Town Top Warriors

Morley Town kept in touch with the early season pace-setters with a 3-2 home win over Wiltshire Warriors. They had to survive a couple of early scares to do so as Robert Merson fired over and Wade Fairchild had a goal disallowed for offside for the visitors. Morley would soon find their touch after this and raced into a two-goal lead. The goals would come from two headers as Florian Arnautu flicked one home and Christopher Love then netted with a more powerful effort. Despite the shock of finding themselves behind, Wiltshire were still looking very dangerous and quickly pulled one back. Bob Black was the scorer as he found some space in which to curl a powerful long range shot into the net. Martyn Stamford then nearly put past his own ‘keeper as Morley rocked somewhat and they also had an injury to Ionel Traian to contend with. Angres Kafka did go close with a free-kick for them, though, as the game continued to progress at a serious pace. Arnautu would be the next to miss a chance before Morley doubled their lead once again. Again, it would come from a header as Love rose highest to place an accurate effort beyond Hogg and into the goal. Munzberg had two chances to further extend the lead but one header went just over while Hogg comfortably held his other attempt. It was Wiltshire then who would show their resilience again. A Black cross was met with a stunning diving header from Craig Elliott and a breathtaking first-half had its perfect ending. What followed next was somewhat anti-climactic as the second-half produced no further chances. While remaining tense, neither side could find that edge to their attacking play and it was Morley who would emerge with the points thanks to the opening half drama. Leeg21 has his side nicely placed in fourth and after ‘waiting until a minute before kick-off to reveal the tactics’ he might have found a way to get the best out of his players. Big K will be wanting his side to get back to winning ways quickly after seeing his side lose their last two matches. With his side scoring goals there might be a lot of defensive effort going into the training ground this week.

Just above Morley are Dream Team who put in a professional display to defeat Alsancak 2-0 at Mosquito Alley. The home side did start out quite brightly with Gabriel Baldwin getting a free-kick on target only for Williamson to gather in goal. Rinaldo Lupatelli responded with a free-kick of his own for DT but he couldn’t hit the target. They would, however, hit the front shortly afterwards as Gianmarco Siligardi completed a breakaway move with a well-placed finish. Lupatelli would complete a good period of the game for the visitors when he lobbed Cirkovic to make it 2-0 on 26 minutes although they did suffer a blow with an injury to Paul Ghigo. Lupatelli forced Cirkovic into a save during the early stages of the second-half as Dream Team looked to put the game to bed. John Burston would waste Alsancak’s only chance of the half as they struggled to make an impact and further efforts from Siligardi and Warren Dillin narrowly failed to give Dream Team a bigger win. MrJames has manoeuvred his side into third and they look well set to have a run at promotion this season. Wienersnitzel will be focusing his side on maintaining their form so their improvement will be significant enough to compete in future seasons.

Carthage continue to look the real deal at the top of the league; their latest success being a 5-0 home victory over Glory Hornets. They enjoyed the perfect start to the match as Rhys Gregson lobbed over Rosbotham in the very first minute to open the scoring. Although Lionel Monk nearly equalised in striking the post at the other end the match would end up a one-sided affair. Gregson had another effort well-saved by the ‘keeper before Carthage doubled their lead before half-time. Marcus Spillane would benefit from some neat approach play to slot past Rosbotham and give the hosts a big boost before the break. It was 3-0 on 54 minutes with a well directed Marcus Spillane header; something Eric Fray couldn’t match as he headed wide moments later. The fourth goal would arrive courtesy of a brilliant lob by Gregson and the rout was completed by a looping Ad Herbal header as the game approached injury-time. Blakey looks to have all boxes ticked at the moment as his side are in super form, scoring lots of goals and are tight defensively. GregPerkins will want his side to use Carthage as a role-model as they look to move up the table in the coming weeks.

