Madrid the Masters at Top

Real Madrid won the battle of the top two with a deserved 3-2 victory against Totaalvoetbal. With both sides going into the game on 14 points and both undefeated an intriguing contest was anticipated. However, it would be the home side who would take the game by the scruff of its neck. Federico Quintana lobbed in the opening goal on three minutes to stun the visitors and they would struggle to recover. Aren Garabedian struck a post with a powerful low shot as Totaal sat back and Quintana would have made it two but for a poor finish. It would be two moments later, though, as Kevin Gabriele converted a penalty before a Lars-Johan Lagerstrom headed in the third on 34 minutes. Totaal did regroup before the break and a diving header by Shirsh Vajpayee did look to have brought them back into the game but it was wrongly disallowed. However, Pierre van Diemen would flick in a header on the stroke of half-time to give them hope going into the second 45 minutes. Totaal began the second-half on the front foot but van Diemen couldn’t side-foot home. Zlatan Izuhimovic would reduce the deficit to one, though, with a curled shot from some way out but van Diemen could only mishit a shot when well-placed on 76 minutes. Madrid gained in confidence from this miss and Gabriele hit a lob against a bar before Quintana shot over. Antonello Ballarin would force a save out of Beeton from a free-kick while Leemans was also called into action at the other end to deny a Teige Aran half-volley. This would prove the last action of the game and Madrid had struck a crucial blow in the title race. FredRizzo now has the task of getting his players to focus on another tough match-up as Arsenal come to town. Robin Meeblind called the decision to disallow Vajpayee’s goal which would have earned a point as ‘baffling’ before giving special praise to van Diemen ‘who has been a special talent ever since the club was formed.’

AFC Stanley moved into second on the back of a routine 3-0 win over White Hawk. With the sides at opposite ends of the table a home win was a big favourite and so it proved. Cal McMac put Stanley in front in the very first minute with an excellent diving header before Matts Wallman had a free-kick held by Dankoi. Stanley would continue to dominate and another Wallman free-kick smashed into a post as they threatened a second goal. Kirk Armitage would get the second on 27 minutes as he powered in a stunning shot and Dankoi had to be alert to prevent a third as Jon MacClintock got in a header on target. The second-half saw more Stanley pressure as they looked to seal the three points. Armitage would miss the target with a shot when well-placed and Per-Elvis Granander would also lack accuracy with his finish on 73 minutes. Nevertheless they would get their third goal courtesy of Wilfred Tolkien who stroked home a penalty with time running out. Stanley News said the side had ‘swept aside’ Hawk but did add that the club was disappointed to lose new signing Almeida for some time. Hooraymee’s side are staring at a quick return to Division One unless they can start finding some wins, beginning with a trip to The Vikings on Tuesday.

Arsenal DB moved into fourth as they defeated a lacklustre West Brom Strollers 3-0 at The Emirates. With West Brom disappointing in their title defence the home side were in confident mood going into the contest and they had every reason to be so. Faustino Asprilla toe-poked home from a corner on five minutes to put the hosts ahead and it might have been even better a minute later but Bosko Balaban shot wide when in a good position. The second goal would arrive on 38 minutes, though, as Ulrich Kischko powered in a shot after a corner wasn’t cleared and when Balaban headed in on 43 minutes West Brom looked a beaten side. They would force a couple of chances after the break but Richard Sneekes’ curled shot was held by Aitkin while the ‘keeper would also steer Cyrille Regis’ header round the post. DomBrown might be changing his ambitions for the season following this win and if they can defeat the league-leaders on Tuesday a title challenge will be very much on. DinkyDave looks like having a relegation battle on his hands unless he can sort his side’s form out and this would have seemed unthinkable with the talent at his disposal.

