National League Division 1 - Matchday 31
Tout-Puissant Hasiera 3–0 Eletti Valligiani
Artiglieria 1–2 Oljestaden IF
Shamrock Cathair 2–1 Silexhera FC
Cazadores Cathair 2–4 AC Izotz Zubia
KT Moreazerua 0–1 1830 Cathair
Shamrock keep up the pace with victory over Silexhera, again with Crewe and Le Quellec on the scoresheet, while Cathair overcome Mozi in a tense encounter at the Ibarretako Estadioa with Wínrôuge grabbing the only goal of the game.
Caza versus Zozi is undoubtedly the match of the weekend, and it's the away side who come away victorious, inspired by a mercurial Laborious Hawk who scores two and provides for Auðbjörnsson and substitute Paul Calvez for a vital 4-2 victory.
National League Division 1 - Matchday 32
Eletti Valligiani 0–1 KT Moreazerua
1830 Cathair 3–1 Cazadores Cathair
AC Izotz Zubia 0–1 Shamrock Cathair
Silexhera FC 3–5 Artiglieria
Oljestaden IF 0–0 Tout-Puissant HasieraNational League Division 1 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 1830 Cathair 32 18 3 11 54 36 +18 57
2 Shamrock Cathair 32 15 9 8 60 51 +9 54
3 AC Izotz Zubia 32 15 7 10 55 36 +19 52
4 Cazadores Cathair 32 15 7 10 53 47 +6 52
5 Tout-Puissant Hasiera 32 11 9 12 48 51 -3 42
6 Oljestaden IF 32 10 11 11 48 51 -3 41
7 KT Moreazerua 32 9 10 13 48 60 -12 37
8 Artiglieria 32 8 11 13 60 71 -11 35
9 Silexhera FC 32 7 13 12 49 58 -9 34
10 Eletti Valligiani 32 9 6 17 25 39 -14 33
Cazadores Cathair's title ambitions take two huge blows as, over the course of a week, they lose 4-2 at home to Zozi and are soundly beaten away to title rivals 1830 Cathair, for whom Ignacio Borjon is the star of the show, creating all three of 1830's goals. Caza side drop from first to fourth after a shocking winless run. Cross-town rivals 1830 Cathair eke out a 1-0 victory away at Moreazerua to take first place with a three point gap over this season's surprise package Shamrock Cathair. Cammers's Shammers shade a huge six-pointer in Izotzazubia (Alexander Crewe with the goal, once more) to go second by two points, three off the lead, with only four games left to play, the first against their capital rivals, and fellow title hopefuls, 1830 Cathair.
At the bottom, Artiglieria's 5-3 victory over Silexhera leapfrogs them over their opponents and into eighth place, from the bottom, with Eletti Valligiani once again falling to the basement. Mozi's victory over EV puts a little daylight between them and that relegation playoff place, but it's not enough to recapture the imagination of the fans, who have largely stayed away during another disappointing season.
National League Division 1 - Matchday 33
Oljestaden IF 1–0 Eletti Valligiani
Tout-Puissant Hasiera 0–0 Silexhera FC
Artiglieria 3–4 AC Izotz Zubia
Shamrock Cathair 5–4 1830 Cathair
Cazadores Cathair 1–0 KT Moreazerua
Shamrock Cathair 5, 1830 Cathair 4. It's a match for the ages. A 3-1 half-time lead for the Elders, scored through Ceballos, Shinra and Szubanski, is pegged back to 3-2 early in the second through Crewe, grabbing his brace for the game. Alpha Gandhi gets his name on the scoresheet for the fifth time this season to make it 4-2, but Shamrock's reply is swift, halving the gap through a John Snodgrass header and equalising on sixty-five minutes with Jerquaad crossing low and hard for Carles Gorgas to sweep home. Shamrock, buoyed by a home side that, themselves, can barely believe they're doing this, pile on the pressure, with Rohan Cammers screaming instructions and throwing bits of paper everywhere in excitement. Rodger Mariezkurrena's goal on eighty four minutes sends the home fans into raptures as they go joint top of the league. Dragan Kryznjak, in the 1830 Cathair dugout, is sent off for throwing bits of paper around. The only difference between his expression of anger and Cammers's expression of excitement is that the Audioslavian had scrunched up his pieces of paper and thrown them at the fourth official.
