Another super night of football at Tanbridge tonigght as the year 3+4 children met for the second instalment of their league. Leechpool A held pole position on goal difference over Southwater at the start of the night but by the end of it roles were reversed as the Southies racked up some big wins whilst the Leechies relied on small margins to get past a couple of their opponents, including their own B team who were determined not to be accused of giving favours in the last round of the night.
The fixture gods got the night off to a big start by bringing the big two together first up. A scoreless draw ensured and from that point onwards it didn’t require a fortune teller to predict that goal difference was likely to play a part in the final analysis.
Both hit their opponents for six in Round 3 of matches so no change there. Southwater nudged ahead in Round 4 by negotiating the potentially tricky hurdle of third placed Shelley, 3-0 but Leechpool A retained a game in hand.
It was Round 5 that where goal difference between the two really parted the ways. Southwater despatched Heron Way B 9-0 with a relentless display of goalscoring whilst Leechpool A squeezed past Kingslea A 2-1 courtesy of a last minute goal.
Leechpool won their game in hand but it was clear that come the last round of the night it would take an incredible swing of goals to deny Southwater. As it was the gap only widened. Southwater beat Plaistow/Kirdford 6-0 and a single Leechpool A goal allowed them to prevail over their B team.
Shelley will be pleased with their third placed showing. The big two will have been glad that they played Heron Way A in meeting one as in meeting two they got more points than anyone by winning all of their five matches. Good upper middle table showings for small schools St Mary’s and Castlewood, just ahead of Kingslea A. There were some particularly tight matches between these three, resulting in lots of bonus points supplementing their totals.
Leechpool B overtook a Plaistow/Kirdford side that had a difficult second night. Heron Way B won the basement battle with Kingslea B 2-0 to ensure they finished above them.
Thanks to all involved for making this year’s league such a good one.
RESULTS
| PITCH 1 | PITCH 2 | PITCH 3 | PITCH 4 |
4.02-4.16 | Southwater 0 v 0 Leechpool A | Heron Way A 3 v 0 Heron Way B | Castlewood 0 v 3 Shelley | Leechpool B 0 v 1 St Mary’s Hm |
4.19-4.33 | Heron Way B 2 v 0 Kingslea B | Plaist/Kird 0 v 4 St Mary’s Hm | Kingslea A 0 v 1 Heron Way A | Leechpool B 1 v 1 Castlewood |
4.36-4.50 | Heron Way A 2 v 0 Plaistow/Kird | Kingslea B 0 v 6 Southwater | Leechpool A 6 v 0 Heron Way B | St Mary’s Hm 0 v 3 Shelley |
4.53-5.07 |
| Castlewood 2 v 1 Kingslea A | Shelley 0 v 3 Southwater | Leechpool B 2 v 1 Plaistow/Kird |
5.10-5.24 | St Mary’s Hm 1 v 2 Castlewood | Kingslea A 1 v 2 Leechpool A | Leechpool B 0 v 2 Heron Way A | Southwater 9 v 0 Heron Way B |
5.27-5.41 | Kingslea B 0 v 8 Shelley | Leechpool A 4 v 0 Plaistow/Kird | St Mary’s Hm 2 v 1 Kingslea A | Heron Way A 4 v 0 Castlewood |
5.44-5.58 | Leechpool A 1 v 0 Leechpool B | Southwater 6 v 0 Plaistow/Kird | Kingslea B 0 v 3 Kingslea A | Heron Way B 0 v 6 Shelley |
TABLE
| Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Points |
Southwater | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 0 | 48 (GD+39) |
Leechpool A | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 2 | 48 (GD+29) |
Shelley | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 9 | 40 |
Heron Way A | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 12 | 38 |
St Mary’s Horsham | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 12 | 31 |
Castlewood | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 30 |
Kingslea A | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 10 | 29 |
Leechpool B | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 24 |
Plaistow & Kirdford | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 19 |
Heron Way B | 10 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 16 |
Kingslea B | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 10 |