the Friars in the tables, and are also looking to go into the Evans Cup with nice rested bench and starters to help secure a victory.[/align]

Snowdownia City 1-0 Merton Ajax
'79 Simmonds [SNOW]

If Snowdownia wishes to qualify for the Evans Cup for the first time in ages, they need to win the next three matches and do lots of praying for losses on the clubs below them, but they certainly are playing like they're ready to deliver on that first requirement - took a bit, though they certainly tried all match, what with some 11 shots from almost every man on the pitch, but Peter Simmonds finally proving his worth a bit off of an amazingly placed lob pass from Jason Elsmore, who is currently leading the club in assists (6), and the Hawks head home with one victory down, four more to go.

Ashingdon United 0-1 Goodwick FC
'56 Fox [GOOD]

Their favorite striker made a reappearance this week after a three week leave due to a strained knee, and even though he only managed an assist on the game winning goal, he certainly had an impact, as he and Fox both led their club to their first outright win in weeks, and furthermore, helped put them right back on the correct route to qualification for the Cup; both they and United are close contenders for that final spot, United just barely in at #6, but Goodwick isn't too far off, the gap in between is just a handful of points and further competitions will proving very hard fought, and entertaining I believe.

Tarbert Huskies 4-2 Kendal Arrows
'24 Lécuyer [KEN]
'32 Stringfellow [TAR]
'52 Richelieu [TAR]
'68 Woodham [TAR]
'79 Lécuyer [KEN]
'82 Stringfellow [TAR]

Quite the thrilling victory for the Huskies, who overtake the Arrows in the tables now with this win, and the Arrows drop down a spot, getting closer to elimination from that Cup every side wants to win this season, every season really, and with this win they have a streak, certainly a boost for their morale after a very up and down season this far; Buck Stringfellow continues to impress all, the youngster is just a few weeks from his 19th birthday and already has eight professional goals to his name, currently leading the club in them and appears to be the rising star the club has their Evans Cup dreams pinned on, probably much to the dismay of Tyler Richelieu who has voiced as much in public, the 25 year old has previously been the staple of Huskie offense, and appears to not liking to the sharing aspect introduced this season; better get it solved, the partnership between someone with his quick feet and Stringfellow's finishing skills would be a dynamic duo comparable to McKenzie and Murphy.

Holyhead FC 3-0 Edington Chiefs
'25 Evans [HOLY]
'60 Lachlan [HOLY]
'70 Clement [HOLY]

Nothing too surprising here, even though they've lost the lead in the league to Evesham, the Friars are still lightyears ahead of the second to worst club in the league, Edington, who has had a thoroughly unimpressive season thus far, and Holyhead manages to secure another home victory, to the delight of the fans, and Lachlan gets his third season goal. The only other note of the match was Michael Evans going down in the thirty seventh minute after a pretty rough foul challenge from Øyvind Rake; it sent Evans to the ground, and grabbing his knee in pain. Rake was suspended by the Commissioner for 3 matches, and Evans is reportedly out for the next four weeks with a knee injury which will give plenty of time for Joe Maddox to shine, he's been in brilliant form coming in as a sub this season and it will be interesting to see if he can translate that into starting success.

Dienville Lancers 3-2 Tiranges Bolts
'36 Tate [DIEN]
'48 Summers [TIR]
'55 Victore [DIEN]
'72 Gomez [TIR]
'81 Javier [DIEN]

Two of the three clubs tied for that final spot in Evans Cup qualifications met on Sabert Field to determine who would advance ahead into qualification and who would drop out of it, and it certainly was fought like it was the Cup final itself - I haven't broadcast over such a dramatic performance quite like this yet this season, and it was a pleasure, excellent footballing from both sides, Tiranges was punching way above their usual weight, and Gomez's goal, I think the fans and myself bought thought that was yet till Patrick freaking Javier proved you can't count him in his twilight years just yet, with that powerful shot from outside the box - if they ever lose their striker, this man could fill in for a second for sure with that kind of power from him. Lancers advance on, looking to get their third Cup victory in twice as many years, but they have four more matches to get through before they can even begin.

by **-Anthor-** » Sun Nov 06, 2016 11:01 pm

Season AE600
Part Four - MD16 - 20(Part Two)
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 17 goals, 8 assists

Match Day 17

Bankfoot Bears 0-3 Preston FC
'34 Rigsby [PRES]
'52 Hunt [PRES]
'68 Rigsby [PRES]

Just in case you forgot who was the powerhouse in this league, Jason showed up for a vicious return to remind us; 2 goals, four thrilling tackles and a steal, the man showed up with his game day boots on, and certainly backed up gaffer Dunster's remarks that he was in 'better then ever form' coming off of an injury and Preston gets to cancel out the errors of last week as they continue to seek that qualification spot they're battling half a dozen other clubs for.

[align=]Stanton FC 1-1 Senades Blitz
'37 Hugo [SENS]
'62 Douglas [STAN]

Stanton showed up from the bye week with a eager to prove others wrong mode, maybe it was the bolster from all the fans at the home game for them, whichever factor it was, this barely-made-it-in club managed to cut the grease off of the wheels of the Blitz's improved run in the last month or so and staved off an loss that would have cost them their Cup spot, and instead, put on a near-upset against the Blitz at home; if they could repeat that performance for the next two matches, they could qualify for the late-start in the Cup. [/align]

Merton Ajax 1-1 Evesham United
'60 Kendall [AJAX]
'81 Dolan [EVES]

Seems like injuries are cropping up just in time to be potentially lethal for a club, Dominic Murphy exited the match earlier with an apparent leg injury, the rough and tough it forward has according to a post-match interview messed up his leg and will be out for the next two weeks, Jeffery Wallace will take his place in the mean time, but you have got to hope that McKenzie will power on through without him, or the clubs knocking on the door of that #1 seed could potentially rip the carpet out from underneath United.

Hawick Royale 0-2 Snowdownia City
'38 Day [SNOW]
'70 Day [SNOW]

Hawick seems to have been dealt a curse this year, every upset this season has almost been entirely against Hawick, and yet again, the Hawks upset them big time, scoring a emotional 2 nil final score to grab the three points, and they are now tied for the final qualification spot for the Evans Cup; Hawick in the mean time stays at the third seed for the time being, but City is proving to have one heck of a season thus far, if they can ride out this emotion, it could really take them places, combined with their skills and tactics.

Kendal Arrows 1-1 Ashingdon United
'32 Peck [KEN]
'61 Bailey [ASH]

One of three fought till the last minute matches, you're really beginning to see just how passionate each club can play as they fight to qualify for the second most prestigious domestic competition, falling second fiddle to just the Champion's League itself, even though it pre-dates it, and Kendal even with the poor offensive performance that helped this end in a draw and not a win for them somehow manage to continue to stay on top of the game when it comes to getting into the Cup, but they're going to have to do better or the others just one point below them are going to overcome; United especially has been adept at scoring upsets at this time of the season in years past, so they're going to have to watch out.

Edington Chiefs 3-0 Tarbert Huskies
'27 Adkins [EDT]
'38 Fowler [EDT]
'50 Adkins [EDT]

This just narrowly missed being a bigger upset then the Falcon's victory over Hawick, but the Chiefs have finally broken a club-record months long losing streak, and do it in splendid fashion at a home game landslide against the Huskies, who were on a hot streak till they showed up to Callander Stadium. An overall beautiful performance against some poor form Huskies, it appeared they just showed up rather ragged and out of practice, could have possibly been the journey over here, but they're only an hour from Edington so it makes you wonder if they were just too caught up in the moment on recent victories and it cost them here.

Tiranges Bolts 1-4 Holyhead FC
'34 Clement [HOLY]
'55 Gomez [TIR]
'67 Williamson [HOLY]
'76 Garrett [HOLY]
'87 Maddox [HOLY]

Fielding mostly substitutes on the field over starters, giving them a rest ahead of the big fight you'd imagine, Holyhead scored so much, they're ahead of Evesham on goal difference alone now, which is probably just for this week or so, but still; quite a powerful message to send out, that they have the depth to score both with their starters and with spark plugs from the bench, which is a very powerful tool in this league, as they taught the league this year and especially this season as well. They have an easier set of matches upcoming, and continued wins against both would help them continue to seek that #1 seed once more, and head into the Cup on a very strong footing.

Goodwick FC 1-0 Dienville Lancers
'59 Lémieux [GOOD]

Goodwick's victory over the Lancers not only casts Dienville back down into the bottom rungs of the league, but it also helps them join the four-way tie for the final spot for qualification in the Cup, and if they could trump the Lancers powerful midfield this week, there's no telling what they can do next week.

by **-Anthor-** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 8:26 pm

Season AE600
Part Four - MD16 - 20(Part Three)
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 17 goals, 8 assists

Match Day 18

Preston FC 1-0 Ashingdon United
'49 Black [PRES]

In a interesting move, gaffer Dunster had announced just prior to the game that Jason Rigsby wouldn't start, citing the need to rest the starters for key matches ahead, and well, you certainly almost worried here for Preston who are on a very fine balance to get into the Cup. Sloppy first half performance, especially from the midfielders who were very much out of match form, he really needs to use his subs more often because it was pretty shameful. Thankfully for them though, Chelsea Reed remembered how to feed the ball from the defense, and sure enough, got off a clean enough lob to the awaiting Black who snatched it right out in front of Ashingdon's defender and booted it straight through the keeper's hands.

Senades Blitz 4-1 Tarbert Huskies
'37 Grant [SENS]
'42 King [SENS]
'52 Stringfellow [TAR]
'62 Thomas [SENS]
'74 King [SENS]

A stunning victory, I mean the Blitz were definitely the favorite heading into the match, but a blowout of this proportion was certainly unexpected; Tarbet had been performing very well as of lately, certainly rallying around youngster Stringfellow's performance, but this loss here on the road will only serve to set them further back in the very tight race for qualification and meanwhile just improves the Senades position as they head into the Cup, an almost guaranteed lock for qualification.