Sunday's game sees Zozi keep pace, but they themselves needed some last minute heroics from Auðbjörnsson, who grabs a late brace to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 'We're gonna win the league!' cry the Zozi fans in their unintelligible language. They might wel be on the way to doing that.
Cazadores, of course, are still in there, beating Mozi by a solitary Olimpia Vidal goal to nil. Chromatik striker Vidal, though overshadowed by Desya Kuznetsov, has been getting the goals when required. Caza are not out of this one yet.
National League Division 1 - Matchday 34
Eletti Valligiani 0–3 Cazadores Cathair
KT Moreazerua 1–2 Shamrock Cathair
1830 Cathair 1–1 Artiglieria
AC Izotz Zubia 3–2 Tout-Puissant Hasiera
Silexhera FC 1–1 Oljestaden IFNational League Division 1 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Shamrock Cathair 34 17 9 8 67 56 +11 60
2 AC Izotz Zubia 34 17 7 10 62 41 +21 58
3 1830 Cathair 34 18 4 12 59 42 +17 58
4 Cazadores Cathair 34 17 7 10 57 47 +10 58
5 Oljestaden IF 34 11 12 11 50 52 -2 45
6 Tout-Puissant Hasiera 34 11 10 13 50 54 -4 43
7 KT Moreazerua 34 9 10 15 49 63 -14 37
8 Silexhera FC 34 7 15 12 50 59 -9 36
9 Artiglieria 34 8 12 14 64 76 -12 36
10 Eletti Valligiani 34 9 6 19 25 43 -18 33
A last-ditch goal from Yohan Millar against ten-man Moreazerua sends shockwaves through Audioslavian football, as Shamrock Cathair... Shamrock Cathair Though... go two points clear with two games to play. Cathair can't recover from last week's bitter blow in time for their next game against Artiglieria in which the strugglers manage to hold on for a share of the points after John Revelwer's equaliser on 50 minutes in a Cathair-dominated game. Zozi and Cazadores, who have both caught up to the capital club with two wins over their two games, complete a four-way shitfight for the league title with, and this bears repeating, Shamrock Cathair in pole position. Shamrock Cathair Though
At the bottom, Ariglieria's point and Silexhera's draw agai... no. Sorry. Shamrock Cathair Though. Audioslavia can't. We just can't.
National League Division 1 - Matchday 35
Silexhera FC 0–0 Eletti Valligiani
Oljestaden IF 0–2 AC Izotz Zubia
Tout-Puissant Hasiera 1–3 1830 Cathair
Artiglieria 0–1 KT Moreazerua
Shamrock Cathair 3–1 Cazadores CathairNational League Division 1 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Shamrock Cathair 35 18 9 8 70 57 +13 63
2 AC Izotz Zubia 35 18 7 10 64 41 +23 61
3 1830 Cathair 35 19 4 12 62 43 +19 61
4 Cazadores Cathair 35 17 7 11 58 50 +8 58
5 Oljestaden IF 35 11 12 12 50 54 -4 45
6 Tout-Puissant Hasiera 35 11 10 14 51 57 -6 43
7 KT Moreazerua 35 10 10 15 50 63 -13 40
8 Silexhera FC 35 7 16 12 50 59 -9 37
9 Artiglieria 35 8 12 15 64 77 -13 36
10 Eletti Valligiani 35 9 7 19 25 43 -18 34
Zozi and Cathair both win away on the Saturday to temporarily take the lead in the title race, but the biggest match is the Capital Derby on Sunday in which Shamrock take on Cazadores in a match wherein the loser is all but out of the title race. Cazadores take the lead via Olimpia Vidal, but Shamrock are the team in the ascendancy and goals from Carles Gorgas and Conrad Edmond propel Shammers to within two points of the title with one game left to play. With Zozi and Cathair both at home against lower-table sides, only a victory on the final day of the season, away to Eletti Valligiani, will give Shamrock Cathair their first ever national championship.
Defeated Cazadores are out of the title race and can only hope and pray that one of Zozi or Cathair lose on the final day so they can jump into the UICA Champions Cup positions. As it stands, it's thursday-night Globe Cup footy for the boys (and girls) in blood red.
Oljestaden, despite their early season problems, are up to a nosebleed inducing fifth place in the league. Ivan Haarstad's insistence on his ridiculous 3-1-5-1 formation appears to have somehow paid off. Imagine what they could have done if they'd had even one good forward?