X11 season 45 - de rigueur Mortis

[Sits]

After choking in the two previous rounds I've got my win and promotion to division 2 in the Golden League, I should also have a decent change report and get some money with the sale of a few youngsters.

Next I'll see my draw and things will go downhill from there.

Well done. My Curlies have finally got promotion to D1 after far too many attempts. Could be some GL derbies before long.

[Antepli Ejderha]

I've liked that because it seemed like the right thing to do. Too lazy to quote.

I've got to the semis in the MLX, three of the four semi finalists finished third in their groups while the other finished second. That's got to be the lowest seeded semi final line up ever, probably. It's a pity that Statto @Kevchenko is no longer here.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Well done. My Curlies have finally got promotion to D1 after far too many attempts. Could be some GL derbies before long.

Congratulations Sits.

Sadly Vicarious Thrillseeker is going in the opposite direction from our shared division.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Yup - I just couldn't turn things around. I think we always knew that it was going to be a difficult season, even when we won two of our first three games. They happened to be the last wins of our season; things went quickly downhill after the early honeymoon period. Good luck next season, AE - and a hearty 'Guzman' from Patagonia.

[Janik]

Xpert XI official Ladies League Season 60, Matchday 4 report.

Division 1a

Drakaina                   0 - 2   Flowers of Manchester
                                   Thunberg 29'
                                   Zeitner 76'


Division 2b

Ytterbyn                   1 - 1   Mauchline Belles
MacCammon 76'                      Melkersson 53'


Division 3d

Coxy Ladies Wulpen         2 - 2   Celebrity Girls
Wuyts 70'                          Hale 55'
Roosens 79'                        Kerckhoeven (O.G.) 64'
Kerckhoeven (sent off) 94'


Division 3e

Spicks Killiettes          1 - 0   Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC
Tonser 86'


Division 4i

Warriors FC                1 - 3   Viking South Utsira
Varej?o 76'                        N.Austrheim 35'
                                   B.Kvalvik 67'
                                   T.Klovning 70'


Division 5:17

Great Horned Owls          3 - 2   LNWR Locomotive
Klovning 16'                       Teigland 48', (pen) 61'
Saavedra 35'
Iglezias 66'


Division 5:22

Bombastic Girls            2 - 1   Bombay Green Rockets
de Hollander 41', 89'              P?hlmann 52'


Division 5:28

Anonymous                  1 - 3   Cassiopeia
Lagos 36'                          Krcmarevic 3'
                                   Juric 73'
                                   Aritonovic (pen) 90'

Atomic                     2 - 0   Menywod Maeshafn
Granqvist 24'
Dagdelen 43'


Division 5:32

Noble                      0 - 0   Csiki Girls


Division 6:27

Inverse United             0 - 2   I Cinghiali
                                   Brugge 53'
                                   Cabrero 66'


Division 6:33

Rising Stars               0 - 0   Secret Scorers


Division 6:38

Br?landa IF                0 - 3   Ullapool Northern Star
                                   Mair 12', 15'
                                   Harper 76'


Division 6:41

Las Vegas 86 FC            1 - 1   Hazeldean Inchmistress
Tatarian 22'                       Paulista 59'


Division 6:43

Invisible Ladies           0 - 0   The Devilettes

Almighty Ladies            4 - 4   ASU Politehnica
Polson 33'                         Tilbe 9'
Davies 58', 62'                    Gr?ber 25'
McIlroy 87'                        Kallio 29', 81'


Division 6:52

Azeda Girls F.C.           0 - 5   Zeugma Dostluk Spor
                                   Kulakova 11', 34' 54'
                                   Nandorf (pen) 65'
                                   Kurt 86'


Division 6:56

Skills FC                  1 - 0   Dublin City Womens FC
Capela 76'

At the moment a return to the top flight is looking a long shot for Drakaina given The Dragons slow start to this campaign. The Greek outfit was looking to improve on that when Flowers of Manchester visited Delphi.
Once again it was not to be Drakaina’s day, though. Etienne’s side did fine in the general play, it’s just they weren’t making chances from their equal share of possession, which Manchester were managing to do. Opportunities for the visitors led to an opening goal on 29 minutes, and then a killer second on 76.
Drakaina slip to seventh in the Division 1a table following the reverse. They are two points from safety, and only five behind where they really want to be, i.e. top, as no side in this section has won more than half their games to date.