Evesham United 2-1 Holyhead FC
'72 McKenzie [EVES]
'82 Maddox [HOLY]
'89 Munro [EVES]

With Dominic Murphy still sidelined for what his manager still insists is rest, and for what less trusting individuals are now wondering if there is some form of ailment on the aging forward, we were certainly lined up for a refreshing match up here against the two best teams in the Champion's League currently, and boy, we were indeed treated. A sheer match of the finest types of form and passion, this football was one of the best treats to watch this year, almost every player had a above average match score after fulltime, and I was impressed with the endurances of both defenses; all three goals came within the final twenty minutes, and substitute Munro's goal was very wonderful to watch, his first this season and brought a hard-fought win for United over the Friars, who are now being threatened to slip out of #2 seed even. Will be certainly interesting to follow these clubs in the coming days and see how the events roll out.

Snowdownia City 2-1 Dienville Lancers
'40 Balfour [SNOW]
'57 Day [SNOW]
'75 Victore [DIEN]

Snowdownia has clearly found the magic this last few months, they've now won their last three matches and against clubs that aren't a total joke; Ajax is certainly a struggling club, but Stanton is a solid middleweight and Hawick Royale is easily a title competitor, and the Hawks have taken down all three of them, and now even the resurgent Lancers, who despite a valiant last-ditch attempt to at least nullify to a draw, Michael Day and James Balfour's goals from earlier proved too high of a obstacle to overcome, and the City have now riden into a solid Cup spot, now they just need to keep fighting to retain it.

Stanton FC 4-0 Edington Chiefs
'35 Douglas [STAN]
'44 Hagerty [STAN]
'64 Douglas [STAN]
'72 Caston [STAN]

A thrilling victory for the Stanton lads, who seriously needed a turn around to help cement their middleweight status as they try to get into the Evans Cup; especially after losing out on points on their last two matches, these three points will not only help the club advance to the Cup, but also give a nice resounding morale victory, quite a way to win.

Merton Ajax 2-1 Tiranges Bolts
'20 Duke [AJAX]
'40 Kendall [AJAX]
'52 Gomez [TIR]

Ajax manages to snap one of their longest losing streaks in recent memory against a Tiranges side that was certainly looking for a more impressive result; really their best performance was from Jean Marc Gomez, the Filopines was working hard all game, I think he had to have run at least four miles unlike the rest of his club which certainly seemed very sluggish, and Ajax capitalized on their lack of hustle to boot in two wonderful strikes and win some comforting three points.

Hawick Royale 2-2 Goodwick FC
'35 Harrison [HAWK]
'55 Lémieux [GOOD]
'68 Lockwood [GOOD]
'77 Irving [HAWK]

A very nice showdown here at Hutton, and the home fans were certainly sent home with a very upsetting decision here; Royale needed this victory to try and regain some steam that they've lost in this later half of the season, but unsuccessfully they tried, and Goodwick surprisingly just proved too tough to match and both remain solid contenders for the Cup qualification heading into the final week before the break, sharing the spoils after the football played here today.

Bankfoot Bears 0-2 Kendal Arrows
'25 Stark [KEN]
'50 Rey [KEN]

This is now four straight decisions without a victory for the Bears, and that micro resurgence they seemed to have embarked on back in Week 14, well it appears all for naught as they are vanquished at home once again by the hot Kendal Arrows, who have now jumped to their highest seeding in years, all mostly on the back of midfielder Nicholas Stark's performance, the last 5 matches he's averaging a 9.2 full time rating, coming away with 2 goals, 4 assists as well, and he also helped snap a three game losing streak that was certainly threatening their entrance into the Cup stages, and hopefully they can continue this level of finesse and hustle next week, and seal the deal for themselves.

by **-Anthor-** » Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:07 pm

Anthoran International Hockey Federation
Federation President: Léandre Valois
NAHPA Chief Consultant: David Burrage
Commissioner of Scheduling: Kathleen Holdsworth
Commissioner for International Settings: Nicholas Jones
First Season: AE547
Current Season: AE604

The Anthoran International Hockey Federation (AIHF) is the official overseeing body over all forms of professional, semi-amateur and amateur hockey within the borders of the Kingdom of Anthor. It was founded in 547, following the efforts of Ben Binet and Noel Fouquet, at the time the heads of the Northern Ynvgar Hockey League and the Central Hockey Confederation, who both wished to see the sport of hockey under a single authoritative body for easier regulation, better promotion of the sport and wider access of it and it's broadcasts across the Kingdom. Hockey had long been the historically popular sport within the kingdom, but the last united body (Anthor Hockey League) had collapsed thanks to bad financial management, something Binet and Fouquet were hoping to avoid when they established the AIHF. Using new teams and a few carry-overs from the preceding bodies, the inaugural season was in 547 AL. Following Anthor's debut into international hockey beginning in 597, the sport experienced a major explosion in popularity thanks to the national team's success and the wide audience across the international stage; because of this, the Federation began to undergo it's most major evolution, expanding from a small oversight body to overseeing an entire structure of various leagues, with the first expansions occurring in 604 AL.

The top-level of professional hockey, the Anthoran Premier Hockey League (APHL), consists of 4 divisions with an equal 5 teams each playing exactly 84 matches each year. Below the APHL is the Cammoran Hockey League (CHL), which is a league of approximately 20 teams, split evenly into two conferences and four divisions, of whom players must be between the ages of 15-18, and is intended as a primarily developmental league for the up-and-coming players of the AIHF level. Each professional franchise owns at least one CJHL level franchise. Below the CHL are two bodies, the Northern Regional League, and the Southern Regional League; these bodies are regional based leagues that consist of semi-professional, and a few semi-amateur, hockey teams that were previously loosely organized just under the Federation up to 604, but now have a formal structure

Division 1
Yarmouth Ducks
Cheshnut Knights
Wythcombe Hornets
Girvan Highlanders
Bathgate Rovers

Division 2
Avon Knights
Ancinnes Rangers
Norton Riders
Aviemore Pioneers
Dunwell HA

Division 3
Furness Hammers
Kerveguen HC
Penshurst Earls
Rannoch Masters
Toussard Daemons

Division 4
Kinloch Bards
Harchem Foxes
Inverness Lions
Mers Militia
Seyning Crests

^ - Dressed
* - First Line
C - Captain
A - Assistant

Ancinnes Rangers
Arena: Leifscott Complex, Ancinnes, Anthor (Capacity: 27,564)
Sweaters: Link
Head Coach: Louie Lanyon
Captain: Lennart Ahman
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Voros, Jakub, W, 22 y/o
9 Humberto, Andrew, W/C, 21 y/o*
10 Freegard, Liam, W, 30 y/o^
13 Prochazka, Karel, C/W, 19 y/o^
14 Folkard, Luke, LW/C, 38 y/o^
15 Elston, Henry, W, 21 y/o^
16 Ahman, Lennart, RW, 27 y/o^* "C"
18 Bird, Kai, RW, 22 y/0
21 Hewson, Theo, W/C, 31 y/o^* "A"
22 Lee, Trevor, RW, 30 y/o^
23 Jobling, Alistair, W, 20 y/o
52 Ghuman, Anand, C/W, 22 y/o^
68 Acker, Jesse, C/LW, 31 y/o^
81 Land, Dane, W, 21 y/o
82 Button, Ian, C, 22 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Stidston, Maurice, 19 y/o
3 Beniak, Stanislav, 37 y/o
5 Armistead, Riley, 38 y/o^*
6 Hardman, Patrick, 32 y/o^
20 Bin Fakih, Thomas, 20 y/o
29 Furse, Micah, 28 y/o "A"^*
40 Stunt, Victor, 32 y/o
42 Durtnell, Jason, 22 y/o
44 Pulis, Ladislav, 35 y/o^
55 Wilday, Kieran, 36 y/o^
GOALIES
1 Stratford, Sam, 30 y/o^*
33 Shoebottom, Luke, 19 y/o^
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Brenton, Joel, D, 18 y/o
Balog, Miroslav, D, 19 y/o

Aviemore Pioneers
Arena: Lyans Arena, Aviemore, Anthor (Capacity: 28,767)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Ian Cumberledge (204-152)
Captain: Joel Karlin
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Marttila, Juhani, W/C, 21 y/0
8 Tancock, Brenden, W, 21 y/o
9 Scherza, Shiba, C, 34 y/o
10 Bradley, Riley, W/C, 29 y/0
11 Bronson, John, C, 21 y/o
12 Barham, Bryon C/W, 33 y/o
16 Besent, Connor, W/C, 35 y/o
17 Bowen, Henry, W/C, 29 y/o
18 Bretherton, Graeme, W, 30 y/o
19 Dobson, Kieran, C, 20 y/o
20 Odling, Quincy, W, 22 y/0
25 Almond, Finlay, W, 29 y/o "A" DEFENSEMEN
2 Karlin, Joel, 32 y/o "C"
3 Costello, Aaron, 34 y/o
6 Pearson, Anthony, 32 y/o
15 Green, Douglas, 32 y/o
22 Hemus, Ross, 25 y/o
29 Thorpe, Kenneth, 29 y/o "A"
33 Atkinson, Ray, 19 y/0
40 Wickenden, Samuel, 30 y/o
42 Danby, Bryan, 31 y/0
GOALIES
31 Allison, Stephen, 35 y/o
35 Mitchell, Richard, 37 y/o
NOTABLE PROSPECTS

Avon Knights
Arena: Rottery Sports Complex, Avon (Capacity: 34,589)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Carl Hermann
Captain: Pete Smith
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
8 Arkle, Damien, W, 22 y/o^
9 Rouseselle, Ludovic, LW/C, 22 y/o^
10 Kovac, Peter, W, 21 y/o^
11 Collishaw, Roy, C, 31 y/o^
17 Poindexter, Austin, W, 29 y/o^* (x1 MVP, x1 Playoff MVP, x1 Top Scorer) "A"
18 Morissette, Simon, LW/C, 27 y/o^
27 Biddle, Trevor, C/LW, 22 y/o^*
29 Smith, Peter, W, 30 y/o^* "C"
61 Humberto, Andrew, W/C, 21 y/o^
77 Pilgrim, Keith, C, 20 y/o^
88 Lokshin, Denis, RW, 30 y/o^*
89 Sporina, Frank, RW, 21 y/o
92 Bushby, Derek, C/LW, 39 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Shelton, Carter, 37 y/o^
4 Soleway, Dante, 22 y/o
6 Johnson, Blair, 27 y/o^* (x1 Defender of the Year)
22 Mowery, Travis, 19 y/o^*
28 Rushworth, Ian, 22 y/o^
40 Durden, Derek, 22 y/o
52 Bragg, Charlie, 20 y/o^
55 Limby, Ethan, 32 y/o^ "A"
GOALIES
30 Edlund, Hugo, 27 y/o^* (x1 Rookie of the Year)
35 Walker, Derek, 31 y/o^
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Callaghan, Mark, LW, 17 y/o
Attrill, Alexander, D, 19 y/o

