Sunday League News feed - This is Grimsby

Gaz Flint's treble ignites Holton-le-Clay to victory over Seven Seas

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:00:00 GMT

PROMOTED Holton-le-Clay pulled off an early shock in division one of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League when they beat last season's treble winners Seven Seas 4-1.

Having already kicked off their new life in the top flight with a 1-0 defeat, Holton knew they needed a good result from this game in order to get their first points on the board.

But it appeared a tough task ahead against the all-conquering Seas side.

Holton manager Dave Allen also had five players drop out at the last minute due to injuries and work commitments.

So, he was down to a just 12 players with several forced to play out of position.

But they performed admirably on the day.

Other than allowing Seas time and space for the first 15 minutes, Holton soon found their rhythm which may have taken Seas by surprise.

From one to 11, all Holton's players got under the skin of their opposition, while playing open attacking football which had Seas on the back foot for large parts of the first half.

Holton did have the ball in the back of the net just before the break, but it was disallowed for offside.

The first-half finished with Seas feeling the frustration probably more than Holton, as they were in a spirited mood from playing out a very good first half.

The message to Holton's players for the second half was more of the same but be more ruthless in front of goal.

And they began the second half in the same way and it was not long before the chances started to come again.

Matty Knight rolled back the years up front alongside the rejuvenated Gaz Flint, and they were superbly supported by the midfield of Dave Elkington, Gaz Mason, Danny Peterson and Ashley Greenbeck.

The "brick-wall" back four of Chris Chalk, Jamie Pearson, Thomas Boxall and Joe Barker were also solid behind them.

If there ever was a contender for "route-one" goal of the year, then Holton's first was probably just that.

Ben Mills, Holton's keeper, launched one of his trademark goal-kicks which evaded all of Seas' outfield players and the only person alive to the long punt was Flint, who superbly beat Seas' oncoming keeper to slide past him from a very acute angle.

Holton did not keep the lead for long, as one of Seas players pinged a 30-yarder from nowhere which caught Mills off his line.

However, Flint was determined to regain the advantage and he coolly and cleverly chipped the Seas keeper from close range after being put through by Knight.

At 2-1 up, Holton were looking more and more in control and as the game wore on, Seas appeared more and more frustrated.

Flint was to get his well-deserved hat-trick when fine football by Holton's midfield allowed Knight to play another super ball through to the striker and he slipped it past the Seas keeper.

With only 10 minutes left, Holton were awarded a free-kick from 20 yards out.

Greenbeck struck the ball and it hit Peterson on the thigh to take a wicked deflection past the Seas keeper.

It rounded off a memorable day for Holton but they will need to build on it in future games.

Seven Seas 2nds fared much better in division two, registering a good 6-0 away win at Cromwell.

Team Red Star (Lee Chisnall (two), Joe Burns, Sean Ford) also had a decent away victory, 4-0 against Hartwell County.

Immingham Bluestone (Richard Simpson (four), Rikki Chapman (two), Perry Franklin) continued their good start with a 7-2 victory over Healing (J Thomson (two)).

Gy Gunners (Stuart Inch (three), Daniel Carter, Daniel Robbins, Jason Langley) completed the fixtures in this division with a 6-3 victory over S W Steelers (Tom Gibbins, Ash Cormack, Nick Rook).

In division three, DMS FC beat Trawl FC 2-1 with goals from captain Tom Avison and Gary Kilday.

Adam Johnstone replied for Trawl, while Police won 2-1 against Old Clee.

Both the Police goals were scored by Andy Painter with Piotr Jozwiak replying for Old Clee.

Paul Leshone and Ash Sarbutt scored for Grimsby Warriors in their 2-1 victory over Millfields (Aaron Love).

Elsewhere, Louth Town were amongst the goals when they beat Drinksy Building Cricketers 5-1, taking their tally to 12 in their two league games so far.

On target for Louth were Andrew Hunter (two), Jamie Aldrich, Daniel Pawson and Ian Riddall. Scott Evans scored for Cricketers.

Andrew Hargreaves and Rob Mair scored for Number 2 FC in their 2-1 division four victory over Grange Crowland (John Higton).

Caistor Rovers had a resounding victory, 8-0 against Spiders Web.

Andrew Taylor bagged five goals while Paul Lockington and Nathan Smith scored one apiece.

Crows Nest beat Humberston Grosvenor (Jason Green) 2-1 in the other game in this division.

In division five, Immingham Town (Ben Coultas, Dan Robinson (two)) narrowly beat AFC Wybers 3-2 (Adam Horsfall, Danny Leak), while Newtons Athletic had a decent 6-2 victory over AFC Nitro.

Luke O'Hara (four), Alex Long and Jake Wynne scored for Newtons with Stuart Sadler and Scott Waite replying for Nitro.

Deportivo won 8-0 away to Old Lloyds in a game where Nathan Crooks and David Maggs both scored hat-tricks.

Patrick Kershaw and an own goal accounted for the other goals. Fairdeal Carpets (Sam Woods, Chris Wilson) won 2-1 away to FC Willows Community (Zak Smith).

A hat-trick from Jimmy Nicholson and one apiece for Kerry Chapman and Antony Maggs ensured A to Z Trading bagged three division six points in their 5-1 win against Crows Nest 2nds (Richard Walker).

Smugglers AFC drew 1-1 with Tap & Spile 2nds (Tom Collingwood), while Clee Workingmens (Dale Winterburn, Brad Wright) won 2-1 away to Tower Bucharest (David Robinson).

In division seven, Aston Estates won 4-3 away to Cromwell Rovers with goals from Robbie Blake (two), Danny Beecham and Tom Wadby. Lewis Butler, Wayne Tasker and Lee Williams were on the scoresheet for Cromwell.

AFC Cleethorpes won 5-1 against The Albion (Danny Walters), while Cleethorpes Town (Liam Higton, Joshua Sharp (two), Jamie Torrington) beat Buddies II Athletic (lee Sadler) 4-1 and Crows Nest 3rds (Kevin King (two), Kevan Short) scored three without reply against RH Construction.

RIS beat Caistor Rovers 2nds 9-1 in division eight with hat-tricks from man-of-the-match Sean Thompson and Tyler Wilgus, a brace from Shane Bennett and a further goal from Dan Klug. Kieran Togher replied for Rovers.

Abatis Fire & Security beat Laceby Arms 1-0 with a goal in the second half from Pierce Dundridge.

Elsewhere, FC United of Grimsby knocked in 10 goals against Grimsby Fireplace Centre who managed one themselves.

James Bristow (five), Chris Hurton (two) and David Tutty (two) scored for United.

Red Star Old Boys (Ian Blackmore, Simon Chapple, Roberto Gibbs, Nick Woodhall, Darren Mussell) went nap against East Marsh FC, winning 5-0, while Winns FC beat Dolphin Car Wash 3-1.

In the Humber Cup South Bank Final at King George pitches, Grimsby's Birds Eye played against the winners of the Scunthorpe section, Janneys All Stars.

Birds Eye had the better of the early stages and should have taken the lead with several chances going begging.

The compact All Stars team weathered the storm and John Barnard broke clear after 25 minutes to put his side into a deserved lead at half-time.

Their lead was increased after five minutes of the second period when the All Stars were awarded a penalty and skipper Martin McKenzie made no mistake with his spot kick to provide a more comfortable cushion for his side.

Birds Eye continued to attack but the Stars battled well and never looked like conceding a goal and they emerged winners to go into the final at Barton against Hull opposition.

The Valiant's Oglesby and Wheeler give five-star shows

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 08:00:00 GMT

JOHN Oglesby and Kirk Wheeler both scored five times as The Valiant hammered Louth Town 17-3 in the preliminary round of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League's Senior Challenge Cup.

Louth scored in the first minute but The Valiant hit back with three goals in five minutes, and the half time score was 10-1.

Goalscorers for The Valiant were man of the match Oglesby (5), Wheeler (5), Nathan Emson (3), Andy Clark (2), Dave Walsh and Danny Durosomo. Andrew Hunter (2) and Daniel Pawson replied for Louth.

Hartwell County (Neil Kirwin 2, David O'Hare 2, Mark Gale, Chris McIver, Luke McLellan, Matthew Baker) beat Clark Construction 8-4.

While, a man of the match performance by club captain Scott Harris, who scored all the goals, ensured Millfields won 3-1 against SW Steelers (Nick Rook).

Immingham Bluestone (Callum Day 3, Richard Simpson) won 4-2 away to Number 2 Pub (Rob Mair, Simon Peck), and Sealord (Nathan Iley, Jamie Smith) won 2-0 against Keelby Utd.

Caistor Rovers won 4-2 away to Spiders Web. Andrew Belt, Paul Lockington, Robert Logan and Nathan Smith were on target for Caistor. Old Clee needed penalties to go through against Gy Gunners (Stuart Inch) after drawing 1-1 at full-time.

In the Junior Challenge Cup preliminary round, Carl Carroll scored for Ace Homecare but they were beaten 2-1 by Trotters Traders whose scorers were Joshua Waumsley and Cash Dowling.

AFC Nitro went on the rampage running in nine goals without reply from Caistor Rovers 2nds. On target were Stuart Sadler with five goals, Colin Winter with three and Danny Sheppard.

AFC Wybers beat Tap & Spile 2nds 4-0. Adam Horsfall, Martin Jackson (2) and Mark Fishwick were the marksmen for Wybers.

Buddies II Athletic beat Grimsby Fireplace Centre 14-2 in another high scoring game. The scorers were David Cooper and David Young with three apiece, Lee Sadler with two and Anthony Briscoe, Arron Russell, Shane Hoburn, Scott Jenson, Derwin Young and David Carratt all with one.

Fairdeal Carpets won a hard-fought contest, despite being reduced to ten men for a first-half goal line handball incident, finally winning 3-2 against Cromwell Rovers, thanks to a Chris Wilson hat-trick. Six goals from Ben Taylor and one apiece for Richard Lister and Matthew Carmichael saw Locomotive Blossom Way beat The Albion 8-2, Albion's goals coming from Dale Bennett and Danny Walters.

Healing 2nds won 7-0 away to Old Lloyds with goals from T. Parker (2), P. Southwell (2), M. Kurz, P. Appleton and P. Sparling.

Phoenix Youngs drew 3–3 with AFC Waltham in open play. Two Callum Robinson crackers and an unfortunate own goal from the Waltham keeper had Phoenix cruising to a 3-0 lead. Phoenix played well in the first-half before an unfortunate goal got Waltham back into the game to make it 3-1 at half time. Waltham fought back well in the second half, all their goals coming from Iain Ceclich, one five minutes from the end forcing the game to go to a penalty shoot out which Phoenix eventually lost 6-5.

A to Z Trading FC won the penalty shoot out 4-3 after drawing 2-2 after 90 minutes against Smugglers AFC. Goalscorers for A to Z were Barry Blastland with an elegant chip over the keeper and Anthony Maggs with a deft header.

The Empire 2nds (Simon Munday 2, Louis Volley 2, Steven Broderick, Dan Wilkins) won 6-1 away to RH Construction (Peter Harrison). West Marsh beat Dolphin Car Wash (Inkson) 2-1. Winns FC (Mikey Burton 3, Tim Dales) won 4-1 against Redstar Old Boys Nick Woodhall).

Seven Seas 2nds kicked off their division two campaign with an excellent 6-1 triumph at Healing. Goalscorers for Seas were Gary Cross, Ross Jacklin, Renzie Lobendhan, Lewis Penny 2 and James Sawdon.

Grimsby Warriors won 3-0 away to Police in division three with goals from Sam Thorp, Aaron McKenzie and Kirk Russell.

Both games in division four resulted in away wins. Grange Crowland (Carl Hewson, John Higton, Mark Ramsden, Richard Roe) won 4-1 against Cleethorpes Town Pattesons (Chris Ward) while Crows Nest beat Tap & Spile 4-2 with goals from Luke Fanthorpe 3 and Lee McFarland.

Meanwhile, Immingham Town beat Willows Community 5-3 in the only game in division five.

Goals for Paul Chalk and Jamie Dixon secured the points for DLB Nunsthorpe Tavern OB who beat Tower Bucharest (Jake O'Callaghan) 2-1 in division six.

Cleethorpes Town won 5-0 away to AA Property New Waltham in the only game in division seven. Their goals were scored by David Matthews 2, Josh England, Mark Hooper and George Newby.

In division eight, Turners Mortgages won 2-0 away to East March FC while FC United of Grimsby (Callum Dinsdale, Lewis Stocks) beat RIS (Jon Blackman) FC 2-1.

Luke Pickering's strike seals victory for Humberston Quayside

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:00:00 GMT

NEWLY-promoted Division One team Holton-le-Cla can count themselves unlucky not to have come away with a share of the spoils after losing 1-0 to Humberston Quayside in the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League.

Both teams huffed and puffed in warm conditions on the opening day of the season.

Chances were few and far between. The best fell to Ryan Collins, who was denied by Holton's keeper Chris Chalk from point-blank range.

Quayside fielded five debutants with Tom Summers and Paul Smith in central midfield and Paul Jones and Ryan Collins leading the frontline.

But it was new boy Luke Pickering who stole the show with a stunning strike worthy of winning any game.

Holton rallied and their best chance was foiled by keeper Scott Drury when seasoned campaigner Matty Knight was slipped through one on one.

Elsewhere in this division, the Valiant carried on where they left off last season with a 4-1 victory against The Empire. On target for Valiant were Dale Mason (two), Nathan Emson and John Oglesby. Lee Darwood replied for Empire.

In Division Two, two goals apiece for Callum Day and Richard Simpson and a further goal for Perry Franklin saw Immingham Bluestone win 5-3 against Team Red Star.

Daniel McCann, Paul Parker and Joe Burns replied for Red Star.

Keelby Utd beat Healing 2-0 with goals from John and Matthew Conroy.

Promoted SW Steelers announced their arrival with a 5-1 win against Seacatch FC.

It was 0-0 at half-time, but new signing Tom Gibbins came on at half-time, scored with his first touch and went on to complete a hat-trick.

Other goals came from Josh Braid and Gaz Deakins. Mark Ellis replied for Seacatch.

In Division Three, Louth Town beat Clark Construction 7-3 with goals from Sam Hallett, Andrew Hunter (two), Rob McSpadden, Sean Kilmore and Sam Riddall (two).

Matthew Perry's goal for Old Clee was not enough as Drinksy Building Cricketers beat them 2-1.

No 2 Pub got off to an excellent start to the Division Four season with manager Chris Stamp jubilant after a comprehensive 6-0 win over Cleethorpes Town Pattesons.

Last year's double winners started from where they left off last season, playing some impressive quick-touch football.

No 2 took the lead midway through the first half after missing a host of early chances when Matthew Cope rounded the keeper after cutting inside the defender to slot home.

Pattesons replied by playing some good direct football but the No 2 Keeper Jason Steel was first to everything.

