Heron Way and Slinfold schools won the Horsham Area Primary Schools Year 3+4 Football League divisions 1 and 2 respectively at last night’s second and final meeting on the Tanbridge astroturf. At the start of the evening both were in pole position but as the programme of matches progressed had to withstand strong challenges to stay there.

In the lower tier Heron Way B was the chief threat to Slinfold and indeed the clash of these titans came early doors. Heron Way having lost points through two draws in the previous meeting the scoreless stalemate that ensued clearly favoured the villagers.

However from that point there were no more slips from the Herons keeping the pressure on the leaders to keep performing. A 2-0 default win over Castlewood, one of two absentee teams, helped but Northolmes’ stiff resistance in a 2-2 draw reduced their margin for error in their last match against mid-table Shelley B. With the Herons having superior goal difference only a victory would suffice. Thankfully for them a single goal did the trick, ensuring the five point reward that saw them finish two clear at the top.

Well done to St Mary’s Horsham with a superb second night full house of wins that elevated them to third place just ahead of Northolmes who also played well. Leechpool B finished in the mid-table fifth spot whilst Southwater B edged out Shelley B on goal difference for sixth. Despite a night of defeats St Robert Southwell B managed to avoid bottom spot courtesy of Castlewood’s drop out.

In Division 1 Shelley A’s hopes of overtaking Heron Way A took an early blow as Southwater A beat them 2-0 and things went from bad to worse as Heron Way and Kingslea put six and four past them respectively. Indeed it was the third placed Kings who emerged as the real contenders for the throne with more wins against Leechpool A and St Robert Southwell A and the default over Arunside not giving any let up on the leaders and meaning that only a win for Heron Way in its last match versus Leechpool A would see them home.

The Leechies gave Kingslea much cause for hope but a late single goal winner had the Heron contingent breathing a collective sigh of relief as whilst both they and Kingslea had both finished on a total of 33 points their goal difference was +7 superior.

Southwater A improved significantly on a disappointing first outing to rise to third place in the standings. Leechpool A had more mixed fortunes to mirror the mid-table finish of its B team. Shelley A’s run-in decline saw them level out in fifth spot whilst goal difference split St Mary’s Pulborough and St Robert Southwell over sixth and seventh spots in favour of the former, leaving Arunside propping up the table.

With the open leagues now completed attention now turns to the girls-only league which commences on the 5^th November. Expect fireworks.

YEAR 3+4 FOOTBALL RESULTS FOR 221021 MEETING

KEY = Division 1 bolded                        Division 2 in italics                       

TABLES

5 points for a win, 3 for a draw, 2 for a scoring loss, 1 for a non-scoring loss