Omer Go Down Battling

St Omer put in a determined performance as their relegation to Division One was, eventually, confirmed following a 1-1 draw with Santos FC. The first-half saw the majority of the chances but neither side, particularly, had their shooting boots on. Santos were dominating possession but couldn’t take their chances as Alshammar, Franca and Golkas all fluffed their lines. Omer had chances of their own with Beckett and Bruce being their culprits. Carlton Bruce, though, was given the opportunity to make amends following the award of a penalty by Will Takyabribe. Bruce stepped up confidently and made no mistake to give Omer the lead. The lead was to prove short-lived as Santos didn’t dwell on being behind. A free-kick, awarded four minutes later, led to Alshammar smashing it directly into the net to ensure parity going into the break. It could still have been better for the hosts as Richardo Ferrari beat the goalkeeper to his left but watched on in dismay as his shot came back off the post. The second-half saw the chances cut down, however, Santos had reason to feel aggrieved. Alshammar, once more, beat Frost in goal only for his effort to be wrongly disallowed due to an offside which never was. Omer held firm for a well-earned point and ConyTottee’s side will leave the division having made a lot of friends for the way they play the game. Sean7, meanwhile, has seen his side slip eight points off the title pace and they will need to be perfect from here on in to stand any chance of the title and even then it probably won’t be enough.

ThunderCats F.C dealt with a determined AC Milan side as they continued their march towards the RM Invitational title. The finishing of the sides in the opening 45 minutes was excellent as they combined to put away three out of the four chances created. Silvio Falcao put the hosts in front on 15 minutes as his long range shot proved too good for Speroni in the visiting goal. The Milan response was impressive to say the least as a minute later Elroy Burns produced his own cracker from distance which defeated Amarante. ThunderCats have shown all season, though, that they are a team who can deal with most situations and losing the lead didn’t faze them in the slightest. Indeed, on 19 minutes they had re-established themselves in the box seat. Leonardo Borja combined well with Izet Hadzic for the latter to put them 2-1 on top after a breathless opening twenty minutes. The second-half only had one opening as ThunderCats seemed happy to soak up Milan possession and attempt to hit them on the break. They did suffer a blow, despite coasting through the half, as Falcao received his marching orders from referee, Travis Tee and will now miss their next match. However, with Meelas’ side now sitting seven points clear of their nearest rival they shouldn’t be too fazed by Falcao’s absence. Indeed, the title will be just rewards for a side who have been there or thereabouts in every season since the RM Invitational began. Milan, meanwhile, have it all to do at the other end as they have fallen into the relegation zone following the defeat. MarkieRich will keep his side calm, though, as they realise one win could see them move up several places such is the tightness from sixth-place down.

AFC Stanley are ThunderCats' nearest challenger following a 3-0 win at Reggae Reggae Sauce. Stanley were at it right from the start as they put Sauce to the sword in a dominant display. A fourth minute free-kick from Matts Wallman set the tone for the afternoon as Stanley attacked Sauce. The visitors opened up the home defence four times in the opening 45 minutes and duly added a second goal on 18 minutes. Olli Kaskinen produced some excellent wing play before centring for Alan Martindale to head home and leave Sauce with a mountain to climb. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the away side, though, as they had to make do without Mitchell Arkwright who went off injured on 22 minutes. This injury wasn’t to alter the course of the game which continued to see Stanley the much more progressive unit. They capped the win on 74 minutes as Martindale added his second goal of the match, this time connecting well from distance to deceive Reggae-Sauce in goal. Despite the win, Markham33 conceded the title to ThunderCats before stating that his main concern now ‘is to get as many players up to 100% match experience’ as possible. Reggae Reggae Sauce have dropped to eighth following their latest defeat and their poor run will be causing concern to Xpertelevener with just a point keeping them from the bottom three.

Yorkshires Amateurs helped themselves to a crucial win as they took advantage of Marseille’s lack of cohesion with a 2-1 away success. Amateurs were the major player in the game as Marseille couldn’t come to terms with their attacking 3-4-3 style. The Yorkshire side had as good as wrapped the game up in the first twenty minutes as they struck twice without reply to leave the hosts staring down the barrel once more. Their first goal came from classy defender, Vince Brightwell, who struck a perfect free-kick past Rossell in goal. Their second followed twelve minutes later and, again, Brightwell had a major say in it. Finding himself in unfamiliar territory on the wing he wasn’t fazed and delivered a fine cross from which Kit Bigelow beat the defenders to the ball to find the net from close range. Amateurs had further chances in the half but couldn’t add to their tally. The second-half saw the Amateurs appear content to knock the ball around without really going in search of more goals. As it was it would be the home side who would score the only goal of the half. It came from a free-kick involving Sid Peyton and Jonathan Boulding and ended with the latter finding the net. It never threatened to bring them back into the game and while they look doomed the three points send the Yorkshire side into sixth. Manager, Danlufc13 spoke of being ‘very happy with the result’ and hoped his side would be ‘more consistent’ as they look for safety.

Tranmere Rovers were also big winners down at the bottom end as they defeated Hun Haters 3-1 at Prenton Park. It was nothing more than they deserved as they put in a display of attacking intent which left Hun Haters wanting. Tranmere opened the scoring on six minutes as Akinlabi Iwelumo headed home an Aaron Armfied corner. Despite creating the majority of chances, though, Tranmere were to find themselves pegged back on 24 minutes as Dougie Gunn found himself unmarked from a corner to shoot past Larkin. Almost immediately Hun suffered a blow as Iain Emery was forced off with a knock and he took with him a lot of Haters’ cutting-edge. Tranmere eventually got the advantage their first-half play merited as, from another corner, Zack Whittall rose highest to beat a stranded Boruc. With the lead fuelling their confidence the home side held firm in the second-half while creating three good chances. They put a bit of gloss on the score after 86 minutes as the ever-reliable Joe Urpani netted from distance to cap a successful day. The win moves Baz’s side onto 24 points, two clear of Celticchris’ Haters but both will know they have lots of work to do if they want to play RM Invitational football next season.

Totaalvoetbal and F.C. Greatness played out a 1-1 draw in a game with not a lot riding on it other than match experience. Greatness suffered an early blow as Martinus Benfari suffered an injury and their woes were to increase as the hosts took the lead. Shirsh Vajpayee was the hero for the home side as he rose well to meet a Richie Chalmers corner and power a header past Rachao. The second-half saw Fabrizio Colluato follow Benfari off the pitch with an injury. Both sides were looking dangerous in attack and went close to adding to the one goal in the game. It would be Greatness, though, who would get the second goal. Youngster Mario Balotelli was the scorer as he met an Arnaldo Sifredi cross expertly to defeat Keizer and ensure a share of the spoils. Darrencalvert spoke of it being a ‘good game’ and called Balotelli a ‘super-teen’ as he looks forward to seeing his prize asset develop. Robin Meeblind, meanwhile, was speaking about the all-important ‘match experience’ and it being ‘much more important than results’ at this stage.