The final round of 2015 fixtures in The Spalding and South Holland Voice six-a-side League proved another one to remember.
One side ending the year in fine form are Championship leaders Maly and Team, who made it five wins on the spin at Surfleet’s Glen Park with a 1-0 success over struggling Pathetic Athletic.
They made the game hard work for themselves, though, after missing a flurry of decent goal-scoring chances.
However, come the season’s end, it’s unlikely, given their recent form, that missed chances will count for much as they continue to dominate a tight middle tier.
Not only have they won their previous five matches, but they’ve also not conceded in their last four outings.
Maly’s Wojciech Koszczuk was man of the match (MOTM) here – his second of the campaign.
Match two saw Puyol Pants Down wrap up a 5-0 win in the division’s points game. The win, coupled with Romasexuals’ defeat later in the night, sees Puyol move into the promotion spot of second place.
Romasexuals then suffered a second-straight defeat as they lost 2-0 to Posh Old Boys in a game which saw tempers boil-over and football lose out to an exchange of handbags.
Posh headed into this one on the back of three-straight defeats – but started well and took full advantage of the discontent Romasexuals were displaying.
The game spiralled into a bubbly and prickly match-up, which kept referee John Baxter on his toes.
MOTM was awarded to Shane Millar.
The final game in the middle tier saw Horse & Groom collect a fine 5-2 win over an off-colour Simple FC – who looked to be beaten from the get-go.
Groom secured their win with a certain style and panache, with MOTM Jack Dicker on fine form.
The top tier kicked-off with a points game – and one which sees Polishborough level themselves up at the top of the table.
The champions secured a 5-0 default win to move joint top with You’ve Got No Fans.
Elsewhere, the first competitive game saw Jimmy Floyd Bottlebank pick up a 5-2 success against The Predators. Both sides were in indifferent form, with neither having secured a win in their previous two games.
Predators seemed intent on riling up Bottlebank front-man Tom Cherry but, in fairness to him, he coped with the attention well.
Really well, in fact, as he went on scoring spree to not only secure a fine win for his side, but also MOTM.
Warriors were then gifted a 5-0 win after Football Club were unable to attend their planned fixture. In fairness to Football Club, they did provide tonnes of notice for this one and have already confirmed their eagerness to return to the league next week.
The final game saw the two most in-form sides in the divisions do battle. Univeg Team and You’ve Got No Fans, in a third versus first battle, promised so much, yet delivered so little with 0-0 the final score. With no major talking points of note, this game fizzled out like a post Christmas meal doze.
Armando Pires, seemingly impossible to dispossess, was MOTM in an otherwise boring battle.
The bottom tier kicked off with a nine-goal thriller as Mail Carters beat Gladiators 6-3.
End-to-end and pacey, it sees Gladiators suffer their fourth-straight defeat, but this was probably the most sour-tasting after they had led 2-0.
Mail Carters responded well to the losing position and produced a brilliant attacking showing in the second period.Luke Forknall in particular was striking as he chalked up MOTM number three for the season.
Match two saw third-placed Bowlcut Wanderers FC take on ABCDE FC and, despite starting the game with just five players, Bowlcut managed to secure a vital 2-1 victory.
Bowlcut were missing frontman Michael Cope and so had to quickly utilise the guest player rule to make up their numbers. It meant the game was quite stop-start, but credit to Bowlcut, they performed well considering one-sixth of their team was makeshift. Alex Stokes was MOTM in this one.
The biggest game at this level was Tekkerslovakia versus FC Salad Fingers.
Both teams were sitting level on points at the top of the table and both had matched one another step-for-step. Furthermore, both sides had the best defences across all three divisions.
Impressively, Salad Fingers managed to win it 2-0 and it marks the first time Tekkerslovakia have conceded more than once in a game since the summer.
Liam Lachasseigne was the MOTM in this game.
The final game saw Loftus-Cheeky Nando’s pick up their first win in four games as they destroyed Mail Carters 5-1.
