Crouch Gives Vikings Big Win

The Vikings won an important clash with Kensington Boys Club to move back into the top three and into the thick of the promotion race. The Vikings would net from their very first chance as Colin Crouch curled in a beautiful long range shot to give them a 17th minute lead. Justin Portway narrowly failed to make it 2-0 with a header before Alfie Whitley had KBC’s first chance but his header was easily held by Raasch. Raasch then made a more theatrical save to deny Aubrey de Vere’s lob and the score would remain 0-1 at half-time. Niles Worthington thought he had put KBC level but the goal was disallowed for offside before their woes got worse with the sending-off of de Vere for simulation. The Vikings would hold the upper hand for the remainder of the game with Justin Portway hitting home a half-volley for the second goal before he flicked a header over in injury-time. It wasn’t to matter, though, as The Vikings recorded an important three points after Eaglesrjh had openly admitted that he ‘only thought a draw was likely.’ Patrik’s KBC are still handily placed but their next match against Kirkbride now takes on added importance.

Manchester United remained on top but they had to battle hard to defeat a much-improved Reggae Reggae Sauce 2-1 at Sauce Bottle Arena. Indeed, the home side might have taken an early lead but Stefano Counago’s shot struck a post and the visitors survived. United had their first chance on 25 minutes but Aisha Abdul-Malik headed off-target. The home side immediately responded with a Fernando Ronaldo header but it failed to test the ‘keeper and they would fall behind to a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick at the other end. Sauce responded well at the start of the second-half and levelled through an excellently placed header by Timotei Orasan. United responded well to this setback, though, and Karim Benzema re-established their lead with a fine header while he was unlucky not to make it 3-1 as his low shot struck a post. Benzema was on fire at this point and hit another shot wide as did Abdul-Malik as the pressure increased. Taylor then had to be on hand to save from a Ronaldo header but Sauce did try and respond with an Orasan volley which needed saving. United might have added a third in injury-time but Gibson shot straight at Taylor although it ultimately wouldn’t matter to the result. United enjoy a four point lead at the head of the table and keep grinding out excellent results. Xpertelevener will surely be heartened by this display after admitting they have ‘been very poor recently.’

Villarreal CF sit in second spot after a confident 5-0 home victory over St Omer. Jonathan Boulding opened the scoring on five minutes with an opportunist toe-poke finish. Cony Tottee then made matters worse for the visitors by putting through his own goal a minute later and Postdam Erplatz then had an effort saved as the pressure continued. Johnny Douglas had lobbed over before Bernardo Almeida scored the third goal from the penalty spot on 19 minutes. Joe Radley gave Omer some brief respite but his chip went over and it was 4-0 thanks to a header from Douglas. The fifth arrived courtesy of Erplatz with a cool finish when one-on-one and that completed a super first-half performance by the promotion hopefuls. The second-half was a non-event as Omer battled hard to make sure the score would remain the same. Cony Tottee will have been pleased with this response after a difficult first-half and they will be even happier to see the change report looming on the horizon. Cathal, meanwhile, admits his side ‘are definite contenders for promotion’ but admitted that ‘it will be hard to get any sort of result’ out of their match with United.

Kirkbride Strollers dropped out of the top three as they were defeated 1-0 at AJ Rovers. The first-half was an incredibly tight affair with no chances of note but proved an intriguing battle nevertheless. The game would open up after the break and Morgan Deane gave Rovers a priceless lead from the penalty spot on 54 minutes. The Strollers saw Mike Bell have an effort stopped by Morell before El Lapinho’s cheeky back-heel went over the bar. Daniel Tabaranu was unfortunate not to extend the home side’s advantage but his lob smacked off the angle of post and bar and the game remained in the balance. The Strollers had one final chance to pinch a point but El Lapinho put his shot wide and the points belonged to Rovers. The win takes Rothion’s side to within three points of the top three and they remain a threat in the race for RMI football. Jazza’s side won’t want to dwell on this defeat as the important matches keep coming with a home match against KBC on Tuesday.

Belly Tubbies put in another defensive master-class as they defeated Pahang United 1-0 at Padang MPK. Fitzsimmons was called into early action for the visitors but he saved comfortably from Jeremias Lindeman. The Tubbies then had an effort through William Ralph Dean but his header was punched away before a lob by Kilian Strongbow went over the bar at the other end. The second-half proved tight with an excellent save by Fitzsimmons from a powerful low shot by Rano Pantow keeping the score level. The Tubbies would then take advantage as Dean clinically finished on 89 minutes to give them a massive three points. Fitzy’s side are now out of the relegation zone and if Fitzsimmons remains in such brilliant form between the sticks the only way might be up from now until the end of the season. MrT sees his Pahang side sit just five points above the drop zone and will be keen to pick up a quick win or two to settle any nerves.

FC Flying Dog had an excellent 3-0 home win over PSV Eindhoven but then suffered disappointment with the resignation of Tivvymike. Remigiusz Smoczek gave them an excellent start with a clinical strike in the penalty area on five minutes and only Loki Weston prevented Clint Dickson from making it 2-0 with a lob header. PSV tried to strike back at the start of the second-half but Xabi Alonso’s lob was saved and a toe-poke by Stan Collymore at the other end made it 2-0. Ljubisa Novak narrowly failed in making it 3-0 before a header by Rene Maslovsky was saved as PSV kept plugging away. Thorvald Faste chipped in number three on 89 minutes as Dog kept searching for more goals. Maslovsky and Collymore would miss late chances for their respective teams and it would be Flying Dog who would come away with three important points. They now sit five points above the drop zone but will hope to make a good appointment following the disappointment of losing Tivvy. Kadri is ‘now back’ after attending to other matters and promised that they will ‘get back to the level we can play at.’