To think the title race went down to the final match. To think Pikemouth were still in with a chance. But Kingsgrove remained, as they had all season, in the driver’s seat, their title hopes in their hands. All they had to do was beat Falkner United. With a heavy heart, Pikemouth fans saw the goal updates come. Four minutes in, Djuric took a lovely long ball from Gray on her feet, jinked past Riverton and slipped Penhallow through, and he slammed the ball into the ceiling of the net beyond Jancis Adrian. Nine minutes in, Mathew Evans doubled their lead with a piledriver from just outside the box. Culbreth hit the post 27 minutes in, then scored two minutes later with a lethal flicked header. Pikemouth, for their part, failed to mark Drake’s free kick, and watched gloomily as Aleksandra Skorupska rose above everyone to power home an opening goal for the Stallions. At the bottom of the table, Lotus Park looked nervously over their shoulders as Union took a 2-0 first half lead. Scaffield scored against Rozelle, Harriet Payne with a somewhat hopeful looping shot that beat Bernholm in the top corner, and Snowden River - thrown a lifeline when Turati’s goal against them early on was called back for a marginal offside - scrambled home a clumsy goal from Gerry Stones. Helpfully, they face a North Hall side resting more or less all their best players in preparation for two finals to come. Suddenly, Lotus Park were second from bottom!
In the second half, they rallied. In the opening minutes after the interval, Wen Xiaoli slipped Karuizawa through on goal, who… fell over, slammed down by a protesting Paul Sommer. His protests were summarily ignored, a penalty called for Lotus Park which Wen promptly stuck in the bottom corner. 2-1 was, however, how that match would finish, with both Blanton and, surprisingly, Parry making some strong saves to keep things the way they were. They were left to watch on as Rozelle cantered to their rescue, running roughshod over Scaffield in the second half. Leo Quinn’s squad defended fiercely, but when Payne was sent off for a scything challenge, going from hero to zero in an instant, all structure was lost. Mederow, replacing her in the double pivot, was terrible, and her sloppy pass was picked up by Bard to fire past Delamora before a failure to close down Alora Heher lead to a rampaging run forward, a one-two with two other players culminating in a lazy chip over the stranded goalkeeper. Rozelle won 2-1, and Scaffield slipped through the trapdoor to follow Rosbank, despite the Black Swans beating Westpike 2-1. They’ll be replaced by Twin Sains and, after Swayback spectacularly choked away a 1-0 lead at home to lose 3-1 to a 14th-place Knightstone side with nothing to play for, Francisca Orient (who came back from behind to beat Gallant Cross). As for the top? Yeah, Kingsgrove didn’t slip. In fact they just kept on punching, 5-1 the final score as Pikemouth slumped to defeat against the Stallions. But Tailtiu Brennan’s side were still applauded off by the appreciative away fans, who she has decidedly won over. She was probably lucky to win Manager of the Year over Genova Conrad last season, and will probably feel a little aggrieved to lose it to her this time around in typical Brenecian fashion. Rozelle take second place, but make no mistake - this season belongs, yet again, to Kingsgrove.
CROWN CUP FINAL
The pattern of the semifinals was that they were all pretty low affairs, three 1-0 wins and a scoreless draw between weak A-League sides and Ridgeway United, who came bottom of the B-League. Unfortunately for onlookers, the pattern continues in the final. Constantine Champali makes a lot of bold talk about “victory here will define our season,” a season that has been pretty terrible, and he winds up failing to get it. In the 61st minute, in very fitting fashion, Jorm Vahn’s excellent hold-up play allows him to fight off almost the entire Star defence before laying the ball off to Rico Hemnes, who surges past them all and fires… straight at Cup goalkeeper Murphy Collins. Who spills it, and claws piteously at air as he tries and fails to get to it before Kara Ciogach can slip the rebound past him. It’s the goal this final deserves, and though Karuizawa almost makes a brilliant goal happen, connecting unmarked with a scorpion kick in injury time, it just goes into the sky.
