X11 season 45 - de rigueur Mortis

[Sits]

Well I'll use up my 9,999th* post to say thanks for the tip-off VA. He can join the queue behind Foxy of course.

And it's a thank you, despite your stupid league conspiring to stop the Babirusas winning the Third Division. Putting that pesky New 5ith Order there just so they could beat us. At least the DVs look OK, although I won't put up a poster-sized screen shot up to prove it.

*so many posts, so little substance.

[Wouter D]

Yesterday was the ad hoc vs Wouter day (in both OTF and Heineken) and happily (for me, though possibly less so for him) the Csiki teams won in both encounters. (The Heineken one was a particular surprise)

The Kneebiters have started the season appallingly. Lokomotiv Leiden was well on the rails towards HLC 1; this is a snag, but their still topping the division. Where are the Old Spots to round out the OTF top three?

[Etienne]

I wasn't the founder. I think it was Matej, although it might have been rick derris, as he was the person to introduce the game to board.

[SouthdownRebel]

If that's still ok with you SDR, will happily take over them again.

Absolutely - we finished with the point we needed for the title, so you'll be back where you left off next season. DVs could be a little better but they're not a total disaster.

Only question I have is - do we need to coordinate the switch to stop someone else nipping in before you? Or can our Glorious Androidian Leader manage the situation from ground control?

[Sits]

Big kudos to Hot Orange for making Holkham Forest the first (and only, ever) team to win the Human League in both Champions' and standard league formats.

[Janik]

It’s the X11 Ladies Cup second round, featuring all 11 OTF teams.

Alto da Eira FC		0 - 6	Drakaina
				Mourne 4'
				Winter 12', 25', 33', 86'
				Petit 20'

Drakaina		5 - 0	Alto da Eira FC
Vulturescu 8'
Winter 35'			Kronegård (sent off) 90'
Heggarty 39'
Mourne 46'
Panagoulis 53'

Drakaina win 11-0 on aggregate


Backyard Babies FC	0 - 1	Witches of Chiswick
				Uchida 86'

Witches of Chiswick	0 - 0	Backyard Babies FC

Chiswick win 1-0 on aggregate


Högdalen FC		1 - 1	Solent Sirens
Runemo 12'			de Beauvoir 66'

Solent Sirens		1 - 1	Högdalen FC
de Beauvoir 93'		A.E.T.	Fors 70'
de Beauvoir (sent off) 104'

2-2 on aggregate. Solent win 4-2 on penalties.


Inverse United		0 - 2	Csiki Girls
				Sheerin 4'
				Clevan 66'

Csiki Girls		1 - 1	Inverse United
Wiking 87'			Forsman 83'

Csiki Girls win 3-1 on aggregate


Invisible Ladies	0 - 1	Catalonia Nuns
				Alejandro 38'

Catalonia Nuns		1 - 0	Invisible Ladies
Chicha 63'

Catalonia win 2-0 on aggregate


Kvinnchester United	0 - 1	Dublin City Womens FC
				Thörnberg 78'

Dublin City Womens FC	1 - 0	Kvinnchester United
Thörnberg (pen) 59'

Dublin win 2-0 on aggregate


LNWR Locomotive		2 - 2	Kilwinning WFC
Hutson 29'			Strümpel 66'
Ryman 37'			Mentira 86'

Kilwinning WFC		2 - 3	LNWR Locomotive
Geddes 57'		A.E.T.	Ryman 39', 77'
Armstrong 90'			Hofvander (pen) 91'
				Zakarian (sent off) 114'

LNWR win 5-4 on aggregate


Overwatch		1 - 1	Coxy Ladies Wulpen
Heary 84'			van Sttenberghe 35'

Coxy Ladies Wulpen	3 - 1	Overwatch
Vandenbergh 1'			Luz 62'
Mahony 58'
Wostijn 74'

Wulpen win 4-2 on aggregate


Pink Express 		0 - 0	Menywod Maeshafn

Menywod Maeshafn	1 - 3	Pink Express
van Hijde 68'			Batistuta 30'
				Parks 54'
				Mullin 70'

