Sorry this is close to the wire (I was busy earlier), but here's a quick – hah! – roundup of the first day back in the OTF:
OTF League roundup for 16th May 2022: Season 68 Round 1
Division 3
Two teams seemingly forever joined at the hip since their debuts in Season 57, New Dresden and Eintracht Midwest have spent most of their first 11 seasons in existence shuttling around the bottom tier. Midwest were promoted in S59 and stayed up for one term, before relegation after S60, while Dresden joined them in D2 for that latter season but came back down with them and have since made only one similarly brief upwards venture in S63. There is a slight sense of both clubs being on an upward turn now, though, emphasised by the pair ending day 1 in the top two slots in D3 after this Monday. Dresden had to do it the hard way, trailing 2-0 at the break at home to Brutal Deluxe Redux, but produced a tremendous fightback to level with two goals in three minutes early in the second period before snatching a stoppage-time winner -- rather harsh on BDR but enough to put them top of the inaugural table on goals scored. Midwest meanwhile faced off with another improving side, Indigo Plateau, but for all that the Flat-Tops’ youngsters are starting to mature their matchday side still only has an average age of about 22 and they were easily outplayed at the Isaac Bradley Memorial Stadium. That said, despite being outshot 4-1 in each half they took their one first-half chance to go in level, and made Eintracht work for a 2-1 win.
Relegated OWC Albion sit 3rd after coming back from an early deficit to beat Brian Munchingflapjack 2-1 at home, Rotundio Tubesock scoring twice as many as he did all last season in D2 with a brace in 18 minutes to turn the game around before the interval. Their goalie Brexitus Miserablis was however injured two-thirds of the way through the match to leave Albion facing a tricky two or three games ahead without him.
We all know how little poor 4twenties had going for them last season, having been founded as a brand new club in the close-season by a manager who never then actually turned up to coach them. Suffice to say then that the arrival of long-lost former OTF League favourite Harbinger of Hope on the eve of Season 68 to take charge was by a long margin the best thing ever to happen to them, low bar notwithstanding. The two-time former title-winning manager has been quick to rename them Byss FC, after the mysterious Deep Core world from the Star Wars galaxy, and the Force was clearly with him this week as he was lucky to get an easy ride in his first games in charge. A trip to the perennially mercurial Pinewood Passers is never quite a straightforward thing, mind – the club, judging by their skill levels, never train any of their players and generally have a hopeless squad, yet they keep doggedly hanging around year after year and every now and then will blindside opponents by suddenly splurging multi-million-econ sums on a clutch of super-high-skilled veterans to briefly make themselves competitive. Right now they’re at a low ebb, however, and in a clash of the league’s two bottom finishers last term it was Byss who snapped their 18-match losing streak by picking up not only their first point of all time but their first win. Frank “René” Zellweger wrote his name (though hopefully not that nickname) into the history books by slotting the only goal in the 12th minute at the Theatre of Pies. Next up they face young Indigo Plateau to try to consolidate their good start.
In the remaining fixture, Wednesday de la Zouch beat Great Northern Railway 1-0 at the Benabau, in a meeting of two relegated sides. Wednesday, who have suffered two demotions on the trot, got off to a good start to their first D3 campaign in 7 seasons thanks to Sebastian Stoker. GNR, on the other hand, have never failed to get promoted from this tier (in Season 35 – their debut – then S59 and S65, their only three seasons down here, they won the division every time) but will now have to do it the hard way if they are to keep that up. They start the second matchday rock-bottom of the league.