Cheshnut Knights
Arena: Wokama Arena, Cheshnut (Capacity: 23,345)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Nathan Covenay (181-167)
Captain: Marcus Murray
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
9 Deeley, Archie, LW, 32 y/o^ (x1 Playoff MVP)
10 Wrzosek, Iven, W, 19 y/o
11 Hadfield, Mason, W, 31 y/o
12 Packard, Marvin, C/LW, 33 y/o^*
13 Bengtsson, Anton, C, 22 y/o^
14 Anderson, Finley, W/C, 21 y/o
19 Murray, Marcus, W, 31 y/o^* "C"
22 Blackman, Alexander, RW, 28 y/o^* "A
26 Vorlicek, Marek, C, 22 y/o^
29 Michalik, Ladislav, W, 28 y/o^
32 Attoehow, Ewan, W, 38 y/o^
77 Revill, Tony, W, 20 y/o
81 Dyer, Robert, RW/C, 34 y/o
99 Neame, Max, W, 20 y/o DEFENSEMEN
24 Carmichael, Lester, 20 y/o
6 Crump, Frederick, 28 y/o^
3 Marek, Martin, 21 y/o
22 Wilday, Kian, 22 y/o^*
4 Blomberg, Lukas, 20 y/o
66 Dominey, Derek, 33 y/o^*
25 Packham, Keith, 19 y/o
2 Stika, Michal, 22 y/o
GOALIES
35 Malovec, Jan, 31 y/o^
39 Mattila, Risto, 19 y/o
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Blake, Gareth, D, 19 y/o
Isgar, Logan, D, 18 y/o
Trudillo, Musamba, C, 19 y/o
Viccars, Luke, C, 19 y/o

Furness Hammers
Arena: Marshall City Forum, Furness (Capacity: 29,455)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Neno Decespedes (190-161)
Captain: Graham Robertson
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Bebb, Brad, LW/C, 21 y/o^
8 Thurlby, Glen, W, 22 y/o
9 Robertson, Graham, C, 35 y/o^* "C"(x3 MVP, x1 Best D Forward, x3 Top Scorer, x2 Most Points, x1 +/- Award)
10 Button, Stephen, W, 31 y/o^*
14 Pearcey, Kieran, C/RW, 22 y/o^
17 Hannaford, Derek, C, 20 y/o^
20 Rounds, Alvin, W, 32 y/o^
28 Sinipoli, Zach, W, 21 y/o
31 Tabor, Bert, LW, 20 y/o^* (x1 Rookie of the Year)
61 Franzen, Anton, W, 21 y/o
62 Burkill, Ewan, C/LW, 22 y/o
77 Truswell, Bill, W, 19 y/o^
82 Lyndon, Paul, RW, 21 y/o^
88 Benning, Richard, C, 34 y/o^
92 Hurt, Damien, W, 27 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
4 Korpi, Vihtori, 35 y/o^*
5 Reeder, Douglas, 19 y/o
6 Hemingway, Craig, 21 y/o^
23 Maxted, Marvin, 32 y/o
26 Hakin, Steve, 22 y/o^*
40 Sembera, Jan, 21 y/o^
GOALIES
1 Quilter, Leon, 22 y/o
30 Weldon, Cameron, 20 y/o^*
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Forin, Antoine, G, 18 y/o
Durand, Patrick, C, 19 y/o
Gelder, Kai, D, 19 y/o

Girvan Highlanders
Arena: Norshye Arena, Girvan (Capacity: 41,541)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Sam Hutley (68-71)
Captain: Bill Garrett
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
10 Fortin, Antoine, LW, 22 y/o^
13 Plowden, Brian, RW/C, 22 y/o^
15 Tyack, Brad, C/LW, 28 y/o^
17 Trendall, Aiden, C, 21 y/o^*
21 Rimmer, Alexander, LW/C, 22 y/o^
23 Tenninson, Simon, RW/C, 29 y/o^
25 Gauthier, Patrick, W, 40 y/o^
51 Adshead, Archie, W, 22 y/o^
77 Loseby, Joseph, LW/C, 22 y/o
82 Kelsey, Doug, W, 35 y/o
91 Musgrave, Albert, RW, 20 y/o^*
99 Koules, Jon, LW, 21 y/o^* DEFENSEMEN
2 Garrett, Bill, 30 y/o^* "C"
3 Peppercorn, Morgan, 21 y/o
4 Kilshaw, William, 29 y/o^
6 Sterne, Charlie, 32 y/o^ "A"
20 McCrouther, Archie, 34 y/o
22 Baring, Brad, 20 y/o
29 Carver, Lucas, 21 y/o
33 Petrie, Michael, 21 y/o^*
55 Abell, Kane, 37 y/o^
GOALIES
30 Kraus, Zbynek, 30 y/o
35 Ryley, Guy, 32 y/o^
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Dlouhy, Jiri, D, 18 y/o
Arundale, Glen, 18 y/o
Meireles, Karson, 19 y/o

Inverness Lions
Arena: Bolli Stadium, Inverness (Capacity: 33,455)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Zlatko Fankhouser (84-106)
Captain: Mark Juhasz
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Kafarov, Sergey, C, 20 y/o^*
8 Zakharchuk, Yegor, W, 21 y/o^
9 Wray, Jonathan, W, 32 y/o^
10 Milne, Stuart, C/RW, 22 y/o^
11 Matous, Marek, RW, 21 y/o
12 Gustafsson, Rainer, C, 22 y/o^
14 Oliver, Rory, W, 21 y/o^
15 Muller, Marco, W/C, 32 y/o^
16 Hursted, Thomas, C/LW, 22 y/o
26 Juhasz, Mark, RW, 28 y/o^* "C"
42 Punchardon, Alexander, W, 22 y/o^
51 Laming, Victor, W, 28 y/o^
61 Cuthbertson, Colm, LW, 30 y/o^* "A"
88 Blowers, Keith, RW, 21 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
3 Shahinyan, Ruben, 30 y/o^* "A"
5 Regan, Ryan, 34 y/o
19 Nurmi, Samuli, 29 y/o^
24 Oseledets, Artyom, 35 y/o
25 Coultrip, Damien, 22 y/o^*
33 Stanfield, Ryan, 32 y/o^
40 Hollock, Ben, 32 y/o^
55 Stimpson, Jude, 36 y/o^
GOALIES
31 Clinton, Shimshon, 29 y/o^*
35 Health, Gavin, 28 y/o^
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Rendi, Tomas, C, 18 y/o
Waddingham, Ethan, C, 19 y/o

Kerveguen HC
Arena: Prince Daniel Stadium, Kerveguen (Capacity: 51,000)
Sweaters: Link
Head Coach: Josh Lucott (129-116)
Captain: Alberty Kersey
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Caesar, Billy, W, 20 y/o^
8 Kersey, Albert, W, 28 y/o^* "C"
9 Chantler, Louis, C/W, 38 y/o^
11 Derry, Kane, C/W, 21 y/o^
13 Luoma, Nico, W/C, 31 y/o^ "A"
14 Wenger, Sammy, W/C, 38 y/o^
24 Gingras, Rich, W, 27 y/o^
28 Kasperak, Dusan, W, 21 y/o^*
62 Hatherall, Charles, C/W, 19 y/o
82 Kun, Péter, C, 31 y/o^
88 Ladbrooke, Joe, C/W, 31 y/o^
92 Wolf, Simon, W, 29 y/o^
99 Corner, Scott, C, 19 y/o^* DEFENSEMEN
4 Janda, Peter, 22 y/o
5 Hartle, Griff, 26 y/o^
6 Cracknell, Nicky, 22 y/o^
21 Duffield, Jamie, 19 y/o^
22 Brady, Ewan, 29 y/o^*
26 Karlsson, Oskar, 32 y/o
40 Bartelot, Alastair, 22 y/o
44 Pepabano, Grégoire, 31 y/o^ "A"
55 Lindoff, Marshall, 21 y/o^*
GOALIES
1 Langely, Aric^* (x2 SVP Award)
33 Gillies, Dan^
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Waddingham, Martin, W, 18 y/o
Mallinson, Micah, W. 18 y/o
Megia, Taddesse, D, 18 y/o

Kinloch Bards
Arena: Poole Ring, Kinloch (Capacity: 33,400)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Rio Caldicott (56-60)
Captain: Timo Ruhala
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
9 Allen, Edwin, W, 33 y/o^
10 Clarke, Alexander, W, 35 y/o
11 Shackell, Bert, W, 22 y/o
14 Popov, Stanislav, W, 38 y/o
15 Ruhala, Timo, W, 29 y/o^ "C"
18 Soldan, Martin, W, 36 y/o^*
19 Jenner, Abdusalom, W, 29 y/o^*
27 Buckmaster, Elton, C, 37 y/o^
41 Rebow, Lucas, C/W, 20 y/o^
42 Stawell, James, W, 20 y/o^
51 Batho, Aaron, C, 22 y/o^*
52 Annetts, Arthur, W/C, 33 y/o^
71 Foulkes, Denzel, C/W, 22 y/o^
88 Hempsall, Taylor, W, 21 y/o^
91 Hyling, Reece, C/W, 31 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
3 Entwistle, Nicholas, 19 y/o^
4 Zatko, Miroslav, 39 y/o^*
5 Hyatt, Joshua, 22 y/o^
7 Nott, Gary, 34 y/o
21 Gelder, Oscar, 27 y/o^*
40 Nabelek, Milan, 37 y/o^
55 Atherton, Bradley, 25 y/o
GOALIES
31 Houldsworth, Kieron, 31 y/o^*
33 Gooderham, Ian, 29 y/o
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Smithers, Gideon, D, 18 y/o

