REMBERENCE DAY
As you know, this weekend is Rememberence Sunday. The Norwich & District Sunday League requests that all players and officials participating in a match this weekend, observe a minutes silence before kick off please.
BUSMEN JUST THE TICKET
They say that a week is a long time in football, and that certainly proved to be the case for Norwich Busmen. After going down 7-1 at Dog House last week, they bounced back seven days later to defeat Premier leaders The Grove 3-0. Shaun Swatman scored twice and Andy Hamby added the third for Busmen, whose goalkeeper Mark Trett pulled off several outstanding saves. AFC Wanderers and Dog House stay in third and fourth spots respectively as they drew 1-1 at Eaton Park. John Curtis had put the visitors ahead before Luke Tuttle equalised. Acle Rangers are up to fifth after a 2-0 home win over Hellesdon Athletic and there was a good 5-1 victory for Reepham over Wymondham Rangers. Unicorns won 2-1 at Aylsham Sunday and the visitors took the time to call, describing the performance of referee Mike Holmes, as the best they have had this season.
Mick Baker grabbed a hat trick, Dean Kelf scored twice, and Danny Howells and Olly Forkes also found the net as 1A leaders Fiveways won 7-2 at North Walsham. It was a good day for the leaders as second placed Vale Longo were held to a 1-1 (Pete Crowley) draw by Norman Wanderers and third placed Dussindale Rovers were thumped 5-0 by an Aslacton side claiming its first win of the season. The Castlegate had a 3-0 (Aaron Roberts, Ben Drummee, Steve Beck) home win over Hainford YCOB, whilst Windmill Wanderers scored five without reply at Horsford SC. There was a Ronny Qoopre de Barra double as Eaton FC were 4-2 winners over The Otter, Simon Brett and Jon Soderberg were also on target. In 1B Sprowston Rovers overcame Sprowston Wanderers by 2-0 and are now two points clear of Bayer FC, who put six past Catton. Prince of Denmark won by the odd goal of five (Chris Holmes 2, Ben Lewis) as they beat Spixworth and Haig FC were 2-0 (Lewis Turner, Mick Reynolds) winners at home to Norfolk CCSC. Damon Brown and Ashley Davies were on target as Earlham Utd beat St Faiths 2-1.
Hockering remain top of 2A, after a 3-1 home win over The Stores, whilst second placed DCS Rapid grabbed a point (Nick Williamson) in a 1-1 at Sprowston Sunday. Amos Bailey 3, Chris Collins, Chris Everett, Lee Greengrass were the scorers as a Green Man side, at full strength for the first time this season, won 6-3 at Normans Res, and there were goals for Calvin Butler 2, Carl Sturman, Lewis McKerell 2, Mark Quinsey and Jonathan Oakley as Deopham won 7-3 at Stoke FC. Moles Rest are the new leaders of 2B. As they were beating Sporting Farmhouse 3-1, previous leaders Heartsease FC were going down 5-2 at PL Rangers. Jordan Rocastle was the man who did most of the damage, scoring four times, making it thirty two for the season already. Jack Ainsley also found the net for Rangers and Kyle Appleton and Chris Parnell for Heartsease in a game where both sides were praised for playing great football. Clive Riches 2 and Paul Suggitt scored for third placed Maid Marian as they won 3-0 at Ribs Rovers, whilst Poringland Res, with Luke Casey outstanding at the back, had a 5-2 (Anthony Dooley 2, Craig Mattocks 2, Danny Webster) at Hethersett Ath. There was a seven goal thriller at Hingham where the home side overcame Hillside OB by the odd goal.