Division 2
Speaking of rare excursions to the lower tiers, Banik Roystonov, of course, have never been below D1 level since spending their first two seasons of existence (S26-27) in D2, since when they’d spent the last 40 seasons in either D1 (19 campaigns) or the top flight (21). After spending a majority of their time among the elite, though, 11 of the last 13 seasons were in the second tier, and now for S68 the Roystonov outfit find themselves back at last in the third. Clearly, however, they do not intend to stick it for long, as their players kicked off their return to the lower half of the league looking mortally offended to be there, destroying unfortunate visitors Wharfedale Generals 6-1 at Moje Zahrada. Midfielder Tomas Jagr led the way with a first-half hat-trick, as the Generals got their own return to D2 off to a very poor start. Their maturing squad of youngsters had spent the last half-dozen seasons gradually improving from the bottom of the league to the second tier, but hit the wall last season and came right back down again and now have to pick themselves up from this absolute drubbing on day 1.
Athletico Deva are starting their tenth straight season in a different division (having gone D1-2-1-2-1-2-3-2-3-2), and kicked off their biennial visits to Div 2 by setting out their case for leaving it in an upwards direction this time around. They comfortably controlled their game at Veni Vici Vigata and ran out 2-0 winners with both goals in the second half. Last season Cods of War finished ahead of Deva as unbeaten D3 champions, and kicked off the new term with a trip to a Turd Division side who were playing two tiers above them last season and who spent the first 7 games of it on top of Div 1 with their sights set on the top flight. It all fell apart in spectacular fashion from there however, culminating in an implausible relegation straight back to the third flight. And it was the upwardly-mobile side who came out on top at the Snoop, visitors Cods snatching a 1-0 win against the run of play through Urby Amadsalatoen’s late solo effort.
After finishing 4th last season, this is Saltney Drawers' first consecutive seasons as low as the third tier since S50-51. They got the new term off on the wrong foot after going down 1-0 at home to Wensleydale Blues, Greg Sedbusk scoring from the visitors’ only chance after 13 minutes and Saltney only able to conjure one shot of their own in response. At Heffron Park, the last two seasons’ league Golden Boot winner Hugo Rune wasted no time in restarting his tally by notching the only goal for Heffron Hendecagon against Kernow Kensa om 74 minutes. S60 league champions Kensa suffered the further frustration three minutes later of losing 17-year-old sub Phillip Burt to injury just 11 minutes into his debut appearance.
OTF League roundup for 16th May 2022: Season 68 Round 1
Division 3
Two teams seemingly forever joined at the hip since their debuts in Season 57, New Dresden and Eintracht Midwest have spent most of their first 11 seasons in existence shuttling around the bottom tier. Midwest were promoted in S59 and stayed up for one term, before relegation after S60, while Dresden joined them in D2 for that latter season but came back down with them and have since made only one similarly brief upwards venture in S63. There is a slight sense of both clubs being on an upward turn now, though, emphasised by the pair ending day 1 in the top two slots in D3 after this Monday. Dresden had to do it the hard way, trailing 2-0 at the break at home to Brutal Deluxe Redux, but produced a tremendous fightback to level with two goals in three minutes early in the second period before snatching a stoppage-time winner -- rather harsh on BDR but enough to put them top of the inaugural table on goals scored. Midwest meanwhile faced off with another improving side, Indigo Plateau, but for all that the Flat-Tops’ youngsters are starting to mature their matchday side still only has an average age of about 22 and they were easily outplayed at the Isaac Bradley Memorial Stadium. That said, despite being outshot 4-1 in each half they took their one first-half chance to go in level, and made Eintracht work for a 2-1 win.
Relegated OWC Albion sit 3rd after coming back from an early deficit to beat Brian Munchingflapjack 2-1 at home, Rotundio Tubesock scoring twice as many as he did all last season in D2 with a brace in 18 minutes to turn the game around before the interval. Their goalie Brexitus Miserablis was however injured two-thirds of the way through the match to leave Albion facing a tricky two or three games ahead without him.