Mers Militia
Arena: Fey City Arena, Korsvegen (Capacity: 34,500)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Justin Ryan
Captain: Erhardt Müller
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Raine, Cedric, W, 21 y/o^
8 Kropachyov, Vladimir, C, 19 y/o^
9 Geldard, Howard, C/W, 21 y/o^
10 Kulig, Jeremiah, C/W, 32 y/o^
15 Freestone, Graham, W, 22 y/o^*
18 Parent, Alfred, W/C, 31 y/o^
19 Hunter, Lane, W, 33 y/o^*
20 Dungey, Lewis, C/W, 38 y/o^*
71 Gunnis, Mark, W/C, 33 y/o^
72 Rodmell, Clive, C, 30 y/o^
77 Codd, George, W, 30 y/o^
91 Trick, Michael, W/C, 29 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Müller, Erhardt, 30 y/o^* "C"
4 Ridsdale, Thomas, 20 y/o
5 Fierek, Marat, 28 y/o^
14 Waddingham, Glen, 21 y/o^
21 Honeybourne, Noah, 34 y/o
23 Horsley, Jonathan, 35 y/o^
25 Stähl, Marvin, 31 y/o^ "A"
33 Carles, Francis, 30 y/o^* "A"
44 Drabek, Jim, 29 y/o
GOALIES
35 Kilmister, Morgan, 32 y/o^
39 Poore, Harley, 29 y/o
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Chaundy, Howard, D, 18 y/o (Drafted 5th overall)
Buddle, Kieron, C, 18 y/o
Meirken, Nicky, W, 18 y/o

Norton Riders
Arena: Digby & Dawn PL Arena, Norton (Capacity: 38,560)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Kane Goater (184-159)
Captain: Timothy McLeish
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Melton, Weston, C, 22 y/o^
8 Biddle, Oscar, W, 19 y/o
10 McLeish, Timothy, W, 25 y/o^* "C" (x1 599 ROY)
11 Copeland, Jay, C/W, 39 y/o^
12 Winstanley, Brandon, W, 32 y/o^*
16 Goddier, Brad, W, 27 y/o^
18 Mossop, Tyler, W, 37 y/o^*
19 Birkenshaw, Bryan, C, 34 y/o^
21 Misiejuk, Edson, W/C, 31 y/o^ "A"
26 Kerry, Noah, W, 35 y/o^
32 Limby, Ryan, C, 19 y/o^
68 Houska, Ondrej, C/W, 21 y/o^* (x1 601 ROY)
77 Cawston, Anthony, C/W, 21 y/o^
88 Iveson, Lyndon, W, 19 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
4 Jowett, Frazer, 35 y/o^ "A"
20 Svensson, Daniel, 27 y/o^*
22 Singh, Satsukh, 21 y/o
25 Maklyukov, Bruce, 38 y/o
29 Hodge, Patrick, 34 y/o^*
33 Macari, Karpis, 19 y/o^
40 Pichnarcik, Jozef, 19 y/o
52 Greene, Glenn, 21 y/o^
66 Ferguson, Harry, 31 y/o^
GOALIES
30 Elton, Vic, 37 y/o^
35 Feather, Derek, 34 y/o^
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Zbytovsky, Ondrej, D, 18 y/o (First Round Draftee, 602)
Morven, Daryl, W, 18 y/o
Ledbrook, Roy, C/W, 18 y/o
Laycock, Stephen, G, 18 y/o

Penshurst Earls
Arena: Lendos Entertainment Arena, Penshurst (Capacity: 37,6545)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Oskar Casdos (197-107)
Captain: Tyler Jubb
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
9 Westren, John, C/W, 32 y/o^
11 Vawser, Arthur, W, 22 y/o^
14 Keen, Brenden, W, 19 y/o^
15 Elston, Henry, W, 21 y/o^
16 Clarke, Joshua, W, 22 y/o^*
17 Vasilyev, Maksim, W/C, 22 y/o^
21 Jubb, Tyler, C, 30 y/o^* "C" (Best Defensive Forward, 601)
25 Littler, Maurice, C/W, 22 y/o^
26 Hanbal, Azim, W/C, 30 y/o^
41 Trvalec, Peter, W, 29 y/o^*
62 Lampa, Dusan, W, 21 y/o
82 Mailhot, Charles, W/C, 21 y/o^
99 Novak, Filip, W, 34 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Canham, Brian, 22 y/o^*
3 McEwan, Dylan, 27 y/o^* "A"
4 Cowling, Ron, 22 y/o
20 Wiles, Kian, 19 y/o^
22 Wray, Glen, 22 y/o
27 Weighell, Robert, 35 y/o^
33 Sak, Martin, 21 y/o^
44 Roberts, Sean, 31 y/o^ "A"
52 Durtnell, Jason, 21 y/o
55 Sorensen, Mads, 22 y/o
GOALIES
1 Brandon, Lester, 29 y/o^* (x3 Goalie of the Year 599 - 602)
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Guilding, Gideon, G, 18 y/o

Rannoch Masters
Arena: Adaline Kip Sporting Complex, Rannoch (Capacity: 31, 200)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Oscar Epp (119-107)
Captain: Pelle Califrnia
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
8 Udall, Cedric, W, 21 y/o^
9 Wigton, Neil, W, 35 y/o^
15 Nystrom, Benjamin, C, 37 y/o^
18 Smith, Andrew, C/W, 33 y/o
19 Henshall, Douglas, W, 22 y/o^
20 Keiner, Jorg, W, 22 y/o
21 Felton, Ashley, C, 30 y/o^
22 Houdek, Roman, W, 32 y/o
23 Bechtel, Jeremy, W, 22 y/o^
29 Pullen, Rhys, C, 37 y/o^
51 Califrnia, Pelle, W, 31 y/o^* "C"
61 Bebbington, Scott, C/W, 21 y/o^*
77 Homer, Theo, W, 31 y/o^ "A"
92 Spriggs, Ronald, W, 19 y/o^*
99 Manner, Mika, W, 21 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Polyn, Yury, 33 y/o^
5 Woombill, Noah, 20 y/o^*
6 Hewer, Kian, 32 y/o
24 Leech, Lewis, 21 y/o^*
27 Martin, Jordan, 26 y/o^
33 Bushby, Betrand, 19 y/o^
40 McAlduie, Blake, 21 y/o^
GOALIES
1 Pixley, Dan, 32 y/o^
31 Markus, Jan, 33 y/o^*
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Jesty, Neil, D, 18 y/o
Grosjean, Brian, W, 18 y/o
Eveleigh, Robin, W, 18 y/o

Toussard Daemons
Arena: Kelac Field, Toussard (Capacity: 25,600)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Tanner Kaci (192-131)
Captain: Brenden Mainwaring
Championships: None.
FORWARDS
7 Short, Alan, C/W, 22 y/o
9 Ellerby, Dwaine, C/W, 19 y/o^
13 Isom, Glen, C/W, 32 y/o^
14 Sunter, Shaun, W, 33 y/o^
16 Filbee, Doug, W/C, 22 y/o^
17 Birkedal, Merrill, W, 22 y/o^*
18 Chase, Frank, C, 21 y/o^
21 Mutton, Josh, W, 31 y/o^*
31 Postlethwaite, Logan, C/W, 22 y/o^*
62 Stening, Kristian, W/C, 30 y/o^
68 Stinson, David, W, 31 y/o
77 Lymer, Colm, W/C, 32 y/o
92 Meade, Art, W, 20 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Brice, Michael, 28 y/o^*
3 Mainwaring, Brenden^* "C"
5 Benard, Mathieu, 38 y/o
6 Crookes, Marcus, 20 y/o
22 Nissen, Erik, 31 y/o ^
24 Berglund, Jonas, 22 y/o
28 Aldous, Derek, 38 y/o
33 Sifalda, Albin, 28 y/o^
52 Bloor, Bart, 27 y/o
GOALIES
30 Oravec, Jan, 34 y/o^ (Goalie of the Year 598)
39 Heard, Bertrand, 30 y/o^*
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Skerrett, Charlie, G, 18 y/o
Bonhomme, Wolf, D, 18 y/o
Mogren, Alexander, W, 18 y/o

Wythcombe Hornets
Arena: Wesfalks Stadium, Wythcombe-on-Fey (Capacity: 24,600)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Lois Ångström
Captain: Jason Lay
Championships: 597
FORWARDS
8 Haag,Fabian, W, 31 y/o^*
11 Chornley, 'Joey' Joseph, W, 19 y/o^
14 Willison, Luke, W, 21 y/o^*
18 Horsforth, Craig, C/W, 20 y/o^
21 Pisar, Tomas, W, 36 y/o^
29 Travnicek, Michael, C/W, 29 y/o^*
51 Cieslik, Casimir, W, 22 y/o^
62 Knox, Graham, W, 21 y/o^
68 Witney, Bailey, C/W, 31 y/o^ "A"
72 Chiesman, Shane, C, 21 y/o^
88 Ivansson, Jonathan, W, 32 y/o^
99 Havel, Tomas, W, 20 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Bassett, Patrick, 35 y/o^
6 Pishvanov, Dmitry, 21 y/o^
20 Julyan, George, 26 y/o
22 Loder, Reece, 41 y/o
23 Stanbridge, Logan, 31 y/o
25 Lock, Finlay, 30 y/o
27 McLeod, Dana, 19 y/o^
40 Bouchard, Colin, 37 y/o^
55 Lay, Jason, 28 y/o^ "C"
GOALIES
30 Cullimore, Christopher, 25 y/o^*
35 Toms, Christopher, 42 y/o
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Ek, Jonathan, D, 18 y/o
Bowler, 'Bill' William, W, 18 y/o
Beanes, Luke, D, 18 y/o