Santos made it two wins from two games with a superb 4-1 home win over Kirkbride Strollers. With Santos looking to make ground following a slow start to the season they put together their best showing to date to leave Kirkbride stunned. The game began slowly but Santos did have a couple of chances towards the end of the half. Robbie Mitchell would balloon a free-kick over while Asmar Golkas’ flick header was caught by Hill as the sides went in goalless. The second-half would see more action and began with Hill making another save, this time from a Benicio Correa header. Emmanuel Strachan would open the scoring moments later with an unstoppable volley from inside the area while Rogerio Franca then had a header saved by the ‘keeper. Malcolm Graham would respond in stunning fashion for the visitors from their first chance as his header drifted into the net to make it 1-1. However, you got the feeling nothing would stop Santos on this day and Franca quickly made it 2-1 courtesy of a powerful header. Marcelo Afonso would then hit a shot just wide before Strachan drove in his second of the day to make it 3-1 on 75 minutes. Graham did try to pull Kirkbride back into it but put a chip over and when Yogender Pragurd toe-poked home for 4-1 it was game over. Still Graham would continue to try at the other end and put a powerful header against the bar while Mitchell had a free-kick held for the hosts. Santos would see out the game for a deserved win which sees them gain ground on the sides above them. However, Santos News warned that ‘although two wins is a good sign....Santos will need a string of good performances to propel them up.’ Jazza will be worried by this performance and will demand three points from his side when they return home to face ThunderCats on Tuesday.

ThunderCats warmed up for that particular contest with a good point from a 2-2 draw at The Vikings. With both sides only a few points off the pace three points were all-important and they would go for it in attacking fashion. Evstathios Gourmas shot the home side into an early lead from inside the area while Ferdinand Quinn hit a free-kick too close to Magro as they looked to make it two. The visitors responded with a powerful strike from Nelson Queimado but it was held by Raasch. Justin Portway would then make it 2-0 to the hosts by thumping home from distance and Luca Tonizu couldn’t make a dent in this lead as he wasted a free-kick chance for the visitors. Portway put a header over as The Vikings continued to impress while Izet Hadzic headed over at the other end. Portway would look a threat every time the hosts went forward but he wasted a shot on goal on 42 minutes but Silvio Falcao would do likewise at the other end as ThunderCats remained 2-0 behind at the break. ThunderCats would begin the second-half well and a powerful header by Juliano Leite got them back into the contest before Portway missed the target at the other end. A free-kick on 66 minutes saw Tonizu blast ThunderCats level to stun the home crowd and the same player might have made it worse for the hosts moments later but put a set-piece wide. Portway, meanwhile, missed a headed chance at the other end before Anastasios Tassiopoulos wasted a penalty much to the frustration of Eaglesrjh. This proved the last chance in an eventful game as both sides took away a point. Eaglesrjh was in a disappointed mood after the game saying, ‘we looked good pre-season and really wanted to be challenging for the title but it is already looking like mid-table for us again.’ Baz will be pleased with his side’s resilient nature and they will need more fighting qualities in another tough away trip, this time to Kirkbride.

AFC Pop Punk took an important three points at Yorkshires Amateurs as they looked to kick-start their season. Following the appointment of Solongsuperman as their manager the visiting fans were looking for a winning start and the side wouldn’t disappoint. Ike Dyer had an eventful start with a chip being tipped over by Bicanco before he put another flighted effort over. He would then drive a powerful shot wide before Paulino Ornelas did put Pop Punk in front with an excellent diving header. The Amateurs tried to respond but Gabriel Mohan lobbed over and they would go in a goal behind. Pop Punk saw Leonardo Borja hit a free-kick too close to Bicanco to start the second-half but they would get their second goal as Dyer mishit a shot beyond the helpless cat on 80 minutes. Andrew Potts missed narrowly with a free-kick as the home side staged a late rally and Sota Nagatomo also put a header over. Time would run out on their chances and Paddy was left to celebrate an important win. The manager has also been busy in the transfer market since taking over from Izu and their success for the rest of the season may very well depend on how his signings settle in. Amateurs News reported that ‘their quest to avoid relegation is looking increasingly forlorn with each passing match’ but three points at Totaalvoetbal on Tuesday will change that outlook.