Congratulations go to The Castlegate as champions of 2A. The Otter's 4-2 midweek victory over Norman Wanderers A was not enough to overcome the huge gap in the goal difference between the two clubs so The Otter finish the season as runners up. Well done to both clubs.
PREMIER RACE STILL NECK AND NECK
It’s still all to play for at the top of the Premier Division after this week’s round of matches produced victories for the top four. Leaders Marlborough had a 3-0 home win over AFC Wanderers, whilst Dog House had a comfortable 7-1 victory over Costessey Sports. Farin Deeba, Lloyd Greening and Sam Mallet all scored for The Grove as they won 3-2 at Wymondham Rangers. Acle Rangers scored five times at home to Norman Wanderers who managed three in reply.
1A champions Reepham Town increased their lead at the top to twelve points after a 5-4 home win over North Walsham. A 4-0 victory at Sprowston Wanderers has seen Unicorns finish runners up in 1B and they will now face Hellesdon Athletic in the playoff final this Sunday at Sloughbottom. St Faiths finished their disappointing end to the season with a 4-4 draw against Norfolk CCSC. Alex Williamson 2, Ben Morgan and Scott Woodcock scoring for the Council side. Sprowston Rovers completed their season beating Prince of Denmark 3-1.
It looks like the 2B title will go right to the wire. Rose Tavern failed to get the point they required for the title as they lost 1-0 at home to Bayer who now know that three wins from their last three games will see them finish the season as champions.
In 4B, Neil Woolner 2, Kel Haywood 2, Jamie Weavers, Chris Newton and Bradley Nelson all scored as Salhouse Rovers beat Spixworth Res 7-5
BELL FIGHTBACK NOT ENOUGH
Division 4B side Bell Inn suffered a horror start in the final of the Sunday Junior Cup when opponents Fairstead Utd opened the scoring within the first twenty seconds. The Norwich league side then found themselves two down twenty minutes later before player/manager Ian Babb reduced the arrears before half time. Despite dominating most of the second half, Bell Inn found clear cut chances hard to come by and the Kings Lynn side held on to take the trophy. Once again though, it was good to see one of our sides being a credit to the League.
Marlborough are the new leaders of the Premier division after scoring eight without reply at Norman Wanderers. Previous leaders The Grove were hit by injuries in their important clash at Dog House and although goals by Luke Jones and Paul Atkins saw them twice come from behind, Dog House proved to strong and went on to win 4-2. Scott Woodcock, Ollie King, Elliot Winter and Neal Simmons all scored for the home side. Wymondham Rangers bounced back to winning ways to stay in the title hunt, winning 4-1 at AFC Wanderers.
In 1A, champions Reepham Town ended Hainford YCOB’s chances of a playoff spot as they beat them 3-1. North Walsham had a good 3-1 victory at Eaton FC whilst Norman Wanderers Res beat Aslacton 4-2. The poor run of St Faith’s continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sprowston Wanderers. This now means win for Unicorns in their last game of the season will see them take the playoff spot. Old Catton completed their season with a 3-1 defeat at Sprowston Rovers.
There was a seven goal thriller in 2A as The Griffen won by the odd goal at Norman Wanderers A, and in 2B, Spixworth Sunday finished their season with an eight goal romp over The Gordon whose fate now lies in the hands of Taverham Utd. Despite a 5-1 defeat at home to Acle Rangers Res, a draw in their final game will see Taverham avoid the drop and send The Gordon down. Bayer bounced back from last week’s cup final disappointment to thump Poringland Res 7-1 and Ribs Rovers had a 3-1 home win over Wymondham Rangers Res.
3A champions Sprowston Royal Oak finished their season with a 5-1 home win over Hellesdon Ath Res, whilst its well done and congratulations to Briston Wanderers. Jamie Snell scored four times as his side won the 4B title in their first season. Chris Fuller grabbed a hat trick with Andy Royston and Chris Scafe completing the scoring
BRAVE BAYER DENIED IN LATE DRAMA
Division 2B side Bayer FC were denied victory in the Norfolk Intermediate Cup Final as a last minute leveller from Kings Lynn side Bentinck Arms took the game into extra time where they grabbed the winner. The Norwich side with Kelvin White and Danny Nelson, outstanding at the back, took the lead with ten minutes left when White fired home a superb twenty five yard free kick. To the credit of the Kings Lynn side they applied tremendous pressure until the end of the game and deserved to level the scores. The game was played in good spirit and despite their disappointment, Bayer were a credit to the league. The Semi Finals of the League Cup saw Dog House keep their treble dreams alive as they beat Wymondham Rangers 2-0 to set up a May 8th final against Acle Rangers who beat 1A Champions Reepham Town 2-1
In the Premier Division, Marlborough moved into second spot after a 3-0 home win over Poringland Wanderers, whilst goals by Luke Tuttle and Tom Barrett helped AFC Wanderers to a 2-1 victory over Norwich Busmen.
There was a good win for Fiveways in 1A as they scored seven without reply against North Walsham and Horsford SC won by the odd goal in five against a Vale Longo side that had twice led through goals by Rob Hall and Mark Woods. There was a 3-1 home win for Windmill Wanderers over Aslacton whilst Eaton FC's Ian Dodimead scored the only goal of the game at Green Man. Congratulations to Aylsham Sunday whose 4-2 victory over Haig FC ensured that they return to the Premier Division as champions. The playoff position is still in the balance though as Unicorns won 3-0 at St Faiths. Unicorns are now two points ahead of St Faiths with a game left, whilst St Faiths still have two to play. Sprowston Wanderers gave their survival hopes a boost with a 3-1 victory over Catton and can still catch Prince of Denmark who were thumped 6-1 at Norfolk CCSC. Ben Morgan , Beau Archer, Bob Taylor, Adam Ford, Tom Norman and Kevin Hoy all scoring for the home side
In the only game played in 2A, Norman Wanderers “A” had a 3-1 home win over Acle Wanderers for whom Tom white scored. Goals by Simon Curtis and Danny Webster ensured the safety of Poringland Res in 2B as they beat Sporting Farmhouse, but Taverham Utd stay deep in trouble as Ribs Rovers came from behind to beat them 3-1. Steve Jones, Danny Fletcher and Kirk Bardsley all scored for Rovers. Second placed Spixworth will be disappointed as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Acle Rangers Res and now lead third placed Bayer by three points but have played four games more.