Yarmouth Ducks
Arena: Tennsington Arena, Yarmouth (Capacity: 32,500)
Sweaters:Link
Head Coach: Gerald Hampton (274-95)
Captain: Roderick Deschamps
Championships: 599, 600, 601, 602
FORWARDS
8 Ansley, Simon, W/C, 30 y/o^
9 Helmich, Jiri, C, 22 y/o^
10 Eadie, Rory, W, 34 y/o^
11 Meleshenko, Igor, W, 20 y/o^
13 Bacon, Ross, W, 29 y/o^*
17 Bohatec, Adam, C, 31 y/o*^ (601 MVP, 602 Top Scorer, 599-601 Playoff MVP, 599-601 Best Defensive Forward, 600-602 Points Award, 600, 602 +/- Award) "A"
19 Fainberg, Aleksey, W/C, 28 y/o^
27 Shipway, Dane, W, 31 y/o^*
28 Byrd, Albert, W/C, 22 y/o^
68 Craze, Colin, C/W, 30 y/o^
82 Oldacres, Gavin, W, 21 y/o^
88 Ayloffe, Elliot, W/C, 21 y/o^ DEFENSEMEN
2 Stoddard, Koddey, 32 y/o^ (598 Defender of the Year, +/- Award) "A"
3 Deschamps, Roderick, 35 y/o*^ (597, 599, 601 Defender of the Year)
4 Alderson, Iestyn, 19 y/o^* (602 Rookie of the Year)
5 Letheren, Connor, 29 y/o^
6 Iosif, Jericho, 29 y/o
20 Myers, Logan, 26 y/o^
25 Mortlock, Steven, 31 y/o
33 O'Connor, Logan, 34 y/o
40 Sheldrake, Bryan, 20 y/o^
GOALIES
1 Moore, Dickson, 32 y/o^* (600 Goalie of the Year, 599, 600, 602 Goals Against Award)
30 Beran, Petr, 22 y/o^ (601 Goals Against Award)
NOTABLE PROSPECTS
Jorgenson, Simon, D, 18 y/o
Sunderland, Rio, D, 18 y/o
Barden, Brett, D, 18 y/o
Stevenson, Kenneth, C, 18 y/o

by **-Anthor-** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:28 pm

Season AE600
Part Four - MD16 - 20(Part Four)
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 18 goals, 8 assists

Match Day 19

Tarbert Huskies 3-1 Preston FC
'39 Richelieu [TAR]
'54 Stringfellow [TAR]
'78 Wallis [TAR]
'88 Rigsby [PRES]

The Huskies certainly didn't take last week's blowout of a match as hard as we thought, clearly. They showed up to Shaffte Stadium and laid down almost a similarly painful beat down on the struggling home team Preston, snatching the three points to them thanks to wonderful striking efforts from Buck Stringfellow, his captain Richelieu and the midfielder Wallis, who in my book was the player of the match. He played his heart out today, he had to have run at least nine miles for the eighty three minutes he was on the pitch and the tank never looked empty. The hustle towards the ball was incredible, he was simply taking on all four of Preston's midfielders and giving them a very tough run for their money. The Huskies rebound after last week's bad performance, annnd I think I'm getting tired of saying how thin of a line Preston is walking this year. A real shame too, quite the fall for such a prestigious team.

Holyhead FC 2-1 Senades Blitz
'23 Clement [HOLY]
'50 Evans [HOLY]
'87 King [SENS]

Senades, you know they came into this after stomping out the embers that were Tarbert, and I was certainly a fan of them this time around, Friars played one of the top five matches this season last week against Evesham, they dropped that loss but you know, I think it was an okay decision; both sides played out like the giants we expected, Carrington Arena was sold out for a record ninth straight time, and heading on the road to fight the Blitz who are trying to refind their infamous offensive streak, I am really impressed with their performance. They seemed to be playing out of the defense more, which is a large change from their lob-it-ahead and stretch the pitch out tactic which is usually employed; in fact, I don't think I ever saw them go to the flanks really in this one, they ran it straight into the Blitz's core, and surprisingly came out on top. Both teams are locks for the Evans Cup, so we're going to be looking forward to some amazing football continuing to come from both.

Dienville Lancers 5-3 Evesham United
'22 Hull [DIEN]
'37 Victore [DIEN]
'43 Tate [DIEN]
'53 Javier [DIEN]
'65 Mackenzie [EVES]
'76 Victore [DIEN]
'81 Murphy [EVES]
'87 Hawkins [EVES]

It's rare to see such a display, and even rarer that the Lancers marched into Evesham's own Brightwake Stadium and soundly defeated them; the score line might tell a tale of a close fight, but friends and foes alike, this was a match dominated by the pure power of the Lancers' front end, coupled with amazingly iron-gripped defensive work from their center and full backs. I haven't seen their players in such harmony since possibly their last championship run four years ago, even their match against Tiranges a month back wasn't as well played as a team effort, and that's an accomplishment. Victore and Tate, leading the scoring up front, and how about Javier joining in with Hull as well, quite a thrilling display which helps reboot the chances of Dienville requalifying while Evesham is defeated for only the second time this season, a resounding shock for us all.

Ashingdon United 1-2 Snowdownia City
'37 Balfour [SNOW]
'52 Day [SNOW]
'64 Weir [ASH]

Snowdownia is continuing it's dream run, furthering it into an almost assured qualification spot with this victory over Ashingdon United, who were sorely looking for a win as they haven't seen one in three straight losses, tough ones at that, but they are stumped once again here at Snowdownia. Michael Day was interviewed before the match about what was driving him and his club forward and he said he and the lads were just looking to prove everyone else wrong about how promoted teams usually flounder for a season or three; and boy, they're doing it in splendid fashion. Next week's match isn't going to be easy, if they can win it they'll come out on top of the molten hot race for those bottom three qualification spots for the Cup; if they make it, they'll be the first team to ever be promoted and qualify for the Cup in one season.

Tiranges Bolts 2-1 Stanton FC
'53 Stone [STAN]
'43 Toller [TIR]
'79 Gomez [TIR]

Bolts doing surprisingly well in this one, they're really beginning to display how to punch above their typical weight class; their last three performances while not always wins or dominant have told a tale of a club that was seeking to improve from their usual cellar-status on the table, and they came into Stanton with a smile on their faces and a fury in their legs; their hustle all over the pitch was incredible, and I think their tactic of widening the pitch, playing out of the defense with some short passes and then maybe the odd lob pass forward, really helped set up some key attacking set pieces that they cashed in on, especially on Toller's goal from a chip kick.

Goodwick FC 0-0 Merton Ajax

Kendal Arrows 0-2 Hawick Royale
'39 Irving [HAWK]
'81 Griffiths [HAWK]

I think this match will officially conclude Kendal's run of good performance lately, this spat is seemingly getting larger and worse for them; Hawick was looking to use the home game as a reset of sorts, to get over recent losses that some them slide out of the top yet again, and they delivered handily with a very tidy 0-2 victory over the Arrows; of note, Nigel has finally snapped his goal drought with a very late minute one off of a long pass from the defense, and Irving continues to develop as a attacking midfielder with his eighth goal this season.

Edington Chiefs 0-2 Bankfoot Bears
'58 Davis [BANK]
'84 Rutherford [BANK]

Our this-time-of-the-year Battle of the Cellar, both regulation zoned teams pitted against each other, even though Bankfoot I will admit has been making a slight turn-around and they were certainly playing above recent-grades; if anything, seeming a little hesitant around the goal, though Durant and the defense had no problems getting the ball out of it; Durant scores his 8th player of the match performance this season with 6 tackles, 4 interceptions and a 98% passing rate.

                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Holyhead FC            19   13   4   2    37   12  +25    43
 2 Evesham United         19   13   4   2    42   21  +21    43
 3 Hawick Royale          19   11   3   5    35   22  +13    36
 4 Senades Blitz          19    9   5   5    38   26  +12    32
 5 Snowdownia City        19    9   2   8    26   28   −2    29
 6 Tarbert Huskies        19    9   1   9    26   27   −1    28
 7 Kendal Arrows          19    7   6   6    28   27   +1    27
 8 Stanton FC             19    7   4   8    22   25   −3    25
 9 Goodwick FC            19    6   7   6    17   20   −3    25
10 Dienville Lancers      19    7   3   9    39   41   −2    24
11 Preston FC             19    7   3   9    31   33   −2    24
12 Ashingdon United       19    6   5   8    24   24    0    23
13 Tiranges Bolts         19    6   3  10    28   42  −14    21
14 Merton Ajax            19    4   6   9    10   20  −10    18
15 Edington Chiefs        19    3   5  11    19   33  −14    14
16 Bankfoot Bears         19    3   3  13    12   33  −21    12

by **-Anthor-** » Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:45 am

Anthoran Baseball League
League President: Irwin Victors
Vice President for Schedules and Team Interactions: Reynold Pryor
Vice President for Player, Press and Union Relations: Sheila Joubert
Vice President for International Settings: Ian Courtenay
First Season: AE601
Current Season: AE601

The Anthoran Baseball League is the organization that consists of all professional baseball teams within the Kingdom of Anthor. Overseen by the President and a collection of VP's and staffers, collectively referred to as the 'League' and thus the head of it, the ABL was founded in AE600 following approximately seventeen years of effort from the Triad Pro-Am Leagues to reform themselves into a professional, sanctioned league. Efforts were largely possible due to the competition and relative success of the national Anthoran baseball team, which between AE598 - AE600 never won yet was highly competitive, and MPs in Parliament successfully lobbied the Government for funding towards the ABL. Following it's establishment, the Triad PAL was reorganized as a feeder league which fed directly into the ABL, with each team in the ABL having at least 1 of the Triad teams as a "reserve" (or minor in other countries) team.

The ABL consists of two conferences, the Donahue and Rasmus Conference, which each have three divisions with an additional four teams per division. The original teams were founded by interested businessmen, investors, and fans, and the player base was made up of now ex-members of the now Triple A feeder level Triad Pro-Am Leagues.

by **-Anthor-** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:30 pm

Season AE600
Part Four - MD16 - 20(Part Five)
Top League Scorer: Jennifer McKenzie, 19 goals, 10 assists

Match Day 20

Preston FC 2-0 Holyhead FC
'38 Rolfe [PRES]
'54 Rigsby [PRES]

So the Friars headed into this one, knowing it was a highly crucial match - final outing before the Evans Cup, heck even Preston knew this one as they sat just outside of qualifications, but while Preston was fighting for the final spot in the Cup, the Friars were looking to remain in the Championship spot as Evesham has just been on an incredible win streak lately - but, it must have been the luck of home field advantage, as Jason Rigsby lead his club to perhaps their most thrilling victory in a the past month as they overcome the league first seed for a solid 2 nil victory. Angela Rolfe secured herself another season goal with the first strike a few moments before the midway mark, and she would have been joined by Eliot Hunt who managed to put the ball into the net around forty four minutes into the affair, but what would have been his fourth goal this season was disqualified because of an offside call placed on captain Anthony Black's shoulders. Jason however did manage to avenge this off of a brilliant forward lob from Vincent Martin, with the second goal ending up being the final nail in the coffin. With this victory, Evesham will slide into first place if they can beat out Ashingdon United, however, Preston still falls short for qualification on the Evans Cup - this is their first season missing it in 17 years.