Having picked up a vital first win of the campaign last week, Mauchline Belles were looking to back that up when they visited Ytterbyn.
The Belles put on a solid performance for boss Jdsx against a team in the top half of the table, matching Ytterbyn tackle for tackle and chance for chance. The Scots were the first to convert one of their openings into a goal, Gunilla Melkersson firing home in the 53rd minute. However, Ytterbyn responded on 76, and overall the 1-1 draw was an entirely fair result on a very even game.
It was also a good one for The Belles as a travelling side, so in my opinion counts as backing up that first victory. The point gained didn’t lift Mauchline out of the Division 2b drop zone, but it did keep them level pegging on points with fifth in the table; The Belles remain sixth.

Coxy Ladies Wulpen were also looking to build on a first three point haul when they welcomed Celebrity Girls to the Curlew’s Nest.
The opening half was open, but chanceless, with the action instead confined to the second period. There was a lot of it coming, though…
Celebrity Girls provided the first goal of the game on 55 minutes, but Coxy Ladies got the second (after 64). Unfortunately for No?mie Kerckhoeven her inadvertent deflection sent the ball into the wrong net. The Waders were not done though, pulling a goal back when Estelle Wuyts headed in on 70 minutes.
The flurry of chances and goals continued with a Wulpen equaliser on 79 minutes, another header but this time from Laetitia Roosens’ bonce. That set up a grandstand finish, but one that didn’t produce a winner. It did have a red card though, Kerckhoeven’s bad day getting even worse deep into stoppage time with her second yellow card of the afternoon.
The point gained kept The Waders fourth it the Division 3d table, though the five points gained from four games has Janik’s side closer on that measure to the bottom three than the top two.

Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC’s search for a first Division 3e win following promotion took them to Scotland for a visit to Spicks Killiettes.
Sea Spirits boss SeanoftheShed was clearly in search of goals as he picked all three forwards in his squad in an attacking 3-4-3 formation. Sadly for Kanjeng these players needed the ball worked up to them if they were to score, and that just didn’t happen enough. Spicks were also struggling to create chances at the other end in the first half (didn’t make any, in fact) but began to chip away at the Indonesian side after the break . Guttingly for The Sea Goddesses that led to a late breakthrough for the hosts, who netted in the 86th minute.
There wasn’t enough time for KRK to do anything about this as they fell to a second defeat of the campaign. Their 0-2-2 record is only good enough for seventh place in the table, three points from safety.

Both Viking South Utsira and their week 4 hosts Warriors FC had made solid starts to their Division 4i campaigns; both had claimed 7 points from a possible 9 prior to this meeting, two of the three sides level on that mark at the top of the table, though goal difference meant this one was third vs second. The win-draw-loss records may have been identical, but the methods were very different. The Blood Eagles arrived at the Warriors FC Arena having scored 7 and let in 3 in their previous fixtures, compared to their rather more grinding hosts who had only netted twice, but not conceded at all!
The method that looked likeliest to prevail during the first half was Viking’s, and that despite losing key defender Lina Hovland to a nasty 14-day injury just 4 minutes in. But territory and possession are not enough against a good defensive team – the breakthrough is key. After a scare that Warriors had managed it on 10 minutes (referee Justin Thyme to the rescue), it was Nina Austrheim who turned the lock on 35 mintues with a breakaway strike.
The first goal Warriors had conceded all season gained itself a partner midway through the second half when Bergljot Kvalvik turned home a corner. And a third wheel just three minutes after that from another flag kick, this one headed in by Tyra Klovning. Warriors pulled one back a few minutes later, but as they only ever scores once a game the lead Velvet Android’s side had built was far too big.
And with that, and a loss elsewhere for the third side of the group who started the day on 7 points, Viking went top of the table. They are three points clear of the chasing pack.

