SUNDAY LEAGUE: :W elcome to the new season
Michael R Peters Bedford Sunday Football League round-up
Despite the loss of some clubs from last season, mainly due to the ever increasing cost of local football, the league has been successful in recruiting sufficient replacements to field a strong league for 2010 / 11. Division Five is completely made up of new teams.
On the first Sunday of this season, last year's runners-up in the Premier Division Lawson Park Rangers, lost their first game to arch rivals Atletico Europa by five goals to four. Lawson Park had a very eventful match going two goals up but then down to ten men in the first twenty minutes.
Simon Pixley was making his debut with the two goals. Mark Reed and Darren Allen scored the other two Lawson goals as Rangers finished the game with only nine men, and Atletico scoring five. Caldecote Young Boys started comfortably with a four / one win at home to newly named Dunton (Sunday), formerly Partizan. Nicky Threadgold scored Dunton's solitary goal. London Road Supreme's joint venture got off to a shaky start by losing four / one to Esquires, whilst the contest between the promoted clubs ended in a four / two home win by Haynes over Oakley.
Promoted Sharnbrook Casuals began their campaign in the First Division with a good five / three win over Kempston Hammers. The Casuals took an early two goal lead with strikes from Shaun 'I won't pass' Barnett and Jack 'Why should I play left wing' Hoogstraten, but soon found themselves three / two down thanks mainly to keeper Rob 'I missed a cup final penalty' Nash, who made a mess for two of them. However, Luke 'Spreadsheet' Barnett scored two more for Sharnbrook and Jack Hoogstraten came up with another to seal the game. Man of the match was defender Alex 'Weirdo' Strange.
Constant & Co., also newly promoted, got off to a firm start with a three / nil away win at Stewartby. This turned out to be an excellent game, Stewartby going into it with much confidence after a good pre-season and with a strengthened team. The first half was tight with chances to score at both ends, with 'The brickies' keeper, Matthew Dennis, being the busier of the two goal-minders, bringing off several good saves. James Grandidge came close for Stewartby, but the deadlock was broken when Bennie Benson claimed the first goal for Constant & Co.
A shot from the edge of the area was cruelly deflected by defender Sami Gingell over Dennis, it hit a post and there was the poacher to stab the ball into an empty net. Constant's Kevin Butler made it two / nil with a fine goal. Stewartby continued to struggle by not taking advantage of some good goal chances, and they paid dearly when Sean Lloyd made the game safe for Constant with a 30 yard lobbed effort which had an element of fortune about it by all accounts.
Sears Morgan were presented with a double promotion at the end of last season, and their one / nil defeat at Old Hastingsburians indicated that Sears could well hold their own in this division. Bird in Hand reorganised themselves in the close season, and their three / one win at Newtown Rangers looks like a good start.
They made hard work of it although they dominated the first half. Bird scored first when Rob 'The raging bull' Pinny latched onto a through ball from 'Captain' Staple. However, Rangers equalised on the stroke of half-time. Several chances were missed in the second half, but with fifteen minutes to go, a dubious penalty was converted by David 'Flying Scotsman' Kane, who followed that up with another goal near the end of the game.
New Inn Biggleswade were promoted this year into Division Two and said 'Hello' with an eight / three thrashing of Wootton Wanderers at the Recreation ground. New signing Luke Gurney scored twice for the Inn, and was adjudged man of the match, Ben Barker also scored twice with the other goals from the away team coming from Mark Franklin, Aiden Jones, Tom Wallace and David Sells.
Crown Flitwick, formerly Wheatsheaf, will be pleased with their start, a two / one away win at Sharks, whilst Eagle Heating, Kempton Sunday and Marston Reds will also be satisfied with their victories over Harrold & Carlton, Drager United and Ship Inn respectively. Harrold & Carlton missed too many scoring chances against Eagle Heating, and they found that their goals from Laurence Bentham and Chris Winton fell one short of Eagles' tally. Mackie was the man of the match for Harrold & Carlton. Kempston Sunday went ahead against Drager United when Andi Latimer scored after excellent wing play by Jordan Jarrold.
