SHOCK AS NORMANS TURN TABLES ON THE GROVE
They started the day with only one point gained this season, but after goals by Sam Gauntlet 2, Danny Barrowclough and Ross Joy, Norman Wanderers defeated league leaders The Grove 4-3 to produce the shock result of the Premier division season. Acle Rangers took advantage of that result to go back to the top of the division after a 6-0 win at Quebec, who described Acle as the best side they have faced this season. Jonny Causton scored the only goal of the game as Poringland Wanderers won at Norwich Busmen, and Dog House had a comfortable six goal win at Costessey Sports.
A single goal victory over Vale Longo was enough to take Reepham Town ten points clear at the top of 1A. Steve van Raalte, Shaun Kelly, Marc Dobson and Jimmy Ross all scored as Hainford YCOB won 4-0 at Windmill Wanderers. Aslacton beat Green Man 4-1 at Horsford SC had a good 2-1 win at North Walsham. Aylsham Sunday went to the top of 1B without even playing as previous leaders Sprowston Rovers lost 4-2 at Unicorns to leave the North Norfolk side top on goal difference. St Faiths are lurking dangerously though after a 4-0 (Allan Kennedy, Dave Waters, and Will Abbs) win at Hillside OB sees them a point behind the top two. Haig FC beat Prince of Denmark 3-1(Mick Reynolds, Glen Thurston, Wayne Cutting), whilst Earlham Utd overcame Catton FC by the same score thanks to goals by Scott West, Damon Brown and Dan Childerhouse.
A 3-1 win at The Otter saw The Castlegate go three points clear of Deopham at the top of 2A. After receiving the leagues latest sporting award, Deopham found themselves two down in the first ten minutes as DCS Rapid scored through Brett Kingsbury and John Davis and although Lewis Mckerell pulled a goal back it wasn’t enough. Dussingdale Rovers stormed back to show some early season form after hitting eight without reply at Stoke, whilst two goals apiece for Matt Watson and Martin Kemp plus another from substitute Anis Dida saw River Garden win 5-2 at Norman Wanderers A. Eddie Reeve 2, and Pete Atkinson scored for The Griffen as they and Acle Wanderers took a point each in a six goal thriller at Thorpe School. The start of the New Year has not been a happy time for 2B leaders Rose Tavern as they slumped to their third straight defeat, losing 4-2 at Spixworth. They are now only a point ahead of PL Rangers who waxed lyrical about a wonderful all round team performance as they beat Poringland Res 8-2. Bayer finally got back to league action, beating Wymondham Res 8-1, whilst Sporting Farmhouse scored four without reply (Danny Ashford, Billy Bradford, Matt Plumstead and James Boyle) at home to Hethersett. The game between The Gordon and Taverham Sunday ended in a three all draw, Tom Parsley, Tom Durrell and Lee Watkins scoring for Gordon.
A point in a 1-1 draw with Hockering saw Sporting Longdale move level on points with Wellington Pink Uns at the top of 3A, the game being described by Hockering as outstanding. Hellesdon Res are third after a 2-1 win over Dancing Farmers, whilst James Lawrence scored twice as Sprowston Royal Oak beat Newsman Celtic 2-1, Ben Potter replying for the Newsmen. Mad Moose won 2-1 at Heartsease Casuals and goals either side of half time by Richard Bennett and Nick Aston helped The Reindeer draw 2-2 at home to Caseys Cosmos. There was a comfortable 5-0 win for 3B leaders Heartsease FC at Unicorns, whilst there was another fine finish by John Olds as Maid Marian drew 1-1 at Moles Rest. Hingham Sunday scored the only goal of the game at Aylsham Res and AFC Oak beat Earlham Utd Res 3-1 with goals from Brett Hadley, Karl Pitkin and Karl Hayward on his debut.
Temples Property will be pleased with their mornings work after taking a point in a 1-1 draw with 4A leaders New Buckenham. DEF FC are second after hammering ten past Caseys Cosmos Res, but Hockering Res went down 7-3 at home to Silver Fox Res. Constable Crusaders and Sporting Longdale Res drew 1-1 and bottom two sides Eaton Young Boys and Earlham Colney shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw. Briston Wanderers beat Windmill Elite 2-1, Matt Brighton scoring for the visitors, and are now six points clear of One Love Utd who drew 3-3 (Isnaba Gomes, Bonito Gil and Iffy Gray) with Bell Inn. One Love though do have four games in hand. A depleted Drayton side can be proud of their performance as ten of last seasons Under 16’s battled to gain a 4-4 draw with Eaton Beehive. The goals came via a Tristan Stoneman hat trick and a Sam Lincoln penalty. Chapelfield Rovers beat Wendene Wanderers by the odd goal in seven and Hethersett Res did the same to Dereham Utd.