Well done to Dancing Farmers. Stefan Harris-Wright and Zak Virgin both got their names on the score sheet as they inflicted a first defeat of the season on 3A champions Sprowston Royal Oak. The Farmers last game of the season saw them win 2-1. It was only second defeat suffered by Sprowston since entering the league. It was also good to note the sporting comments of Sprowston on their result card.
The end of the 4A season saw a 2-1 victory for Earlham Colney over Eaton Young Boys, but a 7-1 (Armando Bofuki 2, Osiris Gomes, Kevin Gil, Rickey Uche, Toby Amadasun,and Nina Gomes) win in the last game of the season for One Love United at Windmill Elite means they must now wait to see if Briston Wanderers, who won 2-0 at Hethersett Ath Res, win their last game of the season to pip them to the 4B title. Junior Cup finalists Bell Inn continued their poor recent run as they went down 4-2 against Eaton Beehive.
After last week’s Carrow Rd disappointment, Marlborough bounced back to winning ways with two goals from Jason Armes as they beat Silver Fox 2-0 to move up into second spot in the Premier division. Acle Rangers are on the same points after twice coming from behind to draw 3-3 in an excellent game against Wymondham Rangers. Dog House kept their treble dreams alive with a 3-0 victory at home to Poringland, whilst there was a good 2-0 win for Norman Wanderers at AFC Wanderers a result that moves them off the bottom of the table. A Joe Swatman goal and a Nicky May hat trick were not enough to give Norwich Busmen three points as they were held to a 4-4 draw by Costessey Sports.
Congratulations to Reepham Town who now look forward to Premier division football next season. Their 1-0 win at Hellesdon Athletic made sure that they took the 1A title. Jimmy Ross, Marc Dobson, Mark Critten and Adam Claxton all scored as Hainford YCOB beat Aslacton 4-1 and Vale Longo put in one of their best performances of the season to guarantee them 1A football next season. Steve Churchill scored twice and Jatinder Dhaliwal the other from a well worked free kick as they beat Horsford SC 3-1. Eaton FC gave themselves some breathing space with a strong second half performance as they recorded a 3-1 (Chris Sandle, Nick Belgrave and Paul Dodimead) win at home to Fiveways. Aylsham Sunday are almost there. A 4-1 home win over Sprowston Rovers means that a point from their final game will see them take the 1B title. Second placed St Faiths lost 4-2 at Catton for whom Jordan Scotter, Ben Welham, Lee Barnes and Lee Cosgrove scored, whilst Prince of Denmark won 3-1 at Sprowston Wanderers.
In 2A, Upton completed their season with a 3-1 home win over The Stores, whilst DCS Rapid ended their season by beating River Garden 3-0, goals being scored by John Orr, John Davis and Brett Kingsbury. In 2B Rose Tavern’s 4-0 (Ramin Fakour-Zaker 2, Richard Metcalf and Michael Robinson) win over Ribs Rovers means that a point in their final game will see them lift the 2B trophy. That final game however is against the only team that can catch them, Bayer FC. Bayer suffered a 2-0 defeat at Spixworth who leapfrogged them into second place but Bayer still have five games to play. Simon Curtis scored two penalties as Poringland Res beat The Gordon 4-2. Danny Webster and David Gilfillan were also on target, with Craig Sewell and Tom Parsley replying for the visitors, whilst Wymondham Res and Taverham Utd shared the points in a 1-1 draw. Acle Rangers Res returned from Hethersett Athletic with a 4-1 win.
In 3A, James Field, Craig Hunt and Sam Littleboy all scored for Mad Moose as they beat Caseys Cosmos 3-1, whilst Sporting Longdale finished their season by hammering Heartsease Casuals, scoring fifteen without reply thanks to goals by Jamie Platten 5, Nick Clark 4, Lloyd Nobbs 3, James Thomson 2 and Ryan Roberts. In 3B Freethorpe had a comfortable 5-0 home win over ten man Moles Rest.
In 4A, champions Riverside Rovers ended the season on a high as they came from two down to beat Caseys Cosmos Res 5-2. Temples Property beat Constable Crusaders by the odd goal of five and Hockering Res scored four when beating DEF FC. It’s still very interesting at the top of 4B. One Love Utd moved back to the top of the table after a 6-0 (Iffy Gray 2,Osiris Gomes, Armando Bofuki, Nelson Dhlami, Nuno Da Crus) win over Spixworth Res. With one game left, they are a point above Briston Wanderers who were inactive this week and still have two games left. Salhouse Rovers will be hoping the top two slip up somewhere along the line. After a 5-1 (Neil Woolner 2, Kel Haywood 2, and a rare Philip Fordham goal) they are three points behind Briston with two games to play.
As the season nears its end, the games lost due to the bad winter weather have caused Fixture Secretary Bernie Hardiman severe problems as some teams, especially in the Premier division are way behind with fixtures. It is good to note however that quite a few of these teams have agreed to play midweek fixtures where necessary and the League is grateful for their co-operation. Bernie always tries to accommodate clubs wherever he can when they require a week off, so it’s nice to see most clubs return the favor when asked.