The big game in 3A was at Rackheath where morning leaders New Buckenham travelled to meet Riverside Rovers who beat them 4-2 to replace them at the top. Hellesdon Res made it a bad day at the office for Newsman Celtic, by beating them 6-2 and Mad Moose had a 4-1 (Darren Hills, Matt Ladd and og) win over River Garden. Sporting Longdale grabbed the only goal of the game through Tony Gowing at Dancing Farmers and Aaron Tunaley scored all four as The Reindeer won 4-2 at Caseys Cosmos. Just to prove how tight it is at the bottom of this division, Norman Wanderers A’s 4-1 win at Constable Crusaders saw them rise from eleventh place to seventh. It wasn’t a great day for the leaders in 3B either. Despite goals from Ronaldo Balde, Nash Makuve and Tobi Amadasun, One Love Utd went down 4-3 at DEF FC, but sportingly praised their opponents. Kel Haywood scored for second placed Salhouse rovers as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Briston Wanderers, whilst Sloughbottom Revolution are up to third after a 3-0 (Zach Howe 2, Steve Kelly) victory at Aylsham Res. Taverham Utd had a good 3-1 win at Bell Inn and Unicorns Res also won by the same score at The Gordon. There were six goals and a share of the points as AFC Oak drew at home to Freethorpe. Karl Hayward, Wes Barton and Richard Wood scored for AFC whilst there was a good performance from Sam Brewster in goal for the home side
Phoenix Felthorpe travelled to Sporting Longdale Res as morning leaders of 4A, but a Brad Warr goal midway through the second half, gave the home side their first victory of the season. That result allowed Bungay Town, 2-0 winners at Temple Bar, to return to the top of the table, followed by Brooke, who had a 2-1 (Sam Page, Joel Hansen) home win over Eaton Young Boys. Whiterose Utd went down 3-1 at Temples Property and Manor Park recorded a 4-2 home win over William Rovers, Dan Harvey and Max Halliday scoring for the visitors. There was a 3-3 draw in the game between Earlham Colney and Hockering Res. In 4B leaders Drayton put in their best performance of the season, but still went down 3-2 at Schoolhouse, who they described as the best side they had played this season. Sam Lincoln and James Tubb scored for Drayton who also had high praise for referee Andy Mallett whilst Brendan Burke 2 and Joshua Cullington were the Schoolhouse marksmen. William Wanderers stay second after a 4-1 home win over Chapelfield Rovers. There was a hat trick for Jonathan Lamb and goals for Ollie Bell, Nicky Wood and Dale Scarff as Dilham Cross Keys won 6-1 at Spixworth Res and Windmill Elite were 2-1 winners over Hethersett Res. Costessey Sports Res and Wendene Wanderers shared the points in a 3-3 draw.
MARLBOROUGH WIN TO KEEP UP PRESSURE
Reigning champions Marlborough showed that they don’t intend to relinquish their title without a fight as they defeated an in form AFC Wanderers 3-0. All the goals came in the first period in a game that saw AFC finish with only eight men. Leaders The Grove had a comfortable 7-1 (Sam Mallett 2, Arran James 2, Lloyd Greening, George Brooks and Danny Blake) victory over Reepham Town, whilst Dog House also put seven past Norwich Busmen. Acle Rangers grabbed a late equaliser to draw 2-2 at Wymondham Rangers and after receiving the league’s first Sporting Award of the season, Hellesdon Athletic probably took sportsmanship a bit too far as they slumped 6-1 at home to Aylsham Sunday.
