Division Two leaders Simple FC were surprisingly beaten on a low-scoring night in The Spalding and South Holland Voice six-a-side football league on Monday.
Atrocious wet and windy weather made for a difficult night of action – but Surfleet’s Glen Park was lit up by an appearance from Emmerdale star Gemma Atkinson in the crowd.
Division One got under way with Pro Ballers extending their run of recent poor form with a fantastic and well-fought win against second-placed Univeg Team. This result has allowed Polishborough to open up a massive seven-point gap at the top as they countdown to the end of the season.
Univeg do, at least, have the honour of being the highest ranked English team across the two divisions. Declan Earth was man-of-the-match (MOTM) in this game.
Game two saw Mirror Signal Malouda secure their first competitive win since joining the league, as they turned over Posh Old Boys 3-2 in a relegation four-pointer.
The win sees Malouda leapfrog Division Two champions Posh and dump them into the relegation zone.
Ben Weatherill was picked as MOTM in this one.
As the rain started to fall heavily Pinchbeck United squeezed past Brennan’s Sports 1-0 in the next tussle to maintain their good run of form. Jason Clow picked up MOTM along the way.
Unsurprisingly, table-topping Polishborough were again the biggest scorers of the evening. They beat struggling Old Boy Coaches 5-2 in the most goal-active clash of the night’s action.
Polishborough, who played with immense flair and precision, have the perfect mix of physicality, skill, passion and general talent and have been the stand-out side this season.
Captain Thomasz Rabiega was their MOTM.
Then came something of a surprise, as You’ve Got No Fans beat Notinmymums Forest 4-1 to move themselves up into sixth position. Nic Mason given the nod as MOTM by referee Richard Wilde.
Division Two got under way in-form Dynamo Kiev scoring a last-gasp winner to beat Le Saux Solid Crew 2-1.
In what was a thoroughly entertaining game, both sides played similar styles of football and often cancelled each other out. Kiev’s Marcus Gilberston was the MOTM.
Then came the biggest shock of the night, as Sarah’s Boys turned over leaders Simple FC 1-0 – cutting their lead to just two points in the process. Simple never really got started and missed the organisation, talent and skill of Leigh Boekestijn – who missed the fixture after becoming a dad for the first time last week.
Ash Graham was MOTM for victorious Sarah’s Boys.
Second-placed Evolution duly obliged to Simple FC dropping points as they ran out 3-1 winners against Mail Carters. Resurgent Evolution have clawed themselves back into the title race and head up a tight-chasing pack.
Danny Andrew was MOTM in this clash.
The next clash saw The TBME beat Hardly Athletic 2-0. Rock-bottom Hardly still yet to score, but they will take encouragement from this result which wasn’t as one-sided as many would have expected.
Hardly were forced to use the Leisure League’s flexi-squad system – and a massive gesture of goodwill from The TBME – to throw together a make-shift team following late withdrawal of several team members. Ryan Plant picked up the MOTM prize.
The penultimate game saw BK’s Athletic suffer their fourth game without a win as they lost 3-1 to Goaldiggers.
The Goaldiggers side again had MOTM hero Tyler Wright to thank as they walked to their latest victory.
The evening came to a close with a sound 4-1 victory for Tekkerslovakia, as they became the latest team to pile on the misery for Balotellitubbies.
Daniel Emeny picked up his first MOTM gong as the win pushes Tekkers five points clear of the Balo in ninth place.
TEAM FOCUS: Dynamo Kiev
Mixed-bag doesn’t even begin to describe the season that Dynamo Kiev have faced.
They started perfectly, racking up two decent wins before their form turned upside-down. A disastrous run of seven straight defeats saw them plummet towards the foot of the division two table. However, this run was ended with a hard-fought 3-0 shutout against Tekkerslovakia at the end of February and the Kiev boys haven’t looked back since.
They now find themselves as the in-form team of the division and have scaled the table to eighth place but still within touching distance of the chasing pack.
When the likes of JJ Ivatt and Marcus Gilberston are on form, they are capable of turning over any opposition and the search for consistency will be their olive branch towards the end of the campaign.
Skipper Zack Lucas said: “We go into every game to have fun, but are fully aware that, on our day, we can beat anyone. We just take each game as it comes and hope for the best. If we start well our confidence grows throughout the game and the key to our form is making sure we don’t let our heads drop if we do concede.
“Promotion isn’t something we’ve really thought about. Our aim for this season is just to finish as high as possible and look to start afresh next time around. It’s frustrating to think where we could be if we hadn’t suffered such a poor run of form.”
FIXTURES (Monday)
Division One: 7pm – MSM v OB Coaches; PM A v Pro Ballers; 7.40pm – PM B v Posh; 8.20pm – Polishboro’ v YGNF; Univeg v Brennans; 9pm – Pinchbeck v N Forest.
Division Two: 7pm – B’tubbies v Sarah’s Boys; 7.40pm – Mail Carters v Le Saux SC; Tekkers v TBME; 8.20pm – Hardly Athletic v Evolution; 9pm – Goaldiggers v D Kiev; Simple v BK’s Athletic.