After quite a few attempts, the League Cup Preliminary round game between Sprowston Wanderers and Fiveways finally got under way and ended in a 6-2 victory for Fiveways.
In The County Cups a goal two minutes from time by Luke Durrant, saw Marlborough beat holders AFC Wanderers 1-0 in their quarter final replay. Wymondham Rangers unfortunately went out, 2-1 at Yarmouth side El Sol. In the Intermediate Cup Acle Rangers went down 6-5 after extra time at Thetford Independents. In the Junior Cup, Spixworth Res went down 3-2 at Pott Row and Salhouse Rovers led Riverside Rovers 2-0 at half time and even missed a penalty. Oh how they paid as the visitors stormed back to score ten without reply in the second half.
Striker named Tom Brown, recently played for The Bell Inn scoring 27 goals in his debut season. Looking to further his career with a club a bit higher up the leagues, with a bit more ambition. Can contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
NORMAN FIGHTBACK NOT QUITE ENOUGH
On a bright crisp January morning, it was good to see the majority of this week’s fixture list going ahead despite the overnight frost. Some clubs and referee’s deserve full praise after delaying the lick off time, although some officials seem to have been a touch on the hasty side. The Grove are the new leaders of the Premier division. With previous leaders Wymondham inactive, Grove grabbed their chance to go top by beating Quebec 6-3 thanks to goals by Farin Deeba, Sam Mallet Danny Pennall 2, Craig Clarke and Sean Brown. Acle Rangers got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win at home to Norwich Busmen whilst, Norman Wanderers’ difficult season continued against Silver Fox where after going three down, pulled two back, but just couldn’t find the equaliser.
The top two sides in 1A continue to go well. Leaders Reepham won 3-1 at Eaton FC, and are still seven points ahead of Hellesdon who beat third placed Hainford YCOB 4-0. Vale Longo produced a fine performance to beat Aslacton 4-2, Paul Harvey, Kevin Brown, Mark Woods and Pete Crowley all scoring whilst Thrish Docherty and Kevin Oakley replied for the visitors. 1B leaders Sprowston Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw by Haig FC, for whom Mick Reynolds scored, and are now joined at the top by Aylsham Sunday who beat Earlham Utd 3-2 at home, Liam Brown and Damon Brown scoring for the visitors. Catton beat Unicorns by the odd goal in seven, Ben Welham, Ben Potter, Damon Kennedy and an OG, the scorers, and there was also a good win for Prince of Denmark who beat Norfolk CCSC 5-3.
2A leaders The Castlegate had a 3-1 home win over DCS Rapid, who took the lead through Daniel Rabouine, and stay top on goal difference from Deopham who beat The Griffen 5-3 (Lewis Caddy 2, David Darkins 2, Jason Cole). Third placed Dussingdale Rovers slumped to a 3-1 home defeat against Upton, whilst Stoke FC won 3-1 (Lewis Clarry, Bobby Cott, Anthony Dooley) at River Garden. Acle Wanderers and Norman Wanderers A managed to produce a goal fest. Ryan Flint 2, Dan Blewitt, Adam Catchpole and Rick Medlar all scored in a 5-4 Acle victory. For the second week running 2B leaders Rose Tavern suffered a 3-2 defeat (Oliver Bennison, Peter Wright), this time at the hands of Hethersett Ath. Pl Rangers are second after producing a great team performance when beating Sporting Farmhouse 4-2, Danny Ashford and Matt Plumstead scoring for Farmhouse. Ribs Rovers beat The Gordon 3-0, whilst Jonny Aldis scored for Poringland Res as they took a point at Spixworth.
The big game in 3A saw Sprowston Royal Oak run out 4-2 (Darren Maxey 2, James Lawrence 2) winners at home to leaders Wellington Pink Uns. A goal from Ian Grange gave second placed Sporting Longdale a narrow 1-0 win at Newsman Celtic and Hellesdon Res took a point in a 2-2 draw at Mad Moose. Caseys Cosmos thumped Temple Bar 5-1 and Dancing Farmers can’t believe they lost… but they did, 3-2 at home to The Reindeer. There were only two games played in 3B and of those Freethorpe beat Aylsham Res 5-1 and Maid Marian had a 3-1 (John Olds 2, Danny Walker) over Unicorns Res.