Early in the second half Nathan Heward cut in from the left to cross for Andrew Hargreaves to side-foot into the top corner.

Soon after, last season's top scorer, Rob Mair, added a quick brace with sharp finishing low past the despairing keeper.

No 2 were now rampant and full of confidence.

A poor clearance gave Steve Donner the chance to lob the keeper from 30 yards which he did with a superb finish.

No 2 brought on two new wide men who got straight into the action. Ian Fleming skipped past four Pattesons players only to shoot straight at the keeper.

No 2's final goal came with Rob Mair crossing the ball for debutant Lee Smith to smash home.

Elsewhere, Luke Moore scored both goals for Crows Nest who won 2-0 away to Caistor Rovers.

In Division Five, AFC Nitro got off to a good start by beating Immingham Town 7-3.

Nitro's goals were scored by Colin Winter (three), Stuart Sadler (two), Dan Bacon and Chris West. Dan Robinson (two) and Lee Tasker replied for Immingham.

Goals from Nathan Crooks, Anthony Jagger, Patrick Kershaw, Dale Brown and an own goal ensured Deportivo won 5-1 away to Healing 2nds (Tom Parker).

AFC Wybers 2nds won 7-2 away to Old Lloyds (Lee Vince, Brett Williams) and Willow Community defeated Newton Athletic 4-0 to complete the picture.

In Division Six, DLB Nunsthorpe Tavern OB (R Gaunt 2, J Dixon, I Ritchie, G Kirwin) won 5-1 against Clee Workingmens (Matthew Steer), Tower Bucharest (David Jackson 2, David Robinson) won 3-0 away to Locomotive Blossom Way and Tap and Spile 2nds narrowly beat Ace Homecare 1-0.

In Division Seven Louis Grant, Josh Waumsley, Geoff Riden, Jonah Simmons and Ben Fahy scored for Trotters Traders in their 5-0 defeat of AFC Waltham.

Cleethorpes Town beat Cromwell Rovers 4-2 with goals from Oliver Mitchell (two), Josh Sharp and David Matthews.

Wesley Clark and Jonathan Treacher replied for Cromwell.

Dale Bennett, Rob Lambert and Danny Walters scored for The Albion in their 3-2 victory over AA Property New Waltham, for whom Daniel Nielsen notched a brace.

West Marsh beat AFC Cleethorpes 4-0 with goals from Jack Barley, Terry Petterson, Scott Ritchie and John Waugh.

In Division Eight, the newly re-formed Winn FC beat Turners Mortgages 3-0, with several of the original Winn FC players starting the game.

Turners started brightly with Winn not at the races for the first part of the game.

A couple of early chances fell to Turners, but they were unable to convert.

After 20 minutes, Winn began to settle with the back three of Rob Pearce, Wayne Cummings and Lee Howard getting an understanding between them going.

There was some good work on the left wing by Tom Winn, who was beginning to push Turners back, while the midfield trio of Andy Scott, Micky Burton and Andy Allott were creating some good chances for Tim Dales.

Just before half-time, a cross came over which Tom Winn won in the air and Burton poked the ball home to make the score 1-0 to Winn.

Winn got more into the game in the second half.

Scott and Allott made good challenges in midfield.

Allott had a good chance, shooting just wide but he made sure soon afterwards scoring from outside the area. Winn's keeper Tom Downes made some excellent saves to keep Turners at bay. The game was made safe when Tim Dales was played in and he fired the ball hard and low to make the final score 3-0.

East Marsh FC beat Laceby Arms 5-2 in a great game.

Marsh's first goal came after a minute, while in the second half, Marsh keeper Simon McMenemy saved a penalty. Paul Smith, Carl Taylor, Steve Wilkins and Ryan Woolliss were on target for East Marsh. Richard Sparrow and an own goal replied for Laceby.

Chris Hurton scored five goals and James Bristow and Callum Dinsdale notched one apiece as FC United of Grimsby beat Dolphin Car Wash 7-0.

Redstar Old Boys beat Caistor Rovers 2nds 6-0. Darren Brett, Martin Burke 3 and Nick Woodhall 2 accounted for Redstar's goals. Abatis Fire and Security won 3-1 against Grimsby Fireplace Centre in the other game in this division. Joel Pidd, Pierce Dundridge and Jamie O'Neill scored the goals for Abatis, Mick Ponsonby replied for Grimsby Fireplace Centre.

High-flying Holton

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:00:00 GMT

HOLTON-le-Clay FC's manager Dave Allen has heralded the club's meteoric rise up the Sunday league – and paid tribute to the players, supporters and sponsors who have made it possible.

Only established in 2003, the team has progressed from division eight to the top level of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday League in just seven seasons.

Speaking after another successful campaign – which saw the team promoted to division one – boss Allen was quick to thank everyone involved with the club.

He said: "We have to say a big, big thank you to everyone that have stayed loyal throughout the last seven seasons.

"We have achieved virtual back-to-back promotions with some championship promotion years amongst them. From division eight to two the club was captained by Martin Mann, and from division two to one it was captained by Matty Powell and Andy Blackbourn.

"In that time, Mann, Blackbourn and Chris Chalk have all exceeded 100 appearances which is a great achievement in itself, by playing and staying loyal to one Sunday League team for seven seasons."

Off the pitch, PMC Safety Netting has sponsored all the team's kits and DKM Construction Centre has supplied its tracksuits.

And Allen added that a whole host of entities have been key to the Holton success story.

"We have to thank all the players, sponsors, supporters and local businesses from Holton-le-Clay," he commented.

"These include Tim's the Chemist, Oasis the Hairdressers, Coulbecks hardware store, Royal Oak Public House and Holton Sports, who have all kindly sponsored trophies for all the presentation nights since the club started.

"Everyone involved has shared my enthusiasm and quest to reach division one of the Sunday League, where all the hard work really starts now."

Seven Seas sail off with silverware

Thu, 06 May 2010 08:00:00 GMT

SEVEN Seas beat Jubilee Inn 4-1 at Blundell Park in the final of the Lincolnshire Sunday Cup.

It was the fourth time within a month the sides had met.

Jubilee settled well in the opening spell and had two half-chances.

However, Seas keeper Damien Steer was alert to an effort which he pushed over the bar. He then made another good save, tipping the ball around the post.

Seas started to close the game down and Ricky Peck opened their account after 12 minutes.

Seas continued to press and gained a penalty, which skipper Danny Barrett converted.

The Seas machine continued to dominate and the third goal came just five minutes before half-time from Lee Stephenson, pictured.

It was now difficult to see what impact Jubilee could have in the second period.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first and, after 70 minutes, Luke Todd scored number four for Seas.

Stu Graham netted a consolation for Jubilee.

The Lincolnshire Sunday Cup was presented by delegate Mr Andrew to the worthy winners.

Seven Seas have now completed a memorable treble with the County Cup, the Sunday League Challenge Cup and the Division One title.

It does not stop there, as Seven Seas 2nds have won the Division Three title and are playing next Monday at Blundell Park in the Memorial Cup final.

Steelers wheel their way on up

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

DIVISION Three of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday League is going right down to the wire.

Any one of the top three could take the title while any two could claim automatic promotion.

Seven Seas 2nds (Stefan Melin (two), Shane Pexman) beat Old Clee (Shaun Jackson) 3-1 and remain top while LOR (Jonathan Walker) drew 1-1 with Millfields (Michael Farrow-Browne) and have a tenuous hold on second place.

But it was SW Steelers' week as they produced a scintillating display of attacking football to destroy Bridge 10-1, before hitting 11 just a few days later against Excel FC.

In their first outing, Steelers signalled their intentions straight from the kick-off, scoring in the very first minute.

Energetic right winger Paul Smith took on the Bridge defence and when his shot came in, it was fumbled by the Bridge keeper which allowed Rick Gaunt to tap into the net for the first of his five goals on the night.

It was 2-0 after only four minutes when Nathan Thompson did well on the edge of the area but his shot struck the post and rebounded kindly to Gaunt, who hammered the ball home.

The Steelers defence were then caught napping and Bridge looked like they were going to make a game of it as their forward did well to strike the ball across keeper Matty Chapman and into the corner of the net.

Jason Chisnall then produced a good save from the Bridge keeper after his smart turn and shot on the edge of the area.

Steelers restored their two-goal cushion on the 20-minute mark when the tricky Smith again bamboozled the Bridge defence and put over a pinpoint cross which Gaunt met with a firm header past the keeper.

Nick Rook and Chisnall then linked up with the ball falling to Kai Haig and his goal-bound shot took a deflection off a Bridge defender on its way into the net to make the score 4-1 at half-time.

Some of Steelers' football in the first-half was a pleasure to watch but even better was to come as they went on to notch double figures.

Rook picked up the ball on the left wing and found Gaunt who turned provider as he sent Gaz Deakins clear to make it 5-1 just five minutes into the half.

At this stage, Steelers brought on sub Liam Anderson who should have grabbed number six with almost his first touch, but lobbed the ball over the bar after quick thinking from Deakins from a throw-in.

Steelers then scored four goals in a seven-minute blast. Firstly, Gaunt found Chisnall and when his shot was cleared off the line Rook looped a header back over the Bridge keeper.

Anderson then sent Gaunt clear and he calmly notched number seven before Chisnall finally got on the scoresheet with two goals in as many minutes.

First Smith, who caused the Bridge defence problems all game long, found Chisnall with another superb ball which was finished with aplomb and then, when Steelers were awarded a free-kick 25 yards out just a minute later, he drilled a low shot past the wall and into the corner of the net to make the score 9-1.

Anderson and Gaunt then combined again with the latter taking his personal tally to five as Steelers reached double figures.

Steelers' keeper Chapman was hardly troubled all game but did get down to make a great save towards the end as Bridge looked for a late consolation goal.

Referee Nick Wright, in his first season, was superb and gave a faultless display while Bridge deserve credit for playing the game in a great spirit, and trying to play football as it should be played right to the end.

Now unbeaten in 17 league games, Steelers then went goal crazy on Sunday and on to record double figures again as Excel FC were put to the sword, beating them 11-1. Outstanding performances from Rick Gaunt with another five goals, Josh Braid (two), Jason Chisnall, Kai Haig, Liam Anderson (penalty) and Gaz Deakins made for an even healthier goal difference, which may be important as the season draws to a close.

A Nick Rook own goal accounted for Excel's score and referee Steve Wright had an excellent game.

Excel did have some consolation when they beat White Hart 1-0 in midweek.

Police also had a 1-0 victory over Mammoet East Coast and a 2-2 draw with Harvest Pet Products.

Despite these results, Police and Excel look favourites for relegation.

It's not all over yet in Division One either, after Seven Seas were beaten 2-0 by The Valiant, leaving the title chase wide open.

Valiant themselves could win it after a lively affair where both teams gave everything.

Valiant were prominent and strong in defence as the long ball from Seas was not effective.

Dale Mason missed two golden chances for Valiant before the teams turned round at 0-0.

Valiant contested everything with Steve McLaughlin outstanding in midfield.

Daniel Durosemo was also strong in the air in their defence.

The first goal came in the 60th minute when Mason chased a long through ball and beat keeper Steve Choppen to it before putting it into an empty net.

Valiant continued to press and their flying left winger John Oglesby had only the keeper to beat soon after but Choppen came out on top.

Oglesby made amends, though, when he chased another long ball and, despite being under pressure, was able to chip the ball over the keeper and into the net to seal Valiant's win. Referee Sid Cowley had a good game and was ably supported by Paul Brackenbury and Pete Jagger, all doing well to keep 22 players on the field.

Aside from Valiant, AFC Buddies also have a chance of the title after a 3-1 victory over Jubilee Inn in midweek was followed up with a 5-2 triumph over Humberstone Quayside on Sunday, their goals coming from Marcus Cooper (two), Shane Garvie (two) and Lewis Penny.

Replying for Quayside were Lee Bushell and Louis Grant.

FC Milan also beat Jubilee in what must be a disappointing run-in for them.

Lee Potter scored a hat trick as Milan ran out 3-0 winners.

At the other end of the table, either Lincs International or Seacatch could be relegated after tomorrow's games.

They played out a 2-2 draw on Sunday while Lincs International drew 1-1 with FC Milan in midweek.

Gy Cladding beat Healing 3-1 in midweek with goals from Robert Lewsam, Sean Carlisle and Nathan Emson and look like going up as Division Two champions with an unblemished record.

Joining them will be Holton le Clay who cannot be caught after their 1-1 draw with Gunners Watch in midweek.

Drinksy Building Cricketers went down 3-1 to Gunners Watch (Gavin Steel hat-trick) after losing to Grange Oak with a similar scoreline in midweek and cannot now avoid the drop.

Cromwell beat Golden Fleece 4-1, while Team Red Star won 3-2 against Golden Fleece in midweek, a somewhat disappointing finish for Fleece after a promising start.

DMS (Sean Rands) went down 2-1 to Clark Construction (Pete Fuller, Nathan Usher) but go up as Division Four champions.

Grimsby Warriors drew 3-3 with Crows Nest 2nds, their goals coming from Sam Thorp, Joe Burns and Richard Sykes.

But they still occupy the other promotion place. Martin Burke, Ryan Gilby and David Miller scored for Crows.

This could change if Clark Construction win their remaining games and Warriors slip up.

Pattesons followed up last week's win with an emphatic 3-0 win over Nicks Takeaway.

Pattesons had a patched-up team out due to injuries and work commitments but the pickle boys shaded the first half with a goal from winger Tom Barber.

In the second half, Nicks missed a penalty which seemed to get Pattesons back into gear and goals from Chris Ward and David Mann sealed a fine victory.

Elsewhere, Trawl FC drew 1-1 with Caistor Rovers while The Empire beat Healing 2nds 5-1.

Either The Empire or Crows Nest 2nds will be relegated with Healing 2nds after tomorrow's games.

In Division Five, Greenlands (Andy Kirkley (hat-trick), Paul Hand, Karl Goodwin) beat Buddies II Utd 5-1 in midweek and play them again tomorrow.

They must win by what will need to be at least as big a margin if they are to pip Louth United for the title.

Both Louth and Greenlands have had very good seasons and are deserving of promotion.

Between them, they have two of the league's top three leading scorers, Andy Kirkley heading the list with 37 goals so far.

The other end of the table sees both Crows Nest 3rds and Lucarlys Eastern Trucks dropping down a division.

Immingham Town beat Crows 6-0 but Lucarlys were without a game.

Elsewhere, there were decent victories for Spiders Web, who won 7-2 against RCS Athletic, Grange Crowland, who won 4-2 against Buddies II United, and M & M Decors who won 4-2 against AFC Wybers 2nds.

Number 2 FC (Robert Mair (hat-trick), Andrew Hargreaves) beat BBS Couriers 4-1 having beaten AA Property New Waltham 5-0 in midweek and will go up as Division Six champions.