Unsurprisingly, Wes Wilson was MOTM – his fourth of the season.
FIXTURES (Monday)
Premier Division: 7pm – Unvieg Team v Football Club; 7.40pm – You’ve Got No Fans v Jimmy Floyd Bottlebank; 8.20pm – Polishborough v The Predators; 9pm – Warriors v Points Match A.
The Championship: 7pm – Maly & Team v Puyol Pants Down; 7.40pm – Posh Old Boys v Horse & Groom; 8.20pm – Simple FC v Points Match B; 9pm – Romasexuals v Pathetic Athletic.
League One: 7pm – ABCDE FC v Tekkerslovakia; 7.40pm – Dynamo Kiev v Gladiators; 8.20pm – Mail Carters v FC Salad Fingers; 9pm – Loftus-Cheeky Nando’s v Bowlcut Wanderers FC.
PRE-CHRISTMAS CATCH UP (December 21)
You’ve Got No Fans knew that an appearance in their scheduled points game would secure a 5-0 win and with it the coveted Christmas number one spot in The Spalding and South Holland Voice six-a-side League.
They duly turned up at Surfleet’s Glen Park on the Monday before Christmas and will be one of the Premier League’s chief title contenders in 2016.
The competitive action kick-started in the top tier with a fantastic one-sided result for Univeg Team as they thumped Jimmy Floyd Bottlebank 5-0.
Univeg frontman Ramunas Jurevicius was man of the match (MOTM) in this game as his side produced a brilliant and high-tempo performance.
Polishborough then beat the usually defensively-sound Warriors 4-1.
It was another fine attacking display from the defending champions, who had Marcin Minczynski as the stand-out MOTM.
The Predators and Football Club couldn’t be separated as they closed out the action in the top tier with a 1-1 draw.
A wonder-strike from skipper Jordan Clow – the pick of the night’s goals – earned Predators a draw after Football Club had bossed the first half.
Predators’ keeper Mark Gray was MOTM.
The Championship then got under way with Simple FC delivering the goods with a 4-1 success over Posh Old Boys.
A wonder show by Alex Cammack and a relentless second half helped steer the Simple boys to a fine win.
The big grudge match in the middle tier was a straight-out tie for top spot as Romasexuals, who had three straight-wins, faced Maly & Team, who matched the record with three back-to-back victories of their own.
Roma probably enjoyed the better of the attacking play, but they failed to take any chances and, as the game opened up and became more stretched, Maly were able to beat them on the counter.
It finished 1-0 to Maly and Romasexuals were left frustrated at their own inability to score.
Maly full-back Vladas Fomkinas was MOTM.
Puyol Pants Down then won their game against Horse & Groom 3-2, but in fairness could have been treated to a more cricket-like score having enjoyed the lion’s share of attacking possession.
Tyler Wright was rightly given MOTM for Puyol – he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch and seemed intent on securing a personal result with his first star-man award of the season.
Pathetic Athletic were due to play the division’s points game, but were unable to attend due to lack of players and problems with injuries. They will be awarded a 5-0 win once they clear the outstanding match fees.
League One’s first game saw Dynamo Kiev’s woeful form continued as they suffered a heavy and disappointing 3-1 defeat to Mail Carters.
It marks five straight losses for Kiev and with just one goal scored in that time frame, there clearly needs to be action before they drift away from the rest of the pack.
Liam Groves grabbed MOTM in this game as Mail Carters grabbed a very welcome victory.
Title-chasing Tekkerslovakia were then 1-0 victors against Gladiators in a potential banana-skin of a tie.
Matt O’Brien was MOTM in this one.
Fellow championship hopefuls FC Salad Fingers then picked up a win of their own as they dispatched third-placed Bowlcut Wanderers 3-1.
Josh Nicol was the MOTM in this one.
The final game of the bottom tier was a comfortable 7-2 victory for ABCDE FC over Loftus-Cheeky Nando’s.
Marcus Gilbertson and Macauley Grimwood were influential in this win.
