Southern League 2015/16

[Inactive]

I've just worked out (I know it's not rocket science as your name is the same) that your the guy who posts Leamington highlights on the FM Society on Facebook

Haha yes! Nice one

 

[Jemfy]

In Division 1 Central last night North Greenford got a rare, and potentially huge win at home to Bedford, moving up to 14 points and 4 shy of safety right now, with a number of games in hand. At the top end Ware were beaten by Royston, despite taking the lead Ware went down 4-1 and now have to follow that up with a trip to our place.

Diamonds are through to the Northants Hillier Senior Cup final after beating Conference North Brackley. Diamonds scored through Tom Lorraine and Jon Stevenson in the first half before Brackley had a second half penalty to reduce the arrears, but were unable to find the equaliser as the game finished 2-1.

Diamonds have welcomed back middle man Dan Quigley who had left the club earlier in the season due to personal issues off the field. Hopefully these are mostly behind him and football can be the only thing that decides his future with the club. Quigley played last night in that cup game and provided the assist for the second goal, a long through ball which Stevenson ran on to from just inside our own half.

 

[Tivvyultras]

Cinderford v Tivvy P-P waterlogged pitch we might be playing catch up from these games at X-Mas

 

[Jemfy]

I've been bad at updating here. Since I last posted we've gotten over the defeat by Beaconsfield with a couple of big home league wins, a 4-0 and a 6-1 against Ware and Arlsey respectively. Next up is a trip to Fleet Town who have a strong home record for a team near the bottom of the league.

The top of the table is looking good for AFCR&D but it's still a tight 6-team title race, and frankly I find it unlikely that the next few teams will push in to the playoffs since it would require two of the pack to drop off and create an opening.

1 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 29 +34 60
2 St Ives Town 28 +25 54
3 Kings Langley 28 +23 54
4 Royston Town 27 +33 52
5 Chalfont St Peter 28 +13 52
6 Egham Town 25 +29 50
7 Northwood 27 +9 46
8 Beaconsfield SYCOB 29 +13 44

Obviously Egham can still go top should they win their 4 games in hand (or 3, with a draw and sufficient GD which would be highly likely). Beaconsfield vs Chalfont is the only game involving two of the teams shown above. You'd have to think another loss for Chalfont would be very damaging and they would be in danger of falling out of the title race.

 

[Jemfy]

In the South & West it looks like a question of when another game will get played. With a lot of games being rained off all the time there I fully expect Tivvy Ultras to come in with some more P-P's

 

[Tivvyultras]

we are away at Larkhall 9 am pitch inspection 3pm ko

 

[Tivvyultras]

Jemfy called it P-P waterlogged pitch

 

[Inactive]

Highlights between Leamington & Hitchin. Great goal for Hitchin which is worth watching (2:00 in video).

 

[Jemfy]

Saturday held a disappointing draw for AFCR&D with a goalless visit to lower mid-table Fleet. The game went ahead on a poor surface, and it was implied after the game it was because we wanted it to go ahead that it was played (and Fleet were happy to oblige). This certainly tracks with what I have understood in the past - that a referee is heavily influenced by if a home team want a game to go ahead when it is a close call.

That 0-0 at a team not performing well in the table was put in a bit better context tonight as Fleet traveled to Barton Rovers and won 8-1!

Diamonds put things right at home in a game anticipated to be much more difficult with a dominating 2-0 win over St Ives who entered they day in 3rd place. With results elsewhere they drop to 4th and only a postponed game prevents them from slipping all the way down to 5th. The gap between the two sides is now increased to 10 points with Diamonds having played 1 game extra.

It was 5th placed Egham who were the day's big winners coming back from 2-0 down at home to Ware to win 3-2 with all the Sarnies goals coming in the second half. As a result Egham move up to 3rd. Royston slipped down a place from 4th to 5th as a result of their game at home to Leighton being postponed. You would expect that to be an easy home win had it gone ahead. Kings Langley also managed to get the expected result at home to North Greenford, the only team below Leighton in the table. Langley won the game 2-0 with a goal in either half. 6th placed Chalfont St Peter were not scheduled to play.

Tonight's results mean that Saturday's game is, as expected 1st vs 2nd as Diamonds host Kings Langley. Diamonds remain 4 points ahead of Kings Langley having played 1 game more. Breathing down the necks of both teams however are Egham who have 4 games in hand on Diamonds though continue to trail by 8 points, 4 behind Kings Langley (3 games in hand on them).

Top of the table is now starting to split a little in to two groups. The top 3 are all really in a title fight, while the next 3 have started to drop out a little, but can get themselves back in it with a few good results. Interestingly the top 3 are the only sides to break the 2 points per game barrier.

1. AFC R&D p31 +36 64pts
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2. Kings Langley p30 +26 60pts
3. Egham p27 +31 56pts
4. St Ives p30 +22 54pts
5. Royston p28 +33 53pts
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6. Chalfont St Peter p29 +11 52pts

I'm just sticking to the title race for now but I'll make some updates on the playoff race in the future.

In the South & West division a turn up for the books was a fixture list without a postponement! Probably because Tivvy weren't scheduled to play!

 

[Tivvyultras]

yes we were and as I've stated P-P away at Larkhall

 

[Jemfy]

yes we were and as I've stated P-P away at Larkhall

I was talking about the midweek fixtures that the S&W had no postponements in.