Senades Blitz 6-1 Dienville Lancers
'24 Hugo [SENS]
'31 Javier [DIEN]
'42 Thomas [SENS]
'49 Irving [SENS]
'56 King [SENS]
'69 King [SENS]
'87 King [SENS]

Another dominating victory for the Blitz this year, as manager Matthew Cripps seems to have managed to help the team find their historic offensive firepower, and their run in the last 2 months has seen them fall into the Top 4 of the table, granting them a nice lead as we head into the Evans Cup time of this season. The first quarter of the game seemed to be the Blitz's offense probing the Lancers for any weaknesses, and Alan Hugo opened up with the first shots just a scant twenty four minutes into the game, enabled through a wonderful quick-firing passing set from the likes of Grant, Thomas and Hewitt. Patrick Javier took personal offense at this masterful team goal, and the captain wanted to avenge his defense's honor so he trailblazed a path through the Blitz's midfield after a series of short crosses caught their front end off balance, and managed to sneak the ball into the top left hand corner of the net, just outside of Gerald Barclay's mitts. However, Irving lead what later proved to be an insurmountable counter charge as he nailed in a long shot from outside of the box just four minutes after we resumed play in the second half, and then Michael King! O boy, Michael King; he really proved today why he's not only captain of this squad, but famed for his hustle across the sport, he nearly threw those legs of his out with all of his shots in the second half - 9 of the 17 shots from Senades in the second half were his, and they resulted into a season first hat trick, something Dienville's Lance Perkins was desperately trying to prevent, but he was ultimately outdone.

Evesham United 5-1 Ashingdon United
'38 Stone [ASH]
'45 Wardell [EVE]
'58 McKenzie [EVE]
'67 Wallace [EVE]
'73 McKenzie [EVE]
'88 McKenzie [EVE]

I think when word got to Evesham's clubhouse in Brightwake Stadium of the stunning defeat of the Friars by Preston just earlier that afternoon, I think John Greenwood and his squad knew they had to go out and bring the house down; Ashingdon is certainly still a competitor club, but when compared to Evesham United, especially an Evesham who has won every game in 2 months except one, and that one loss happens to be a particularly stinging one that also happened to be the squad's last game, bluntly put, Evesham needed to remind everyone why they deserve to be Champions this year. Even with the press statement a few days ago from manager Greenwood stating that he was resting several key players so they could be refreshed for the upcoming Cup, players such as Dominic Murphy whose legs have had some health issues this year as well as Peter Hawkins and Richard Holloway, this team still slayed the competition entirely. I think John Stone was hoping his early strike would rally Ashingdon into piling it on early and putting Evesham into a morale slump, but if anything, it had the opposite effect; it rallied Evesham and they would score their next 5 goals all consecutively, with 3 of those coming from Jennifer herself, as well as some surprisingly good play from substitute Wallace, who scored his first goal of the season and also bagged two assists off of the goals he set up for Jennifer. With this win, Evesham has officially slid into the the top seed of the League, and are heading into the Evans Cup with a very comfortable resting spot.

Snowdownia City 1-7 Tarbert Huskies
'19 Ross [SNOW]
'31 Matheson [TAR]
'38 Wallis [TAR]
'48 Stringfellow [TAR]
'59 Stringfellow [TAR]
'69 Keegan [TAR]
'75 Richelieu [TAR]
'80 Stringfellow [TAR]

You know, despite the headlines in Snowdownia and Tarbert about "Huskies Rip out the Falcon's Throat" or "Utter Embarrassment at Tarbert", I fervently believe this was the best kind of win in football - a win for both sides, in a manner of speaking. Yes, Tarbert showed up and absolutely annihilated Snowdownia, this was the worst defeat in their season and possibly in the entire league this season, but they were also resting every one of their main starters, started every substitute, while the Huskies came in with the usual squad lineup, and with the gas pedal firmly pressed to the floor. I mean, even with Tarbert's win, all they did was flop places in the league table, both still qualify for the Evans Cup, and I think most importantly; the first matches begin this week, and Tarbert is going to be coming off of a high morale win, but an exhausting match. Everyone of their main players, especially young Stringfellow who scored a wonderful hat trick, ran at least 4 miles, while the Snowdownian starters are going to be completely rested, and ready as they become the first club in League history to be promoted to the Champion League, and qualify for the Evans Cup all in the same year.

Stanton FC 0-1 Goodwick FC
'56 Radclyffe [GOOD]

That exciting battle of the center of the table we've seen for the last two months was partially concluded here, as perennial midweighters Goodwick and Stanton, also rivals I should feel like mentioning because these players in either club really seem to come more alive in these sorts of matches then in others, met up at Witham Stadium, and Goodwick solidly secured their spot in that final seat for the Evans Cup off of the back of some noteworthy defensive play, including a season-high 17 tackles and 8 interceptions, as well as Hugh Radclyffe's bicycle kick-goal that managed to help send his club into the Evans Cup.

Merton Ajax 0-1 Kendal Arrows
'71 Rey [KEN]

Kendal took another swing of the hammer in embedding more nails in the coffin for Merton's season, which is turning out to be one of the worst performances in their club's history to date, while Jared Rey managed to embolden himself off of a beautiful cross assist from midfielder Nicholas Stark, and with that goal, Kendal gets to jump ahead and squeeze into qualification spot for the Cup by a single point, definitely one of the most crucial wins they've accomplished this season, and myself and the others here at ASBN are certainly looking forward to see if this resurgent club has what it takes to overcome the rest in the Cup's looming competition

Hawick Royale 2-1 Edington Chiefs
'34 McCaig [EDT]
'48 Underwood [HAWK]
'78 Griffiths [HAWK]

Well, perhaps finally some good signs from Hawick as Nigel Griffiths is able to, finally, end his streak of games with no goals, as he manages to boot in the winning strike just 12 minutes before the conclusion of the game; a bit surprising to see him and Cole on the field, especially since this match up was in all forms as close to a sure win as one club can possibly get; though the Chiefs McCaig did manage to stave off an entire loss of face ala a shutout with the first goal of the game around the 34th mark. With this win, Hawick remains just 4 points behind Holyhead, and it will be very curious to see if Nigel can turn the engine back on and help pilot his club further ahead in the race for the ultimate silverware.

Bankfoot Bears 2-3 Tiranges Bolts
'49 Bélanger [TIR]
'59 Dempster [BANK]
'78 King [BANK]
'89 Toller [TIR]
'101 Summers [TIR]

In the grand scheme of things, this match had no consequence on either club's entry into the Cup, the focus of almost the entire League for months now, as both are very well planted in the cellar of the League table, however I think we can officially declare Bankfoot's season over as they are overcome by the Chiefs, and now fall into last place; I really have to wonder if Andrew Holder's days are numbered, and getting even shorter, as we appear to have a back to back utter crap showing for performance from the Bears.

* - Qualified for Evans Cup; first 4 seeds get delayed entry.

                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Evesham United*         20   14   4   2    47   22  +25    46
 2 Holyhead FC*            20   13   4   3    37   14  +23    43
 3 Hawick Royale*          20   12   3   5    37   23  +14    39
 4 Senades Blitz*          20   10   5   5    44   27  +17    35
 5 Tarbert Huskies*       20   10   1   9    33   28   +5    31
 6 Kendal Arrows*          20    8   6   6    29   27   +2    30
 7 Snowdownia City*        20    9   2   9    27   35   −8    29
 8 Goodwick FC*            20    7   7   6    18   20   −2    28
 9 Preston FC             20    8   3   9    33   33    0    27
10 Stanton FC             20    7   4   9    22   26   −4    25
11 Dienville Lancers      20    7   3  10    40   47   −7    24
12 Tiranges Bolts         20    7   3  10    31   44  −13    24
13 Ashingdon United       20    6   5   9    25   29   −4    23
14 Merton Ajax            20    4   6  10    10   21  −11    18
15 Edington Chiefs        20    3   5  12    20   35  −15    14
16 Bankfoot Bears         20    3   3  14    14   36  −22    12

by **-Anthor-** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 10:54 pm

Evans Cup
Presented By: Woodhold Engineering

Welcome back to ABSN my fellow Anthorans, I'm Sébastien Waters, and I'm joined this evening by our infamous pals, Darin Larson and Samuel Beake as we review and cover the conclusion of this year's Evans Cup; might I add before we progress any further, what a bloody fantastic cup it was this year!

Heading into it, the Champion's League had witnessed a hotly contested race for the bottom four spots, and really saw the true performances come out of some clubs for their season mark; Snowdownia City, I predict to go very far in this cup, as they all but one of their matches in the last two months, and have simply been on one of the hottest streaks, with no relative bumps to really cover. Tarbert and Senades are another two to keep your eyes on, both had rocky beginnings this season and quickly rebounded in the last couple of months for a spot in this Cup, Senades even earning a Top 4 seed; I think both clubs are eager to forget about their less then satisfactory league standings, and try to come out of this one with some silverware, which should provide for very interesting later stages this time around.

Taking over from Seb here(since he isn't entirely qualified on the junior tiers), the few teams qualifying out of the Secondary and third level leagues have some pretty good players themselves; Greenwich has already guaranteed itself a spot in the Champion's League next year as they won the Secondary league quite easily, however I'm more impressed by the third level teams of Silvermoor and Kirkwall; both have been relatively junior teams with no ambition for decades, Silvermoor especially was an affiliate club of Preston's until five years ago, feeding most of their good players towards the high end club up top and draining themselves of the potential to advance the club. However, since that deal ended, they've been working hard to make up for lost time, so I'd name them as a club to keep your eye on. Dark horse candidate though? That's Kirkwall all the way, no body has expected them to do much of anything, but they've got a youngster midfielder, just a few days over 17 years old, and goes by the name of Jak McCourt; let me tell you, if this young man can continue to stay healthy and develop, we might see another Patrick Javier or Anthony Black clone in the coming years.

You just knew, after just the first match, you had to have that gut feeling developing as we were treated to a massive upset straight out of the gate. Day 1 of the Evans Cup, a light match up by normal accounts, Secondary champion Greenwich going up against third place Rauret, who traveled to Greenwich. You figure the champions of their league, at home, fully rested, best form of home field advantage you could ask for right? Greenwich apparently wanted more, because Gene Parkson's Rauret Reds straight showed them up on both occasains; managing to battle their league champions into a draw, and what could have been a win for them if it wasn't for a very late goal from Greenwich's midfield, and then taking them on a second time at home and managing to score a '87 minute goal that would end up advancing them to the next stage in this round's upset, perhaps one of the larger of the whole cup.

