2 Dec 2007 - Laycocks felled by Oak, while Robert's a right Pratt for Handsworth WMC

The Quarter finals of the League cup went mainly to form with Mosborough Royal Oak providing the only shock beating struggling Premier side Laycocks Sports.

An early own goal from Laycocks gave Mosborough the confident start they needed and although Scott Wesney struck a 25 yard screamer to equalise before half time, a clever lob from Joe France and a Lee Godwin header from a cross by Craig Woolley sealed a fine win for the first division outfit in the second half.

Handsworth Old Boys faced a stiff task playing the Premier champions Woodhouse West End but had a real go with Harrison Wyatt equalising a Sam Glaves goal before half time.West End began to get into their stride after the break and further goals from Glaves and big Dave Kippax put them further ahead. Old Boys were not done with and Joe Griffiths pulled one back before Ashley Atkins scored the decisive goal for West End .

In form Division Two leaders Civil Service faced a tough game against last years finalists Pitsmoor Royal Oak and went out to a Gavin Davis penalty a Luke Parwana 25 yard strike and a Scott Szpajer header.

Handsworth WMC’s Robert Pratt kept up his recent scoring spree against first Division Devonshire following a scrappy first half in which neither team could find the net. After the break Pratt hit his first with a twentyfive yard strike and then followed up with a similar effort to put club two up. Brian Taylor then broke from midfield and was then brought down in the box. Pratt stepped up to lash the penalty into the top corner. Devonshire who had missed a few half chances in the first half kept battling but to no avail.

In the Premier Division Blue Ball increased their lead in the title race with an emphatic win against bottom club Oxspring Lowood with their eight goals coming from Adam Podmore 3,Paul Marrison 2 Daniel Mace 2 and Joe Shaw. Mitchell Savage managed a consolation goal for Oxspring.

Hemsworth Villa moved up to second with a narrow victory over Niagara thanks for two first half goal from Dave Thompson and a left foot drive from Danny Milner. Niagara came right back into it in the second half kicking down the slope with a Simon Staniforth strike and Hemsworth had keeper Jamie King to thank for what looked a goal bound shot which he tipped over the bar.

Woodhouse Angel without a win this season held high flying Stannington Village in a tight game, Chris Towey gave Angel the lead following a good run by Ryan McGuinness, but David Hague pulled one back just before half time. Village had good chances in this game but found Angel’s keeper James Clewes in magnificent form. Angel also found the woodwork three times in the match and a draw was probably a fair result.

In Division one Sportsman Stannington had a comfortable win against a below par Loxley with two first half goals from the outstanding Robert Jerrison with Johnny Davis wrapping things up in the second half.

In the bottom versus top clash bottom team The Park led Millhouses Abacrombie at half time thanks to a Greg Ramsden goal. They had a few other chances but couldn’t convert them mainly due to stand in keeper Ash Gordon who made at least three good saves ,and they paid the penalty in the second half as two penalties converted by Ben Woodman and a Tom Gardiner goal tied things up for the league leaders.

Trickshots had a comfortable win over a disappointing Sheldon with goals from man of the match Chris Greenwood (2), Mark Tyler, a Scott Lees screamer and Mark Groves run and finish from midfield.

In Division Two, Oughtibridge Village moved to the top of the league with Civil Service involved in the cup. Village had a hard fought victory against Bulls Head with only a Paul Billard penalty separating the teams at the end. Danny Hill was outstanding for Village.

Anston Athletic and Freemasons Arms fought out a 1-1 draw with Joe Bellamy on target for Anston and Cameron Tarsis scoring for Arms. A hard fought good sporting game in the poor conditions.

Brinsworth Whitehill grabbed an equaliser from the penalty spot five minutes from time through Russell Sheridan after Tom Hebdige had waltzed past three defenders to give Fairbanks Rhodes the lead in the first half.

Colley Club found themselves up against an in form SUJB Old Boys and ended up on the wrong side of a six one trouncing. They just couldn’t  cope with the passing game of the Olb Boys and two goals apiece for Andrew and Robert Brookfield ,Tom Crick and James Allen sealed the win for the Old Boys with Tony Hodge grabbing the Club consolation.

