V for Vuokki = Victory for Boys

Bully Boys enjoyed a 6-0 romp at the top of Division Two as they took full advantage of Futsal’s manager-less status. Having reached the top Bully Boys knew this was the perfect time to be meeting Futsal and hoped to take maximise the game to its full potential. A free-kick on five minutes by Valio Kapiala was saved by Roberts before Aatu Vuokki volleyed in the opening goal just two minutes later. Vuokki would quickly add a second with a brilliantly curled effort before a free-kick was tapped to the on-fire forward who struck a post. Futsal did have a free-kick at the other end but Rowley Forrester saw his strike turned round and Vuokki duly made it 3-0 with a fine header at the other end to complete his hat-trick. Vuokki would then lob home his fourth in an astonishing display of finishing. The second-half saw more of the same from the hosts and a penalty allowed Toini Vasama to make it 5-0 on 51 minutes. Vuokki would place home a header on 77 minutes to make it six while Kapiala put a header too close to Roberts. Rick Tuttle had a diving header saved at the other end but it would be a token effort in a rudderless away performance. Cathal seemed unable to string a sentence together instead just shouted ‘VUOKKI!!!!’ at the top of his voice. Futsal await their new manager with great interest following another disappointing day at the office.

These Charming Men ensured Bully Boys can’t relax at the head of proceedings as they defeated wortley afc 4-0 at the western. Following a good draw last time out wortley were hopeful of following up with another positive performance but they came up against a solid visiting outfit. Wortley actually began well but Walter Willock put his shot well-wide when in a good position. TCM began with a toe-poke from Stuart Cooksey which brought a great save out of Gareth before Jordi Rodri fired wide from distance. Wortley would have the next chance and Jake Shiver thought he had opened the scoring with a powerful shot but it was chalked off for offside. Shiver would have another strike go over and TCM would take the lead with Shaun McFadden heading home with some precision. The second-half would belong to the visitors and Bryan Higginbottom would slice the second into the net on 47 minutes. Cameron McMahon flicked in a header for 3-0 on 55 minutes while Chano Delgado looped a further header over the bar minutes later. TCM would add a fourth late on as Higginbottom headed in his second of the contest and there was still time for Rodri to fire a free-kick off-target. Nevertheless, the visitors could be more than happy with ‘a comfortable victory’ and a similar one on Tuesday should ensure another three points. The situation continues to look bleak for wortley as they reach the turn some four-points adrift of safety.

Gooners still complete the top three as they defeated Abu Dhabi United 2-0 at Highbury. With much talk going into the game about weakened teams and not being too concerned about the result it was hard to know what kind of game to expect on the day. Abu Dhabi would enjoy the first chance and Ilppo Visavuori placed the ball home but was stood yards offside at the time. Marc Overmars responded for the hosts by shooting wide from a tight angle before Iain Wright steered a shot on goal only to be denied by Rossell. The second 45 minutes saw more openings; the first of which fell to Wright who lobbed home from outside the area. David Rocastle had a powerful strike saved by Rossell while Dennis Bergkamp hit the bar as the hosts continued to press. Sylvain Wiltord duly added a second with a thunderous strike on 83 minutes and Sol Campbell had a further shot saved. Jack Wilshere did flick a header wide while Ger Wattamaleo did likewise with a header of his own as the visitors ended well but in truth they were well-beaten. FMR said that MOTR ‘was maybe deserved for (his) bottle to play that frontline’ while Tal added his team ‘is just a bit too young’ while the Gooners ‘are a bit too skilled’ at the moment.

Dream Team moved into fourth as they edged a 1-0 victory at Juventus. With Juve needing the points to distance themselves from the relegation zone and Dream Team trying to make up for lost time an interesting clash was on the cards. Garry Gain would loop an early header over for the visitors while Juve responded with an Orlan Canito shot which curled wide. This would be all of the chances for the opening half as the game remained intriguingly poised going into the second 45 minutes. The second-half saw Bernardo Frois brush a post with a flick header for the visitors before Kristoffer Lindfors’ steered shot was saved by Yank at the other end. Adam Aspire would miss the target with a placed effort before Frois did lob home to give DT a crucial advantage. Juve would win a penalty on 90 minutes but Lindfors hit it tamely at Yank and the home side’s hopes died with it. @peace has his side four points off the pace following this tight win and will need them to continue to win to bridge the gap in the coming weeks. SuperJuve will be disappointed with the penalty after more than holding their own in the contest. However, they will be keen to pick up a win soon to ease any relegation fears they might have.

Crimea River and The Kings were locked together following a tale of two halves at the Theatre of Tragedy. Both sides occupied places just behind the top three and were looking for the points to boost their hopes going into the second-half of the season. Crimea would largely dominate the opening half but were thankful to Fabianski for saving at the feet of Jamie Sinclair on six minutes. River took control and Tomas Rosicky powered a shot just wide before Vivien Tchameni did find the net with a thumping strike from distance on 11 minutes. Albert Mojnar hit a post with a well-placed shot before Andrey Arshavin went close from distance himself. Arshavin would then put a free-kick just over before Rosicky mishit a shot when well-placed; the result being the ball brushed the post and went safe. However, Crimea would pay the price for not taking more of their chances as The Kings launched a strong second-half fight-back. Allan Akerboom forced a great save it of Fabianski from a half-volley on 55 minutes while Sinclair hit the angle with a fine strike on 68 minutes. The Kings would get their reward a few minutes later as Gary Stevens stroked home from the spot to level the match while Kevin Sheedy missed a chance to win the game by heading over on the stroke of 90 minutes. Ith expressed his thoughts post-match with some interpretive dance and the only thing this reporter gained from it is the old lad can definitely throw some shapes. Meanwhile, Hitman will now look to take advantage of playing the return fixture at home on Tuesday and a win would fire them into the thick of the promotion race.

PSV Eindhoven and FC Bayern Munchen picked up a point each from a 1-1 draw at Philips Stadion. With just a win from their opening ten games the home side were looking for a little cheer to take them into the second-half of the campaign while Munchen still had eyes on the promotion places. PSV enjoyed the first chance with Yang Sheng Nanmeng curling a shot over. However, Bob Country powered in from distance on 42 minutes to give Munchen the lead and they might have added another as Bob forced Reina into a fine save on the stroke of half-time. To their credit PSV would put together a strong second-half showing and a header by Rene Maslovsky levelled the game and gained a thoroughly deserved point for the home side. Kadri explained that they had ‘changed things round a little and stopped our opponents from playing.’ Dimentis might look upon this as two points dropped and as such nothing less than a win will suffice on Tuesday as they look to pick up some points on the teams above them.