LNWR Locomotive had powered their way up to second in the Division 5:17 table ahead of their visit to the Tongass Forest Stadium, still the home of former OTF side (though long under different management) Great Horned Owls.
It was the hosts who showed their strength in the first half though as Locomotive struggled to get a steam up. By contrast the Owls were flying around, twice swooping to pounce on sights of goal to establish a 2-0 lead. This was no fluke; 5-0 on chances says it was deserved.
Steamers boss Viktor Boskovic was clearly, well, steaming at half-time as his side came out a totally different kettle of fish. They were quickly back in it, Maja Teigland heading home in the 48th minute, and had recovered parity just after the hour when Teigland put away a penalty. Smokin’. But just when it seemed that The Steamers had all the momentum, a goal against the run of play derailed them as GHO re-established their lead on 66 minutes.
There was no second comeback for LNWR, the loss seeing them drop two places to fourth in the 5:17 standings. Still only two points off the summit. But now only goal difference ahead of the drop zone as well!

Spluttering Bombay Green Rockets needed to pop the bubble of Bombastic Girls to get their season properly firing.
The opening quarter of the game was more painful than explosive though as both teams suffered serious injuries, Bombay losing their best midfielder, Tina N?rnberger, to a 26-day horror knock after 23 minutes. That was a serious blow to HKS3’s side, who struggled thereafter in the first half and conceded a goal late on, which had been coming.
The chance to regroup at half-time was welcome, as especially was Eileen P?hlmann’s equaliser on 52 minutes. However after that Bombastic upped the intensity again, and netted an 89th minute winner that chances (8-1!) say they absolutely merited.
That result left Bombay seventh in the Division 5:22 standings, three points from safety.

[Janik]

Cassiopeia’s week 4 hosts were a completely Anonymous bunch.
Vainglories defender and free-kick taker Helena Krcmarevic was standing on no ceremonies waiting for a formal introduction, instead simply whacking the dead ball into the Anonymous net after 3 minutes. The hosts actually had the better of things after that, and probably deserved their leveller on 36 minutes. But Stormstopper’s side had the bigger personalities here, and a little against the run of play netted again after the break through Gordana Juric’s 73rd minute breakaway.
Anonymous sent bodies forward, which left gaps at the back and saw a penalty given away in the final minute. No-one was booked for the foul as referee Ian Hartman was unable to identify the culprit, but Sandra Aritonovic wasn’t standing on such ceremonies and simply despatched the kick from 12 yards.
Elsewhere in the Division Menywod Maeshafn had something much hotter to handle than the cold impersonality of Anonymous when they visited leaders Atomic.
The hosts were solidity itself, forcing IsThatcherDeadYet’s side onto the back foot. Maeshafn battled as hard as they could, but Atomic were unyielding, capping a strong first half with goals on 24 and 43 minutes.
Atomic went into their shells somewhat after the break, which was something that Maeshafn never had the energy to force them back out of. Not even as much as a chance, let along the whole quanta of a goal for the Welsh side.
Those results mean OTF’s sides now find themselves neck-and-neck in the Division 5:28 table in fourth and fifth place. Maeshafn are the higher by one spot and point. Both are quite a way behind the top two though, and uncomfortably close to the bottom three.