An end to end game resulted in Southey Social just getting the better of close rivals to push Southey into second place .A one two with Chris Roberts resulted in Matt Meaney getting the all important goal for Southey.

9 Dec 2007 - CBC Premier Slick Villa win at Laycocks

On a day when the weather caused over half of the games to be postponed, Hemsworth Villa won the day's only CBC Premier's game at Laycock Sports to go level on points with leaders Blue Ball.

Villa had most of the early play without getting the breakthrough and in the end they were grateful for two set pieces to send them on their way to victory. Kev Symmington's corner was deflected home by Mark Hopkinson to give them the lead and another Symmington corner was again deflected home by an unlucky defender to give Villa a two goal half time lead.

Laycocks did what they could to get back into the game during the second half, although they needed a very impressive defensive display from Oliver Hehle to stop Villa adding to their score, but even he could do nothing to stop villa's man of the match Scott Moat setting up a third goal for Nick Owen.

Division One Trickshots triumph at Devonshire

Division One's only game saw Trickshots continue their impressive run of form with a 2-0 victory at Devonshire that puts them joint second. They were given a big helping hand in the first minute though when Devonshire keeper Sean Johnson's clearance struck one of his own defenders and David Nash pounced on the loose ball to push it into the empty net.

After that gift Trickshots needed to defend for long periods, but they limited Devonshire to just a few opportunities and it was almost inevitable that Trickshots would catch their hosts on the break, with Ryan Dyson setting up Matt Roberts clincher just five minutes from time.

Division Two Colley just Hodge it in another goal feast, while Southey go top

Division Two has new leaders after Southey Social's 4-1 home win over Brinsworth Whitehill and Hollin Bush climbed into the automatic promotion places with a 3-1 at Freemasons Arms, while Colley Club and Anston Athletic produced their second nine goal thriller in just three weeks and there was seven goals in Junior Blades narrow victory over FC Brimington.

Matthew Meaney netted for a sixth consecutive game to give Southey the lead and when Nicky Bond was brought down in the area, Adam Danks stepped up to double it before half time. After the break Southey continued to dominate and Chris Roberts added a third before Bond scored from the penalty spot after Danks had been brought down. Brinsworth finally gained some reward for their day's work when Jamie Radford netted near the end.

Full back Josh Kerr was the star for Hollin Bush as they grabbed their second away win of the season at Freemasons Arms. Two Dave Cooper goals and another from Kyle Kilham gave Bush a three goal half time lead that they never looked likely to relinquish even though their hosts produced a much better second half and pulled one back through Martin Cain.

Just two weeks earlier, Anston Athletic had won a nine goal thriller at Colley Club and although the two sides again produced nine goals it was Colley that just took the honours this time. No one would have put a penny on them doing it after five minutes as they were already two down to two Ryan Taff strikes and a man down.

Although Tony Hodge pulled one back for Colley before half time, it looked all over for them when Adam Russell restored Anston's two goal advantage soon after the break, but Colley didn't give in and two more from Hodge along with an Aaron Butterworth double remarkably put the ten men 5-3 in front. Joe Bellamy then netted for Anston, but they couldn't force an equaliser and Colley held on for the points that lifted them out of the bottom three.

Another inspired comeback saw Junior Blades first lose the lead and then come back from two down to win a seven goal thriller with FC Brimington. Robert Brookfield gave the Blades the early advantage, but Brimington levelled with an Andrew Crossland penalty before taking the lead with a James Towers strike.

The points looked to be heading the visitors way when Florent Fadiga increased their lead and only some inspired goalkeeping kept the Blades in game, yet they found the spirit to comeback and Brimington's stand-in keeper Chris Keeley was twice beaten from distance as brookfield completed his hat-trick to level the scores, before Richard Brearley's header won it for the Blades.

16 Dec 2007  Oxspring call it a day

After struggling to get players all season, CBC Premier side Oxspring Lowood have decided to withdraw from the League. All points and goals have been withdrawn.