Lotus Park 0 - 1 Southern Star
CEDC FINAL
Despite some uncertainty in the offseason as to the tournament’s organisational future, the CEDC did indeed go ahead, and Brenecian sides continued their recent domination of the tournament. Kingsgrove beat Filindo side Venividicci 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals, where both Brenecian sides faced Buyanese opposition in some fascinating matches. North Hall were carried by a spectacular 4-1 win away to Jottnar Kallsmudden, but were almost dragged back, trailing 3-1 at home by half-time but managing to keep the bloodletting to 3-2, winning 6-4 on aggregate. Kingsgrove, meanwhile, needed penalties to take out Pajukas Sport. The Southern Blue Lions and Perokojak were next in the semifinals, and while Kingsgrove came close to slipping yet again, an all-Brenecian final was the result.
It did not disappoint, a match high in quality that exhibited the power and skill of the rejuvenated A-League these days. Kingsgrove were excellent top to bottom, but North Hall’s defence kept them safe, with Harvey Joyce giving them life up front. But it was Kingsgrove who raced to an early lead, Evans able to pick out a hole in a stretched Northern defence at the end of a string of Royals dominance, and his pass that split them open. Isidra Corvey’s run was angled perfectly to get on the end of it, round Eamon Falconet and slip the first goal into the net. Turati’s strike rattled the post just 35 seconds later, but Kingsgrove’s lead reflected their early dominance. Still, the Northerners thought they could at least weather the further storm, right up until the unthinkable happened - they conceded from a set piece, Thornley Stray wrestling away from Turati to nod home Corvey’s corner into the net.
In the second half, Hall recovered, and fought back hard. A flying save from Winterfyll took care of a cushioned header from Turati that should be all rights have scored - frankly, the Drawkish striker may have had some sort of voodoo curse on her all day - before the unlikely source of Lucian Card pulled a goal back. It started with Winterfyll saving from Turati yet again, Joyce following up with a shot blocked desperately by Steve Fox, Fallon bundled over by Stray in chase of the ball but the referee calling a good advantage just in time for Card to slam the ball forward, taking a heavy deflection off Gray to fool an off-balance, still recovering Winterfyll. Just as North Hall built up momentum, however, a cocoabo streaker (well, technically - it was naked, in any case) bounded onto the pitch, dancing merrily around the pitch with twenty stewards or so chasing fruitlessly in its wake. North Hall's momentum was dead, a weary Kingsgrove given a chance to get their breath. And that, as it happened, was as good as it would get for the Northerners, though star-crossed striker Turati hit the post yet again in injury time, and despite the shaky defence of their title, Kingsgrove can be content with their double. After the match, Gabrielle Hourihane announces she’ll stay for one more season… and the fact that it follows Nepharim side Belgrave’s promotion to the Premiership, where former Kingsgrove reserves manager Meriadoc Griffiths resides, adds fuel to the fire of the rumours he’s set to succeed her at Kingsgrove. But does that really matter? Not in the short-term. For yet another year in their proud history, Kingsgrove are champions of Esportiva.
Kingsgrove 2 - 1 North Hall
GLOBE CUP FINAL
Some matches, meanwhile, just aren’t a Brenecian story to tell. It felt like Brenecian sides were facing TLW opposition constantly as they marched on internationally, and certainly for Russ Shorten’s unfancied Northerners the Globe Cup final represents a real achievement. Unfortunately, they couldn’t quite close it out, and a 1-0 defeat to Celtic Noviodunum in which they were simply flat up front was a crushing disappointment. Even so… they’ve shown the world the A-League is a force to be respected once again.
