Kirkbride, United are Promoted

Kirkbride are still in first going into the final round of the season following a 1-0 home victory over Belly Tubbies. Both clubs needed the points for differing reasons and the result was a tight contest. The Tubbies had the only chances of the first-half with Tim Cahill having a goal disallowed for offside before Kevin Sheedy lashed wide when presented with a tight angle to overcome. The second-half saw Kirkbride hit the post through a Mark Blacklock header before Stephen Robinson wasted a free-kick. The Tubbies would see Trevor Steven miss with a header and they would pay the ultimate price as Billy Maneater placed his shot beyond Fitzsimmons in injury-time to give the hosts three crucial points. With promotion now secured Kirkbride are ‘focused on beating Bolton on Friday to win the title’ according to Jazza. Meanwhile, Fitzy’s Tubbies are now in the bottom three following this defeat and will need to get something against Reggae Reggae Sauce to have any chance of surviving on Friday and even then they will need results to go in their favour elsewhere.

Manchester United also secured promotion courtesy of a 2-0 home victory over Pahang United. A good first-half performance laid the foundations for the win although they were indebted to Kuszczak for saving from Tom Hording’s header in the first minute. United began to take control and Wayne Rooney had a header saved by Hussain before Michael Carrick put his headed effort wide. Rooney would open the scoring, though, on 30 minutes as he launched himself to put a diving header beyond the ‘keeper. The forward was now full of confidence and three minutes later he powered in a brilliant shot to put the hosts 2-0 ahead. They would take this lead into the second-half with Pahang unlucky not to pull a goal back as Kilian Strongbow hit the bar with a fine lob. Strongbow would try his luck again on 73 minutes but would put it too high while Ryan Giggs headed woefully wide at the other end. Hussain would prevent Rooney scoring a hat-trick by saving the forward’s header although ultimately he couldn’t prevent United take all three points. Pakya will now lead United into their final game at PSV hoping that a win might yet still see them pinch the title from Kirkbride. MrT now has to take his Pahang side to The Vikings knowing that a three-goal margin of victory is needed to see them secure promotion.

The Vikings are in that position of strength courtesy of a 1-1 draw at Bolton Hillbillies. The Vikings thought they had taken a 15th minute lead through Paraskevas Maladenis as he produced an accurate finish beyond Dittmer only for it to be chalked off for a dubious offside call. Aris Almanidis would then head over before Bolton responded by winning a penalty although Max Challis’ effort was beaten away by Raasch. The Vikings would capitalise on this by taking the lead on 30 minutes with Anastasios Tassiopoulos heading in with some aplomb. The second-half saw the hosts gradually get on top and they saw Arnold Atlee hit the bar early with a decent strike. Challis would then hit the post as Bolton began to press with Stan Collymore also finding his luck out as he hit the other post. Tassiopoulos replied in kind for The Vikings by lobbing a header off the angle before Collymore demanded a reflex save by Raasch on 65 minuts. Ilmari Jukka couldn’t add to The Vikings’ lead with his chance before the home side equalised as Challis drilled in from distance on 81 minutes. Bolton would have a chance to win the game but Collymore hit a half-volley wide and the points were shared. Eaglesrjh admitted that a point ‘was probably fair’ and assured fans that they would be going into the final game ‘looking for the win as always.’ MasterReid’s promotion hopes are all but over as they have an inferior goal difference even if they do draw level on points but they will be confident of going further next term.

PSV Eindhoven moved out of the bottom three with a 4-1 away win at St Omer. Omer struck first as Timmy Svenson placed a header beyond Weston but PSV would work their way back into the game. Rory MacFinlay headed off-target before Xabi Alonso equalised with a decent strike in the area. Yang Sheng Nanmeng shot over the bar on 37 minutes before MacFinlay had a header saved by Hamshaw. Jose Fonte would put PSV ahead before the break as he hit a beautiful free-kick into the net for 2-1. The second-half saw PSV stay in control of proceedings. Frans Haggbring added a third by netting following a corner with a poacher’s strike before Jose Fonte made it 4-1 from another free-kick. Warren Hibbitt nearly added a fifth but his lob hit the angle before he hit another shot wide. Bengt-Ake Thelin would also miss the target with his placed effort before Timmy Simons thought he had added a fifth but saw it disallowed for a foul. Xabi Alonso had a final chance but couldn’t find the goal but PSV were happy enough with a 4-1 victory. Despite the victory PSV News reported that it couldn’t see ‘Belly Tubbies slipping up against RRS’ so therefore they ‘must get 3 points against Man Utd’ to stay up. Omer will be celebrating on Friday no matter what the result as they draw a line under another developmental season.

Kensington Boys Club eased their own relegation fears with a 4-0 home win over Reggae Reggae Sauce. They were on top throughout and had an early Gilbert de Clare header saved by Taylor before Harry Whitlow headed in the opener on nine minutes. Whitlow would lob his next header over the bar while Maurice Jacobs had a placed effort saved by Taylor. Aubrey de Vere would make it 2-0 as he lobbed in expertly and he made it 3-0 on 25 minutes by heading in following a corner. James Wilde put a header over his own over the bar before de Vere forced Taylor into an excellent save from another header. It was 4-0 on 36 minutes as Max Myer powered in a shot after a corner and this would be the score at the interval. The second-half saw KBC create more chances but fail to take them this time. Billy Painter lobbed over while Seymore MacRanald also shot over the bar. Their final chance fell to Myer but his powerful header was saved by Taylor and they had to settle for a 4-0 victory. Patrik admitted that it had felt as if everyone was ‘defecating on us’ while they were going on their losing run but the side are now within touching distance of safety going into the final game. RRS were back to their muddled selves during the game and their long-suffering fans will hope for better in the final game and ahead of next season.

AJ Rovers defeated Villarreal 3-2 in an exciting middle of the table match-up at AJR Arena. The visitors started the stronger and took the lead as Claudio Moura rounded Mortimer to slot home the opener on two minutes. AJ responded with a Mercourios Simos equliaser on 13 minutes as he found an excellent finish to round off a breakaway move. Taylor Grape then nearly put them in front with a powerfully curled shot before Byron Simon missed the target with a free-kick. Villarreal would score again from their second chance as Jack Wilshere headed in but Simon made sure the lead would only last five minutes as he smashed home a free-kick. The second-half saw AJ create further chances with an Elling Jarnoy shot being tipped over by Rossell before Simon would hit in another free-kick to make it 3-2. Simon had a chance to make it a hat-trick of free-kicks but couldn’t find the target and Simos also headed wide. The visitors had a late chance to get a point but Moura’s effort was saved and the victory belonged to AJ. Rothion’s side would need to beat Omer by a hatful of goals and hope Pahang win against The Vikings but the likelihood is they will be in good shape to give promotion another go next season. Cathal will look for his side to have a good change report before setting his agenda for next term.