CBC Premier Stannington miss out, but Travellers pip Laycocks

After the CBC Premier's bottom club Oxspring Lowood folded due to lack of players, their are now four sides level on points at the top. One of them is Stannington Village, but they missed the chance to be clear leaders after drawing at Redmires. 

They still might see it as a point gained though as they trailed at the break after John Mellor had been brought down in the area and Andy Birks fired home from the spot. It was proving to be a great game of end to end football, undoubtedly helped by the refereeing of Alan Streets, and Stannington eventually gained their reward when former Redmires player Simon Bradbury met Sean Flynn's cross to net against his old club.

Another top game saw Ecclesfield Travellers just pip Laycock Sports to lift them further clear of the danger area, but leave Laycock's in serious danger of losing their place in the top flight.

Only Craig Senior will know if he meant to score when his cross-shot found the net to put Travellers ahead, but they were soon pegged by by Chris Gill's first of the season for the visitors. Liam Wilkinson then pounced on a free ball to put Travellers back in front, but Laycock's were deservedly level again thanks to Sam Read's header.

It stayed like that until midway through the second half when Kevin Wraith volleyed home what turned out to be Traveller's winner, but it needed a man of the match performance by Scott Touhey to keep Laycock's at bay, including two goal line clearances to preserve the points for the home side.

Division One Collier double lifts Sportsman, while Mosboro' and Nook also win

Although frozen pitches caused many games to be postponed or abandoned, the Division One and Division Two promotion races have started to hot up, with the most crucial result being Mosborough Royal Oak's victory over fellow promotion rivals Park & Arbour LFS.

It started badly for Mosborough when a long throw was headed into his own net by a defender and soon after they gave a needless penalty away, but were fortunate to see Park waste the opportunity by hitting it wide. Park continued to dominate and so it was very much against the run of play when Joe France fed Ricky Davidson to place the ball into the bottom corner for an equaliser.

That's how it stayed until the break but if Park had dominated the first half, the second belonged to Mosborough. Davidson fashioned a second for himself and he completed his hat-trick when France again gave him the perfect through ball. Davidson turned provider for Mosborough's fourth and final goal, netted by sub Craig Daughtry.

Sportsman Stannington also had to come from behind to claim the victory over Sheldon Athletic that has seen them climb into the automatic promotion places. They were behind after just two minutes when Steve Cousin's cross was headed home by Lee Budd and had Sheldon made the most of several more chances they had, the game might well have been beyond them.

Sportsman rode their luck and received a bit more when a bobble helped Robert Jerrison hit their equaliser to send the teams in level at half time. After the break, both teams had their chances to take the lead before Jason Collier smashed home a free kick from the edge of the area to put Sportsman in front and it was another Collier free kick that clinched the points for the home side.

Just ahead of them is Pitsmoor Royal Oak, but they will be kicking themselves after letting a two goal lead slip at in-form Trickshots. Scott Szpajer chipped Oak's opener from outside the area and on the stroke of half time, a long throw fell for Luke Parwana to drill in their second.

That might have seen many teams give up but Trickshots came out all guns blazing in the second half and they were rewarded when Chris Greenwood pulled a goal back and with ten minutes remaining they claimed a point when Rob Russell met Simon Marcus's corner to equalise.

Pen Nook produced one of their best performances of the season to hit Loxley for six and lift themselves out of the bottom three. It didn't look to good for Nook when Tom McIllhagga met Liam Bamforth's free kick to put Loxley in front after just three minutes, but Mark Barraclough soon levelled and while Loxley defender Glen Kirby was off receiving treatment, Mark Dobbs made the most of the gap left by Kirby to put Nook ahead from Craig Barraclough's slide rule pass.

Mike Smith then headed a corner home to extend Nook's lead before Mark Barraclough added his second and Nook's fourth. Loxley gave themselves some hope that they could get back into it when John Bailey netted from the penalty spot, but he missed a couple of good chances afterwards and with them went Loxley's hopes. The second half saw Pen Nook control the game without too many scares and Scott Birch netted two more to leave them 6-2 winners.