 

[Tivvyultras]

FT TIvvy 4 Yate 0 hatrick for Landricombe 1 for Owen

 

[Tivvyultras]

FT Tivvy 0 Banbury 1 we gave em it very poor tonight

 

[Inactive]

Highlights from last night's game between Leamington & Dunstable Town

 

[Jemfy]

Delayed weekend report from me due to being away for the weekend and a lot of upheval!

Diamonds were downed 1-0 at home to 2nd placed Kings Langley. An early goal gave the visitors victory and cut the margin at the top to 1 point, with Langley also having a game in hand. Egham sit in 3rd and were held to a 2-2 draw against Uxbridge which is good news for both teams in the top of the table clash, though obviously more so for the winners. Fleet continued their impressive run with a win at Chalfont St Peter, all but knocking the saints out of the title race and making them concentrate on the playoffs which they are currently sitting outside of. Royston beat Arlesey to close in on the top teams too, while St Ives were not in action (can't immediately see why myself, or who they would have played).

Egham vs Royston was the only game involving any sides in the top 6 on Tuesday and that was postponed.

It was pointed out on the newer version of the diamonds forum (you can actually register now if you have any interest in doing so), a table of results between the top 5 sees us sit last currently, with our 5 points coming from games in against the sides in 3rd and 4th in that mini table. Royston are impressively unbeated in their 5 games against top opposition. The counter point is that we still have the fewest losses in the division, and while 3 are against sides in the top 5 it shows our consistency against the rest of the league, though our 7 draws could cost us as Kings Langley and Egham each only have 3 stalemates to their names. As I've said in posts about the conference title race - it's frequently the draws not the losses that kill you.

Saturday will see the trip of AFCR&D to Potter Bar with the aim of setting things right in terms of fixing our form. The scholars are decidedly midtable sitting 12th. 3 points would be very valuable to keep us above that 2 points a game average we currently sit exactly on. They dipped below an overall 50% home win average on Tuesday night with a 3-3 draw with Ware. Impressive as they were 3-0 early on and managed to recover. Tough game, but there is no time better to get back on the horse.

 

[Inactive]

Highlights between Leamington & King's Lynn Town

 

[Tivvyultras]

FT Cinderford 3 Tivvy 2 we were 2-1 up with 5 mins to play, disapointed but we go again Saturday

 

[Inactive]

Highlights between Leamington & Stratford Town

 

[Jemfy]

I feel like Tivvyultras having to report a p-p for Diamonds.

We finally fall off the top of the table thanks to Kings Langley winning. Egham also won but Royston dropped 2 points at home in a game I'd expected them to win. St Ives also stay in touch with a win too meaning it's still a 5 way title race.

Current top 5:
Kings Langley p33 +30 67
AFCR&D p33 +34 64
Egham p30 +33 63
Royston p31 +37 60
St Ives p32 +26 60

Max points top 5:
Egham 99
Kings Langley 94
Royston 93
AFCR&D 91
St Ives 90

Obviously not possible due to games between teams in the top 5.

Royston and Egham each have a game they are expected to win in midweek. Dropped points would be nice but unexpected.

 

[Tivvyultras]

FT Tivvy 2 AFC Totton1 came from behind to win at home

 

[Tivvyultras]

next up away at 7th placed Evesham 3pm ko

 

[Inactive]

Highlights between Leamington and Poole Town

 

[Tivvyultras]

FT Evesham 3 Tivvy 2

 

[Tivvyultras]

tonight Tivvy V Bishops Cleeve Ko 19.30

 

[Jemfy]

The changes are being rung again as Diamonds fell to another defeat, 3 in a row to make our worst run since reforming. This time at Royston, who move above us as a result. Diamonds down to 4th and well and truly out of the title race barring a miracle.

Forward Elliot Sandy and LB Jason Lee both started that game, new signings who were part of the Kettering team that won this division last season. The team-mate from that season James "Jesus" Jepson was on the bench too. Following the defeat we've signed Tom Manship from Corby - where he hardly played. A midfielder (CM?), he seems to have played most of his career so far around step 2 and step 3 in places a bit to the north of us.

The obvious concern is that we are singing a bunch of players to arrest the slump and it's too little too late as the title is now out of the window and we aren't desperate for promotion - is this money down the toilet? I'm hoping that players leaving or not making the team will offset this or that the players coming in are not on too much, but considering they are mostly dropping down to us that seems unlikely.

That's 4 new players within about a week, plus remember that Nabil Shariff has still not even made the bench, perhaps he won't play for us? He was ill when he signed, though I don't know if he's trained with the squad at all, I believe he is out of hospital.

We seem to be having problems creating good chances and getting shots on target right now, and apart from anything else none of these signings seem keyed up to fix that. Sandy might help in the forward department but he only got 16 in a season in which Kettering were dominant, though his reputation as a hard worker will probably help.

 

[Tivvyultras]

FT Tivvy 1 Bishops Cleeve 1 that is our season over hope we can piss on Tauntons party & take 6 points from em

 

[Habbinalan]

NIMBYs 0 -1 Cambridge City

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cam...awston-given/story-28933761-detail/story.html

 

[Inactive]

Highlights between Leamington and Dorchester Town

 

[Inactive]

Highlights between Leamington and Chippenham

 

[Jemfy]

My absence has been almost as conspicuous as the drop in form for AFCR&D in unquestionably our worst run of results to date, though I guess it's a minor achievement to be able to say that and still sit in the final playoff place!

Today we play away at Leighton Town. If we don't win this one then we don't deserve a playoff place!