West London Vets’ League Round Up
18 October 2022
0-0s (plural)? In Vets’ football….?!
20 sides in the West London Vets’ League (WLVFL) were inleague action on Saturday 15 October. Three games took place in the top flight, there was just the one in Division One with three each in both Divisions 2 and 3.
Entertaining action though there certainly was, there weren’t many goals about. Indeed, how often have there been not one but two 0-0 draws on the same day in Vets’ football? Not that often, you’d have thought….
Yellamen come off second best at Chelsea
Only one of the two Ascot United Vets’ sides managed to make it out onto the pitch over the weekend. The twos were scheduled to play the Latimer Road Vets at the Racecourse on Friday night, but the visitors found themselves forced to cry off. Shame. That game will be rearranged for the new year.
The ones travelled to Chiswick to play Chelsea Vets. They ultimately came home with little to show for their efforts, Chelsea winning 3-0. Chelsea had more of the possession, but the game stayed 1-0 for an awful long time. Indeed, Ascot were just beginning to really press in search of the elusive equaliser when Tommy Williams’s broke away and made it 2-0. Another goal late on rounded off the scoring, as Chelsea preserved their unbeaten record this season.
Elsewhere in the Prem
Elsewhere in the Prem, West London Rams – promoted alongside Ascot United at the end of 2021-22 – pocketed their second three-point haul of the season, winning 3-1 at Bank of England.
The Bank will nonetheless be cheered by their performance. Andy Taylor’s side were two down at half-time but they then pulled one back and put the Rams’ keeper under quite some second half pressure. Ultimately, WLR managed to nick a third and that sees them move up to third in the table, nicely nestled in alongside Sporting Kitz and Croxley Green.
With Sporting Kitz’s game at Nottsborough postponed, Croxley drew level with Kitz on points thanks to a 2-0 win at Kew Park Rangers. Mind you, Kitz are soon going to drift back from six points to three on account of Spartan Vets withdrawing from the league. Spartans lost 9-0 at Kitz in their one and only game this season, but that’ll no doubt be expunged from the record.
Around the League
Division One was affected by a plague of postponements. Three of the four scheduled fixtures fell by the wayside.
The one game that did survive saw West Kensington Kings host Old Tiffs. Neither side had started the season in all-conquering form, although the Tiffs’ players will no doubt have been reminding each other that they were one of the very few sides to put one over on WKK in 2021-22; they beat them 4-2 in a friendly.
Tiffs certainly had their chances to repeat the feat this time round, but a couple of big missed opportunities let WKK off the hook. WKK got home 2-1. WKK’s win sees them leap up into second, two points behind Claygate Royals Hares. Tiffs remain mid-table.
Division Two
Three games took place in Division Two. And, despite not playing, it’s Hillingdon Abbots who remain top of the pile.
Old Tens and Molesey Lighthouse remain nicely nestled in behind the Abbots, both sides being involved in separate 0-0 draws. Good defences and/or profligate attacks seemed to be very much the order of the day there.
Molesey Lighthouse’s nil-niler came at the Hurst Recreation Ground where they drew a blank against Double H. Double H will simply be pleased to get up and running in what was their first competitive fixture of the season.
Old Tens welcomed MMB. The visitors will probably be the more pleased, the point is their first of the season and keeps them out of the relegation zone.
The one and only league fixture planned for this coming weekend (22/23 October) takes place in this division. The poor old Army Crusaders, plagued with admin challenges, are looking to try and make their first venture out onto the field this season when they (hope to) welcome Molesey Lighthouse.
Division Three
There were also three games in Division Three. With Ascot United 2s and Latimer Road Vets postponed, HershamSouthside used the opportunity to stretch three points clear at the top. They brushed aside Croxley Green 2nds 8-2.
Steve Reading was again the star for Hersham Southside, helping himself to four goals and leading the line magnificently. Croxley Green couldn’t handle him. Then again, most sides in this division are likely to say the same thing.
Ascot United 2s remain second on goal difference, although Clapham Old Xaverians drew level on points thanks to a 3-1 victory against Old Tiffs’ 2nds. Clapham started brightly and took an early lead, but Old Tiffs came back admirably to run them close. Indeed, if Old Tiffs could deal with those long balls over the top then the final score might well have been a bit different.
The final game of the day was a veritable humdinger as Claygate Royals Hounds played host to AFC Hampton. Hampton struck first, but Claygate bounced back impressively to surge into a 4-1 lead. The scourge of Vets’ football – injuries – then saw both of Claygate’s centre halves vacate the scene and it wasn’t long before quick-breaking Hampton were back at 4-4.
At that point it was all Hampton and if another goal was going to appear then it looked odds on that Hampton would be the ones scoring it. But, football being football, exactly the opposite happened; Claygate broke away late on and snatched the decisive ninth goal of the game.
Moving Forward
With just the one league game scheduled for 21/22 October, that means there’s plenty of room for the Supervets to enter the fray.
Double H welcome Croxley Green, Chelsea Vets welcome Nottsborough Partisans and Old Tens host Old Lyonians.
Go well one and all.