Division Two Two Billard cannons leave Brinsworth snookered

Division Two has new leaders yet again after two Paul Billard cannons helped Oughtibridge Village to a 3-1 victory at Brinsworth Whitehill. Nick Smith gave Village the lead before Billards first, but a slip by the keeper allowed Jamie Radford to pull one back for the home side. Oughtibridge weathered a small storm after that and eventually secured the points and top spot with Billard's second.

Just three points behind, but crucially with four games in hand, is Civil Service after they produced a terrific performance to win 3-0 at Bulls Head. It took them until the stroke of half time to take the lead when Jamie Hanwell's shot was parried by the keeper into the path of Wes Bamford and although he hit the post with his first attempt, the ball fell kindly for him to knock in the rebound.

The second half was just two minutes old when Lee Wild was brought down in the area and Danny Fowler stepped up to double Service's lead and Fowler sealed the points with a second penalty after Bamford had been brought down.

Junior Cup Devonshire lose out but others have to try again

Two of the three County FA Sunday Junior Cup ties involving our sides were called off by the weather and Devonshire probably wish their's had also gone the same way after the slid out to a single goal at Aston Rosegarth.

Review of 2007

With no games last weekend or tomorrow it's the time to do a review of the last year. A few teams can be considered as teams of the year. Woodhouse West End took the League title off their neighbours Woodhouse Stag (now Woodhouse Angel) and after winning every game League and League Cup game this season, they look very good bets to land a League & Cup double.

Ecclesfield Travellers gained promotion from Division One and won the League Cup at Bramall Lane, while Handsworth Old Boys returned to the League and with a very young side took the Division Two title at the first attempt and always trying to play fast flowing football.

Other teams deserve a mention though. Stannington Village have not had the success they have been used to over the last year, but they continue to be a great example of how a club should be run both on and off the pitch. Despite relegation from the CBC Premier, Pen Nook have looked to improve their club from every angle and it should just be a matter of time before they get it right and the same might also be said of The Park who continue to be a very well run club despite not yet getting the success the club deserves.

As regards the most improved club that honour arguably falls to one of the League oldest clubs, Redmires. They came from a few seasons of struggle to take the League runner-up spot and followed that up by winning the Steve Gee Merit Cup. Not far behind is the League's oldest club Blue Ball (formerly Telecom Sports). They have finally come out of the doldrums to take the Division One title and they are now among the front runners for the CBC Premier title.

Handsworth WMC have mainly struggled since reaching the top flight, but this season they have got themselves into the mix for the League title and stand just one game away from a Cup Final appearance at Bramall Lane. Last season's losing finalists at Bramall Lane, Pitsmoor Royal Oak, also look to be a club building a big future for themselves. They are just one step away from a return to Bramall Lane and they look strong favourites for promotion to the CBC Premier for the first time.

Another of our oldest clubs, Sheffield Civil Service also deserve a mention. When Richard Smith took over the helm last season he had a vision to rebuild the club and after a season of struggle he now looks as if he has put together a squad of players capable of taking the Division Two title and take that first step forward.

A number of other individuals also deserve mentions. Hemsworth Villa secretary Mick Moat continues to produce teams and organisation that others find hard to beat and Fairbank-Rhodes secretary Steve Cummings continues to show that you can still be a good club even if you don't get the success you perhaps deserve.

On the pitch Woodhouse West End's Spencer Taylor, Laycock Sports Andy Register and Handsworth Old Boys' Trevor Jones continue to show that age doesn't matter if your good enough. All our referees deserves a pat on the back - if only we could find thirty more like Nick Mason, Alan Streets, Brent Marsh, Mick Smith, Colin Brown, Tim Cruikshank, Gary McFarlane and the rest.

At the other end of the scale, the League was glad to welcome a number of clubs that had previously competed as under 18 teams and although they have had their ups and downs in the first half of the season, they all look as if they will build to help the League continue to prosper.

We should perhaps also hope that the following has appeared among the presents from Santa. For Oughtibridge Village's secretary some more memory - but not for his computer. For Colley Club's secretary Neil Whitworth a couple of new players to give him a team his enthusiasm deserves. For Trickshots player/secretary Simon Marcus some low calorie deserts instead of fruitcake and finally let's hope it will be a happy and prosperous new year for all involved in football.

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