Pink Express win 3-1 on aggregate


Steagu Rosu		0 - 4	Viking South Utsira
				B.Austrheim 30'
				N.Austrheim 49'
				Jönsson 61'
				K.Hovland 79'

Viking South Utsira	6 - 0	Steagu Rosu
Quental 1'
B.Austrheim 21', 29'
N.Austrheim 51'
Jönsson 73'
H.Hovland 86'

Viking win 10-0 on aggregate


Unattached		0 - 2	Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC
				Doom 8'
				Dalmiya 10'

Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC	2 - 1	Unattached
Ikmal 17'			Bush 50'
Dennen 93'			Escoda (sent off) 60'

Kanjeng win 4-1 on aggregate

The challenge presented to Drakaina by Division 6 outfit Alto da Eira FC was limited due to the Portugese side being one of those highly expensive collections of kids without any wiser, older heads to act as leaders.
Fionulla Mourne may have opened the scoring after four minutes, but the main beneficiary of the candies-from-babies scenario was Grace Winter who netted a first half hattrick and added a fourth late on for good measure. Sandrine Petit was also on the scoresheet for Etienne’s side.
However it wasn’t all sweetness and light for The Dragons, as their no.10, Anastasia Shkolnikova, went down with a 10-day injury midway through the second-half. That doesn’t sound too terrible you say? Well, despite her shirt number, Shkolnikova plays in goal for the Greeks, and indeed is the only specialist ‘keeper at Delphi following the recent sale of Amarissa Vélez. Defender Roseanne Beattie was ‘volunteered’ to take the gloves and she put in a decent grade 10 showing with no goals conceded (though she didn’t face a shot). Whether a new ‘keeper arrives as a stopgap probably depends on whether the suppressing effect on Beattie’s form is too great.
As it turned out no new stopper arrived in time for the league match in between the two legs, or for the return. However Shkolnikova had recovered enough to take her place between the sticks for the second match, with the manager giving firm instructions to his side to make sure she had absolutely nothing to do. This didn’t prove too taxing a requirement...
The Dragons were once again completely dominant, with goals coming regularly. Florica Vulturescu got the first early on, Winter made it two and there was one more before half-time. That was scored by 16 year-old Gael Heggarty, just two days after her move to Delphi from Mortal Joe’s Dublin City. Heggarty also registered an assist when her corner was nodded home by Adonia Panagoulis for the fifth, Mourne having got the fourth earlier. The only remaining incident was a wholly unnecessary sending-off for Alto’s skipper Wilma Kronegård, who collected two late bookings when the aggregate was already 11-0 against her side.
Will Heggarty be as successful in R3 against Division 6:17 side F.C Murad? Only time will tell, though she will surely play a part in the matches.

Witches of Chiswick also had Division 6 opposition, but ones with a more sensible age profile despite their name – Backyard Babies FC.
The Bewitched dominated the opening match at the Backyard Arena, but struggled to make their possession and chance advantage count. Wiblflibl’s side even had a full on scare when the hosts appeared to have stolen the lead, and eventually emerged with a 1-0 victory courtesy of Ruri Uchida’s late strike that was the barest of minimums of what they deserved from the day.
Stick or twist is the second leg dilemma for any side carrying a single goal lead from the away leg. The Bewitched opted mostly to stick, playing solidly defensively but still trying to grab a nerve-settler if possible. It didn’t prove to be so, but that first leg strike was enough in the end, anyway.
Next up for Chiswick are Chupacabra of Division 4p, first leg in West London.