Csiki Girls were in the odd position of simultaneously looking to preserve their unbeaten start to the Division 5:32 season, and also end their winless streak this campaign when they visited Noble on Matchday 4. [three draws from three for anyone bemused by that]
The Csiki’s suffered a setback when midfielder Georgia Birch suffered a 16-day injury on the quarter hour, but despite losing her Ad hoc’s team were clearly the better side in the game. The Csiki’s had over 60% possession in both halves, and made all the chances going, albeit that was only three. What was lacking, once again, was a goal, even in the last few minutes when injury reduced Noble to 10 players.
That meant a fourth draw in a row, a third of them 0-0 stalemates, for the Transylvanians. It’s a record that current has them seventh in the table, but only a point behind third and with a better goal difference to boot. The Csiki’s GD being exactly zero of course, seeing as they are still both unbeaten and searching for that first win!

Division 6:27 leaders I Cinghiali were hoping the world wouldn’t be turned on its head when they visited winless Inverse United.
The Boars were in hog’s heaven in terms of possession in the first half, but spent too much time wallowing in it rather than making it purposeful and ended the period goalless. Instructions from boss SitsWithRemore instilled a bit more bite in the Cinghiali side after the break, Idde Brugge showing the new found purpose as she snaffled up a 53rd minute chance to give her side the lead.
Brugge’s strike was a close range headers from a corner; Lilias Cabrero’s second was almost the polar opposite, a blast from fully 40 yards sailing over the Inverse ‘keeper, who tried to save it with her feet. Which was good adherence to club tradition, and bad Football tactics.
2-0 was how it finished, which was not only enough to keep The Boars top, but actually increase their advantage to two points after the morning’s second-placed side Fear IsNotA Weakness [damn that character limit!] suffered a home defeat.

Something had to give when Rising Stars met Secret Scorers, given that The Stars were top of the league having won every game without conceding a goal whilst Scorers were second in the standings with a sectional high Goals For total of 14.
For all the world it looked like it would be The Stars record that went as Scorers hammered away at Alba Quevedo’s goal. But they had reckoned without Rising’s stopper, who put in another exceptional display as she doggedly preserved her seasonal clean sheet. No matter what Secret tried, they couldn’t find a way past her.
It wasn’t a good day at the other end of the field for Blamb’s side, but their toothlessness didn’t matter quite so much given Quevedo’s perfect seven from seven afternoon. That meant various records were lost, such as Rising’s 100% one, but others (0 conceded, unbeaten) were maintained. But not top spot as two other sides climbed to 10 points and went past Rising on goal difference.

Away to the 100% league leaders is a big challenge, right? Well maybe not in the case of Ullapool Northern Star’s trip to Br?landa IF as the hosts were managerless, and their record of three wins and no goals conceded had all come against fellow zombies. They look like the pick of that group, but against a human manager? Well…
It took Polaris just a quarter of an hour to prove that opinion right, Mary-Leslie Mair scoring twice in quick succession, the first on 12 minutes from close in, the second on 15 from rather further out. Br?landa’s well of self-belief meant they made it hard for Delicatemoth’s side to add too many further goals to this, limited Northern Star to just one more, 19 year-old midfielder Sarah Harper turning in a 76th minute corner for her first senior goal.
The win lifted Ullapool above Br?landa and into third in Division 6:38. But not top as two teams have 10 points to Star’s 9. One of the sides above even managed a rarely-spotted 9-0 win this week against one of the other zombies that infest this particular section this season.

[Janik]

Third and fourth in Division 6:41 met when Hazeldean Inchmistress travelled to Las Vegas 86 FC.
The parallels between Framleyshire and Sin City… exist… I guess… both are English speaking. And both have some odd museums, the fluff museum in Whoft as absorbed as anything Vegas can throw up. But we are not comparing or contrasting cultures here, we are pitting Football teams against each other. And these were evenly matched. Overall.
It was a game of two halves, though. Vegas built up their chip stack in the first, but maybe didn’t take The Imperials for as much as they would have liked as 4-0 in chances only added up to a 1-0 interval lead. That allowed Hazeldean to come roaring back, though again just one goal, scored by Fabiana Paulista on 59 minutes, was a poor return from eight chances.
Foxy265 and co are not the first and won’t be the last to come away from Vegas wondering why their purses are so light. The house overround that kept The Imperials to just one point was also enough to push them down to fifth in the table, three points behind second.