Also promoted are Fairdeal Carpets who won 2-0 against FC Willows Community and 4-1 against DC Amateurs.

DC Amateurs won 6-0 away to Smugglers AFC, a good win following their defeat to Fairdeal.

DC came back fighting with goals from Sean Borrell, Stephen Robinson, Stuart Sadler, Daniel Bacon, Paul Horsfall and Danny Shepherd which saw them move back up to fourth place.

AA Property New Waltham will be relegated and will be joined by either Clee Workingmens or ITP Jewellery.

Workingmens drew 1-1 with Locomotive Blossom Way and they will avoid the drop if they can take at least a point off high-riding BBS Couriers.

Congratulations got to Deportivo la Carrera who have won their games in hand and climbed to the top of the Division Seventable.

They cannot be caught and are therefore champions.

They won 7-1 away to Taverners Cleethorpes, with goals from David Maggs (two), Alan Williamson (two), Nathan Gibbon (two) and Lee Ford, having beaten Melt Bar on Thursday.

Newtons Athletic completed their season last week and are promoted on the strength of their second spot in the table.

Tower Bucharest finish in a very creditable third place after they drew 1-1 with Cromwell Rovers.

Abatis Fire & Security and Melt Bar go down a division after completing their programme.

In Division Eight A to Z Trading finish top after beating Asureflow FC 3-1 and West Marsh 2-0.

Asureflow won 8-1 against AFC Waltham but were pipped on goal difference for second place and therefore automatic promotion by Aston Estates.

East Marsh FC will have to seek re-election along with either Keelby Utd 2nds or Clee Rangers.

Silverware for Seas after shoot-out joy

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:30:00 GMT

SEVEN Seas won the Senior Challenge Cup after overcoming Jubilee in a tense penalty shoot-out.

The Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday League sides could not be separated, even after extra-time, so spot-kicks were required to decide the destination of the trophy.

It was the Seas players who held their nerve best when the pressure was on and they added yet another piece of silverware to their growing collection.

There was little incident in the early stages with both sides trying to gain superiority in midfield.

The first chance fell to Seven Seas when a Jubilee back-pass was mis-kicked by keeper Brett Chittock and the ball went straight to Seas skipper Danny Barrett – who sliced his chance wide.

Martin Jacklin had a strong game at the back for Seas and Barrett looked lively on the left.

The teams were still deadlocked after 30 minutes when Jubilee suddenly broke and Simpson was put through.

He lobbed the ball over the keeper and over the bar.

Half time came and went with no score and there were few further chances until the 70th minute, when Seas' Luke Mascall latched on to a through-ball – but his shot hit the post and went out.

The sides continued to cancel each other out and the match went into extra-time.

Neither team could find the breakthrough and Seas ultimately won the penalty shoot out 4-1 to lift the Challenge Cup.

The officials, referee Sid Cowley, his two assistants Richard Albery and Gary Cox, and fourth official Mick Hill, did extremely well.

Weather takes its toll on the Sunday League

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:30:00 GMT

SNOW, rain and frost have made the 2009/10 season the worst-affected in the 49-year history of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday Football League.

A record 246 games have been postponed already, even surpassing the infamous winter of 1963.

As a result, the league has had to work closely with North East Lincolnshire Council's Sports Development Team, the Education Department and the Grimsby Institute to ensure there are enough pitches available to complete the season.

Chairman of the league Tony Parrott outlined the challenges the bad weather has brought: "Everything was fine until the first week in December when it rained, rained and rained. The water table was high and there was nowhere for the water to go and so the pitches became flooded and unplayable.

"As December progressed we had further issues with frost and then snow into January and February.

"The league kept in constant touch with the Ground Maintenance Department of the Council and in most weeks the games were called off as early as Thursday when there was no chance of playing for a few days.

"This, hopefully, reduced the inconvenience to both the club officials, players and referees.

"As the weather improves now we are on the road to recovery and it looks possible, with the aid of night games, that the season will finish, as scheduled, by the end of April."

Parrott believes that the new facilities at the landmark £3-million Bradley development will make a big difference in the future.

He said: "We have tried for many years to get some improvement on the site but very little developed.

"We now have pitches which are properly drained and would certainly have assisted us this season. There will be new state-of-the-art changing rooms, a 3g artificial pitch with floodlights and also a stadium pitch also with floodlights.

"The Sunday League has for many years used all the available facilities at Bradley and this theme will continue on a Sunday morning in future.

"We shall have to stagger the kick-off times as there will only be 10 changing rooms, which means that five games can generate from this. It is intended that five games kick-off at 10am with a further five games at 10.45am. It may mean that we have to fine-tune these times."

New teams are invited to join the league for next season.

League secretary Rachel McWilliam is sending out application forms to all the league's member clubs and any new potential clubs should contact her at r.mcwilliam1@ntlworld.com or 01472 505273. The closing date for application forms is May 1.

Seas step up title defence

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 05:30:00 GMT

REIGNING Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League champs Seven Seas stepped up the pressure on their title rivals with a 2-0 win over Humberston Quayside.

Quayside's mini-revival was brought to an end, but they can count themselves unlucky not to have come away with at least a draw.

The first half was frantic, but an awful surface stopped both teams playing flowing football.

Seas got the breakthrough with a scrappy goal when a deflected cross from Mike Humberstone eluded the in-form Scott Drury and nestled in the bottom corner.

Quayside grew into the game and 16-year-old Jonathan Mumby, playing at right back, led the way, taking the attack to Seas.

The pressure nearly paid off when top goal scorer Lee Bushell bustled his way through and the slightest of nicks from keeper Damien Steer denied him a goal.

Bushell squandered two or three more chances before the game's only real moment of class when Luke Mascall crashed home an unstoppable shot.

Bushell was denied what looked like a nailed-on penalty in the dying minutes and Seas recorded the double over Quayside for the season.

Seas and title rivals Jubilee still have to meet, in the league and two cup finals.

Elsewhere in Division One, Fabrenco got back to winning ways with a 4-1 defeat of Seacatch FC.

Fabrenco gave debuts to Shaun Thompson and Carl Price and were keen to erase the memory of last week's drubbing by Sealord.

Jimmy Read released Elkington just inside the opposition's half and he strove forward unmarked to open his side's account with a well taken opportunity.

Fabrenco had plenty of possession but Seacatch equalised through Carl Henry who appeared to have handled the ball into the net but the referee deemed it was his chest and the goal was given.

Fabrenco introduced Ashley Vasey for the tiring Price at half time and he got his name on the scoresheet with an intelligent lob over the keeper, and then Nee started and finished the move which gave his side some comfort.

Seacatch hit back and twice rattled the crossbar before Lambert sealed the game when he finished off another for Fabrenco and eased any nagging doubts they may have had about getting dragged into the relegation zone.

Ricky Creer scored for Jubilee Inn in their 1-1 draw with Sealord (John Willis). The Valiant (Dan Durosomo, Steve McLaughlin, Mike Waterman, Jay Steer) beat FC Milan (Gareth Clewett, Danny Grant) 4-2 while AFC Buddies, with a hat trick from Paul Greenway, won 7-1 away to Lincs International Shipping (Liam Davis).

Few teams could match the record of Gy Cladding who won 3-2 away to Golden Fleece (Rob McSpadden two) in Division Two and have now gone 12 games without dropping a point.

Holton-le-Clay and Grange Oak are in contention for the promotion places but Holton are unlikely to catch Cladding while Grange Oak do not have enough games left.

Holton-le-Clay (Andrew Blackbourn, Gareth Flint two, Jamie Witts two) won 5-1 away to Drinksy Building Cricketers but Grange Oak (Jason Oglesby three, Tom Collingwood) drew 4-4 with Gunners Watch (Jonathan Blockley, Daniel Carter, Marcus Conte, Daniel Robbins) when they could have done with a victory.

With very little at stake, Cromwell won 4-1 against Healing (Nathan Ballard).

SW Steelers welcomed Division Three league leaders White Hart to Cheapside in an important game and came away with an excellent win by the odd goal in three.

The early exchanges were fairly even but White Hart should have taken an early lead when their pacy forward Ryan Smith found himself in on goal but Steelers keeper Matty Chapman did well to block the shot.

It was Steelers though who took the lead after 10 minutes with a superb goal. Kai Haig sent a cross field ball from the right which Rick Gaunt dummied and Nick Rook crashed a superb 25 yard volley past the startled White Hart keeper.

Rook almost increased Steelers' lead midway through the first half but saw his goal bound header cleared off the line by a White Hart defender.

In the second half, Smith escaped the shackles of the Steelers defence and kept his nerve to beat Chapman to bring the scores level.

At this stage White Hart were looking the more likely team to score again and it took a fantastic block by Stark to deny Smith a second goal.

It was Steelers however who grabbed the all important third when Gaunt and the mesmerising Paul Smith combined to set up Jason Chisnall. Chisnall's initial shot brought a good save from the White Hart keeper but sub George Eyole was on hand to bundle the ball in.

In the same division, LOR won 10-0 against Police and as a result leapfrogged White Hart to go top of the table.

The prolific Wayne Long scored four goals, Craig Mitchell joined in with a hat trick while Trevor Buffey, Craig Larder and Daniel Allen weighed in with one apiece.

Seven Seas 2nds have games in hand and must rate their chances of going to the top.

They had a useful 4-0 win away to Millfields with goals from Michael Hanson, Lawrence Lobendhan, Stefan Melin and William Clifford. Mammoet East Coast (Hayden Edwards two, Simon Peck two) picked up useful points when they beat Excel FC 4-2, which put Excel on the bottom rung.

Without kicking a ball last week and other results going in their favor DMS FC were finally confirmed as Division Four champions.

This has been a tremendous achievement with DMS FC jumping from Division Six runners up last season to winning Division Four with only two league defeats all season. Credit must go to manager Dave Wilson and all the players.

Grimsby Warriors (Joe Burns three, Sam Thorp two, Aaron McKenzie, Richard Sykes) beat Trawl FC (Sean Minkley) 7-1 in the race for the other promotion spot. Nick's Takeaway (John Frary, Richard Ramsden) drew 2-2 with Clark Construction (Pete Fuller, Jamie Wilkes), a useful point for both teams.

The Empire (Simon Munday, Colin Winter) won 2-1 away to Healing 2nds (Kieran Palmer) in the battle at the bottom of the table. Nathan Smith's goal was enough to see Caistor Rovers through 1-0 against Pattesons.

Division Five leaders Louth Utd were without a game but Greenlands made up ground on them with a 5-1 verdict against Spiders Web.

Greenlands started sluggishly and were soon punished by the youthful Spiders team as a long punt forward beat the Greenlands backline. Mark Gerrard beat the on-rushing Jason Suddaby and was left with the easy task of tapping the ball into the net.

Greenlands were soon level, as Michael Hand and Tez Ballard combined down the left with Ballard sending in a wicked cross for Paul Hand to make the score 1-1.

They then took the lead as Ballard again found space and sent in another wicked cross which was flicked on by Hickinson for Hand to grab his second.

The home side deservedly extended their lead shortly before half time as Hand again beat his man with ease before crossing the ball for Hickinson to smash it into the top corner.

Greenlands quickly wrapped up the win early in the second period with two quick goals. The first came when Hickinson sent a defence splitting pass for striker Andy Kirkley to chase onto and score. Kirkley quickly added to his and Greenlands' tally as he got on the end of another goal mouth scramble before firing into the bottom corner and give Greenlands a 5-1 victory. With games in hand, they could well take it down to the wire.

AFC Wybers 2nds (Kenny Sharpe, Zane Blow 2) won 3-1 against Grange Crowland (John Higton) and MM Decors (Jonathan Pawson 4, Sean Johannesen, Darren Marshall) beat Immingham Town 7-5 but neither of these winners can now make it to the promotion spots.

Lucarlys Eastern Trucks beat Crows Nest 3rds 4-1 in their bottom of the table clash.

There's a ding-dong battle at the top of Division Six. Number 2 FC beat Locomotive Blossom Way 4-0 with goals from Rob Mair 2, Dale Spalding and Jason Steel and head the table.

They are closely followed by BBS Couriers (Dane Briggs, Dan Harrison) who won 2-1 away to DC Amateurs (Stephen Robinson) and Fairdeal Carpets who won 4-0 against AA Property New Waltham. Tom Schofield 2, Chris Wilson and Paul Jackson scored for Fairdeal.

All three teams at the top of the table must think they can claim the silverware. Elsewhere DLB Taverners won 2-1 against Clee Workingmens (Danny Hawkey) and Smugglers AFC (Kevin Ling 3, Ben Dickinson) beat ITP Jewellery 4-0.

Deportivo la Carrera (Nathan Gibbon 3, Joshua Burns, Stephen Lawn) beat Abatis Fire & Security (Pierce Dundridge 2) 5-2 and, with games in hand, stand a good chance of catching Newtons Athletic for the Division Seven title.

Tower Bucharest might not make it to the top but they will not be far off if they keep winning. They beat Lindsey Garden Products 3-0 this week with goals from Steven Court, Jake O'Callaghan and Carl Ward. Melt Bar drew 1-1 with Taverners Cleethorpes but are some way from safety.

Division Eight leaders A to Z Trading (Barry Blastland, Gareth Gamburn, Tom Martin) strengthened their grip with a 3-0 defeat of KCT Photography while Aston Estates, who cannot catch A to Z, ran in 13 against Keelby Utd 2nds.

Keelby did manage a consolation. Other games saw Mariners FC (Paul Stead 3, Robert Dannell, Gareth Jackson, Craig Rigby) beat East Marsh FC 6-0 and West Marsh (John Waugh 2, Scott Ritchie, Richard Taylor) win 4-1 against AFC Waltham.

Nimmo finds out Fabrenco

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:30:00 GMT

FABRENCO took another thrashing in Division One of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday League – this time at the hands of leaders Sealord by the margin of 10–0.

Fabrenco took the field with long-term injured striker Steve Davis in goal as both keepers were unavailable. At 4-0 down at half-time, John Salt came off with a hamstring injury and Fabrenco were forced to play the remainder of the game with just 10 men, having no substitutes to call on.

It was another very miserable and disheartening week for all involved at Fabrenco. Scorers for Sealord were Gary Nimmo (four), John Willis (two), Justin Cleve, Jamie Smith, Andy Murray and an own goal.

Elsewhere, Lee Rhodes scored for Jubilee Inn in their 1-1 draw with The Valiant.

Seven Seas, with games in hand, are still well placed to retain the title after their 2-1 verdict away to AFC Buddies. Tim Lowe and Luke Todd scored for Seas.

FC Milan drew 2-2 in their clash with Humberston Quayside, after Quayside clawed their way back from two down to salvage a point.

Quayside were two down inside 15 minutes as Milan came out of the traps flying. By his own admission, manager Woolford got his formation wrong and paid a heavy penalty.

Half-time saw Woolford swap round his personnel and this had a massive impact. With the next goal the most important, it was top goal scorer Lee Bushell who obliged, poaching at the far post.