Games against seventh tier outfits will be a familiar theme to this report, with eight of the eleven OTF sides facing clubs from that level. Solent Sirens were one of these, with their challenge being Högdalen FC.
The Swedes are a fairly fresh-faced side (no player at the club is over 28), but with enough experience to present Solent with a decent challenge. They even struck first just 12 minutes in. The Sirens took their time responding, but did level midway through the second period through that old standby, a Simone de Beauvoir free-kick.
Sirens manager Andrew7610 gambled for the return leg by leaving it up to his players. This so nearly backfired when Högdalen took the lead on 70 minutes, a situation that was only alleviated deep into stoppage time when de Beauvoir got another free-kick in range and rescued her side. However The Sirens were still on a knife-edge as a goal for the visitors in extra-time would leave them behind on away goals. And de Beauvoir hardly helped matters as she collected her second yellow card of the day after 104 minutes to leave her side to play the second half of extra-time with ten men. The south coast side battled through that however to reach penalties.
The situation looked bleak when Josefine Jonson was the first to miss as she took The Sirens second of the shoot-out. However Högdalen were unable to convert their third, or their fourth, leaving Eva Sundén able to complete the job with Solent’s fifth kick. Their reward is two games against Invictus Ladies FC of Division 2d, the first leg taking place at Mayfield Park.

Same again for Csiki Girls, who faced Inverse United.
A perfect start for the higher Division side in such ties is an early away goal and that is precisely what Csiki Girls got inside four minutes as Afton Sheerin nodded home. Fifteen minutes later it looked like it was two and a possible opening of the floodgates, but Saoirse McInns’ effort was ruled out.
The next notable action of the match was less good news for manager ad hoc as new signing Solange Solas, who had scored on her debut in the league a few days prior, went down with a 10-day injury. Solas’ replacement was Ellie Clevan, which proved to be a silver lining as Clevan made it two after 66 minutes, which is how the opening leg finished.
One goal was really all that was needed to kill the tie off for the Csiki’s in the return. However it proved to be frustratingly unforthcoming. And then, on 83 minutes, Inverse United scored! Were they about to turn things around? Not a chance as The Csiki’s moreorless marched down the other end where Inger Wiking restored the two goal cushion, just four minutes after it had been halved.
There was one costly aspect to the second Inverse meeting, which was a 14-day injury to midfielder Emelie Gränsmark. That will keep her out of the home first leg of her sides R3 tie against Division 4f outfit Bolton Ladies College.

Invisible Ladies are themselves in Division 6, so it was a cross-tier affair when they took on Catalonia Nuns.
The opening leg took place at The San Seethrough, which was not an altogether happy ground as the hosts, with their Milanesque stadium and Barcaesque kit, were pushed back by the Nuns. Pebblethefish’s side did have their moments, but Catalonia had more and ultimately probably earned their 1-0 first leg advantage, which came courtesy of a goal towards the end of the first half.
The See-Throughs needed a goal in the return, and thought they had it after 15 minutes when Sofia Neves had the ball in the net, only for infamous ref Tony Nolan to chalk it off. And that would prove moreorless that as far as Invisible were concerned, as they didn’t create any further chances. Catalonia got one themselves just past the hour to make the overall aggregate 2-0.

[Janik]

One of the few sides not facing Division 6 opponents were Dublin City Womens FC, as they took on a Kvinnchester United team that operate one step higher up the ladder.
Despite that Dublin were the higher seeds, so away for the opening leg. And Mortal Joe’s side came in confident following their first league win the previous weekend. It showed in their play as they had Kvinnchester chasing shadows for much of the day.
Rita Cruz thought she had put Dublin ahead in the first-half, but it was ruled out as despite heavy possession Dublin didn’t register a legitimate shot at the hosts goal. That changed after the break as chances arrived, and with them the winning goal, which was headed home by Bodil Thörnberg after 78 minutes.
The Phoenix Park crowd had an unusual buzz to it ahead of the return leg as their heroines came in on the back of a three-game winning run. Dublin had the better of the first half without making a breakthrough, which meant a hush descended when Kvinnchester put the ball past Ivy Ryder just after the break, followed by a relieved cheer when Frank Redkard signalled a free-kick rather pointing to the centre spot. Redkard was also crucial a little over ten minutes later, this time his arm was aimed at the Kvinnchester penalty spot. Skipper Thörnberg assumed responsibility and shoulder it successfully.
The two goal cushion proved to be comfortable for the hosts, despite the loss to injury of Dympna Clifden late on. She will be out for ten days, which probably means missing the opening leg at Phoenix Park against Division 4e outfit Bruksdamernas IF.