This was the score at half-time, and it is suspected that Kempston will never again listen to Kevin Moul's half-time briefing as within five minutes of the restart Kempston were three / one down. However, Shaun Winconek helped rescue Kevin's blushes by scoring with a header from a 'Delap special' from Eddie Harlow, and one other goal, the game finishing with a fifth Kempston goal on the counter attack by Scott McGregor.
Bedford Allsters also moved up two divisions to start life in Division Three, enjoying a two / one victory in their first game. Renhold came up only one division but put their stamp on proceedings with a nine / nil hammering of Wells Stars. Man of the match for Renhold was James Matthews, who scored a hat-trick, one a penalty, with Dale Matthews and Jamie Lovell scoring two apiece. Scott Mann weighed in with the other goal.
Old Boys also made a good start with a four / nil win over Salento. There were two goals in each half for the Goblins. Darren Barrett drove in a deflected shot, and Peter Duffy produced a cool finish in the first half. Richard Brewer and debutant Darren Jones produced the two goals in the second half.
Mowsbury Park, up from Division Four, had a solid two / nil win over Caldecote Reserves with two tap-in goals by Marlon Micelli in the second half when the Young Boys' keeper fumbled shots following good attacking drives by Andy Klein and Luigi Spinelli.
Chris Thorman and Arran Wright kept it tight at the back as Caldecote made their presence felt. Flitwick Eagles and Dunton Reserves shared four goals in the other match in this division, with Nicky Albone and Ben Williams scoring for Dunton. Ace striker Danny Calmels found himself in the Dunton goal, which seems a strange tactic.
Gardeners Arms Biggleswade came up from the bottom division to Division Four this year and began their season well with a four / nil win at Everton. Their opponents, Bellini's, made a dreadful start to their season when Gardeners scored in the first minute with a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
Tom Burton scored with a drive that the Bellini's keeper could not get near to, and the score was doubled later in the half when Kenny Titmus hit a screamer from about twenty yards. Bellini's came into the game briefly but Carl Greenhow came up with another good goal through a porous defence, and substitute Lee Sells ran on to a through ball to score the fourth with his first touch.
Grafton Celtics started their season with a seven / one humiliation of Embankment, and Rose Biggleswade showed good form with a four / one result at home to Bird in Hand Lower Stondon. Moor Lane Meltis have not started so brightly, losing three / one at BMC. Last season BMC had a miserable time, losing all their games and free-falling into Division Four, but with an injection of enthusiasm and purpose this time BMC won their first game for over a year.
Nic 'Duracell' Crosskey provided BMC's first goal, which turned out to be the best of the bunch, when he delivered the ball from a corner onto the foot of Ben 'I don't like headers' Norrish, who powered an unstoppable volley into the Moor Lane Meltis' net. David Mba provided BMC's second when he rounded the keeper and despite scuffing the tap-in the ball eventually reached the net.
Jon 'New Daddy' Southam created another miracle by scoring early in any season when he slotted the ball underneath the advancing defender and goal-keeper to make it three. Ed 'Flip-flops aren't just for holidays' Lloyd completed the goal-scoring by powering in an own goal to help Meltis out. M&DH Clapham have also started slowly losing four / two away to Bedford Panthers. Bedford Albion won four / nil away to Bedford Rovers.
Division Five is an unknown quantity with all the new teams. GNG Tigers beat AC Atletico five / two, and Shillington Pirates also won by the same margin a long way away at Harrold & Carlton Reserves. Rob Hartwell and Adam Sturgess were on the score-sheet for Harrold & Carlton with the youngest player on the pitch, Tristan Clarke, getting the man of the match accolade.
Kempston Wanderers versus Sir William Peel Sandy was another high scoring game, five / three to the Peelers, and Sandy Badgers beat Santeniello's three / two. The other result in this division was a win for Bedford Cupids at home to Fox & Hounds Clapham, three / one.
There's more league excitement this Sunday.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