Quayside had now turned the tide and Milan had nowhere to hide. There was an air of inevitability about the equaliser and, when it came, it was the goal of the game. Jason Flint ran at the heart of the Milan defence and threaded an inch-perfect ball to Dunks who slotted past the oncoming keeper.

The game was now end-to-end and at the death Milan had the chance to win when Liam Walker was denied by the in-form Scott Drury.

In Division Two Gy Cladding's unblemished record remains intact after their 4-1 defeat of Team Red Star (Sean Ford).

Grange Oak went down 6-1 to Cromwell to put a dent in their chance of catching Cladding, while Holton le Clay's game was postponed but Golden Fleece won 1-0 at Healing. However, their chance of making it to the top looks slim although they could well make it to the other promotion place. There's still a lot to play for in this division.

SW Steelers claimed another three points to stay in touch with the leaders in Division Three when they beat Excel FC 4-1.

Steelers started the brighter and Rick Gaunt forced two great saves from Excel stand-in keeper Rob Forrest.

Gaunt, though, wasn't to be denied and it was third-time lucky when he rifled the ball home after the diminutive Paul Smith had found Josh Braid, who threaded a great ball through the Excel defence for Gaunt to run onto.

Midway through the half Excel began to come more into the game. Following a mix-up in the Steelers defence, Jonah Simmons went through on goal, held his nerve and lobbed the ball over Matty Chapman for the equaliser.

Midway through the second half, with the scores still level, Steelers manager Steve Wraith decided to make a double substitution, introducing Liam Anderson back into the fray after a long lay-off from a knee ligament injury and also Jason Chisnall.

The latter would go on to turn the game as he scored twice in a seven-minute spell which saw Steelers score three times.

Chisnall put Steelers ahead when he got the final touch following a corner which Excel failed to clear.

Three minutes later and Steelers increased their lead to 3-1 when a quick throw-in by Smith found Deakins and his superb cross was headed home at the far post by Rook.

It was soon 4-1 when Chisnall notched his second at the second attempt after Forrest had bravely thwarted his first effort but could do nothing about the follow up.

In the same division, Millfields won 3-1 against Mammoet East Coast with goals from David German, Luke Germaney and Aaron Love. Kevin Chilvers replied for Mammoet.

Callum Day and Craig Mitchell scored for LOR in their 2-0 defeat of Old Clee. Seven Seas 2nds (Mark Lobendhan (two), William Clifford, Shane Pexman) beat Bridge 4-0 but all these winners have to catch White Hart if they want the title. They won 6-0 away to Police with goals from Danny O'Hare (three), Neil Kirwin, Luke Neul and Dean Snook.

DMS bounced back from a disappointing defeat last week to record a comfortable 3-0 win away to Pattesons in Division Four.

DMS opened the scoring when Matty Hanton's pinpoint pass found Sean Rands who made no mistake. Jak Allen put DMS 2-0 up when his great run and shot was well saved by the keeper only for the ball to spin up in the air and drop over the line.

Pattesons were then awarded a penalty when Ben Shaw handled in the box, but the spot-kick was well saved by Scott Smith.

In the second half, Pattesons' keeper made a string of saves before a great ball was played to Groce by Tom Avison and he poked the ball through the keeper's legs.

Pattesons thought they had scored when their number eight darted through and shot only for Scott Smith to tip wide of the post.

Nick's Takeaway (Luke McLellan, Richard Ramsden, Mark Simons, Kyle Skipworth, Stuart Turner) went nap against Healing 2nds, winning 5-0 and are well placed for promotion.

Other promotion contenders did not fare too well. Crows Nest 2nds beat Trawl FC 4-2 and Tap & Spile (Craig Codd (three), Liam Hanslip, Andrew MacTaggart) won 5-2 against Grimsby Warriors (Daniel Payne, Sam Thorp).

Caistor Rovers won 5-2 away to The Empire with goals from Nathan Smith (two), Paul Lockington and Robert Logan.

Goals from Liam Jaines (three), Tony Gibson, Sam Hallett, Andrew Hunter and Sam Riddall saw Division Five leaders Louth United through to a 7-0 victory over Lucarlys Eastern Trucks and they remain in the driving seat.

Greenlands started the game against AFC Wybers at a lightening pace and found themselves 4-0 up within the first 20 minutes.

The prolific Andy Kirkley was in top form as he notched a quick fire hat-trick – his second against Wybers this season.

Sandwiched between Kirkley's quartet was a goal by strike partner Paul Hand, who neatly tucked a Carl Hewson ball away after some skilful build-up play by his son Michael.

Greenlands' defence of Tim Harmer, Leigh Stead, Jimmy Flowers and Tez Ballard were again looking strong but Wybers did grab a goal back after some slack marking on a set-piece to make it 4-1.

Greenlands' dominance was again rewarded when Lee Hickinson, who was fully 25 yards out, drilled the ball into the bottom corner to make it 5-1.

There was still time for Greenlands to add a sixth goal before half time – Kirkley again tapping home.

Greenlands started the second half strongly and soon extended their lead as Harmer sent a defence-splitting ball through for Kirkley to race on to and he deftly lofted it over the advancing keeper and into the net.

They eventually added an eighth, when Harmer was clattered in the area, leaving stand-in referee Harneiss no choice but to award a penalty. Kirkley duly obliged to complete a double hat-trick.

Credit must go to Wybers whose heads did not drop and they pulled two goals back.

Grange Crowland beat M&M Decor 6-0. On target were David Deane and Leeroy Metcalfe with two apiece, Chris Heron and Carl Hewson.

Crows Nest 3rds recorded another victory, 2-1 against Buddies II Utd.

Fairdeal Carpets beat Division Six leaders BBS Couriers 5-1 with goals from Chris Wilson (three), John Zielinski and Paul Jackson. Daniel Harrison replied for BBS.

Number 2 FC beat ITP Jewellery 5-0 and go top of the division. Louis Bartlett, Steven Donner, Matthew Harries, Nathan Heward and Robert Mair scored their goals.

FC Willows Community are also doing well. They won 5-0 away to DC Amateurs with goals from Kristian Osbourne (2), Michael Pawson, Daniel Sayers and Aaron Wilson.

DLB Taverners (David Cooper, Kevin Drury) won 2-1 against Clee Workingmens (Danny Hawkey), while Locomotive Blossom Way were involved in a 3-3 draw with Smugglers AFC.

Newtons Athletic top the pile in Division Seven. They won 8-0 against Taverners Cleethorpes with goals from Luke O'Hara (4), Nicholas Lewin (2), Alec Gilliatt and James Stewart.

Deportivo la Carrera won 7-0 against Melt Bar and are well placed with games in hand. Steven Lawn (3), Michael Clarke (2), Patrick Kershaw and Nick Woodhall were the marksmen.

Tower Bucharest won 4-0 against Clee Community and must think they are still in with a chance. Lindsey Garden Products won 4-2 away to Abatis Fire & Security. Daniel Rice (2), Josh Olley and Shaun Gladwell scored for LGP. A cracking Daz Weatherill goal and one for Jamie O'Neill were on the scoresheet for the home side.

A to Z Trading won 3-0 away to Clee Rangers in Division Eight thanks to goals from Paul Lidgard, Stuart McFarlane and Steve Wilkins.

They are being chased by Asureflow FC who went down 5-2 to Mariners FC. Daniel Baker and David Hine were on target for Asureflow but goals from Robert Dannell (2), Gareth Jackson (2) and Mark Clark did the trick for Mariners.

A brace from Robert Blake and one from Jaymel Endar saw Aston Estates through 3-0 against AFC Waltham. KCT Photography (Dale Bennett 4, Phil Nicholson, Daniel Walters) won 6-2 away to East March FC while West Marsh (Scott Ritchie, John Waugh) drew 2-2 with Keelby Utd 2nds (Josh Moore 2).

Jubilee line up a route to the final

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:30:00 GMT

A FIVE-star performance from Jubilee Inn to beat Fabrenco kept their title challenge alive in Division One of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday League.

Jubilee's 5-1 victory leaves them in fourth position, eight points from league leaders Sealord. However, they have five games in hand.

Fabrenco, who were forced to kick-off a man short due to players failing to show, took a shock lead when a great move involving Elkington was sweetly finished by Jimmy Read after 10 minutes.

But Jubliee found their stride, equalising on the half-hour mark and taking the lead on the stroke of half-time.

They sailed into a 5-1 second-half lead – Simpson (two), Syers, Ireland and Graham the scorers – but 10-men Fabrenco deserve credit as they battled on and stemmed the tide of goals.

However, both the manager and the players were disappointed some of their team-mates who failed to show.

Andrew Murray grabbed a brace as Seacatch FC held table-toppers Sealord to a 2-2 draw.

Sealord will have to be at their best, though, to take the title as a number of teams could still catch them.

Chris Call scored his one 100th league goal for FC Milan as they ran out 3-0 winners at Lincs International.

Milan got back to winning ways after a nightmare season has seen several injuries to key players.

Goalless at the break, the hard-fought match saw different tactics enforced early in the second half when the impressive Paul Ashton pulled up with hamstring problems.

This allowed Paul Smith to finally make a welcome return after a serious injury problem that has restricted him for most of the season.

Milan's players were instructed to play in a variety of formations to try to break the stubborn Lincs team down.

But when the impressive Smith broke down the right, he dispatched a superb right-footed volley into the net.

The second came when the Lincs goalkeeper kicked the ball out from the edge of his penalty box only for it to go straight to Dan Grant, who lobbed the ball back into the net from just inside the centre circle.

Whilst everyone waited for the referee to whistle for a ball going out of play, quick-thinking Jim Burton broke down the right and crossed for Chris Call to score past Ben Higgins for the third.

Humberston Quayside dented Valiant's fading title challenge with a 3-1 thumping.

Humberston's new-look formation once again reaped benefits as they soaked up pressure and hit on the break.

Jon Dunks headed Jamie Sawdon's free-kick home to open the scoring for the hosts.

Sawdon made it two by lashing a free-kick into the bottom corner.

Valliant rallied but couldn't find a way past in-form goalkeeper Scott Drury.

Unfortunately, a reckless tackle on midfield general James Swann put paid to his afternoon and probably his season as Humberston limped to half-time with a two-goal advantage.

The break saw the introduction of Louis Grant, who put the game, and probably any title dreams Valiant harboured, out of their reach with a fine individual effort.

Drury produced three or four brilliant saves before Valiant managed to salvage a consolation goal which, along with the injury to Swann, were the only blots on a very pleasing result for Humberston, who finally appear to be getting to grips with life in the top flight.

In Division Two, leaders GY Cladding kept their unblemished record when they trounced lowly Gunners Watch 9-0.

Cladding took the game straight to Gunners, who boasted a former Cladder among their ranks.

Early pressure from Bobby Lewsam put John Taylor through to open the scoring.

Within minutes it was 2-0, and then 3-0, when Lewsam fired home and new lad Keil Thompson added the third with a superb right-footed volley.

The Gunners keeper was in excellent form, but as soon as they broke and lost possession they were made to pay by some great finishing.

Lewsam was upended for a penalty and he converted it to make it 5-0.

To their credit the Gunners did try to play football rather than hoofing the ball away. But top-scorer Nathan Emson came off the bench and the goals kept coming.

He bagged a brace, before Thompson added to his to notch his first hat-trick in local football.

Cladding's back-four of Fleming, Powers, Briggs and McKenzie, along with keeper Sleeth, deserve credit, as did referee Mr Evans for allowing the game to flow in front of a big crowd.

Second-placed Holton le Clay won 3-2 against Drinksy Building Cricketers, whose goals came from Craig Woods and Steven Drinkell.

Healing beat Cromwell by the same scoreline. Their goals came from a Sowerby brace and Freeman.

Team Red Star won a seven-goal thriller in their mid-table clash against Keelby United.

The win moved Red Star up to fourth, four points off Holton le-Clay but nine adrift of leaders Cladding.

Keelby, meanwhile, are in fifth, but, having played up to seven more games than the teams below them, they may still be wary of being sucked into a relegation battle,

In Division Three, leaders White Hart won 4-1 away to Old Clee.

A two-goal blast from Gareth Leaning and strikes from Michael Howard and Neil Kirwin moved White Hart three points clear at the top – albeit having played three games more than second-placed LOR.

David Fisher scored Old Clee's consolation.

LOR remain strongly placed for the title run-in with a 4-2 victory over Bridge FC.

Their goals came from Ryan Anglin, Perry Franklin, Craig Mitchell and Jonathan Walker, while Alex Hollamby and Shaun Park replied for Bridge.

Steven Gale, Robert Peck and Steven Peck scored for Police in their 3-1 victory over Excel FC.

Harvest Pet Products beat Mammoet East Coast 4-0 – a result which leaves East Coast bottom of the table.

Grimsby Warriors got the better of leaders DMS FC when they beat them 3-1 in Division Four.

On target for the Warriors were Sam Thorp, Ash Sarbutt and Aaron McKenzie. Damon Harrison replied for DMS.

Nathan Smith bagged all the goals for Caistor Rovers in their 4-0 defeat of Crows Nest 2nds.

Trawl FC, who could still claim a promotion spot, drew 1-1 with Tap & Spile.

Garry Spurr scored for third-placedTrawl and Hayden Graves was on target for Tap & Spile.

Nick's Takeaway kept alive their challenge for second position with a 2-1 victory against The Empire.

Luke McLellan and Kyle Skipworth were on target for the winners. Louis Volley netted for Empire.

Meanwhile, Clark Construction won 2-0 away to Healing 2nds.

In Division Five, leaders Louth United ran in 10 goals against Immingham Town.

Luke Barton scored a hat-trick and Jamie Aldrich (2), Andrew Hunter, Liam Jaines, Luke Turner, Peter Herriman, and Sam Riddall also netted. Daniel Robinson scored the consolation goal for Immingham.

Greenlands gained their second victory in as many weeks, despite being only able to start with 10 players in both games.

Greenlands beat RCS Athletic 2-1 and remain nine points behind Louth United, but have three games in hand.

Although a man short, Greenlands were able to welcome back influential midfielder Lee Hickinson, along with Tim Harmer, Paul Hand and keeper Jason Suddaby.

Chris Harmer and Michael Hand fashioned Greenlands' early chances, and they looked solid in defence thanks to Harmer, Leigh Stead, Jimmy Flowers and Tez Ballard.

Hickinson and captain Daz Ticehurst controlled the centre of midfield and created a few half-chances, that the unlucky Harmer and Hand were unable to convert.

Soon, though, Greenlands did take a deserved lead when Ballard swung in a corner that was met by a bullet header from Hamer.

Hickinson extended their lead in the second half, diving full length to spectacularly head Paul Hand's free-kick into the top corner.

On a heavy pitch, Greenlands began to tire as RCS brought on fresh legs and began to get forward more.