North Hall 0 - 1 Celtic Noviodunum
A-LEAGUE
Pos Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Kingsgrove 30 20 5 5 58 20 +38 65
2 Rozelle 30 18 7 5 52 27 +25 61
3 Pikemouth 30 18 7 5 49 26 +23 61
4 Northern Stallions 30 18 4 8 49 34 +15 58
5 North Hall 30 16 5 9 41 28 +13 53
6 Northern Union 30 12 8 10 40 31 +9 44
7 Chafford 30 11 8 11 23 28 -5 41
8 Marque 30 12 3 15 41 46 -5 39
9 Rozelle United 30 10 7 13 36 37 -1 37
10 Southern Star 30 10 5 15 41 48 -7 35
11 Westpike United 30 9 6 15 23 38 -15 33
12 Falkner United 30 9 5 16 35 51 -16 32
13 Snowden River 30 7 9 14 25 39 -14 30
14 Lotus Park 30 7 7 16 22 40 -18 28
15 Scaffield 30 7 6 17 29 54 -25 27
16 Rosbank Town 30 6 8 16 36 53 -17 26
AWARDS
Golden Boot (Goals Scored): Jackie Crawford (ROZ) - 18
Golden Ball (Player of the Year): Alora Heher (ROZ)
Golden Fist (New Player of the Year): Jackie Crawford (ROZ)
Golden Heart (U-21 Player of the Year): Morwen Prentice (WPU)
Team of the Year: Hoffmann (PKM); Karigomu (PKM), Giord (NTS), Gray (KNG), Holden (NTU); Heher (ROZ), Staunton (KNG), Joyce (NTH); Brasic (PKM), Crawford (ROZ), Corvey (KNG)
Manager of the Year: Genova Conrad (WPU)
B-LEAGUE
Pos Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Twin Saints 30 21 6 3 68 29 +39 69
2 Francisca Orient 30 16 10 4 43 21 +22 58
3 Swayback 30 16 7 7 53 32 +21 55
4 Westpike 30 16 5 9 39 24 +15 53
5 Proudcastle 30 15 4 11 33 25 +8 49
6 Gallant Cross 30 13 8 9 44 35 +9 47
7 Saint Alexander 30 12 10 8 29 23 +6 46
8 Southside Wanderers 30 12 6 12 35 30 +5 42
9 AFC Swanbridge 30 11 8 11 43 43 +0 41
10 Marque Rovers 30 11 3 16 30 49 -19 36
11 Chrysler Town 30 9 7 14 44 52 -8 34
12 Knightstone FC 30 9 4 17 34 53 -19 31
13 Guilder 30 6 11 13 27 41 -14 29
14 Stourhead 30 6 11 13 23 43 -20 29
15 Rozelle Alliance 30 6 6 18 33 56 -23 24
16 Ridgeway United 30 6 4 20 21 43 -22 22
C-LEAGUE
Pos Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Crest 30 21 5 4 60 31 +29 68
2 Finbar Stalwarts 30 20 7 3 60 15 +45 67
3 Pride of the South 30 18 5 7 69 28 +41 59
4 Mount Roland 30 12 14 4 39 21 +18 50
5 Fentonbridge 30 13 8 9 38 26 +12 47
6 Sharrow 30 13 6 11 39 33 +6 45
7 Spearcove Mariners 30 14 3 13 55 53 +2 45
8 Falkner Wanderers 30 12 6 12 37 43 -6 42
9 Northern Fist 30 10 6 14 46 56 -10 36
10 Southrons-Errant 30 10 6 14 44 57 -13 36
11 Rushden 30 9 7 14 40 60 -20 34
12 Shaleport Rangers 30 7 10 13 33 47 -14 31
13 Coppersmith 30 8 7 15 31 50 -19 31
14 Platwood 30 8 5 17 28 44 -16 29
15 Alexavale FC 30 6 9 15 31 64 -33 27
16 Glassfields 30 3 8 19 37 59 -22 17
D-LEAGUE
Pos Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Chafford Saracens 30 20 6 4 60 19 +41 66
2 Falkner Crescent 30 20 5 5 64 25 +39 65
3 Otter Ferry 30 17 4 9 53 45 +8 55
4 Randwick Town 30 14 11 5 46 23 +23 53
5 Razorback Hill 30 13 8 9 42 26 +16 47
6 Suttonstrand FC 30 14 4 12 36 53 -17 46
7 Pikemouth United 30 14 3 13 58 49 +9 45
8 Heathgrove 30 11 9 10 50 36 +14 42
9 Fisher Kings 30 12 5 13 33 46 -13 41
10 AFC Conomore 30 10 10 10 32 36 -4 40
11 Dannecliff Rovers 30 8 9 13 36 38 -2 33
12 Thrush 30 8 8 14 38 50 -12 32
13 AFC Cairnshore 30 9 4 17 42 55 -13 31
14 Brackford Rovers 30 5 11 14 22 43 -21 26
15 AFC East Coast 30 4 9 17 37 69 -32 21
16 Alnwick Glade 30 5 6 19 24 60 -36 21
Promoted: Silvershire Town, AFC Smallstreams