With Riverside Rovers inactive, New Buckenham increased their lead at the top of 4A with a 7-2 win against Silver Fox Res. Hockering Res won 5-1 at Earlham Colney and DEF FC gained revenge for a cup defeat by Eaton Young Boys, defeating them 3-1 (Ben Lemmon, Richard Brandon, Tom Brandon-Street). Sporting Longdale went down 2-0 at home to Constable Crusaders. Well done to Wendene Wanderers, who moved off the bottom of 4B thanks to a 4-2 victory at Windmill Elite. Briston are the new leaders of the division after winning 4-0 at Dereham Utd and Eaton Beehive beat Chapelfield Rovers 2-1. In the League Cup Preliminary round, Green Man, after six weeks without a game, won 4-1 at Hillside OB thanks to goals by Andrew Jenkins, Tom Jenkins, Steven Crowe and Seb Sandell. Our clubs had mixed fortunes in the various County Cups. In the Sunday Senior, 1B's St Faiths beat Premier side Poringland Wanderers 2-1, Dog House beat North Walsham 3-0 whilst Marlborough and AFC Wanderers must do it all again next week after drawing 1-1 aet. Wymondham Rangers game at Yarmouth side El Sol was postponed. In the Intermediate Cup, there was a win for Bayer FC, but Moles Rest went out. Acle Rangers res game in Thetford was called off. The Junior Cup saw Bell Inn reach the semi final, whilst Spixworth Res beat One Love Utd on penalties. Salhouse against Riverside Rovers was postponed
THE GROVE WELCOME THE NEW YEAR IN STYLE
On an ideal morning for football, (Councils please take note!!!) The Grove got 2011 off to a cracking start by beating Acle Rangers 6-1, thanks to goals by Nixon 2, Mallet, Clarke, Bee and Brown, a result that sees them move above Acle into second place in the Premier division. Leaders Wymondham Rangers won 7-2 at Costessey, whilst Quebec came back from Poringland with a 2-0 win.
In 1A league leaders Reepham Town had a narrow 3-2 win at home to Windmill Wanderers and remain seven points clear of second placed Hellesdon who scored four without reply at Norman Wanderers Res. Aslacton put five past Eaton FC, whilst Horsford SC and Hainford drew their local derby 2-2, Nathan Turner and Jimmy Ross scoring for Hainford. The only game in 1B saw Earlham Utd win 5-1 at Unicorns.
There was a shock introduction to the New Year for 2A leaders The Castlegate as they were thumped 6-2 at The Griffen. Deopham moved into second spot after a 2-1 (David Darkins, Lewis Mckerell) victory at Norman Wanderers A and Upton scored five without reply against River Garden. Stoke had a 2-1 (David Spauls, Justin Cameron) home win over Acle Wanderers for whom Ryan Flint scored from the spot. 2B leaders Rose Tavern also found themselves on the wrong end of a surprise as they went down 3-2 at Wymondham Res who had started the year at the bottom of the table. The Gordon had a 3-2 (Tom Parsley, Tom Durrell, Craig Sewell) home win over Hethersett whilst Acle Res and PL Rangers took a point each in a 1-1 draw, a game that PL gave goalkeeper and new signing Connor Widdows the MoM award
3A leaders Wellington Pink Uns started the year by putting eight past ten man Dancing Farmers and are three points clear of Hockering for whom Morris Elliot grabbed a hat trick as his side scored seven without reply at Heartsease Casuals. Hellesdon Res are fourth after a 3-2 win over Newsman Celtic. In the two games played in 3B, Maid Marion had a good 6-2 win at Hingham and AFC Oak were held to a 2-2 (Robert Bridge, Mark Ratcliffe) draw by a spirited Aylsham Res.
New Buckenham are the new leaders of 4A after beating DEF FC by the odd goal in nine. Previous leaders Riverside Rovers were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom side Earlham Colney and Caseys Cosmos Res won 3-0 at Eaton Young Boys. Despite burst pipes in the changing rooms, Sporting Longdale Res were rewarded for their efforts in getting the game played, with three points after beating Silver Fox Res 2-1 thanks to goals by Jamie Platten and Matt Atherton. In 4B Briston won 3-1 at Bell Inn to go second, Drayton scored six (Sam Lincoln 2, Richard Tubb 2, Tom Frost) at Wendene to go fourth and Eaton Beehive got the only goal of the game at Windmill Elite.
Twenty seven games were played this weekend with some clubs doing that bit extra to get their game played. Well done to them, although it is disappointing to see games called off on a Thursday for the second time this season, when the pitches are perfectly playable come match day. Clubs pay a lot of hard earned money to use these pitches and you have to ask if they are being treated fairly