Of course, Tarbert and Goodwick must of foreseen what I was going to say, so they decided to enact some oneupmanship on the Rauret's victory, as Goodwick traveled into the awaiting Huskies at Kjold Memorial Field, and I must say, that was quite the football match. Goodwick brought the big guns out early, and completely took Tarbert's whole gameplan at surprise as it appeared that the Huskies were content with trying to just contain Goodwick, but aggressive performances from Daren Lémieux, who lead the Goodwicks midfielders in a straight-out-of-the gate offensive charge, the rapid direct passing with forward support from their fullbacks enabled them to completely overwhelm the home team's defense, they scored 1 goal, though it certainly had to be frustrating as they managed 14 shots in the first half, 9 of which were on target, and only 1 marrying with the back of the netting. However, that half time talk must have been a truly noteworthy one from gaffer Graham Warren, because captain Tyrell Richelieu and youngster Buck Stringfellow looked ready for some payback, and they certainly tried. These two sides went on clashing for the rest of the match, strong pushes and push backs, and I think the fact that Stringfellow's hook shot managed to worm its way into the top corner for the draw was pure luck. And then, if you thought this 90 minute conflict was something to behold, try the match two days later, when Tarbert heads over to Goodwick for some revenge and improvement; instead, we're treated to a 120 minute slugfest, which is ultimately decided through some very close penalty kicks, with Lémieux's final kick, followed by Tarbert's Woodham missing provided Goodwick with enough of a force to push Tarbert out of the competition; certainly a surprise here, especially for the Huskies to be sent off so early. You could practically read the disappointment on their captain's face, and Stringfellow in particular who has been working overtime this season to help his club out - they're going to have to head back out again when the League resumes play and just leave this in the past.

Three matchups in this first round, 2 upsets to come out of the first 2 matchups, and Snowdownia just wanted to ensure that they weren't to become the third and they delivered in short order. Uncharacteristically strong defense coming from the Hawk's Nathan Pollard and Peter Ross, who seemed to adopt a very strong brick wall system that allowed Jason Elsmore and Andrew Cooke to intercept the Arrow's ball carriers and feed it up field; despite the draw first time around, Simon Cowdrey said he was highly confident of his club's playing level, and was sure they would excel in the final match up, which they did indeed with a 4-2 victory over the Arrows; on an even more low note for Kendal, starting striker Jared Rey went down on a slightly sloppy tackle from Ross, and ended up busting up his ankle bad enough to keep him out for the next few weeks; some of that will be in the downtime while the Cup is ongoing, but Kendal is definitely going to have to battle through some league matches without possibly their most potent scorer, next to Stark of course.

The second round we got to see Hawick Royale and Senades sally into the foray with their beneficial delayed entry, getting to skip the first round of play, but I don't think either was expecting to play each other, especially with the comments Nigel Griffiths was making to the media in the days before the Cup schedule was released. He made it appear to sound like he was expecting to cut his teeth on the likes of Rauret or Northborough; instead they got Senades, whose offense has been on an absolute tear of late, and were completely overwhelmed. Nigel made a fool of himself in the first matchup, resulting in being benched for the second half of that game and the full time of the next one, but Hawick failed to score a single goal in the whole set entirely, and the Blitz keep on blitzing away as they advance pretty easily into the quarterfinals, where they may potentially face heavyweight Evesham or Holyhead.

Kirkwall Athletic, something of a mainstay in the news stream down amongst the lowest rungs of Anthoran football, made quite an electric appearance by trumping Northborough in good order; Marion Lane has been doing an efficient job as Kirkwall's captain in the attacking midfield slot, and seems to be doing a good job in providing tutoring for their rising winger Rolf Quirke, who has been on an incredible streak - 2 goals, 5 assists in the last 4 matches, if he can keep his performances up, they have a pretty good shot at making progress in this Cup.

Rauret and Snowdownia, the former being a darkhorse candidate apparently and the latter being the Cup's favorite to go very far, both journeyed to easy advances, Rauret pounding their better in the Secondary tables, as a last laugh or gotcha joke according to their striker's Twitter feed, and the Hawks easily cruised all over Goodwick, who had a surprising victory over Tarbert in the last leg, but seemed to have used all of their gas on that one, utterly failing to muster a good enough defense to try and curb Snowdownia's play.

by **-Anthor-** » Wed May 31, 2017 12:06 am

AIHF Season Overview (AE601)

Championship

Yarmouth Ducks(#1) v. Avon Knights(#3)
Game 1: YAR 5 - 3 AVO
Game 2: YAR 4 - 2 AVO
Game 3: YAR 2 - 1 AVO
Game 4: YAR 1 - 4 AVO
Game 5: YAR 3 - 6 AVO
Game 6: YAR 0 - 1 AVO
Game 7: YAR 1 - 1 AVO (2-0 PK)

Runner-Up's: Avon Knights
Third Place: Penhurst Earls

by **-Anthor-** » Wed Sep 27, 2017 11:46 pm

AIHF Season Overview (AE602)

The 602 season is finally here ladies and gentlemen, the return of our national sport is to be had at last! Once again covering this season with you, it's Tanner Sørensen here and joining with me in the broadcast booth for the eleventh year in a row is the ever delightful, and I might add a foolish Girvan fan, Shanelle Larson. I'm sure you're all fired up for the new highlight reels, the returning players and some incredible on the ice action, especially after our boys the Ducks, not you Yarmouth, went out and managed to secure themselves an absolutely stunning third place finish in the 33rd World Cup of Hockey, advancing further then any national Anthoran ice hockey team before and just narrowly missing out on a chance to play against Cosumar in the final.

Of course, expectations are always high across the Federation; Yarmouth cruised towards their fourth championship in the last five years, they really are on a dynasty setting trend; alot of people were worried that losing Harold Jewel, as he went on to become the first Anthoran to play in a foreign country, would damage them but they not only won their third consecutive title, but they do so against Austin Poindexter and his Knights - who have, once more, come up short, something I'm sure they're going to be looking to adjust against this season. Adam Bohatec on the other hand is certainly looking to be the awaited replacement of Graham Robertson as the best center in Anthor; not only did he win the MVP and Best Defensive Center last year, the Ducks thought he was worth keeping around for quite some time, as they announced this off season that Bohatec and Yarmouth had agreed to a £65,000,000/7 year contract, which also reportedly included a no trade clause. If this isn't a clear message that Gerald Hampton at Yarmouth is putting his stock fully behind him, I'm not sure what would be.

Furthermore, Bert Tabor coming off of an very impressive Rookie of the Year worthy season, and you have to start to wonder; is Furness going to try and build around him in the future and try to push the franchise forward? They did very well last season, something Tabor chipped in to, finishing second in their division, but, if his performance remains the same or grows we will have to see. Graham Robertson was part of the reason behind Furness's success last year; nobody anticipated that after winning all but two of the annual awards, Ancinnes declines to offer a new contract and let's his lapse. Furness made the deal of the century, easily, with eighteen million pound deal over three years; part of this was because there were rumors the Rangers-Robertson deal had fallen through because he demanded a record contract, and they declined because of his age - last season was the first season he lodged less then 50 goals (47), but still, has Robertson finally begun to decline?

Pre-season anticipation and review here, but once again, I must say Yarmouth looks absolutely unbeatable here, behind MVP Bohatec, they got their latest draftee Iestyn Alderson whose looking to come on strong, and despite a number of some departures, no stars though, the addition of the youth with Stubblefield, Alderson and Oadcross making the active roster this year; me personally, I think it cures Yarmouth's one problem of being old. However, they will face come hopefully stiff competition this year, Moana Iverson is looking to turn around Avon's lucks, though that may be hard without Dane Wainely as their second go to for Right Wing, but she could still pull it off - I fear if she doesn't, there won't be a contract extension. Mers is already hoping to ride a strong defense centered around Erhadt Muller to the playoffs at least; it worked for them last year, and this year they've picked up one or two good offensive minded skaters, so they could possibly play even more robustly and achieve more.

Let's present to you, our proud and emotional fans, your 602 AIHF season:

Championship
Yarmouth Ducks 4 - 2 Avon Knights
Yarmouth Ducks 4 - 1 Avon Knights
Avon Knights 5 - 4 Yarmouth Ducks
Avon Knights 5 - 2 Yarmouth Ducks
Yarmouth Ducks 4 - 3 Avon Knights

Yarmouth Ducks retain their AIHF Championship, for the fifth year in a row.

Runner-Up's: Avon Knights
Third Place: Rannoch Masters

by **-Anthor-** » Fri Sep 29, 2017 9:45 pm

Evans Cup
Presented By: Baersk Electronics

Continuing with our review and analysis of the Evans Cup here in the 600AE Season, I'm Sebastien Waters, joined by Darin Larson and Samuel Beake, and let's just dive back in shall we, as we move on towards our match ups during the Quarter Finals, you're getting the delayed entries of heavyweights Holyhead FC and Evesham United, as well as Bayonne Town, and they're also joined by the advanced up Senades, Snowdownia, Silvermoor and Rauret, who has just been on an absolute tear of luck, and great dominating play of late.

Surprisingly, Evesham and Holyhead are paired up in the first match up of the stage - usually the Cup's organizers try to avoid two heavyweights going up against each other until at least the semifinals, and I fully expected one of them to play Bayonne and the other to play Snowdownia, but this hasn't been the case, and the for the third time in as many months, we're getting a match up of the Top 2 teams in the Champion's League. The first match up was at the home grounds for the Friars, and they were certainly playing with some very fierce emotions, which isn't to say Evesham wasn't battling back, if anything, they didn't slip into a complete defensive posture until after Holyhead scored what would be the game winning goal at '74 off of the strong leg of Joe Maddox, which helped the Friars receive some retribution as the match ended in a 2-1 victory decision for the Holyhead which has had a shaky base lately, which saw them lose the top table slot to Evesham, whose been seeking that seat since the Friars narrowly stole it from them last season. Now, the next match was in Evesham's home grounds, and let me tell you, they have made it quite the impenetrable fortress, especially when it was a sold-out crowd screaming for some revenge, and they collected it in high order, coming with a beautiful hat trick from Dominic Murphy, his first in 15 months, and it helped them trump Holyhead once more, and send them into the semifinals for this year's Evans Cup.