The one all-sixth tier affair pitted LNWR Locomotive against Kilwinning WFC, who are a side Coxy Ladies Wulpen know well.
The first leg at Mollington Street proved to be a bad day for goalkeepers as almost every shot faced went in. The Steamers were the first to strike, Kaitlyn Hutson and Lisa Ryman scoring in the later part of the first half to have their side two to the good at the break.
Both assists came from Adozinda Vergueiro, but then the game appeared to change as Vergueiro went down injured on 53 minutes (she’ll be out for 17 days). In her absence, back came Kilwinning, pulling one back on 66 minutes and equalising twenty minutes further on. Level on aggregate, but with two away goals against them, there is work for Viktor Boskovic to do ahead of the return.
The return would prove just as open and entertaining an affair. An end-to-end first half produced just one goal, Ryman edging The Steamers ahead by turning home a 39th minute corner. However back came Kilwinning, drawing level on the night and ahead on away goals with an equaliser after 57 minutes.
Ryman got her second of the match on 77 with a long range strike, before departing with a minor knock just five minutes later. That strike was crucial as it meant Locomotive had now matched Kilwinning on away goals, the importance of which was demonstrated when the hosts equalised again in the final minute.
The start of extra-time was dramatic as referee Seymour Red awarded The Steamers a penalty just seconds after the game restarted. The responsibility went to Ragna Hofvander, and she proved ice cool. Red tried to even up his decision in the second period of extra-time when he showed Gayane Zakarian a straight red card, but with just a handful of minutes to play and effectively a two goal cushion that didn’t have a major effect on the outcome.
Locomotive’s reward is a match against a bunch who appear confused about which Sport they play, WTA Tour. The Tennis Players operate in Division 5:19, parallel with The Steamers.

Despite Coxy Ladies Wulpen being a step higher up the ladder than Overwatch, there was some doubt who the favourite was ahead of the tie due to the strength of the Overwatch squad.
However the hosts lost their best player to injury early on, and The Waders appeared to take charge with Eva van Sttenberghe opening the scoring after 35 minutes. Janik’s side didn’t make the most of this lead, letting chances go begging before being caught at a set piece inside the last ten minutes as Overwatch nicked a draw.
A long range blast from Laetitia Vandenbergh in the opening minute of the return leg at the Curlew’s Nest proved a settler as The Waders put in a good showing, creating a string of chances. They had to wait until the 58th minute for Moreen Mahony to make it two, and though Overwatch responded with one back against the run of play almost immediately it didn’t change the pattern of the match as Aurelie Wostijn re-established the handy cushion (and also final margin) with just over a quarter of an hour left.
Round 3 sees Wulpen take on As Mondeguinas from Division 4l, the first leg in Portugal.

Division 6 versus Division 5 was the set-up as Menywod Maeshafn collided with Pink Express.
Pink Express are in the higher tier, but didn’t impose themselves as the match got stuck in midfield. Indeed it was Maeshafn who had more of the ball, though fewer of the chances. They shared the goals equally, though: there were none of them! A decent result to take back to Wales.
It did, however, leave the hosts vulnerable if they conceded an away goal in the return. As such, the last thing manager IsThactherDeadYet wanted was an end-to-end chance-fest. However that is what he got. His side held out until the half-hour mark, but then Pink Express struck, which meant that Maeshafn now needed an aggregate win as their opponents were sure of the away goals breaker.
Two needed became three on 54 minutes, and though Elodie van Hijde pulled one back after 68 it would prove only a brief period of hope as Pink Express quickly reset the number back to three. They did create enough chances in the piece to have achieved that (7 in total, one more than their opponents) but just couldn’t put the finishing touch on anything like enough times.