They were both unbeaten, so something had to give as Fiveways lined up at home to Vale Longo in 1A. The visitors took a 1-0 lead through Jerry Archer into the break before Fiveways stormed into a 4-1 second half lead. Longo rallied but could only pull two back (Mark Woods and Pete Crowley) in an entertaining game. Dussindale Rovers missed out on the chance to go top as they went down 3-1 (Wayne Riseborough ,Ben Drummee, Aaron Roberts) at home to The Castlegate whilst on the eve of Halloween, Eaton FC won by the odd goal of nine in a “thriller” at Windmill Wanderers Simon Nicholls scored four and Michael Bolton added the other for Eaton. Horsford SC won 4-2 at Norman Wanderers and Ben Stearman netted a brace and Kevin Oakley another as Aslacton drew 3-3 at The Otter. Sprowston Rovers remain top of 1B after a 3-2 “derby” win at Catton and are two points ahead of Bayer FC who also won 3-2 at Norfolk CCSC. Sprowston Wanderers beat Prince of Denmark 3-2, whilst Spixworth went down; guess what, yes, 3-2 at home to Earlham Utd for whom Connor Delaney scored twice and Marcus Gee was also on target. The only game that didn’t end up 3-2 in 1B was at St Faiths where the home side beat Rose Tavern 3-1 thanks to two goals from Jordan King and another from Matt Egleton
In 2A, DCS Rapid closed the gap on leaders Hockering with a 6-1 (Lawrence Keelty, Nick Weavers, John Orr, Brett Kingsbury, Pat Cass, Paul Jones) home win over Acle Wanderers and Sprowston Sunday are lurking in third spot after a 3-0 victory at The Stores. Deopham and The Griffen shared the points in a 1-1 draw, mark Quinsey scoring for the home side. In 2B, leaders Heartsease were inactive, but Moles Rest missed the chance take top spot as they suffered their first defeat of the season, 4-2 at Poringland Res for whom Danny Webster, Rueben Clarke, Anthony Dooley and Hakeem Lahfa scored. Shaun Ward and Rhys Cousins replied for the visitors. Danny Walker and Clive Riches scored for Maid Marian as they came from two down against Hethersett Athletic before a twenty five yard strike five minutes from time by Nick Parker gave Marian all three points in a game they say was superbly refereed by Richard Gostling. 16 year olds, Rhys Logan and Macaulay Campbell were outstanding as PL Rangers won 6-2 at Sporting Farmhouse and Acle rangers Res beat Hingham by the odd goal in seven. Ribs Rovers came away from Hillside OB with a 2-0 victory.
New Buckenham have made it seven wins from seven games in 3A after thumping Dancing Farmers 7-1. Riverside Rovers won 2-0 at Newsman Celtic, but have their keeper to thank for a stunning penalty save ten minutes from time when they were one up. Hellesdon Res are third after a 5-3 win at River Garden and I saw some of an entertaining game between The Reindeer and Mad Moose, the home side coming from behind to level the scores at 3-3 only for Mad Moose to add a fourth and take the points. Constable Crusaders had a good 3-2 win at Sporting Longdale and Caseys Cosmos moved off the bottom with a 5-1 victory at Norman Wanderers A. One Love United increased their lead at the top of 3B by beating The Gordon 7-1 (Ronaldo Balde, Nash Makuve, Tobi Amadasun, Armando Bofuki, Ahmed Jallow, Bonito Gil and Kevin Akpos) whilst second placed Salhouse Rovers were two up thanks to Neil Woolner and a superb Jamie Weavers free kick, only to then concede two penalties for Aylsham Res to snatch a draw. Dale Simpson and Richard Donovan scored for Bell Inn as they won 2-1 at Sloughbottom Revolution and Unicorns Res were 4-1 winners over Briston Wanderers. DEF FC had a good 5-1 win at Freethorpe, whilst Taverham Utd and AFC Oak shared four goals and the points.
A point in a 2-2 draw at home to Manor Park was enough to see Phoenix Felthorpe go to the top of 4A. They are followed by four teams just a point behind, of which Brooke won 4-2 at Whiterose United and Temple Bar were 4-0 winners at Eaton Young Boys. Temples Property were involved in their usual high scoring game as they won 7-3 at William Rovers and Hockering Res had a 3-0 home win over Sporting Longdale Res. 4B leaders Drayton admit to being outplayed in the first half against Salhouse Res who scored twice through Tom Smith, but it was a different story after the break when Tom Frost pulled one back and a last minute own goal gave them a point. Schoolhouse were 5-1 (Joe McCarthy 2, Ian Garrod, Gregg Lawrence, Joshua Cullington) winners at Wendene Wanderers and Chapelfield Rovers won 3-1(Leon Campbell 2, Bilal Fares) at home to Windmill Elite. There was a 1-1 draw in the game between Hethersett Res and Costessey Sports Res.
It is disappointing to note that some clubs have had the need to complain about the behaviour of their opponent’s officials or supporters on the sideline. The league will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and remind clubs that they are responsible for the conduct of their officials and supporters. Clubs failing to deal with this problem WILL be charged by the league.