Matchday 4 was a theological one for OTF’s sides in Division 6:43, as they took on absolute good and pure evil.
Invisible Ladies were confronted with the later as The Devilettes visited The San Seethrough.
The visitors proved to be a dull bunch, as did their manager based on the shirt he gave his team to wear. Which, I suppose, he can blame on the hand that is supernaturally guiding him. But no mythic beings were getting involved in this disappointment of a game, which had almost no incident worthy of note. Which was a real shame, given it was second in the table (PebbletheFish’s See Throughs) against first.
In fact there was only one chance all match, and the visitors fluffed that.
After a play-off final heartache last season, ASU Politehnica would have been aiming for automatic promotion in this campaign. Which made a game at bottom of the table and pointless Almighty Ladies look like a must-win for Granthamian’s side.
However looks can be deceiving as Almighty were no zombies, with an active hand on the tiller instead. Even so, Politehnica hit the ground running, building up a 2-0 lead after strikes from Pakize Tilbe on 9 minutes and debutant midfielder Becky Gr?ber on 25. The veteran excelled on her first appearance following her recent bargain acquisition, as she also made the opening goal, and would contribute another assist later on as well.
The Scholars had also had a strike disallowed between their first and second efforts, Saadet Bruak the unlucky party on 13 minutes, but it didn’t look like that would matter when Netta Kallio dinked home a third on just before the half-hour. However Almighty still believed, and pulled one back four minutes later, a goal they probably merited as the general play had been nothing like a 3-0-after-30-minutes game.
Almighty continued to beaver away after the break, closing to within one on 58 minutes, and then making it all square on 62. The Scholars were bemused to see a three-goal lead slip, all their books told them that doesn’t happen, but found the resolve to go back to the library for one more volume, Kallio netting her second of the game on 81 minutes. There was one more twist in the tale though as Almighty came back once again to claim a point that felt like it had been divinely inspired for them.
Where does the battle against Good and Evil leave our sides? Only fifth in the standings in the case of The Scholars, who will surely move up from there as the season progresses. The See-Throughs, meanwhile, stay second on goal difference behind Satan’s cheerleaders.

Zeugma Dostluk Spor, played three, won three, scored 12, conceded 0 at zombies Azeda Girls F.C. (0-1-2 1-12). No contest, right? Yep, no contest at all.
ZDS didn’t need to get out of second gear for this one as they cruised to a 5-0 win. Veronika Kulakova got the first three goals for Antepli Ejderha’s side, her first on 11 minutes a blast from distance, the second and third headers after she was picked out by two accurate crosses. Sally Nandorf stroke home the fourth from the penalty spot following a 65th minute foul, and Latife Kurt got the last of the day, heading home a corner. This made up for Kurt having one disallowed in the first half. Azeda also had a goal chalked off between Nandorf and Kurt’s strikes.
That kept Zeguma on 100% with no goals conceded. But they are not the only side in Division 6:52 that is true off, meaning the Anatolians are only ahead of second on goal difference. The gap to third is five points, though.

As always we end with Dublin City Womens FC, who were away in a top-of-the-table clash at second-placed Skills FC.
There was little between the sides in a goalless first half, expect that Skills had both of the chances going. Possession had been split 50/50 prior to the break, but after it Mortal Joe’s girls began to show increasing control of possession of the ball. And yet, it was Skills that were creating all the chances. Frustratingly for the visitors to the Rosegarden, Skills converted one of these on 76 minutes.
With Dublin not managing a shot in the match that one goal was enough to do for them and their leadership of Division 6:56 as Skills leapfrogged The Dubs on goal difference. And just +1 of that to boot.