The second of the four matchups this stage was Silvermoor and Bayonne, with Bayonne hailing from the third tier of professional football, and Silvermoor hailing from the fourth, and lowest, tier. The only highlight going into this was Silvermoor's midfielder youngster Jak McCourt, who only recently joined the squad about a month ago following his seventeenth birthday; he had spent the last four years in a youth academy run by Monmouth, but they ended up passing on him for some more promising strikers, but let us tell you, what a mistake on their behalf, for even in the 10 matches this kid has played, and started I may add, in, he has been simply lighting up the board with his raw speed, aggression around the ball and ability to play a number of slots on the field. He was very much the "Must Watch" heading into the first match, and he managed to rally his team mates around him to have a very resounding victory; which, I must say I'm pretty impressed with since they are in the murky side of pro ball, where the professional really begins to slide into semi-professional and while Bayonne may not be in the top two levels of football, they are highly disciplined, and were certainly just beaten at every chance here. Even then, Bayonne Town when they hosted the "frauds" as a few fans of theirs have used to refer to Silvermoor, was just straight out-classed; that normally heavy disciplined side we just mentioned? They were hit with 7 yellow cards, and 2 reds! An almost unheard of event, and Silvermoor straight up exploited the chance entirely, and walked away with a surprise advancement, and for the first time in a very long time, there will be a fourth tier club in the semi-finals of the Evans Cup.

This next match up is going to be covering the largest upset since Greenwich went down in the First Round; Senades Blitz, current fourth place club in the Champion's League, going up against Kirkwall Alliance, a third tier side who is fourth placed in their own league; I mean, I think everyone from the top pundits, and us here on ABSN, to your blind grandmother living in Hillerby was calling for a complete blowout; except, o wait, Kirkwall straight up stonewalled the "Blitz" completely, stopping the juggernaught in its tracks by upsetting them at home 2-1, taking the win off of an absolutely stunning volley bicycle kick at the 86' mark into the game, and then when hosting them at their own grounds, they managed to hold the Blitz to just a single goal, and even snuck in one of their own just around half time, and on a 3-2 aggregate score, the Kirkwallers take down perhaps one of the most offensively explosive teams in Anthoran football; and alot of you are asking, how the heck does this occur? Bluntly, I'm going to go ahead and place the full credit on the backs, and rather legs, of their wingbacks, a position long undervauled in Anthoran sides, and at this point all but extinct at the top flights, but Kirkwall here has retained them, and they have some very good ones at that, not only capable of playing on the defensive side and capable of either keeping the pitch widened, or clamping down, or even flinging in some good crosses and assist-worthy passes towards the up-end forwards. They play it absolutely near perfectly, and I'm very anxious to watch them as they continue on throughout the Cup.

Dark Horse of the Cup, Rauret Reds who have been also known as the Upsetters for the last few stages, taking on the Hawks who are *the* dark horse of the entire Champion's League at this point, this was going to prove to be an interesting exchange for a few reasons, mostly to see if Rauret could keep pace with the absolute tear they have been on, and if they could, would Snowdownia's rather mellow defense cope and give their offense enough time to mount some goals? Well, Rauret let alot of people down, it's fans and us included, as they just decided they would rather become another mention on the list of takedowns performed by Snowdownia; they won the first match in a shutout, but it's worth mentioning that almost every one of the starters was rested, and a very much substitute squad was playing on the Hawks behalf, and then for the second match up, Snowdownia came in and showed the Reds how it's done; 3-0 scoreline, a perfectly timed final line which gave them just enough room to move onto the semi-finals of the Cup.

Semi Finals

Heading into these match ups, we have some highly curious matches to be played ahead of us; Silvermoor will be placed off against current top Champion's top seed Evesham, beginning that series on the road too for the Rovers, and Kirkwall Athletic will be taking on the Hawks, hosting Snowdownia for the first match up.

Firstly, I must say I'm highly intrigued in this; I mean, you have to admit that on paper, and in reality, the Rovers-United games are almost a lock up for United, Evesham as just been on an absolute tear lately, they've done well coming into this Cup and more importantly, this Cup is Silvermoor's first exposure to any real experience playing against a top flight team, and in Evesham not only do they have a top-flight team, but they have a top flight championship contender. On the other hand, Jak McCourt has seemed determined to have his team play in the finals or all hell will break loose, and hell as broken out, it's name being his. He's on an absolute magma-hot streak, he's currently leading the Cup in goals scored and he's not even forward, and he's placed third for assists; tell you what, even if Silvermoor doesn't go any further this tournament, they're going to have some very valuable lessons learned out of this and to implement into their club soccer.

So, it begins with the first game of the series hosted by United - the underdogs are coming into Brightwake Stadium, one of the newest and most impressive pitches in the nation, and they're going to be playing against what many are calling this year's Premier side champions. Did we mention it was also forecast to rain?

That forecast came through for sure, it only rained, it positively poured for United. This was, singlehandily, I think their worst day ever, in the last decade, for the club. Within the first 25 minutes of the beginning half, McKenzie, the premier striker in the league, goes down on a knee injury after a gorgeous slide from, you guessed it, Jak McCourt. Five minutes later, captain Richard Holloway goes down after a failed header with an apparent neck or head injury, so now you're John Greenwood and you've lost your centerpieces for offense and defense, how do you go forward? I honestly don't know what Greenwood thought,but whatever it was, it certainly did not work. You had the Rovers bang one back on corner strike just before the midway whistle, and then coming into the second half, you could tell who was ready to advance to the next stage and who wasn't, because McCourt was precisely electric, and it invigorated the rest of his side. He scored a hat trick, a bloody hat trick, in 45 minutes and topped it off with another assist on the final Rover goal of the game, as Silvermoor got to walk out of Brightwake Stadium with a 5 nil aggregate score, and a handy victory in tow. You could hear the booing from the Evesham fans from the street, it was insane. I honestly was not expecting this, but if McCourt and the Rovers are teaching you anything, it's to expect the unexpected.

The second and final game in the series, it went the near opposite way of the last; Evesham had already been dealt blows when it was announced after the first match that both McKenzie and Holloway would be out for the remainder of the tournament, and even possibly miss some league games, and Silvermoor definitely came in with an extra supply of confidence as they rested a good chunk of their starters; the substitutes looked like they didn't get as much playing time and were still trying to figure out the pitch, and United even then couldn't manage to get past them, though Wardell did lead some impressive dribbles down the flanks only for them to be stopped short by failures on key set pieces, something I'm sure Greenwood is going to make sure his club focuses on in the coming weeks.

The next match ups were the Kirkwallers heading on over to the snow-freckled city in Snowdownia, both clubs I believe hoping to make something of recent victories and turn it into a real achievement here. Sometimes, when both clubs in a crucial match up try to do this, we as fans are often rewarded with failed tactics and clumsy plays, but in the end, I think we did truly get some fine displays of football out of this set of matches. The first match was hosted by Kirkwall, and I think that's the first time that stadium has sold out in a while - scratch that, checking the records here, that stadium hasn't sold out before today since 553, so a nearly half-century since the last time that all 13,000 seats were filled. More were required, and the City of Kirkwall set up large displays of the game in parks across the city as it was estimated that an approximate 34,000 attempted to see the game, large amounts of those we're told were Snowdownia fans, the Hawks attracting a very loyal fanbase with their strong performance in the Champion's League this year and it's followed them over here. A true spectacle of "which offensive can burn out first" was beheld on the pitch that day, with that final scoreline of 6-5, and the fact that each side took 40+ plus shots, and most of them were on target as well. Kirkwallers seemed eager to get it done by playing the pitch as wide as possible, something the Hawks have tried to prevent all season long, they like to keep the field narrow and channel the game through their strong center midfield and forward support, however, they proved incapable of combating the speed and aggression coming off of Kirkwall's wingbacks, tied to tenacity of their forwards which looked like they were playing as inside forwards or a hybrid thereof, and the Hawks defense was left completely confounded, while Kirkwall's just struggled to stop a top flight offense. The second match, being a much more hard fought 2-1 result ends up seeing Kirkwall advance into the finals, which is insane. This is hands down the best Evans Cup this century, possibly ever, because nobody predicted this, not one bookie nor odds-taker would have called for it, and no analyst of any caliber or skill could have or did predict that, for the first time in the centuries long history of the Evans Cup, you will see a fourth tier team, compete against a third tier.

by **-Anthor-** » Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:19 pm

Evans Cup
Presented By: Baersk Electronics

Continuing with our review and analysis of the Evans Cup here in the 600AE Season, I'm Sebastien Waters, joined by Darin Larson and Samuel Beake, ready to bring you our final commentary on what has been a very exciting Evan's Cup this year, as for the first time in centuries, we have a third-tier team, the Silvermoor Rovers, facing up against the fourth tier team, the Kirkwall Athletics. Shock and surprise have been the name of the game for this entire tournament, with extremely early exits and failure to compete at expected levels coming as early as Greenwich's dismal turnout in the first round, to Senades going down against a bottom feeder club who has somehow managed to get all the way to the finals of the most prestigious domestic Anthoran cup - a great deal of you have been embroiled in controversy as there is a large group of supporters that claim that Championship tier clubs did not perform at a full readiness because they wanted to reserve strength for the remaining league matches, and there are claims of rigging, saying that Cup Organizers are in cahoots with the AFC to try and bring more awareness to the lower levels of the football pyramid in Anthor.

Of course, Kirkwall and Silvermoor are going to ignore all this criticism anyways as both teams head over to Royal Athletics Stadium in Vaumort, where a slightly small crowd of 47,000 plus are anticipated to watch them battle it out over the right to lift the Evan's Cup for the first time in either club's history; the key to this battle is going to be if Kirkwall can widen the pitch, Silvermoor plays a very narrow 4-2-2, using the narrow channel from their defense and then using the dominating midfield led by Jak McCourt to choke any counter-attack and to lead off any assault on the opposing side; meanwhile Kirkwall has a very old-school 4-3-2 formation, wingbacks as mentioned earlier have really fallen out of favor in the upper stages of Anthoran football but Kirkwall has managed to show us, and remind the younger generations, of how successful wingback-inclusive formations were for decades of Anthoran domestic sides. Their two typical starters, twenty three year old Matthew Banner and twenty five year old Chris Brent, were scooped up from junior levels as fullbacks who also could play competent midfielders and Kirkwall's manager Catherine Tobias has really expanded their skillset to see them dominate their positions.

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