And they eventually pulled a goal abck. RCS striker Brett Williams looped a shot over the stranded Suddaby to make it 2-1.

Thanks go to a sporting RCS team and referee John Mawer, who gave an expert performance with the whistle.

David Deane (2), Leeroy Metcalfe (2), Carl Hewson, Richard Roe and Craig Norman all scored for Grange Crowland in their 7-0 defeat of Crows Nest 3rds.

Buddies II Utd stayed in the hunt after beating Lucarly's Eastern Trucks 6-2.

Nick Evans (2), Matthew Jackson, Kevin King, Luke Lapsley and Arron Russell scored the Buddies goals, with Josh Cattell and Richard Walker replying for Lucarlys.

Mark Gerrard scored the goals in Spiders Web's 2-0 victory over M&M Decors.

In Division Six, BBS Couriers top the table after beating DLB Taverners 5-1.

Their goals came from Alex Otter (2), Daniel Harrison, Owen Stamp and Daniel Atkin.

Number 2 FC (Robert Mair 2) drew 2-2 with Locomotive Blossom Way (Richard Lister, Steven Walker), while Smugglers AFC beat Fairdeal Carpets 2-1, both results affecting the promotion spots.

Well-placed DC Amateurs (Stephen Robinson 3, Stuart Sadler 2, Sam Marshall) won 6-2 away to AA Property New Waltham.

FC Willows Community (Bret Roberts 2, Aaron Wilson) won 3-1 against ITP Jewellery (Lewis Hill).

In Division Seven, Newtons Athletic top the table and won 3-0 away to Melt Bar.

Whilst Newtons' manager was away in Australia, assistant manager Gareth Lee-Johnson opted to play a new formation of 4-3-3.

But, with 10 minutes gone, a little scuffle saw the referee produce a red card for Newtons' James Stewart and a yellow card for the opposing player.

Newtons had to shuffle the team around and changed to a 3-4-2 formation.

But, a man down, they stepped up a gear.

Luke O'Hara was played through but stumbled on the ball six yards out and the referee blew for a penalty, leaving Newtons captain Scott Waller to finish.

The rest of the half was all midfield battling with both sides not really testing either keeper until Alec Gilliatt chased down the ball, took it round three players and smashed it into the corner to make it 2-0 to Newtons.

Melt Bar edged the rest of the half but never really tested the Newtons goalkeeper.

The second half was played at a faster pace with both sides having a couple of half chances.

Newtons made a couple of changes to freshen things up and, from a long goal kick by Ashley Kiff, Luke O'Hara was through on goal to smash the ball into an empty net.

However, Melt Bar never gave up and started to make the extra man count, playing the ball out wide and getting in some good crosses – but the Newtons defence stayed strong.

Elsewhere, Deportivo la Carrera beat Lindsey Garden Products 8-0 and, with games in hand, look well set for a tilt at the title.

Nathan Gibbon scored a five, and Michael Clarke, Andrew Edwards and Nick Woodhall also netted.

Taverners Cleethorpes won 1-0 away to Abatis Fire & Security in a relegation six-pointer at the foot of the division.

Taverners are now third from bottom, five points clear of Abatis.

In Division Eight, A-Z Trading remain top after their 0-0 draw with Aston Estates, but Asureflow FC are pushing them hard after their 4-2 defeat of East March FC.

Goals from David Durham, David Graves, Craig Hundall and Jonathan Mason did the trick.

AFC Waltham, with goals from Keil Thompson (3), Craig Heard and Steve Smith, beat Mariners FDC 5-0 and put a dent in Mariners' promotion hopes.

Meanwhile, Philip Cawley scored the only goal of the game as Seven Seas beat old rivals AFC Buddies 1-0 to reach the final of the Senior Challenge Cup, where they will face Jubilee Inn.

And Seven Seas' second-string also have a chance of winning silverware, in the Memorial Cup after a 3-1 win at Golden Fleece.

Goals from Gary Cross, Michael Hanson and Stefan Melin saw them book their place in the final, where they will play GY Cladding.

Fabrenco feel the force of Lukes

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:30:00 GMT

TITLE-chasing Seven Seas hit Fabrenco for a magnificent seven without reply in Division One of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday League with three separate Lukes on the scoresheet.

A very strong Seas outfit wore them down and then took full advantage scoring five goals in the last 25 minutes having led 2-0 at half-time.

The scorers for Seas were Luke Mascall (three), Daniel Barrett, Luke Martin, Luke Todd and Philip Cawley.

Meanwhile, The Valiant, also title contenders, won 6-2 against Seacatch thanks to goals from Gavin Schofield (two), Dale Mason, Kirk Wheeler, John Oglesby and Tom Hunter.

At the top, leaders Sealord were held to a 0-0 draw by Humberside Quayside, while FC Milan (Paul Ashton, Lee Romaniw) drew 2-2 with AFC Buddies, both sides thinking they could have made better use of three points rather than one.

In Division Two, table-toppers Gy Cladding were away on cup duty while the chasing pack made hay.

Holton le Clay won 6-0 away to Keelby United and Grange Oak (Gary Kirwin 2, Ashley Kiss 2, Damian Tomine) beat Drinksy Building Cricketers (Keith Croft, Darren Phillips, Dale Wright) 5-3 to keep up their challenge.

Although, Holton managed to get a game in last week, it did not quite compare to the perfect playing conditions down at Keelby's new set up.

Saturday night for Sunday league managers is like Internationals getting in the way for Premier League clubs, you never know what casualties will come from them.

And last weekend was no different as Holton lost three players due to the bright lights of Cleethorpes, so the player/manager had to dust his boots down for a must-win league game.

Although Holton had a strong starting 11, it only left Dave Allen to warm the bench on his own.

Holton kicked off with the sun in their eyes, but this did not seem to affect them, as the passing and movement was as good as they have shown all season.

And it paid off after 15 minutes when Steve Wright, making his first appearance of the season, was involved in the best of Holton's play.

His involvement allowed Olly Howard to get down the left wing and cut inside to finish well from a tight angle.

Soon afterwards Keelby had a player sent off for a late challenge on Danny Peterson – everyone was surprised to see a red card brandished

Soon afterwards, Holton could also have had a player sent off, when Michael Hales hand-balled in his own box. The referee awarded a penalty but only cautioned Hales.

Holton got off the hook as Keelby blazed the ball well over the bar.

After this there was only one team in it.

Holton came out for the second half with all guns blazing and not long after the restart Andy Blackbourn, playing in a five-man midfield, made a good run into Keelby's box and fired home after a fine through-ball from Peterson.

The provider soon got in on the act himself after chasing down a ball over the top and outpacing Keelby's defender to dink the ball over the advancing keeper.

Blackbourn soon made it 4-0, smashing home a half-volley from 30 yards, before Howard made it five with a smart finish and Peterson, wanting a brace himself, headed home after a fine ball in from Howard.

Overall, it was a polished performance from Holton which keeps them in a healthy position for a top three finish.

The other games involved teams in the lower half of the table with Gunners Watch doing their cause no harm after a 5-2 triumph against Cromwell while Team Red Star drew 2-2 with Healing.

In Division Three, SW Steelers got back to winning ways with an 8-0 thumping of the Police.

Steelers were back on their own stomping ground at Greenlands and were soon feeling at home again.

Rick Gaunt was unlucky when his shot from wide on the right struck the corner of the crossbar and post.

Steelers had a goal disallowed when a great cross by Paul Smith found Nick Rook but the flag was up for offside.

The woodwork again denied Gaunt when he struck the bar after another superb cross from Smith.

Gaunt was not to be denied, though, and in Steelers' next attack he was on hand to fire home after Scott Sadler had done well on the left.

It was soon 2-0 after great work by Josh Braid set up Rook who put away number two.

Steelers' second-half performance was as good as anything they have produced this season as they went on to score a further six goals.

The action which led up to Steelers' third was a brilliant flowing move which started with Sadler sending a cross-field ball to Ian Chase who in turn found Braid, who ran at the Police defence before squaring for Gaunt to fire home.

Steelers then introduced sub Jason Chisnall and he scored with virtually his first touch when the ball was inadvertently deflected into his path.

Sub George Eyole then did well as he managed to dispossess a Police defender and when his cross came into the area Gaunt completed his hat-trick and made in 5-0.

Steelers were now in cruise control and Gaunt became provider as he played in Braid who advanced into the box and accurately placed his shot wide of the keeper.

Steelers' seventh was quite fortunate as the ball had ricocheted back towards the Police keeper off a defender but as the stopper went down to collect the ball it ran through his legs into the net.

Gaunt then made it four for him personally and eight for Steelers in the final minute when cheekily converting Kai Haig's cross-field ball with a neat lob at the second attempt to complete a fine display.

Elsewhere, league leaders White Hart, with goals from Gaz Leaning, Mike Howard and Ryan Smith, had a narrow 3-2 victory away to Millfields.

Bridge strengthened their position with a 3-0 win against Excel FC while Seven Seas 2nds were away on cup duty.

LOR (Wayne Long (two), Perry Franklin and Callum Day) won 4-1 against Harvest Pet Products whose goal was scored by Wes Clarke.

Mammoet East Coast climbed off the bottom with their first win, 3-1 against Old Clee.

Division Four leaders DMS FC won 2-0 against Healing 2nds to stay top.

Wayne Groce and Sean Rands scored their goals.

Meanwhile Trawl FC beat The Empire 6-4.

Going into the game, Trawl made several changes to try and kick-start their promotion push.

After 10 minutes it looked to be going to plan with Scott Gittens being given time to turn and score.

Five minutes later they doubled their lead with a great lob from Davis Green.

Trawl went to sleep for the next half hour and Empire tore through their opponents' half scoring four goals in 30 minutes from four chances.

Just before the interval, David Green pulled one back for the Trawl making it 4-3 to Empire going into the break.

Trawl used all three substitutes in the second half and dominated the play.

Precious hit the bar with a powerful shot before the equaliser came when a free kick came in with Sean Minkley in the right place at the right time to place it home.

Trawl kept the heat on and a shot parried by the keeper gave Daniel Shaw the chance to head home the fifth.

With time running out, Gittens hit home his fourth in three games to end the game and move Trawl up to second in the table.

Sam Thorp and Ashley Sarbutt scored for Grimsby Warriors in their 2-2 draw with Caistor Rovers.

A Luke McLellan hat-trick and goals from Richard Ramsden and Mark Simons saw Nick's Takeaway beat Crows Nest 2nds 5-2.

Clark Construction won 3-1 away to Tap & Spile.

In Division Five, leaders Louth United did not have a league game but both Greenlands and Buddies II Utd, who must win their games in hand, kept up the pressure on them.

Greenlands won 9-3 away to Crows Nest 3rds while Buddies II Utd won against M & M Decors by the narrowest of margins, 6-5 the score. Greenlands travelled to Matthew Humberstone to face struggling Crows Nest where they were able to give new signing Ronnie Cain his debut between the sticks as he replaced the absent Suddaby.

The 10 men of Greenlands dominated proceedings, playing simple football and making Crows chase the game.

The prolific Kirkley fired Greenlands into a deserved 1-0 lead after he latched onto a Ballard through ball and drilled past the helpless keeper.

Greenlands continued to press forward as wingers Michael Hand and Chris Harmer continually turned the Crows full backs inside out with skilful running.

Harmer was next to find the net as Kirkley turned provider laying the ball across for for his team-mate to drill into the bottom corner.

Greenlands continued to create chance after chance as Ballard went close with two shots from distance, Hand had an effort go wide and Kirkley tested the keeper.

Kirkley soon grabbed the third as he finished expertly.

Greenlands were cruising and soon added a fourth as Kirkley won a free-kick around 25 yards out and up stepped full-back Rymell to power the ball into the bottom corner.

Greenlands deservedly grabbed a fifth before half-time as Kirkley completed his hat-trick.

Crows then pulled two quick goals back to make it 5-2.

This shock seemed to wake Greenlands up and their quality began to show through as the goals began to flow again.

Youngster Michael Hand was the next to score for Greenlands.

Harmer then grabbed his second goal as he intercepted a back-pass from the Crows centre-back.

Crows then scored another goal but it was still Greenlands who were looking the more dangerous, in particular Kirkley who got their eighth and not long after Hand grabbed his second.

Harmer also missed a penalty but the 10 men had done their job superbly.

Special mention goes to referee Danny Hornigold, who handled the game expertly.

The other games involved teams in the bottom half of the table.

Grange Crowland beat Lucarlys Eastern Trucks 7-2 and Spiders Web won 6-2 against AFC Wybers 2nds.

The other game saw Immingham Town draw 3-3 with RCS Athletic.

In Division Six, Fairdeal Carpets (Thomas Schofield (three), Jason Barnard, Jamie Halliday, Paul Jackson) beat AA Property New Waltham 6-3.

Stuart Sadler took his tally to 17 for the season so far when he notched both goals for DC Amateurs in their 2-2 draw with high-riding Number 2 Pub at Sussex Rec.

Nathan Heward scored both goals for Number 2.

BBS Couriers occupy second place after their 2-2 draw with lowly Smugglers AFC.

ITP Jewellery drew 4-4 with Clee Workingmens.

On target for ITP were Lewis Hill and Steve Watson with two apiece while Danny Hawkey (two), Daniel Harrop and Dale Winterburn scored for Clee Workingmens.

FC Willows Community won 2-1 away to DLB Taverners.

Tower Bucharest beat well placed Tap and Spile 2nds 4-1 in Division Seven.

Ryan Gibson opened the scoring in the first half after forcing a mistake from the keeper, the ball dropped at his feet and he turned and knocked it past the defender on the line.

Three second half headers (two for Jake O'Callaghan and one for Sean Gaynard) made the points safe.

Tap scored a consolation goal late in the half after a defensive blunder gifted the striker an easy finish.

Goals from Joe Champion (two), James Bakes, Robert Parker and Lyle Thorpe meant Clee Community went into a 5-0 lead against Abatis Fire & Security before goals from Pete Taylor and two from Jam O'Neill brought some respectability to the scoreline.

Deportivo won 9-1 away to Lindsey Garden Products with goals from Nathan Gibbon (five), Anthony Jagger (two), Andrew Edwards and Stephen Lawn.

With games in hand, they could still be in contention for promotion.

Daniel Rice notched the consolation for Lindsey. Newtons Athletic occupy top spot after beating bottom club Melt Bar 3-0.

Cromwell Rovers won 4-0 away to Taverners Cleethorpes to complete the picture.

In the two Division Eightgames that took place, leaders A to Z Trading (Kerry Chapman (two), Barry Blastland, Paul Lidgard, William Nicholson) beat West Marsh (Scott Ritchie (two), Terry Petterson, John Waugh) 5-4 while Mariners FC (Tom Furnell, John Furnell) drew 2-2 with Keelby United 2nds (Kris Edwards, Josh Moore).

Meanwhile, in the Memorial Cup, Gy Cladding progressed after defeating Louth United 3-1.