[Sits]

Congratulations to VA and AE who roll back the years and lay on an all-OTF MLX final for us.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Congratulations to VA and AE who roll back the years and lay on an all-OTF MLX final for us.

In a development season for me I'm really happy to make the final. However we need to beat United Underground just once. Just once.

[Various Artist]

Oh, spoilers! I hadn't actually had the chance to log into X11 since yesterday evening to see what happened. Can't believe it's the two of us again AE, amazing.

I'm just going to knock out the OTF reports quickly (apologies for the closeness to the next round of fixtures), then I'll be out again for the rest of the afternoon but I'll look at MLX later to sort out the closing stages of the Challenge Bowl and probably issue the official end-of-season dates information.

[Various Artist]

OTF League roundup for 2nd November: Season 60 round 15

Division 3

---

At the Green we had the apparent mismatch of the day, where leaders and title favourites Brian Munchingflapjack came into their home game against 7th-placed Littlewoods Legends on a streak of seven straight wins and with a 9-0-1 record since their last-but-one loss on September 24th. The Legends in stark contrast were 1-1-8 since their last-but-one win on that same day. The Flapjacks naturally took an early lead through Sture Damberg, but despite a huge possession advantage they were pegged back by a Gustav Olholt freekick – the visitors’ only chance of the first half.
Then things got weird.
On the stroke of the interval a bad injury cost the home team their best defender, Georgy Ivankov. Then on 78 minutes with the score still 1-1 their joint second-best defender Oliver Neshelm picked up a second yellow card. The Legends were finding gaps galore by this stage, and two minutes later Ove Klein Johansen struck their winner to blow the title race wide open again.

The Flappers’ lead is down to a point, as OWC Albion (2nd) eased past Pinewood Passers (10th) 2-0 at the Theatre of Pies. The loss of the Passers’ only semi-credible midfielder, 35-year-old Alex Thornton, to a nasty injury late in the first half did not help their cause and they look almost sure to finish bottom of the league this term.
Wednesday de la Zouch (3rd) were the last side anywhere this season to lose their unbeaten record, but their overall stats read ‘only’ 6-7-1 after the division’s draw specialists shipped a late equaliser at Veni Vici Vigata (6th). They are thus five points off the summit instead of being right in with a chance of the title.
Only two points behind them, indeed, are Tree Hill High who crushed Wharfedale Generals (8th) 4-0 at Newall Carr Road. And both THH and Nieuwegein Kneebiters, one point further back and who had an inset day on Monday, have three games left to play compared with Weds’ two...


Division 2

---

With everyone outside the basement division having three fixtures remaining, Eriskay Expression are all but assured the D2 title after defeating sole remaining challengers Great Northern Railway 1-0 at the Clump – a showstealing last-minute winner from Billy McHampton effectively settling the race. It was a 10th straight victory for the Islanders and leaves them 8 point clear of GNR with 9 left available.
The Railwaymen are still nearly sure of their own promotion, as The Gang Played Football (3rd) suffered a stoppage-time home defeat to Heffron Hendecagon (5th) in a sizzling see-saw affair at Anything where the Hendos led from early on, then conceded twice in the third quarter, only to fight back in the closing stages and nick a dramatic 3-2 win through Sherringford Hovis’s last-gasp strike. It returns the Australians to the promotion race, with just two points now between the pair.