We all know how little poor 4twenties had going for them last season, having been founded as a brand new club in the close-season by a manager who never then actually turned up to coach them. Suffice to say then that the arrival of long-lost former OTF League favourite Harbinger of Hope on the eve of Season 68 to take charge was by a long margin the best thing ever to happen to them, low bar notwithstanding. The two-time former title-winning manager has been quick to rename them Byss FC, after the mysterious Deep Core world from the Star Wars galaxy, and the Force was clearly with him this week as he was lucky to get an easy ride in his first games in charge. A trip to the perennially mercurial Pinewood Passers is never quite a straightforward thing, mind – the club, judging by their skill levels, never train any of their players and generally have a hopeless squad, yet they keep doggedly hanging around year after year and every now and then will blindside opponents by suddenly splurging multi-million-econ sums on a clutch of super-high-skilled veterans to briefly make themselves competitive. Right now they’re at a low ebb, however, and in a clash of the league’s two bottom finishers last term it was Byss who snapped their 18-match losing streak by picking up not only their first point of all time but their first win. Frank “René” Zellweger wrote his name (though hopefully not that nickname) into the history books by slotting the only goal in the 12th minute at the Theatre of Pies. Next up they face young Indigo Plateau to try to consolidate their good start.
In the remaining fixture, Wednesday de la Zouch beat Great Northern Railway 1-0 at the Benabau, in a meeting of two relegated sides. Wednesday, who have suffered two demotions on the trot, got off to a good start to their first D3 campaign in 7 seasons thanks to Sebastian Stoker. GNR, on the other hand, have never failed to get promoted from this tier (in Season 35 – their debut – then S59 and S65, their only three seasons down here, they won the division every time) but will now have to do it the hard way if they are to keep that up. They start the second matchday rock-bottom of the league.
Division 2
Speaking of rare excursions to the lower tiers, Banik Roystonov, of course, have never been below D1 level since spending their first two seasons of existence (S26-27) in D2, since when they’d spent the last 40 seasons in either D1 (19 campaigns) or the top flight (21). After spending a majority of their time among the elite, though, 11 of the last 13 seasons were in the second tier, and now for S68 the Roystonov outfit find themselves back at last in the third. Clearly, however, they do not intend to stick it for long, as their players kicked off their return to the lower half of the league looking mortally offended to be there, destroying unfortunate visitors Wharfedale Generals 6-1 at Moje Zahrada. Midfielder Tomas Jagr led the way with a first-half hat-trick, as the Generals got their own return to D2 off to a very poor start. Their maturing squad of youngsters had spent the last half-dozen seasons gradually improving from the bottom of the league to the second tier, but hit the wall last season and came right back down again and now have to pick themselves up from this absolute drubbing on day 1.
Athletico Deva are starting their tenth straight season in a different division (having gone D1-2-1-2-1-2-3-2-3-2), and kicked off their biennial visits to Div 2 by setting out their case for leaving it in an upwards direction this time around. They comfortably controlled their game at Veni Vici Vigata and ran out 2-0 winners with both goals in the second half. Last season Cods of War finished ahead of Deva as unbeaten D3 champions, and kicked off the new term with a trip to a Turd Division side who were playing two tiers above them last season and who spent the first 7 games of it on top of Div 1 with their sights set on the top flight. It all fell apart in spectacular fashion from there however, culminating in an implausible relegation straight back to the third flight. And it was the upwardly-mobile side who came out on top at the Snoop, visitors Cods snatching a 1-0 win against the run of play through Urby Amadsalatoen’s late solo effort.
After finishing 4th last season, this is Saltney Drawers' first consecutive seasons as low as the third tier since S50-51. They got the new term off on the wrong foot after going down 1-0 at home to Wensleydale Blues, Greg Sedbusk scoring from the visitors’ only chance after 13 minutes and Saltney only able to conjure one shot of their own in response. At Heffron Park, the last two seasons’ league Golden Boot winner Hugo Rune wasted no time in restarting his tally by notching the only goal for Heffron Hendecagon against Kernow Kensa om 74 minutes. S60 league champions Kensa suffered the further frustration three minutes later of losing 17-year-old sub Phillip Burt to injury just 11 minutes into his debut appearance.
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