Sealord weather Fabrenco's storm

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:30:00 GMT

FABRENCO and Sealord made light of the tricky conditions to serve up an excellent game of competitive football in Division One of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Sunday League.

The majority of games were postponed or abandoned because of the weather, but Fabrenco were quick to take advantage when their match went ahead.

They led at half-time thanks to a well-worked goal by Darren Lambert – from a passing move involving Bell, Burns and Jimmy Read – against his former club.

Elkington nearly made it two before the break with a shot that struck the crossbar.

Sealord's Nathan Collins made some decisive half-time changes, switching positions and personnel, and the introduction of Gary Nimmo forced Fabrenco on to the back foot.

Sealord quickly equalised through Jamie Smith. Nathan Iley then missed a penalty, before Nimmo put his side 2-1 up.

Fabrenco were unlucky not to win a penalty when Lambert was brought down in the box, but referee Lee Walsh – who had an excellent game – gave Sealord the benefit of the doubt and they held out for the three points.

In Division Four, Grimsby Warriors won 2-0 at The Empire with goals from Ash Sarbutt and Aaron McKenzie.

Trawl FC were held to a 2-2 draw with Pattesons, who – with a bare 11 turning up – went 2-0 up through Ward and Neville.

Pattesons were cruising until an injury to influential centre midfielder Dan North allowed Trawl back in to score two late goals and snatch the draw.

In Division Seven, Cromwell Rovers won 2-1 away to Tower Bucharest in their mid-table clash.

Tim Cass and Sam Horwood scored for Rovers and Jake O'Callaghan was on target for the hosts.

Jubilee Inn progressed into the Lincs Cup semi-final after a bruising encounter against one of the biggest sides they had ever faced.

The opening half-hour was littered with challenges from Winteringham, who created nothing of merit.

One Winteringham player was lucky to still be on the park after a series of tussles with Ricky Forest.

On the half-hour mark Jubilee created the first chance of the game with ex-Grimsby Town Youth captain Jamie Steel showing some neat footwork and linking up with captain Michael King, who rolled the ball for Lewis Buckthorpe to smash it home from 25 yards.

But Winteringham equalised almost immediately. A dipping cross evaded Chittock, who could only palm the ball into the path of an onrushing Winteringham striker who poked home from close-range.

With half-time looming, Jubilee strung together a move that saw King switch the play from 40 yards out, before Richard Simpson got on the end of the move to nod home.

The second half saw Jubilee produce a devastating 10 minutes of football to seal victory.

Firstly, Michael King slammed a goal home from 25 yards out and then Simpson got his second with a deft flick at the near post from substitute Kevin King's cross.

The game lost its edge at this point, and both sides showed some clever touches on a difficult half-frozen pitch near the Humber Bridge.

Jubilee were toying with Winteringham, with both posts being struck courtesy of Kevin and Michael King.

From a rare counter-attack, Winteringham pulled a goal back for 4-2, but their revival was short-lived, as Darren Hanslip finished a fine move to make the score 5-2.

Referee Mr D Brown from Scunthorpe brought the game to an end and the biggest surprise of the day was how Winteringham finished the match with 11 men.

GRANGE SEAL SPOT IN FINAL

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 06:30:00 GMT

WITH only a few games being played in the area due to waterlogged pitches, a large crowd watched the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League Junior Challenge Cup semi-final between Grange Crowland and Greenlands.

Grange Crowland prevailed 5-2 against their injury-hit opponents at the Grimsby Institute ground.

Grange went into the game as underdogs but, after the first 20 minutes, they seemed to be the more settled team.

Their dominance showed when they took the lead with a well-taken goal from makeshift striker Paul Richardson.

Soon afterwards, they went into a 2-0 lead thanks to a thumping finish by Leroy Metcalfe.

Chances came thick and fast for Grange with long balls over the top.

As half-time approached, Greenlands finally woke up and fashioned a couple of opportunities. Danny Houlton had a shot easily saved and screwed an effort wide.

They eventually got a breakthrough just before the interval when Houlton sent in a wicked cross and it was slammed home on the volley by youngster Chris Harmer.

The second half started with Greenlands looking much the stronger side after the introduction of Jimmy Flowers.

They took the game to the young Grange team with Paul Hand and Harmer going close.

Lee Hickinson went closest when he headed against the bar.

But, against the run of play, Grange grabbed themselves a third goal with a brilliant lob from man-of-the-match Richardson after Suddaby had made a mess of a clearance.

Referee Evans had to be on hand to cool down a few situations as players lost their composure.

With a few minutes left, Greenlands pulled it back to 3-2 as Hickinson burst through the defence and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

With a tense few minutes left, things became heated and Greenlands ended the match with 10 men after a bust-up involving the Grange keeper.

Greenlands sent men forward in search of the equaliser, but Grange sealed the match with a tap-in following a free-kick from top scorer Dave Deane.

Moments later, they scored another to make the scoreline even more emphatic, with a hat-trick goal from the superb Richardson.

Grange successfully booked their place in the final against either BBS Couriers or Number 2 Pub FC, who play tomorrow.

Referee David Evans and linesman Dan Fidlin did well.

In Division Eight, a real cracker took place at Western School between Aston Estates and Mariners FC.

Mariners emerged as the 4-3 victors.

Aston should have taken the lead on 10 minutes, but were thwarted by the excellent Barry Deighton in the Mariners goal.

They continued to push and were awarded a penalty when Barber was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box.

However, the spot-kick was hammered wide.

Aston continued to push on, trying to force open the Mariners rearguard, with Robbie Blake looking lively.

They were awarded a second penalty when young Tom Furnell was adjudged to have handled. Blake took on spot-kick duties and slammed the ball over the bar.

Spurred on by their luck, Mariners began to counter-attack to great effect with the pacy Clark and Pannell running through the middle.

Mariners carved out some good chances before the half-time whistle with Jackson, in particular, going close.

However, at half-time, the scoreline was somehow still locked at 0-0.

Mariners were first out of the traps for the second half and took the lead after some great work from Paul Stead. He squared the ball for a simple tap-in for Furnell.

Mariners took a two-goal lead through the workhorse Gareth Jackson, who nodded home from close range.

Aston got one back from Endar, but the joy was short-lived as Furnell beat two players before unleashing a screamer from 20 yards to make it 3-1.

Aston hit back with effort after effort and only staunch defending from Andy Furnell, Lawrence, Barber and Cooke kept them at bay.

Eventually, though, Aston dragged themselves back into the game with a fine header from Danny Bryant.

With the game in its final stages, the Mariners counter-attacked with Paul Stead swinging the ball to the far post for Pete Harrison, who squared for the onrushing Pannell, and he forced the ball home to give the Mariners a two-goal cushion once more.

There was time for another Aston Estates goal to make it 4-3. This set up a tense final five minutes, but the Mariners held out to take the three points – thanks to a brilliant save by Deighton, who pipped veteran Andy Furnell for the man of the match award.

Referee Danny Hornigold had a great game.

In Division One, Sealord won 2-1 away to Seven Seas with goals from Lewis Blakey and Paul Cole and, as a result, the two teams are level on points with almost identical records.

Neither must slip up if they have serious hopes of winning the title.

In Division Two, Keelby United (Leigh Cottingham, Marc Sawyer, Richard Day) drew 3-3 with Golden Fleece (Simon Clifford, Tommy Playford, Andy Richardson) in the only game to take place in this division.

Keelby look to be well-placed, but they have played more games than the teams around them.

In Division Four, the Empire won 3-1 away to Caistor Rovers (Paul Lockington).

In Division Five, Buddies II United strengthened their position when they won 4-1 against RCS Athletic. On target for Buddies were Lee Burgess, Aaron McHugh, Scott Downey and Lee Sadler with Barry Ramsey replying for RCS.

In the Memorial Cup, Louth United progressed after drawing 4-4 with Grimsby Warriors and then winning 5-4 on penalties.

On target for Louth were Jamie Aldrich, Tony Gibson, Andrew Hunter and Calvin Taylor, with Ashley Sarbutt (two), Joe Burns and Sam Thorp replying for Warriors.

In the County Cup, FC Milan travelled to Lincoln to play Bailgate Athletic and came away with a 2-1 victory.

This means FC Milan play Seven Seas in one of the semi-finals, while Jubilee Inn play their quarter-final against Wintringham tomorrow, hoping they will be in the other semi against Scunthorpe side Pepperells.

Regional weekend soccer games cancelled

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:33:00 GMT

ALL games to be played on North East Lincolnshire Council pitches in the Grimsby Sunday League this weekend have been postponed due to snowfall in the region.

The decision is also likely to affect all the other leagues in the region.

Matches scheduled to take place at Matthew Humberstone Lower School, Western School, Gy Institute and Westward Ho have also been called off.

King crowns victory for Golden Jubilee

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:30:00 GMT

COMMON sense prevailed in the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League when the games at King George were called off and Seven Seas took Sealord to their home ground to play their Division One game.

Sealord just edged the first half and went 1-0 up through Jarrod Smith but Seas played much better after the interval and won the game 2-1 as Luke Todd notched a couple of precious goals for the champions and current leaders.

Jubilee Inn, whose goals were scored by Kev King, also won 2-1 against FC Milan and continue to climb up the table. They are already handily placed, with a game in hand, for an assault on the summit.

All games were postponed in Division Two but a four goal blast in the first 25 minutes from Rick Gaunt helped SW Steelers secure a 7-0 win over Millfields in Division Three.

Jason Chisnall should have given Steelers an early lead but fired high and wide. Steelers did take the lead though soon after when Paul Smith and Scott Sadler combined to find Rick Gaunt and he fired a great shot in off the far post.

Steelers increased their lead when Gaunt scored a similar goal, firing across the keeper. He completed his hat-trick soon after when he finished well following good play involving Ian Chase, Richard Staniforth and Nick Rook.

Two minutes later, Gaunt notched his fourth with only 25 minutes on the clock. Braid and Wraith were involved this time as Gaunt produced another clinical finish. Chisnall then struck just before the break to make the half-time score 5-0.

Millfields stepped up their performance in the second half but it was Chisnall who went on to complete his hat-trick. He grabbed his second of the game when he took the ball round the keeper and placed it into the empty net, and completed the scoring shortly after.

Elsehwere, White Hart beat Bridge 5-1 in their top of the table clash. White Hart's scorers were Neil Kirwin (2), Mike Howard, Shane Luddington and Scott Downey. Shaun Park notched the Bridge goal.

In Division Four Grimsby Warriors drew 3-3 with Caistor Rovers. On target for Warriors were Joe Burns (2) and Aaron McKenzie while Paul Lockington and Nathan Smith with two replied for Caistor.

The other games in this division resulted in 2-2 draws, Crows Nest 2nds with Nick's Takeaway and The Empire with Pattesons. Craig Welton and Colin Winter scored for the Empire with Luke Bracey and Scott Paton replying for Pattesons. These results made little difference to the table.

Division Five leaders Louth Utd were held to a 2-2 draw by Buddies II Utd while Greenlands won 6-0 against Crows Nest 3rds to keep up the pressure.

Greenlands went ahead when Lee Hickinson picked up the ball on the left side of the penalty area and flashed an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner.

They soon doubled their lead as Tim Harmer sent a ball through the Crows backline and Kirkley raced away to finish well .

Greenlands found a deserved third goal just before half time. Chris Harmer took a quick throw to Hickinson he drilled a low ball square across goal and Kirkley smashed home his 25th goal of the season.

Goodwin smashed in a half volley to make it 4-0, before Harmer hit a low effort into the bottom corner to make it 5-0. The rout was complete when Hickinson produced another quality finish.

The other games which were played involved teams in the bottom half of the table where Lucarlys Eastern Trucks drew 3-3 with Immingham Town and Spiders Web won 3-1 at RCS Athletic.

Division Six leaders BBS Couriers went down 3-1 to Clee Workingmens. Danny Hawkey (2) and Paul Smith scored for Workingmens with Jason Hockney replying for Couriers.

In the Pink Jewellery ran riot against AA Property New Waltham, beating them 8-1. There were hat-tricks for Lewis Hill and John McEwan and further goals for Paul Ancell and Steve Watson. Lee Smith replied for AA Property.

Tap & Spile 2nds still top the pile in Division Seven despite their 6-4 defeat at the hands of Tower Bucharest (Daniel Webber (3), Daniel Green, Jake O'Callaghan, Scott Robinson).

Lindsey Garden Products occupy a decent position in the table. They beat Cromwell Rovers 4-2 with goals from Carl Carroll, Lee Carroll, Daz Hargreaves and Gaz Reynolds. Tim Cass and Ashley Maddox replied for Rovers.

Leaders Asureflow FC beat another good side Aston Estates 3-1 in an excellent Division Eight game which was superbly refereed by Gary Cox. Andrew Parratt, Harvey Shaw and David Graves scored for Asureflow. Aston's goal was scored by Tom Wadby.

Danny Walters and Stuart Geddes scored for KCT Photography in their 2-1 victory over Clee Rangers.

Mariners bounced back from a disappointing defeat in their previous game by winning 4-1 against West Marsh.

West Marsh opened the scoring when a long throw from Ian Ritchie caught the Mariners off guard and Scott Ritchie nodded home.

Mariners immediately fought back as Tom Furnell beat three men and slotted home for a deserved equaliser.

His side took the lead early in the second half when Sean Stead played a through ball for Craig Rigby to run onto and finish well.

The third goal came from a set piece with a spectacular diving header from Danny Barber. The fourth came after great work from Rigby who beat three defenders on a mazy run before squaring the ball for Furnell to finish.

Humberston ship four as Seven Seas top league

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:30:00 GMT

IT'S all change again at the top of a very open Division One in the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League.

Seven Seas hit the summit after their 4-0 win away to Humberston Quayside, while The Valiant were losing 3-0 to AFC Buddies.

Jubilee Inn beat Fabrenco 4-0 with goals from Blanchard (2), Simpson and Forest, and look to be in a strong position with games in hand.

Sealord had a narrow 1-0 verdict against FC Milan, Gary Nimmo the scorer, while Seacatch and Lincs International drew 1-1.

In Division Two, undefeated GY Cladding march on, this time winning 7-0 away to Drinksy Building Cricketers.

Holton le Clay had a decent 3-1 win against Healing (Freeman) but they will have to keep winning to have any chance of catching Cladding.

Grange Oak are a couple of points behind Holton but recorded a welcome 3-2 verdict against lowly Cromwell.

The other game in this division, between Golden Fleece and Team Red Star resulted in a 2-2 draw.

Seven Seas 2nds beat Harvest Pet Products 4-0 and have a comfortable lead at the head the Division Three table. Their goals were scored by Mark Lobendhan, Keith McGrath, Stefan Melin and Shane Pexman.

Several teams are well placed in the chasing pack with Bridge, who beat Excel FC 4-2, currently in second place but LOR, 6-3 winners against Mammoet East Coast, and White Hart who drew 5-5 with Millfields, are in close attendance.