Between them, Athletico Deva (4th) are behind The Gang merely by 3 goals on GD after a win at New Dresden (9th) that pushed the latter close to relegation. It’s fair to say, however, that bald statement doesn’t quite cover the madness that elapsed at Netzer Park. The struggling home team were gifted a 3rd-minute own-goal lead then improbably raced three clear by 22 minutes after a Rene Hacker double. The shellshocked Deviants were able to pull one back not long before the interval, but had been edged out on possession and outshot 5 to 3 at half-time.
Then things, er, got weird. Again.
Deva striker Godfrey Corpe caught Dresden cold at the start of the second half to pull another back quickly, and despite no changes having been made to either side the away team simply located another gear or three from nowhere all of a sudden. Corpe’s second just before the hour was the body blow to Dresden as it hauled things right back to 3-3, then four minutes later Lorenc Abazi’s freekick had the visitors in front. Corpe duly completed his hat-trick with quarter of an hour to go, then in the dying moments Serkan Ozkoylu (whose surname I’ve had to strip of no fewer than three umlauts, alas) made it a nigh-unbelievable 6-3. The game ended with the second-half shots count reading 0 to 8, with 62% overall possession to Deva, and with the stupefied Dresden now 7 points from safety.

That last bit was thanks to Cods of War (7th) snatching a 1-0 win at Eintracht Midwest (10th) with a late freekick, which lifted the perfectly-poached piscine pugilists three points clear of the relegation line and confirmed Midwest’s demotion.
The day’s really key relegation battle, though, in a turn of events you'd be loath to script as fiction, quite incredibly featured the clash of Hammers against Anvils. And die Ambosse (6th) dealt the critical blow by snatching a vital 1-0 win at FC Gloryhammer (8th) with their only shot of the game, which keeps them a point ahead of Cods and more importantly opens up a 4-point cushion between them and the Hammers.

[Various Artist]

Division 1

---

Perhaps surprisingly, Berkshire Swine still haven’t quite clinched the D1 title yet, as they were held to a 2-2 home draw by Locomotiv Noj (5th) that leaves them ‘only’ 9 points and 10 goals clear at the top with three to play. It actually took a 92nd-min intervention from Roberto Alkuaz to preserve the Swine’s 13-game unbeaten run, after they twice trailed to a Noj side determined to fight their way into the promotion picture but who had to settle for ending the day 2 points behind 3rd.
Locomotiv do draw level on points with Saltney Drawers, who were upset 2-0 at Wensleydale Blues and consequently drop to to 4th. Blues’ crucial win lifts them a place to 8th, and they are now just two points from safety as Hampshire Deers (7th) were defeated 3-0 at home by Csiki Monkeys (2nd). The Monkeys made slightly heavy weather of it but two late goals ensured they are still three points clear of the chasing pack.
Moving up to 3rd go Whoft Fluffopolis, who emerged 5-2 winners over Turd Division in an entertaining clash at the Ray Illingworth, with Whoft’s Burt St Tropez and defender Belvedere Mintfresh bagging a brace apiece. The latter had scored just twice in the last three seasons previously. Turds sink to 9th.
Rejects Redux meanwhile put some clear water between themselves and the dropzone after a Gunder Gabrielsson double gave them a 2-0 win at Steaua Bridge. The Rejects are 6 clear of the relegation line, but Steaua are 8 points below it and may well be doomed after their trip to the Monkeys today.

OTF

---

After four games without a win, leaders Vita Mortis reasserted their title credentials with a 4-1 win at Banik Roystonov (9th), though they had to come back from an early deficit before eventually pummelling their hosts into submission.
Still only a point behind though at the top are Kernow Kensa, who defeated Croesoswallt Dragons 2-0 at the Kernowek Stadium to restore their own momentum in 2nd.
And just a further point back in 3rd are in-form Dandy Town, who ended St Pancras Starmers’ (5th) lingering hopes of defending their league title with a third straight victory, halting the outgoing champs’ own winning streak at 4.
Great Ouse Town remain on the fringe of the title race, seven points off the summit in 4th, after Mikey Hammond’s 3rd-minute header at home to Zeugmaspor (10th) proved to be their only attempt of the game but also proved to be the winner. Zeugma fought in vain for an equaliser, and their defeat leaves them 6 points from safety with three games to go.
Elsewhere, the big relegation battle at the Waveney Bowl between Hideous Towns (8th) and Four Candles (7th) ended 1-1, helping neither very much at all. The Candles still have the edge by a point, but host Banik today knowing that a defeat will drop them below the Roystonov men on GD.

