Wortley Woe for Wandsworth

Wandsworth FC finally succumbed to their first defeat as an RM Invitational football club as they were undone by a Matty Heath goal at wortley. With wortley still vying for promotion it was vital they picked up something from the game with their rivals winning elsewhere. The goal came early in the piece as Heath picked up a pass from Salomao Godiz before lobbing Heckingbottom from some way out. In truth, Wandsworth were slow out of the blocks as they began mistiming challenges to accompany their one-goal deficit. Rowley Forrester was booked for one such challenge which saw Walter Willock injured. The good news for home fans being that it wasn’t reported to be too serious an injury. Wandsworth did force a couple of chances in an otherwise tight first-half but Ryan Prisk hadn’t brought his shooting boots with him and failed to hit the target on either occasion. The beginning of the second-half nearly saw wortley double their advantage as Brandon Hiller crashed a free-kick off the bar. They needn’t have worried, though, as with Darcy Hording hopelessly misdirecting a shot it was clear it wasn’t going to be Wandsworth’s day. The win keeps wortley within two points of the promotion places and such a performance can only boost them going into the final four matches. Wandsworth still need a point to confirm the title and will want to erase this defeat from their psyche before a table-topping clash with These Charming Men.

These Charming Men warmed up for that particular match with a hard-fought 1-0 win of their own over Glory Hornets. The home side had a contrasting start to the game as they suffered an injury to Jon Turnball before forcing a couple of early chances. Chano Delgado missed the target with his effort and Constantino Gris crashed an effort off the bar as the Hornets held on. Indeed, the Hornets had a hard-luck tale of their own as Lionel Monk did the same thing with a powerfully curled shot as the sides went in level at the break. The second-half was a slow-burner as a Tord Jakobson free-kick in the 53rd minute flashed over and preceded a period of uneventful play. The breakthrough came somewhat out of the blue in the 78th minute. A breakaway move of real pace led to Juan-Jose Galiano lobbing Rosbotham to give the hosts a crucial advantage. It would be an advantage they would hold as the Hornets missed their chance when Eliott Malloy fired off-target while they also suffered an injury to Raphael Dearden to cap a frustrating day. These Charming Men remain four points clear of fourth but RDCM warned that ‘the promotion spots are still there for the chasing pack to catch’ ahead of their big clash with Wandsworth. Glory Hornets are now eight points back of third and, with games running out, it would appear a promotion place is just out of reach.

Alsancak F.C kept a hold of third-place with an expected win at Here For The Beer FC. Alsancak put in a devastating opening half of football to put themselves out of sight by the interval. This would come after the sides traded early goals. On twelve minutes Kenny Acton headed home from a corner only for Terrance Maxfield to find the net from range two minutes later. Maxfield then caused further damage to the visiting side by injuring Duncan Lumsden with a wreckless challenge. This seemed to serve as inspiration for the visitors, though, as they scored four goals in a blistering ten-minutes spell. It was to be Acton who would inspire the spell of football as he scored two goals to complete his hat-trick and set-up another in a brilliant individual display. He found space from a corner on 25 minutes to restore the visitor’s lead before sliding though Deano Elmes three minutes later for his fellow forward to stretch the lead to 3-1. Elmes then returned the favour a minute later by feeding Acton who finished with some aplomb. The home side were under siege by this point and it came as no surprise when the fifth goal came, courtesy of a Nana Adella header after a Max Jerkyll corner. The second-half was a non-event in comparison to the first but Alsancak still maintained control. They did this despite suffering a late sending-off as Samuel del Valle received his marching orders. To cap off the home side’s misery, Alsancak even managed another goal while they were down to 10-men as Adella added his second of the game in similar fashion to his first, by heading in a corner. Despite remaining in third with a two-point cushion over wortley, Wienersnitzel explained to reporters that they were going to ‘run the risk of not getting promotion in favour of match experience.’ Time will tell whether they are able to pull both off. Here For The Beer FC, meanwhile, continue their excruciating season with the mercy being it only has two weeks left to run.

Glasgow City defeated The Champs 2-1 to leave both sides six points off the promotion pace with four games to go. City had the perfect start when Izuki Ito deposited a penalty awarded by Constance Paine. Their lead did briefly disappear just before the half-hour mark as, following good work from Randy Alker, Bruce Collinge found a finish too accurate for Longton to stop. However, City were still playing well and had their lead restored just four minutes later as Petrus Normqvist and Dan Parkinson broke from the midfield for the latter to find the net with a cool finish. Glasgow could have added more goals in the first-half but wasted up to four other chances as their final touch often let-down their progressive approach play. The Champs, for their part, did do their utmost to get back into the game after the break but couldn’t find the clear-cut chance which might have given them the leveller. The result leaves Wylie and Moonboy both looking for the other promotion chasers to slip-up as they sit six points behind. The Champs can change the face of the battle in the next match, though, as they meet wortley in a must-win encounter for Wylie’s side.

Grey Area put in a solid performance as they defeated Wiltshire Warriors 3-1 at Doon The Park. Pressing Wiltshire back for large periods of the first-half, Grey Area managed to create six chances while netting two of them. Their first goal came on 30 minutes as a Norman Cederhag cross was met by a quality header from Diego Maradona. The same combination put the hosts 2-0 up as Cederhag set Maradona up from a free-kick as the young forward netted his sixth goal of the season. The Warriors were a much improved side after the break as Big K sought an improvement. They did, briefly, threaten to produce a stunning comeback as Steven Milford connected with a Bob Black corner to halve the deficit. Their hopes, though, were killed off by one of their own players. Wade Fairchild inadvertently put the ball past his own ‘keeper on 77 minutes to restore the two-goal advantage for Grey Area and deliver them the three points. The win will have come as a boost to Carfin who was busy restructuring his squad before last night’s transfer deadline. The big news was the signing of Herbert Stigsson from Totaalvoetbal with Carfin explaining that ‘the young lad has a bright future ahead of him.’ Big K stated that ‘sloppy goals’ had cost his team but expected to right the wrong against Here For The Beer in their next match.

Dream Team continued to show promise of a brighter future as they defeated Northwich Victoria 2-0 at Victoria stadium. They dominated possession and chances from the start as they looked, by far, the superior outfit. Dream Team took the lead on 16 minutes as Kenneth Caster headed in a Dudley Barrowcliff cross to punish some slack marking. They had further chances but couldn’t add to their one-goal lead during a first-half which saw both sides lose players to niggling injuries. The second-half saw the visitors step up their attacking intent but, again, some lacklustre finishing and some inspired ‘keeping from Sigurdsen kept the score respectable. Barrowcliff did, eventually, add a second goal, though, as he let fly from distance to deceive the cat and give them a deserved added cushion. Seeing his side climb into tenth, MrJames was in a happy mood and plotting his route through the RMI by declaring that sides can ‘expect me in the top divisions in a few seasons time.’ Northwich remain disappointing considering the obvious talent of their young manager MadMagpie.