Kings put in Royal Performance

Kroklund Kings produced the standout performance in Division Two of the RM as they saw off White Hawk FC 2-1. With the visitors only being beaten once in their history Kroklund put together a stunning performance which resulted in three deserved points. Despite putting together a very good opening 45 minutes Kroklund did go behind. Charly Chan Jet Soe headed in a corner on 32 minutes to put White Hawk in front but, on this day, the Kings would not be denied. Bosse Bong fired in from distance to draw them level before they found the winning goal in the second-half. Tapani Visavuori finally managed to open his account for the home team with a perfect header on 75 minutes. The victory saw Kroklund replace White Hawk in the top three and with the home side remaining undefeated it now remains to be seen whether they can transform this good early season form into a sustained promotion challenge. White Hawk will want to respond as they did when they last suffered a loss, by going on another unbeaten run.

Kensington Boys Club remained in the driver’s seat in the division by beating Southampton on Hardinho’s first game back as manager. The first-half was an even contest as both sides seemed in fine form; Kensington obviously feeling confident due to their great start to the season and the Southampton side buoyed by the second coming of Hardinho. Kensington struck first when Cameron Nowell netted his third goal of the season from inside the area. As so often is the case when Southampton need inspiration they look to midfielder Aaron Winder and he wasn’t to disappoint here. Confidently stepping up for a free-kick he fired past Gardiner to ensure the sides would go in level. Kensington proved much tighter after the break and Southampton were unable to penetrate a well-drilled unit. The home side themselves created a couple of chances and, from one, they were to find the winner. Eustace Bayley stole in to head home an accurate cross from Harry Whitlow to give the home side three valuable points. Home boss Patrik exclaimed himself ‘pleased with the result’ and went on to praise Hardinho as ‘a great manager and a good man.’ Hardinho himself will be pleased to get his return out of the way so he can now concentrate on building his side once more.

Real Madrid were comfortable 2-0 winners over Internazionale but the score could have been far more embarrassing for the visitors if Madrid had their shooting boots on. After a quiet opening half, Real Madrid began to cut through their visitors with ease in the second-half. Strangely, it took an own-goal from Bert Keith to finally make the breakthrough for the home side after 68 minutes. Stephanie Ernst was the one Madrid player who would get his name on the scoreboard after finishing a corner delivered by Aren Garabedian. Joel Weymouth was sent-off for the visitors to complete their unhappy trip but Jamesmclaughlin may have been relieved to escape with only a 2-0 defeat. FredRizzo was frustrated despite the win saying they ‘clearly need to work on our finishing.’

Carthage FC continued their recovery from a shaky start to the season with a 2-1 victory at Charlottenburg FC. It was to be the home side who would make the better start as they largely controlled the first 45 minutes. Despite an injury to Paul Scholes they went in front on the stroke of half-time through the ever reliable Teddy Sheringham. From that point onwards, though, it was to be Carthage who would be the more progressive team. Creating a number of second-half chances Carthage were finally level when Amin Mansourian struck from a set-piece. With Charlottenburg still trying to recover Carthage swiftly struck again to increase the pain. Ryan Gregson was the beneficiary of some slack home defending as he shot home in the penalty area. The result sees the sides level on 6 points after the opening four games and both Potsdamerplatz and Blakey0500 will be wanting to focus on the upper reaches of Division Two.

Belly Tubbies secured their first victory of the season with a 2-1 win over Morley Town F.C. The victory was all the more impressive as they had to come from behind following a strong first-half showing from Town. Creating the better chances Morley had the opening goal on 20 minutes through Florian Arnautu’s header. Morley inexplicably seemed to sit back on their lead in the second-half and were made to pay as Belly Tubbies kept them pinned back for long periods. Lucius Burchell fired in from distance to level proceedings and when Andras Boloni scored from inside the area the comeback was complete. Leeg21 bemoaned his side’s ‘awful defending’ and state that the only positive was ‘breaking their duck in front of goal.’ Despite the win Belly Tubbies boss Fitzy explained that their poor start ‘has started a cull’ which will result in bringing younger players in who will be allowed to ‘develop at their own rate.’

The other game in the division saw a 0-0 draw between AJ Rovers and Los Samgeles Kings at AJR Arena. With both sides proving difficult to beat this season the stalemate came as no surprise to fans or pundits alike. An injury to Gregory Rowling proved to be the main talking point of the first-half as Rovers struggled to make their superiority count. Los Samgeles were to be the better side in the second-half but also could not find the breakthrough. Both sides will be keen to pick up wins in the next few games so to put themselves in promotion contention rather than be looking over their shoulders.