SW Steelers (Jason Chisnall (2), Paul Smith, Nick Rook) beat Old Clee 4-1 and hold a good position in mid table, ready to climb up it if they win their games in hand.

Paul Leshone and Joe Burns scored for Grimsby Warriors as they lost narrowly, 3-2, to Tap & Spile in what was a good game in Division Four.

Runaway leaders DMS FC are faltering slightly, having drawn 3-3 with Caistor Rovers after their defeat last week.

On target for DMS were Scott Bridges, Wayne Groce and Sean Rands. Replying for Caistor were Andrew Belt, Paul Lockington and Nathan Smith, with both sides scoring in the last five minutes.

Pattesons won 3-1 away to Clark Construction in a very tight game.

The first half was goalless with the battle mainly in the middle of the park.

In the second half Fuller put Clarks in front but it was to be Pattesons' day with goals from Ward, Neville and a block busting 30-yard free kick from Tom Barber.

Trawl FC continue to make good progress, winning 2-1 against Nick's Takeaway this time out, while Crows Nest 2nds won 2-0 against Healing 2nds and may well leapfrog some of the teams above them if their form holds.

On target for Crows were Marco Magalhaes and Lee McFarland.

Division Five leaders Louth Utd just made it against Spiders Web, winning 4-3. Greenlands were without a game but Buddies II Utd beat Crows Nest 3rds to keep up the pressure, both Greenlands and Buddies having games in hand over the Louth side.

AFC Wybers 2nds beat Grange Crowland 5-2 while RCS Athletic won against Lucarlys Eastern Trucks, and M & M Decors beat Immingham Town, both with a similar scoreline.

DC Amateurs had a good win in Division Six, their third in the last three weeks, when they beat Clee Workingmens 8-0 with goals from Stuart Sadler (2), Scott Waite (2), Stephen Robinson (2), Ben Powles and Sean Borrel.

Number 2 Pub won 3-1 away to AA Property New Waltham (Dan Francis) and are strong challengers for top spot as are Fairdeal Carpets who beat ITP Jewellery 6-2.

Despite these results, leaders BBQ Couriers are still in a strong position after beating Willow Community 5-0. Locomotive Blossom Way won 2-1 away to DLB Taverners in the other game in this division.

Division Seven leaders Tap & Spile 2nds won 4-1 away to Taverners Cleethorpes but second placed Newton Athletic went down 5-2 to Deportivo la Carrera who are just behind them.

Tower Bucharest won 7-4 away to Abatis Fire and Security and occupy a place in the middle of the table ready for a push up the table.

Cromwell Rovers drew 2-2 with Clee Community to complete the picture.

The goalscorers for Asureflow FC in their 7-1 defeat of West Marsh were Andrew Parratt and David Graves with hat tricks and Jonathan Mason.

A to Z Trading stay top of Division Eight after their 3-2 defeat of Mariners FC.

AFC Waltham won 4-1 against Clee Rangers as East Marsh FC climbed off the bottom rung when they won 2-0 away to KCT Photography.

Valiant hit rivals for six to lead the way

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:30:00 GMT

LEADERS Valiant had a resounding 6-2 victory over Sealord in Division One of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League.

On target for the Valiant were Dale Mason (three), Gavin Schofield (two) and Danny Durosomo.

Fabrenco continued their disappointing run in the league with a heavy 6-1 defeat at home against a hardworking Humberston Quayside, who recorded their biggest win in the top flight and their first double.

The first-half was an even affair with Fabrenco just shading it.

However, a moment of individual brilliance by Humberston's Louis Grant, when he bobbed and wove his way down the left and in one movement drilled the ball into the opposite top corner from fully 30 yards out, separated the sides.

After the break, Fabrenco soon leaked a second and lost their way completely as Humberston stormed into a 4-0 lead.

Grant put paid to any thoughts of a Fabrenco comeback when he jinked inside the box and slotted home the second. It was then full steam ahead when Lee Bushell joined in the goal of the season competition with a first-time lob after Grant had picked him out from deep in his own half.

Not to be outshone, strike partner James Deeming opened his account after a mazy run and nutmeg before lifting the ball over the oncoming keeper.

Elkington scored for Fabrenco as a consolation and then Bushell volleyed home a screamer.

Bushell completed his hat-trick, holding off a defender with great strength before finishing with aplomb to complete the rout.

Referee Lee Walsh was always in control.

Seacatch and Jubilee Inn drew 2-2, both of Jubilee's goals coming from Richard Simpson.

In Division Two, Grimsby Cladding are racing ahead, beating well-placed Holton-le-Clay 2-0, both goals coming from Bobby Lewsam.

Cladding were first out of the blocks putting Holton under the cosh, but Holton were very sharp on the break.

A few sharp tackles were flying in as both teams tried to get the upper hand.

When Holton were awarded a penalty, Matty Powell was guilty of missing the chance.

Cladding then played some of the best one-touch football they have produced all season, ending with Lewsam sending the defence the wrong way to make it 1-0.

In the second half, both teams.

Cladding missed a penalty after terrier Nathan Emson had been upended.

Witts had a couple of chances for Holton but keeper Sleeth was equal to all thrown at him.

Cladding's second goal came from a mix-up between keeper and defender and Lewsam was there to mop up.

Referee Kevin Wilson did well.

Elsewhere, Golden Fleece won 4-1 against Cromwell to stay in contention.

Gunners Watch recorded their first victory with a narrow 3-2 verdict against Keelby Utd.

Grange Oak are in a good position after hammering Team Red Star 8-1.

Freeman and Bray scored for Healing in their 2-1 victory over Drinksy Building Cricketers.

In Division Three, leaders Seven Seas 2nds beat second-placed White Hart 4-1.

The mid-table clashes between Bridge and Police and Old Clee versus Harvest Pet Products resulted in a 2-0 win for Bridge and a 4-2 verdict for Old Clee.

In Division Four, Trawl FC beat Grimsby Warriors 2-0 in the division's match of the day, as the second and third placed teams went head to head.

With top team DMS losing, this meant the result was all the more important.

As you would expect from a big game, there was lots of passion and referee Cox, who had a good game, needed to stamp his mark from the start.

Trawl started well with Morgan and Precious bossing the midfield.

Warriors themselves had a good chance with the Trawl keeper excellently tipping the ball over the bar.

Towards the end of the first half, a 'nothing challenge' on one of the Trawl players erupted into a mass confrontation with people getting unnecessary involved from the sidelines.

The referee and the Warriors manager calmed down the situation.

The second half was a lot more fluid with both teams trying to play football.

Trawl got into their stride and scored a contender for goal of the season when David Green scored his sixth of the campaign with a fantastic shot hitting the top corner.

With Warriors rattled, it did not take long to double the lead. Chris Gittens scored his 13th of the season.

Elsewhere, Clark Construction travelled to Caistor and came away with a 4-3 victory.

The home side applied the early pressure before the Clark's back line of Brassington, Wilkes, Greensides and Clarke got themselves organised against a mobile Caistor forward line.

Rob Genney, in goal for Clarks, had to be at is very best when he dived and parried away a 30-yard piledriver which was destined for the top corner.

After a good spell by Clarks, Pete Fuller was fouled in the box.

The resulting penalty was ruthlessly dispatched by Fuller himself.

However, any thoughts of an easy victory were quickly extinguished when Caistor got back level five minutes later.

Jonathon Carroll popped up in the box and headed a cross gently past the Caistor keeper to make it 2-1 just before the break.

Caistor equalised at the start of the second half – much to the home crowd's boisterous approval.

The match continued to be a competitive affair with Mark Carroll and Luke Morley in the Clarks midfield having to work hard to keep on top.

Eventually, though, the duo managed to exert some control on the game and started to give Fuller and Jonathon Carroll some quality service.

The former was a constant thorn in the home sides defence with his clever footwork and this resulted in Clarks retaking the lead.

Not long after, the match was seemingly secured when Jonathon Carroll made it 4–2, when once again he used his head to glance the ball past the advancing goalkeeper.

The home side pulled one back when a forward slotted home.

This set up a tense final few minutes for the visiting side, but they held firm.

Meanwhile, Crows Nest 2nds produced the result of the day when they beat runaway leaders DMS FC 6-3.

Tap & Spile won 1-0 against Healing 2nds to complete the picture.

In Division Five, Greenlands travelled to Roval Drive to face an in-form Immingham Town and won 4-2.

Greenlands had already beaten Immingham heavily earlier in the season and were out to do the double – and succeeded.

Influential midfielder Lee Hickinson replaced the injured Jimmy Flowers as Greenlands started brightly and played some excellent football, in particular through Chris Harmer, Hickinson, Tez Ballard, Andy Kirkley and Danny Houlton, with Houlton and Kirkley both going close to opening the scoring.

It was not long before Greenlands did take a deserved lead when good build up play allowed the prolific Kirkley space in the box, and he drilled past the helpless Immingham goalkeeper.

Greenlands continued to press and quickly doubled their lead as Kirkley beat his man on the left, before slipping the ball across goal for the on rushing Harmer, who hammered the ball home from 12 yards.

Greenlands increased their lead further as Hickinson picked the ball up midway in his own half and split the Immingham defence with great vision, as he sent Kirkley away one-on-one with the keeper and he made no mistake. He skilfully dummied the stranded goalie before tapping into the empty net.

Greenlands got their fourth late in the the first half as Harmer was sent away and finished neatly.

In the second half, the usually reliable Greenlands back-line looked frail as they defended deep and invited pressure.

An unmarked Immingham striker fired home from the edge of the box to make it 4-1.

Immingham tore through the Greenlands back-line on a number of occasions, only to be thwarted by some excellent goalkeeping by Jase Suddaby.

A striker ran through a hole in the Greenlands defence and slotted the ball past a helpless Suddaby to make it 4-2.

Leaders Louth Utd beat RCS Athletic 7-0 but teams in the chasing pack did well, Buddies II Utd winning 4-2 against Grange Crowland and AFC Wybers 2nds winning 6-3 away to Crows Nest 3rds.

M & M Decors beat Lucarly's Eastern Trucks 2-0 in the remaining game.

A hat-trick by Thomas Schofield secured the points for Fair Deal Carpets, who beat Willows Community 3-0 in Division Six.

Number 2 FC closed the gap when they beat top of the table BBS Couriers 2-0.

A point apiece was about right when Clee Working Men's drew 3-3 with Smugglers AFC.

DC Amateurs won 5-3 away to ITP Jewellery and Locomotive Blossom Way beat AA Property New Waltham 4-2 to complete the picture.

In Division Seven, leaders Tap and Spile 2nds had a comfortable 4-1 victory over Abatis Fire & Security, but Newton Athletic went down 6-0 to Tower Bucharest, a somewhat surprising result.

Deportivo la Carrera maintained their good progress with a 5-1 defeat of Cromwell Rovers, while Taverners Cleethorpes defeated Lindsey Garden Products 3-2.

Clee Community won 4-1 against Melt Bar in the other game in this division.

In Division Eight, Aston Estates won 6-1 against AFC Waltham with goals from Endar (4), Douglas and Handley.

KCT Photography (Dale Bennett 2, Roy Ling) drew 3-3 with West Marsh, while East Marsh FC and Keelby Utd 2nd also finished even, 1-1 the scoreline.

A to Z Trading won 7-2 against Clee Rangers to reinforce their position at the top of the table.

Holders FC Milan beat LOR 5-0 in the Lincs County Cup and the Empire won 7-1 against Swan Athletic.

In the Memorial Cup, SW Steelers claimed their place in the second round, beating Division Eight high-flyers Asureflow 3-1.

Jason Chisnall had the first chance of the game but fired narrowly wide.

Steelers' keeper Matty Chapman then made a superb save, flinging himself to his left to turn a great header by Andy Parratt round the post.

Nick Rook had the next chance for Steelers but his 25-yard effort went just wide.

Rick Gaunt then went on an excellent run, but the final shot was also wide.

Steelers took the lead just past the half-hour mark when Chapman launched a quick kick up field to Chisnall, his ball found Kai Haig who did well to control the ball and place it wide of the keeper.

Asureflow equalised just before half-time when Steelers carelessly gave the ball away and David Graves struck an excellent shot which flew into the top corner.

Steelers retook the lead 10 minutes into the second half in controversial circumstances.

Chisnall's quick free-kick played in Rook down the left wing and he crossed the ball for Sadler to score at the far post. Asureflow claimed the ball was in the wrong place and was moving when the kick was taken, but the goal was allowed to stand.

Steelers game themselves a two-goal cushion soon after when Nathan Thompson's corner was headed home by Rook.

Asureflow then appealed for a penalty for handball on the line, but their claims were ignored by the referee.

Steelers held out fairly comfortably to set up a second round tie with old rivals Pattesons.

Old Clee whitewashed after Kirwin bags four

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:30:00 GMT

TWO six-goal thrillers took place in the latest round of fixtures in Division Two of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League.

Drinksy Building Cricketers drew with Cromwell 3-3 and Grange Oak matched Keelby United by the same scoreline.

In Division Three, White Hart thrashed Old Clee 9-0 with a four-goal blast from Neil Kirwin and a hat-trick from Danny O'Hare. Shane Luddington and Gareth Leaning also found the net.

Mammoet East Coast's search for a first league win continues, as they drew 1-1 with Police.

Division Four leaders DMS FC beat Tap & Spile 5-3, with a brace from Tom Avison and further goals from Jak Allen, Wayne Groce and Jonathan Hariyanto. Trawl FC won 6-4 away at Healing 2nds, with Tofton, Pritchard, Featherstone and Birchall on the scoresheet.

Greenlands kept up their pressure at the top of Division Five by defeating mid-table Spiders Web 6-3.

Greenlands welcomed new signing Danny Houlton, but the autumn conditions did neither team any favours as strong wind and rain made playing good football very difficult.

Karl Goodwin put Greenlands ahead, with his first goal for the club, when Chris Harmer whipped in a corner from the right which was flicked on by captain Darren Ticehurst and met with a powerful header by Goodwin.

Greenlands continued to pile forward with some excellent build-up play from Ticehurst and Tim Harmer in the centre of the park, and creative wide play from Tez Ballard and Chris Harmer caused Spiders numerous problems.

The second goal game when Houlton's mazy run into the penalty area was brought to a premature end as he was brought down.

Up stepped Andy Kirkley, who made no mistake blasting the penalty into the top corner.

Houlton was soon on the scoresheet after he picked up the ball outside the penalty area and sent a lovely chip over the helpless Spiders keeper.

Greenlands were cruising and extended their lead when Chris Harmer beat his man on the right and sent a cross in for Kirkley, who drilled the ball home.

A mix-up in the Greenlands defence allowed Spiders to grab a goal back before half time to make it 4-1 but, as soon as Spiders thought they had found their way back into the game, Kirkley slammed the ball into the roof of the net for his fourth hat-trick of the campaign.