The Champs sit in second following a 2-1 home win over Southampton. Two early goals proved the key to success in a closely fought encounter. The Champs would come racing out of the blocks with a third minute goal courtesy of a header by Isac Duveborn. Saints had an instant response but Jim Hotte couldn’t get the necessary accuracy on his lob and they would soon find themselves 2-0 behind. Leigh Ellefson proved a torment to the visitors and his pass found Jeff Speakman who, in turn, found the net with a beautifully curled long range strike. The visitors might have felt somewhat aggrieved by the score as they were looking threatening themselves. They were rewarded when Benos Hardinho headed home to halve the deficit. Kyle Lang might even have equalised moments later but his powerful header wasn’t directed well enough and they would go in a goal behind. The second-half remained tight until a couple of late chances materialised; Duveborn missing his chance to seal the game for The Champs before Andres Iniesta hit the crossbar with a chip in injury-time for the Saints. This piece of misfortune seems to sum up their season to date but they can draw confidence from the fact that they are competing strongly against every team. Wylie has navigated his side through the first six games unbeaten and their experience means they are unlikely to falter.

Arsenal put in a precise attacking performance to beat Grey Area 4-2 at Doon The Park. Although Hilario Tostao had put an effort wide for them early on they would have to come from behind due to some less than impressive defending. Humberto Sobrinho inexplicably knocked the ball at speed towards his own net and took Burchell by surprise in goal to gift Area a 1-0 lead. Tostao had a further effort go close as did Huntley with a lob as Arsenal increased their attacking intensity. GA would suffer a major blow on 27 minutes as Stigsson had to go off injured and they were lucky to survive efforts from Tostao and Sobrinho which were only denied by the woodwork. Incredibly, Winston Freestone would double the home side’s lead with a diving header on 39 minutes as it looked like Arsenal would pay for missed chances. However, an Ivo Daniel header before half-time halved the deficit and gave the visitors fresh impetus going. Christian Ros fired an early shot wide at the beginning of the second-half as Arsenal signalled their intent. Moments later they would be level as Shmal Sarzil fired in from a tight angle and they might have taken the lead but Tostao again found the post in his way. Sobrinho and Daniel both missed the target with efforts but Tostao would finally put the visitors in front with an accurate header on 67 minutes. The same player forced Kerrigan into a save moments later but Area did try to respond and had Rossall go close from distance. Sarzil sealed the game in injury-time with a powerful shot following a corner and Area would fail in their bid for a consolation when Isolini saw his shot punched away by Burchell. DomBrown was obviously pleased with what he called ‘a good away win’ and he will no doubt want to build on this in the coming weeks. Trecool will try and pick the positives out of this performance when he tries to lift his players for their next match against Alsancak although the loss of Stigsson might be a big worry for the new boss.

Another side maintaining their decent start to the season were wortley who ran out 2-1 winners at Spartans. Brandon Hiller went close to giving them a fast start with a curled effort which went just over. He would give them the lead on 17 minutes, though, as he toe-poked a corner over the line as the home defence failed to react. Spartans were then rocked by an injury to Gago and might have been further behind but Bowey’s effort missed by inches. The home side would then hit wortley with a sucker-punch as Alexandre Pato shot home in the penalty area just before half-time with what was their first chance of the game. Nevertheless, wortley began the second-half on the front foot although Santos couldn’t make a free-kick opportunity count. They nearly paid for this as Ezquiel Garay hit the post with a free-kick and Pato once more went close. The visitors regained the initiative moments later and forced two quick chances of their own. Curt Pryor saw his header palmed away by Neuer before Hiller shot wide. It would be Hiller who would eventually win the game for the visitors as he shot home in the penalty area on 88 minutes but there was further drama at the other end. Garay was given the opportunity to equalise from the spot on 92 minutes but he saw Cal Jenning pull off a super stop and send wortley home with the three points. While Tommysayshii might have been disappointed with the eventual result he will have seen plenty of pluses in a competitive performance. Thegreatlordbags, meanwhile, will be pleased with where his side are placed at this stage of the season and will expect them to carry on in the same fashion.