Viking South Utsira are barely tested by games against Division 6 sides like Steagu Rosu.
The Blood Eagles cruised through the opening leg in Romania, scoring at regular intervals. Birgit Austrheim opened the scoring on the half-hour, cousin Nina Austrheim made it two soon after the break, with Moa Jönsson and Kristin Hovland also on target for Velvet Android’s side.
Nina Austrheim’s goal was on debut as she became the latest scion of that great Footballing clan to feature in VSU colours. Indeed not only was her cousin Birgit there, so was Birgit’s sister Asta and Nina’s own sibling Monike, who kept a clean sheet. Four is a record number of Austrheims to feature in one Blood Eagles game, I think. And they were all in the starting XI. Only two of the four Hovland’s at Ragnar Rock started, with a third coming on as a sub (for a family member, natch).
All four Austrheims featured in the starting XI again in the return, Birgit striking twice in the first half and Nina making it four just after the break. These goals all followed a strike just seconds in from Quental from a direct free-kick (what else?). Quental departed the pitch just past the hour mark, replaced by Heidi Hovland, who joined relatives Mette (a sub for Lina) and Kristin on the pitch. That opened the way for the scorers of the last two goals, Jönsson taking her opportuinity with a direct free-kick and Heidi H getting the double figures goal with just four minutes and stoppages left to play.
The Blood Eagles can expected to be more challenged in the next around against P1p0s Girls, who look particularly strong for a side operating in Division 5:23.

The final tie saw Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC up against, yep, you guessed it, a Division 6 side in Unattached (which must be a deliberate pun to give players sold on odd-looking histories).
The first ten minutes made it look likely to be a landslide for The Sea Spirits as Diana Doom and Diksha Dalmiya both scored, midfielder Doom’s goal being her first for the club following her closed season acquisition. The question at that point appeared to be how many. It would prove to be just those two and no more as try as they might, SeanoftheShed’s girls just couldn’t find the back of the net again. Still it represented a comfortable cushion to take back to Indonesia.
The key thing with a two goal lead from the away leg is to avoid complacency. Rahma Ikmal did her best on this front as she raced clear to smack home the opener after 17 minutes, an appropriate time in the match for the young forward to get her first career goal. Unattached did cause a brief palpitation when they pulled one back five minutes after the break, but any fretting on the Merapi-Kraton-South Sea was eased ten minutes later when Izaskun Escoda of the visitors was shown a straight red card.
Kanjeng were noticeably the stronger side again in leg two, and deserved not just progress but also a win on the night. They did leave it to the last second to achieve the later, but with the whistle looming up popped Jolanda Dennen at a corner to finally get the decisive strike. Just like Ikmal, it was Dennen’s first career goal, but after rather a longer time in Jolanda’s case. She is 25 and had already played over a century of games. But then, she is a defender.
Next up for Kanjeng are two matches against Bianconero Bambina of Division 3d, the first meeting being in Indonesia.

Round 3 draw - first listed teams home in opening leg

Csiki Girls			vs	Bolton Ladies College (4k)
Dublin City Womens FC		vs	Bruksdamernas IF (4e)
Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC		vs	Bianconero Bambina (3b)
LNWR Locomotive			vs	WTA Tour (5:19)
As Mondeguinas (4l)		vs	Coxy Ladies Wulpen
F.C Murad (6:17)		vs	Drakaina
P1p0s Girls (5:23)		vs	Viking South Utsira
Solent Sirens			vs	Invictus Ladies FC (2d)
Witches of Chiswick		vs	Chupacabra (4p)

[Sits]

It's starting to look as though Gloucester Old Spots may in fact be Gloucester Old Crocks. Alternatively, it's a bad patch.

As you were.

[Etienne]

I'd not noticed Gael Heggarty's provenance. Hope she can match Sandrine Petit's success as an OTF cast off.

Finally Cardiff Dragons and Viking North Utsire meet in the same division. Doesn't look a good match up for us.

And, a bit of a woo hoo for Amwythig's highly fortuitous win over Dandy Town.

[Hot Orange]

Big kudos to Hot Orange for making Holkham Forest the first (and only, ever) team to win the Human League in both Champions' and standard league formats.

Many thanks, Sits. The game has quickly bitten back in its most frustrating way, however. In the four games my teams have played since then, the cumulative chance count is 30-2 in my favour. The goal count is 2-2.

