3 Points a Dream for MrJames

MrJames continued his impressive early work at Dream Team by leading them to a 2-0 win at home to promotion hopefuls wortley afc. With referee Redkard in his usual mood the first-half was a stop-start affair but, nevertheless, chances were created. Unfortunately, neither side was able to take them and the sides went in deadlocked at the interval. This changed quickly at the start of the second-half when a free-kick worked between Dudley Barrowcliff and Eric Ritchie ended with the latter netting past a bemused Jenning. With the home defence also in fine form wortley were struggling to find a breakthrough at the other end and you could visibly see DT grow in confidence. On 71 minutes they had the crucial second goal as Barrowcliff and Ritchie combined once more but this time it was Barrowcliff who would put the finishing touch to a clever breakaway move. This secured the three points for the hosts which is just their second win of the season but an infinite improvement on their lacklustre showings prior to MrJames’ appointment. He was rightly proud of his MOTR award and beemed that he has ‘changed (my) team around in two games.’ Despite the defeat wortley afc remain only two points from the top three and will be hopeful that this proves to be just a blip.

Another side under new management are Here For The Beer FC who put in a spirited second-half display to give Grey Area a fright before succumbing to a 3-2 home defeat. Grey Area themselves have been responding to new management ever since Carfin arrived and everything looked in place for a routine victory as they raced out of the blocks. Freddie Smit scored his first goal for the club since arriving from Totaal earlier in the season. His header on eleven minutes was added to a minute later when Diego Maradona shot home in the penalty area. The visitors were having the majority of the half and, although they gave up a couple of chances, they added to their lead on 33 minutes. A cross from Maradona was met firmly with his head by Roger Stride and this gave them a 3-0 half-time lead. The home side came out with nothing to lose after the break and it showed in their play. With possession stats moving in their favour they managed to create some openings as they looked for a way back in. Overcoming an injury to John Obi Mikel, HFTBFC were inspired by the brilliant performance of Michael Essien in midfield. The youngster put in an eight bar show of rare quality and capped it by setting up two late goals. His cross for Salamon Kalou to head in was out of the top drawer and he followed this by whipping in a corner for Didier Drogba to cause a few flutters in the visiting camp. It came too late to save the hosts but will surely give confidence to Howemiester that the young players might be worth persevering with. Carfin sees his side move to within seven points of the top three and cheekily asked reporters, ‘Do Grey Area have a shot at promotion?’ before smiling and walking away.

At the top of the table, Wandsworth continued on their merry way by defeating Glory Hornets 2-0 at home. They were able to snuff out much of the threat from a Hornets side who themselves only sit three points outside the promotion zone. An early goal from Ryan Prisk settled the home side into their rhythm; picking up a pass from Mudi he beat Rosbotham with the minimum of fuss. WFC had chances to extend their lead further in a solid first-half performance but couldn’t force the ball over the line and were also repelled by a fine defensive display by Raphael Dearden; the experienced man excelling in the face of a confident home team. The second goal eventually arrived, though, as the Hornets were breached early in the second-half. Prisk continued his busy game with a corner which was headed in by Samson Heskey. The 2-0 lead always looked too much for the Hornets to overcome and Mucca will want his side to improve in their next outing. WFC have now accumulated 37 points out of 39 and LotharIstvan can be very proud of his achievements thus far in his first RMI season.

These Charming Men bounced back from a defeat in their last outing by beating Portsmouth 2-0 at home. A Pompey side in need of leadership just about held their own in the first-half but still went in at the break trailing 1-0. The goal came on 39 minutes as Capdevilla brushed off attentions of the away midfield to slip a pass through to Chano Delgado. Without breaking stride the forward took the ball on before depositing it in the back of the net for a lead they would never look like losing. TCM came out in dominant mood after the break and pushed the visitors back, creating four good openings. They secured the win when they took one of their chances on 72 minutes. A corner by Henriques was headed home by J-J Galiano after he escaped any sort of marking by a confused visiting side. TCM move into second on the back of the three points and, while they remain a distant 12 points off Wandsworth, they will be hopeful of securing a promotion spot. Pompey are seeing their hopes vanish along with boss Lewis as a positive start to the season looks like coming to nothing.

Alsancak are in third after they withstood a strong opening 45 minutes from Glasgow City to finally defeat them 2-0 ay Shake Stadium. Glasgow managed to create four good chances in the first-half but couldn’t execute any of their finishes well enough to take the lead and had to watch as Alsancak scored with their only chance of the half. Stephen Julius whipped in a corner which the home defence couldn’t deal with and Albert Scully was on hand to knock the ball over the line. Alsancak appeared buoyed that they had withstood the best of what Glasgow could throw at them and came out strongly for the second-half. In a reversal of the first, the visitors created four chances to City’s one but unlike the first Alsancak would take one of their four. It came late on courtesy of a Julius free-kick but was more than enough to secure the three points. Wienersnitzel spoke of ‘another good win away from home’ but added he thought ‘this will be a season too early for’ them as far as promotion goes and won’t be going all out for it. City are a point further back and Moonboy5 will have promotion very much on his mind with the second-half of the season well underway.

Northwich Victoria and The Champs played out a goalless draw in the other Division Three match of the evening. The home side showed great character in putting an end to three successive defeats and will think they might have done enough to edge a win. The Champs, though, also had a couple of chances to edge it in an even second-half but will have to be happy with a point which sees them drop to fourth. The Champs news spoke of it being two ‘more points dropped’ rather than a point gained and they will look for a positive response against the Hornets next. Victoria will want to build on this promising performance in their remaining games as they prepare for next season.