[matt j]

Midwest has been absolute dreck this season, but wayhey for alliteration!

[Various Artist]

I hope that softens the blow fractionally matt...!

[Various Artist]

I've just update the above report as had no time to proofread for errors and/or coherence earlier. More importantly, though, I've just belatedly twigged that the key game at the lower end of D2 on Monday between FC Gloryhammer and die Ambosse was quite literally a clash of the Hammers and the Anvils. Had to add that in!

[jdsx]

Training day in both the J4GL and MLX, and 'pre-training training day' (i.e. 5 days prior to training day) in OTF. Just as well it's a quiet work day ;-)

[Antepli Ejderha]

Training day in both the J4GL and MLX, and 'pre-training training day' (i.e. 5 days prior to training day) in OTF. Just as well it's a quiet work day ;-)

I wish I had money to train players. The pot is rather empty and it's likely to mean a transfer or two out of both sides.

[Sits]

Just occasionally, the transfer market falls in your favour. Les Sangliers need a veteran defender after the retirement of Bertrada de Laon. We already have a defender with Headers. Three youngsters are on the market and will sell at 11am today X11 time, leaving 4m+ in the coffers.

This is the first player I scoured:

[Sits]

Someone will probably pay 5m now, you watch. She would be transformative for the team, now the compatibilities are pretty much in line and they’re all a little older. I’m hoping D3 will be the bottoming-out point of the rebuild but time will tell.

[jdsx]

Someone will probably pay 5m now, you watch. She would be transformative for the team, now the compatibilities are pretty much in line and they’re all a little older. I’m hoping D3 will be the bottoming-out point of the rebuild but time will tell.

Congrats on getting My Skagerlid, Sits. That's a bargain.

If it's any use to anyone, there's a 33/14 F on the market till this evening (Sharona Dobson). Vanilla but has cone. Currently at just over 3 million. (Aka Deane Lowry in the OTF transfer market, which I realise is closed, but he may be available in other leagues....)

[Hot Orange]

Just noticed that in Holkham Forest's final game of the season, midfielder Anthoula Kolobourdas recorded a rating of 7. I find this rather odd. Her average rating for the season until then had been 14.59, which included three games where she was tightly marked and was rated 11 or 12. In all other games she rated between 14 and 17. She wasn't tightly marked in that last game, she was playing in her usual position, she's not moody - it was just a normal occasion, yet she delivered her worst performance for 8 seasons. I keep track of player ratings and I've never seen a deviation from the norm anything like this. Anyone else?

It didn't matter, or anything, as Forest were already promoted, but it's weird, innit?

[Hot Orange]

Over at South Hams United in the Heineken, meanwhile, after 12 consecutive promotions, it looks like things will be tougher in HLC 3. The fans, spoilt by such success, are certainly not enamoured with a start to the season that has yielded five draws out of five, four of them 0-0.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Over at South Hams United in the Heineken, meanwhile, after 12 consecutive promotions, it looks like things will be tougher in HLC 3. The fans, spoilt by such success, are certainly not enamoured with a start to the season that has yielded five draws out of five, four of them 0-0.

We're 0-4-1 in the league above, it's certainly tougher.

[Hot Orange]

We're 0-4-1 in the league above, it's certainly tougher.

Yes, I always keep an eye on Zeugma as we follow you up the league and was amused to see we've started to find things difficult at the same time, if not at the same level.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Yes, I always keep an eye on Zeugma as we follow you up the league and was amused to see we've started to find things difficult at the same time, if not at the same level.

I've just checked and we've recorded 4 0-0 draws too, a single goal in a home defeat is all we've got to show for our efforts.

Two long term midfield injuries mean we're going to be waiting until round 9 or 10 before we're at full strength, that's almost half the season.