The second-half continued in the same vein, with Kirkley ripping into the Spiders defence on a superb solo run, brushing aside five players before striking with venom to make it 6-1.

The Greenlands back-line of Leigh Stead, Jimmy Flowers, Goodwin and Lee Towill had looked very comfortable throughout and were rarely troubled alongside keeper Jason Suddaby, who had relatively little to do throughout the game but was in good form whenever called upon.

Spiders did add two late consolations to make the scoreline more respectable.

Meanwhile, Louth United remain top of the table after beating Lucarly's Eastern Trucks 6-0 and two mid-table teams secured points – Immingham Town winning 2-1 away at Grange Crowland and M&M Decor beating RCS Athletic 3-2.

Division Six leaders BBS Couriers beat Locomotive Blossom Way 3-1, while Number Two FC went down 4-1 against Fairdeal Carpets. Smugglers AFC and ITP Jewellery were involved in a 4-4 draw.

In the only game inDivision Seven, Newton Athletic beat Tap & Spile Seconds 3-2.

An eagerly-awaited top-of-the-table clash in Division Eight resulted in a 2-2 draw between Asureflow and A to Z Trading. Bad conditions meant the game was touch and go beforehand, but referee John Leeman said it was playable, so both sides struggled to control the ball in windy conditions.

A mix-up at the back gifted A to Z Trading the lead, with top scorer Jimmy Nicholson nipping in between two defenders to round the keeper and chip the ball over the defender on the line.

Asureflow equalised with a fine finish from in-form Andrew Parratt when a free-kick was played to the back post and, with A to Z defenders static, Parratt had the simple task of placing his shot past Dale Jones.

But this spurred on Asureflow, who went on to dictate most of the play and they deservedly took the lead with an unfortunate own goal.

A to Z came off the pitch at half-time disjointed, knowing they had not performed to their usual standard.

Some harsh words were said which had the desired effect because A to Z came out in a determined mood, having plenty of the ball but lacking in the final third.

Some meaty challenges were going in, with Walker and Martin lucky to stay on the pitch.

A to Z introduced new signing Tommy Carter for the last half hour and his running off the ball was pushing Asureflow deep and creating half chances for Chapman and Nicholson.

But it was a mistake by Asureflow's keeper that enabled A to Z to equalise – player/manager Walker's free-kick fumbled into his own net.

A draw was a fair result between two sides who should be playing their football next season at a higher level.

Former County Cup winners Jubilee Inn and Seven Seas were in strong form to qualify for Round Four of this season's competition.

Jubilee beat FC Osbournby Rangers 5-0 with a brace from Simpson and goals from Baker, Buckthorpe and Little.

Seven Seas also ran in five goals without reply from Queen Bess.

Fabrenco fought back at King George as Team Red Star stunned them by going 2-0 up, but by half-time the visitors had hit back to lead 3-2.

Further second-half goals gave Fabrenco a 6-3 victory. Jimmy Read scored a hat-trick from an advanced striking role, with the other goals coming from Dave Wilkinson, Ricky Bell and David Elkington.

AFC Buddies survived a third-round scare to beat Clark Construction 4-2.

Clarks took to the conditions first, with the midfield pairing of Luke Niland and Morley controlling the early exchanges with some slick passing.

They released Mark Carroll down the wing and the Clarks skipper had the beating of the Buddies right back.

On numerous occasions he induced a tackle from the defender, but Carroll was able to skip past him. Unfortunately, the balls into the box were not capitalised on by the Clarks forward line.

However, mid-way through the first-half Clarks took a deserved lead when Carroll beat his man on the left and raced into the box. This time he elected to shoot from a tight angle and found the bottom right corner of the goal.

Buddies came back strong and pierced the Clarks backline with some direct passing from midfield, but stopper Damion Mroczkowski was constantly alert to the threat and swept up well.

Clarks could have gone two goals up midway through the first half. Niland was able to release Morley, who raced into the box but his cleanly-hit strike was blocked and the ball fell into the path of Pete Fuller, who managed to pull his shot wide of the post.

Not long after this opportunity, Buddies were able to equalise when a cross from the left was headed in from close range giving Mroczkowski no chance.

The second-half began with the score at 1-1 and Clarks having to make an enforced substitution when Dean Bailie replaced an unwell, but highly-effective, Johnny Carroll in attack.

For the first 15 minutes Buddies controlled the game and looked very dangerous down the left wing.

Unfortunately, Clarks lost their right-back James Clark through injury. His replacement Nick Greensides was just getting adjusted to the speed of the game when the Buddies left-winger raced past with the ball and put Buddies ahead with a low shot.

Clarks nearly got a quick equaliser when a Bailie free-kick was headed off the line. Niland also went close when his header from a Sutherland free-kick just cleared the cross bar.

They did get back on level terms when a Fuller shot was parried away, but Carroll was on to the loose ball and finished from a tight angle.

With tiring legs among both sides, the game became an end-to-end battle.

Buddies regained the lead when a cross was directed past Mroczkowski to make it 3-2 to the home side.

Clarks continued to create chances, but Fuller – by his high standards – was having an off day and any shots Clarks did manage to get on target were saved by the keeper or blocked by a defender.

With 10 minutes left, the referee awarded Buddies a penalty, which was successfully dispatched and sealed the game. Man-of-the-match was Mroczkowski.

Clark Construction acquitted themselves well and could have gone on to win the game if they could of converted their chances. They will need to take the positives from the defeat and kick-start their league campaign.

Man of the match for Clarks was Mroczkowski. who pulled off some excellent saves and displayed some fine handling in very difficult conditions.

Meanwhile, GY Cladding visited Lincoln and also scored five, beating Ruston Sports 5-1.

S W Steelers (Nick Rook) lost 5-1 to Welton Sports & Social. The visitors' goals came from two penalties and a deflection. Welton did deserve to win but 5-1 was very flattering.

Crows Nest were beaten 5-3 by Ancaster Rams and Humberston Quayside were beaten 5-2 by Real Ropery.

Two highly anticipated games, which failed to beat the weather, were suspended.

Valiant display sees team lead the pack

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:30:00 GMT

IT is all change at the top in Division One of the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Sunday League.

The Valiant went top after beating leaders Seven Seas 2-0 with goals from Luke Marshall and Dale Mason, while second-placed Fabrenco missed a golden chance to go clear when they went down 3-1 to a lively Humberston Quayside at St Christophers.

Humberston, for the first time this season, were at full-strength and it was no surprise they produced their best performance.

With James Swann recalled to spearhead the attack with Iain Ward, Humberston soon had their reward when Louis Grant sprung the offside trap and fired in a fierce low cross which the lively Ward slotted home.

Later in the half, keeper Scott Drury saved from point-blank range for Humberston.

Fabrenco equalised soon after the break when Darren Lambert scored on his debut – but two more Quayside goals gave them victory.

This was Humberston's day and the hardworking Scott Bartlett restored the lead with a mis-hit shot that looped over Leigh Graves in the Fabrenco goal.

Bartlett then put in an inch-perfect cross for the bullish Lee Bushell to power home a bullet header at the near post.

Referee Sid Cowley was always in command in a hard-fought game.

Jubilee Inn had a noteworthy 4-2 victory over AFC Buddies, with goals from King, Simpson and Horsefall (two).

FC Milan are now going well, they beat Seacatch FC 6-0 with goals from Lee Potter (two), Chris Gordon, Chris Call, Dan Grant and Paul Smith, while Sealord also had a good victory, 4-1 against Lincs International.

In Division Two, Gy Cladding still top the pile after their 7-2 beating of Gunners Watch.

Rob Lewsam, Sean Carlisle and Freddy Cass all scored a couple apiece. Jason Langley scored the other goal.

Holton-le-Clay lead the chasing pack after beating Golden Fleece 4-1.

Holton manager Dave Allen made a few changes, some enforced and some to shake the team up after drawing their last two league games.

Against the run of play, Holton took the lead through good counter attacking football, with Olly Howard drilling home from 18 yards.

Fleece threw everything at Holton, but they stood tall. Eventually, Holton fell asleep as a ball was played into the six yard box and the Louth side levelled at 1-1.

Holton came out the better side after the break.

Matty Powell got tangled up with a Louth striker and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

Louth's captain took the penalty, but Holton keeper Ben Mills guessed the right way and saved well.

Shortly after the penalty, Mills pulled off another class save.

Holton gave everything in the second half and got their reward with 20 minutes left, courtesy of top scorer Ant Chamberlain, who bagged his 12th of the season.

Within minutes, Holton got their third through skipper Powell.

Gaz Mason's Glenn Hoddle-like run and finish rounded off the scoring.

In Division Three, well-placed White Hart beat Harvest Pet Products 7-1 with goals from Kirwin (two), O'Hare (two), Snook, Howard and Luddington.

Leaders Seven Seas 2nds beat Police 4-0 and Millfields won 2-0 away to Bridge to strengthen their hold at the top end of the table.

Arron Love-Bean scored the Millfields goals but it was a team performance, with a man-of-the-match display from centre-back Dan Taylor.

Best wishes go to Millfields supporter Val Taylor after freak accident involving a Bridge player sliding off the pitch while making a tackle, hitting Val and breaking her toe.

Excel FC beat Old Clee 5-3.

Meanwhile, LOR and SW Steelers met for the second successive week.

Kai Haig almost gave Steelers an early lead but his well struck effort went just wide.

Jason Chisnall then saw the LOR goalkeeper make an excellent save from his shot but Steelers made the breakthrough soon after. A long throw by Gaz Deakins was flicked on by Nick Rook and Scott Sadler ran in to head the ball past the LOR keeper.

Towards the end of the half, LOR finally began to get into the game and were rewarded with an equaliser from what was their first real attacking move of the game, Wayne Long beating the Steelers keeper Matty Chapman.

If LOR had shown little attacking prowess in the previous game and a half they made up for it in the second half and only an inspired display by man-of-the-match Chapman in the Steelers goal helped them come away with a point.

In Division Four, runaway leaders DMS FC were without a game.

Grimsby Warriors (Matthew Freudenberg) drew 1-1 with Nick's Takeaway (Robert Morrison).

Pattesons continued their winning form with a comprehensive 3-0 display against a good footballing side in Healing 2nds.

Goals from Paton, Barber and Baker rounded off a solid performance and lifted the pickle boys to third in the table.

Caistor Rovers made their intentions clear when they beat Tap & Spile 2-0.

The Empire notched their first victory with a hard-fought 4-2 win over Crows Nest 2nds. Goals from Lee Croft (two), Simon Munday and Craig Walton secured the points.

Clark Construction faced Trawl FC in the second instalment of a mini saga.

Last week, the boys from Toot Hill edged a close game by 4-3, but Clarks were out to gain a quick revenge at their North Thoresby home – and did so with a 4-2 victory.

A good interchange of passes from midfield saw the ball end up just inside Clark's box allowing a free shot from the Trawl right winger – which cannoned in off the bar.

The goal seemed to rock Clarks.

Trawl continued to attack and had a couple of long range efforts easily saved by Damion Mroczkowski in goal.

However, for the remainder of the half, the home side upped the tempo and tried to get back into the game.

Clark's best chance came when Luke Morley played a defence-splitting pass for Pete Fuller to run onto, however, the striker's shot was well-saved.

Their goal eventually came after the ball was crossed in from the right and, from the resulting scramble, Fuller nodded home.

After the break, Clarks continue to be dangerous with their quick, attacking play.

Their second goal came when a Trawl attack broke down in midfield. The ball fell to Luke Niland, who picked out Fuller. The striker raced into the box and centred for Usher, who tapped home.

The beginning of the end for Trawl came when Jamie Wilkes won a 50-50 ball with a mighty challenge just outside their box.

This seemed knock the stuffing out of the away side and, not long after, Clarks took control with a third goal.

Fuller made no mistake from the penalty spot after he had been brought down in the box.

Clarks sealed the game with their fourth. Fuller completed his hat-trick with another penalty.

Trawl had a late rally during the final 10 minutes, claiming a second goal, but Clarks claimed all three points and quick revenge.

In Division Five, Greenlands welcomed Lucarly's Eastern Trucks, just a week after beating them 12-0 in the reverse fixture.

They gave a debut to 17-year-old Michael Hand.

Greenlands broke Lucarly's resistance as Hickinson was sent clear by Harmer and, although the flag went up, the referee overruled his linesman and Hickinson skilfully lobbed the ball over the stranded keeper.

Lucarly's came out of the traps quickest in the second half as Jimmy Flowers had to head an effort off his goal line.

Lucarly's crashed an effort off the crossbar as they pushed for an equaliser.

Greenlands woke up and started to take control of the game.

They grabbed their second after neat interplay on the edge of the penalty area between Hickinson and Tez Ballard. Hand's snap-shot found the bottom corner for a debut goal.

Greenlands went further ahead as Tim Harmer sent son Chris away down the right, and he got to the byline before pulling the ball back across goal for Hand to smash home his second.

Lucarly's got a consolation to make the final score 3-1 to Greenlands.

Referee Payne did well.

Elsewhere in the division, Grange Crowland beat RCS Athletic 5-2.

On target for Grange Crowland were Pete Dennis, Dean Barratt, John Higton, Dave Deane and man-of-the-match Craig Norman.

Top team Louth Utd won 2-1 away to M&M Decor. Spiders Web won 3-1 away to bottom club Crows Nest 3rds while Immingham Town narrowly beat AFC Wybers 2nds.

In Division Six, leaders BBS Couriers beat AA Property New Waltham 6-0.

Daniel Harrison scored their first hat-trick of the season. Other contributions came from Owen Stamp (two) and Kurt Fawcett.

In hot pursuit are Number 2 FC who won 3-1 against Smugglers AFC.

Well-placed Fair Deal Carpets won 2-1 against DLB Taverners. Willows Community won 1-0 away to Clee Workingmens while Locomotive Blossom Way recorded their first victory, 2-0 away to DC Amateurs.

In Division Seven, leaders Tap & Spile 2nds won 3-1 away to bottom club Melt Bar.

Newton Athletic beat Abatis Fire & Security 5-2 and remain second.

The other games were mid-table clashes with Tower Bucharest beating Clee Community 3-1 and Cromwell Rovers winning 3-1 against Taverners Cleethorpes.

In Division Eight, Asureflow beat KCT Photography 5-0 and top the table.

Their scorers were Harvey Shaw (three), Jonathan Mason and David Hine.

A to Z Trading are on the same points.

They won 10-0 against Keelby Utd 2nds with goals from J Nicholson (three), Chapman (two), McFarlane (two), Billy Nicholson, Walker and Salamah.

Mariners FC won 3-1 away to AFC Waltham while Aston Estates beat West Marsh 8-4 with goals from Wadby (three), Endar (two), Dunks, Baldock and Burns-Salmond.

Clee Rangers beat East Marsh FC 4-0.