The weather has done its best to massacre the West London Vets’ League (WLVL) fixture list of late, but a number of hardy souls have still managed to get out and play. The key variable there has (generally) been the surface that they play on; 3G prevails, green grass withers and admits defeat.
Rams and Chelsea put on a show
That having been said, there has only been one league fixture played since the turn of the year. It was, however, a fixture to catch the eye; Chelsea travelled to the West London Rams.
The two best sides in the league served up an absolute humdinger of a show. The Rams were quickest out of the blocks, racing into a 2-0 lead. Wade McKay and Andrew Hiblin were on target there. Chelsea, however, are nothing if not resilient; they responded with three second half goals to edge 3-2 in front.
A done deal? Far from it. Wade McKay scored a second to make it 3-3 and then with the clock ticking down Vinny Achampong grabbed the Rams’ fourth of the day. Final score 4-3.
That win sees the Rams take over the league leadership. They are now two points ahead of Chelsea and three points ahead of Ascot United. All three have played seven games.
Hardy souls manage to beat the weather
The other post-Christmas games have either been cup ties or Supervets’ contests.
In terms of the cup matches, on Saturday 4 January Croxley Green IIs played Laleham in the League Vase. The game proved to be a close one, Croxley edging it 3-2.
Lyonians and MMB have also been in Vase action. Division Two Lyonians (just about) had the better of things, edging through 5-3 against the Division Three side. Ben Pierre provided the game’s highlight, pinging in an impressive free kick for Lyonians. Craig Beccan, Dave Sweeney, Karim Essiaghi and Chris O’Leary got the other goals for the hosts. Scott Stafford, meanwhile, bagged a brace for MMB, Andrew Larch scored their third.
The last game that survived the weather came on 3 January when the Ascot United Supervets played Claygate. Ascot are flying high at the top of the table, so a home win was very much predicted on the coupon. The Yellas did indeed ultimately came through against an ever-willing Claygate side, although the visitors, to their credit, gave them a decent run for their money.
For Ascot Chris Ferdinand grabbed two more goals (taking his Supervets’ tally to 14 for the season), whilst Ascot’s version of Bobby Moore (or was it Bobby Davro, that wasn’t completely clear…), Matt Newall, will be happy with the effort he pinged in from the edge of the box. Evergreen co-manager Stuart Flurry will also have been pleased to get on the scoresheet for the first time this campaign.
League Cup QFs incoming
Looking ahead, there’s only one league game scheduled for 18 Jan, and that’s in Division Three. Mid-table Bank of England IIs travel to play AFC Hampton.
Elsewhere, it’s once again the cups and the Supervets that take centre stage. In terms of the League Cup, we are now at the QF stage. That means the big boys are starting to circle menacingly.
Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from their league defeat against the Rams when they host the Whippets. The Rams, meanwhile, travel to Claygate Royals Hares; that could well be an interesting one as Claygate have started to warm to life in the top flight.
The third tie will be at the Racecourse Ground in Ascot where the Yellas entertain Croxley Green. Quite when and where the fourth and final QF tie is taking place isn’t altogether clear, but one thing is for sure; it’ll ultimately lead to a Division One side making it to the semi-finals (scheduled to take place on 28 Feb/1 March).
Three ties in the QFs of the League Vase
To deliberately misquote Meatloaf, three out of four ain’t bad in terms of getting Vase QFs on the radar for this coming weekend.
Division Three highfliers Claygate Royals Hounds are off to Clapham Old Xaverians. Given that Xavs are second in Division Two, this looks like it has the makings of a real cup tie.
The runaway leaders of Div 2, however, won’t be involved this weekend. Ruislip Rangers have won seven out of seven in the league thus far, but they exited the cup – via a penalty shoot out – to Thames Ditton. Quite the result for the boys from SW London. Ditton won’t be playing their QF just yet though; they are waiting on Putney Vale and Old Tiffs to sort out their last 16 affair.
The two remaining ties will, however, take place on Saturday. The first is an all Div 2 affair with Old Lyonians hosting Jamrock Steppa. The second is an all Div 3 encounter with second placed Double H welcoming third place Croxley Green IIs. Plenty to look forward to there.
Full Supervets programme on the agenda
Finally, on Saturday 18 January there are four games involving Supervets, three in the league and one QF in the SVs’ Trophy. Cheam and Chelsea are the two sides involved there.
In terms of the league contests, the game of the day is arguably going to be between third placed Nottsborough and fourth placed Claygate. Both are on ten points and both are certainly in with a chance of finishing in the top two. Whether anyone can catch Ascot United remains to be seen. Ascot will be looking to extend their lead at the top when they travel to Stonehouse.
The final game of the day sees Old Lyonians looking to get off the mark at Croxley. Given that both Croxley’s ones and twos are playing elsewhere you’d think Lyonians might have a chance. Fair play to Croxley though; any club that is turning out three competitive Vets’ sides on the same weekend is doing really well. Hat duly doffed.
Go well everyone.