Here's a question for the experts. It's the last game of the season and there's nothing at stake, which of your goalkeepers would you play - the 34/12 with a DV of 9, or the 20/8 with a DV of 16? I'm leaning towards the latter to try to squeeze out a last bit of DV but that means accepting an inevitable skill drop for the former.

No new thread title this season?

[Etienne]

I'd go with the assistant manager's judgement on who will benefit most (IE get him to pick the team based on 100% development and see who he chooses).
Most times I'd imagine it'd be the younger player, as they need less games to accrue DV.

[SouthdownRebel]

I've never seen the Assistant Manager before - how does one access that?!

[Sits]

He's lurking at the bottom of the tactics page offering to help you with your lineup. I'd go with the younger keeper; I reckon you'd be unlucky to get a skill drop on 9 DV.

And welcome back HO.

[MortalJoe]

I would also take the young keeper. The older one does not necessarily will lose one skill bar, it depends how they developed the last seasons. If he had over 10 DV at the end of the last season he might not lose one.

[SouthdownRebel]

He's lurking at the bottom of the tactics page offering to help you with your lineup. I'd go with the younger keeper; I reckon you'd be unlucky to get a skill drop on 9 DV.

And welcome back HO.

Oh the old tactics screen? I don't see it on the default one.

[Various Artist]

Yes. I've never used the AM, but he's there on the old tactics screen.

My belated congratulations to HO too, tremendous season from Holkham Forest to regain the Human League crown after seven seasons.

No new thread title this season?

This only struck me last week too – Sean?

Ooh, and just spotted Etienne's comment about VNU and the Dragons finally being set to meet in the league – hadn't seen the new divisions were drawn. Great news.

[MortalJoe]

Dublin City Womens FC in the XPert Ladies are getting now good results. With the exception of Black Widow FC, we on the rest of our games. Black Widow FC looks like the team to beat this season and we even gave them a run for their money in the first game and lost the game despite having more chances and possession. With the exception of one other team, the rest are ghost teams, so we should get good results. Today we got a good result in our first leg of the cup against another Division 4 team, which clearly should have dominated. But we were lucky as well and got a goalless draw, which gives us a bit to dream on for the return leg.

Dream on was also the motto today for our last game in The Human League, Division 1. Despite being only in fifth place we could dream about relegation until the 73rd minute when GilrsLikeUs FC started to score against Æthelflæd. So we have to wait another season...

[Sean of the Shed]

No new thread title this season?

I don't think thread titles can be edited on this new board, I certainly haven't found a way to do it.

[Sits]

Assume you meant promotion Joe;

Considering I wrote "nationalises" instead of "privatises" on another thread yesterday I'm a fine one to talk.

Now shining the Foxy Beacon so he can take over RBD Rebelde.

[nmrfox]

Takeovers for RBD Rebelde and Nyth Wobbegong now submitted.

[delicatemoth]

Did anyone ever take over Strontian Dogs, or did they fold?

I'd like to express tentative interest in returning to OTF and The Human League, depending on vacancies obviously.

edit - nmrfox! Hail filbert, well met.

[Sean of the Shed]

[SouthdownRebel]

T'would be super to have you back DM - good timing as the Human League season has just finished

[Etienne]

You'd be very welcome back dm, as long as you are sure.

I've not received an application from dglh for Sinners Never Sleep, so not sure if he still wants them. So they could be available for you or Foxy

[Hot Orange]

Great to have DM and Foxy back.

Holkham Forest DVs:

Sansom         34/12    9
Osodio         20/8    16

Ackroyd        33/12   11
Pagadizabal    31/12   11
Chapman        23/12   15
Bretherton     20/8    17
Grayson        17/4    16

Badalhoco      33/12   10
Parreira       31/13   13
Jeklin         29/14   17
Fogueira       26/11   17
Passanha       23/10   16
Fraser         21/8    16
Keane          20/8    16
Loosley        18/4    16

van der Heyden 28/11   15
Marian         20/7    15

Fairly solid, but not as good as it was looking at one stage. Both Pagadizabal and Chapman dropped a point due to being injured for the last game; Bretherton dropped from 18 after a loss of form in the last few games. Most of the 15s and 16s got to that level early in the season and stayed there.