Round 15


Nitro V AMU	Table Moves
Besiktas V Pasmaters	Table
Barnsley V Houston	Scorers /Assists
Api V Saskatoon	DPS /Performers
Eastern V Spartak

Well only 2 results this week. Pretty much a case of draws all round. This means that there was no movement on the table.


Nitro FC 2 - 2 Aussie Man Utd M_Saint (nit) 3' B_Cole (amu) 10' J_Citroen (nit) 18' B_Cole (amu) 20'

When 3rd vs 2nd last play you expect it to be a bit one sided, however AMU have the services of a top notch goal keeper to help even things out a bit. He has managed to make 69 saves in just 15 games which averages out to 4.6 saves per game… very impressive. The next closest (out of those who have played Goalkeeper more than 5 times) is Houstons Grobbelaar who averaged 3.55 saves a game this season. That being said this game was all over after 20 minutes with an entertained crowd seeing a mixture of sloppy defending and inspired attack. The provider turned scorer when Saint (who is more known for setting up goals) set the tone early by shocking the visitors in the 3rd minute. The lead lasted just 7 minutes as Cole got the proceedings back on level terms in the 10th. Nitro snuck ahead again less than 10 minutes later when habitual fouler Citroen actually stopped punching people long enough to score his 6th goal of the season. Considering the limited amount time he has been actually on the pitch this season it is amazing he has got as many goals as he has. Anyway Nitro are 2-1 up and the fans have barely finished settling into their seats when Cole bags his 2nd for the day and we are all square again. After that either the both defences got their acts together, the strikers went to sleep or both teams just went home, I am not sure which but no more goals were scored and the teams went home with a point apiece.

Both teams have a player out for the next game, Keane from AMU is suspended and Knecht from Nitro is sporting a nasty bruise. The good news for Nitro is the return of Vendelboe from suspension.


Besiktas 0 - 0 Pasmaters

This was the 2nd battle of the Cagris and a game neither team could afford to lose. Pasmaters are being pressured by Nitro, Houston and Api for 2nd and Besiktas are only a couple of points above the relegation zone so there was quite a bit at stake for both teams. As it turned out The Second Battle of the Cagris was a bit of a fizzer with neither team able to take advantage of the opportunities that were offered and the game ended a 0-0 draw. The next couple of games are vital for both teams to sustain their run of good form. Pasmaters play Api, Spartk and Houston in their last 3 games while Besiktas play Nitro, Api and Spartak in their run home. Both teams can help or hinder each other in their various quests. If Besiktas beat Nitro and Pasmaters beat Api both managers would be very happy, however if both lose it will make the final 2 games very interesting indeed.

There was a bit of spice to the match even though there was no scoring. No less than 3 players are sitting out next weeks games from both teams. Rounder from Besiktas is out but Eltawil is back from suspension while for Pasmaters Tibi and Revivo sit out the next game and Diehard makes a return from injury.


Barnsley Tykes 1 - 4 Houston Odyssey M_Medinna (hou) 37' Aaliyah (hou) 44' M_Medinna (hou) 53' J_Babor (hou) 73' B_Bong (bar) 85'

Well Barnsley went into this game with a slight chance of staying in the race to avoid automatic relegation, they had put in hard work and were in this position because of last weeks win over the struggling Spartak. The challenge was this… if they could win and other games went their way they were in with a shot, a slim hope maybe but a hope non the less. Things weren't looking too bad as both Spartak and AMU, while not losing, did the next best thing and drew their games, the race was still on, all Barnsley had to do was win. To put it bluntly they screwed the pooch, they lost… badly. They did manage to keep the game scoreless for most of the 1st half but just before the break 2 goals to the visitors meant the home fans and home team went into the sheds pretty glum. When the Visitors scored again in the 53rd minute and then again 20 minutes later the game was gone and Barnsley are going down. They did score 5 minutes before the end but it couldn't even be called a consolation goal, the whole Barnsley team and fans left the ground with heads bowed. New Barnsley manager Daniel Donovan had an impossible job on his hands when he arrived, but will get the opportunity next season to bring the team back up again.

There was some things to vaguely cheer about at Barnsley DaSilva managed a correct SL increase and Eeeee is back from suspension and the loss of Angus is neither here nor there. This being said Barnsley will have a say in how the promotion playoffs are sorted as they play AMU, Nitro and Eastern all who have a chance at the play offs. Houston, another team with playoff aspirations, will less than thrilled with the SL increases they got as both Babor and Alvarez both were Shafted although perhaps less severely than they could have been. On a brighter note for Houston is the return of Luther, Melita and Flago from Suspension and Injury. The loss of Joaoe for 1 game is perhaps the only other thing that may cause some concern to Iggy but the return of the other 3 more than makes up for his loss.


Apijarevoleada APR 2 - 0 Saskatoon Wanderers Threefeet (api) 7' Threefeet (api) 10'

Saskatoon have had a very good season. Before this game they had lost only twice once to Eastern and once to the team they were playing today. In the last game they played Api went to Saskatoon and shocked the home team 3-1. Eugene's boys would have to make sure that the home team did not get away to an early start or it could be all over before it had really started. Well you know what they say about plans and how they tend to go belly up at the first sign of the opposition. 10 minutes is all it took for Saskatoon to lose and for Api to take a step closer to a playoff spot. The hero for Api and the nemesis for Saskatoon was the young South African Defender/Midfielder/Striker Threefeet, who was playing in no set position that I could see. He popped up all over the place and the Saskatoon defence were as bamboozled as I was. Anyway he scored 2 goals in 10 minutes and that was it for Sasktoon. They have to wait another week to see if they can wrap this all up.

Api manager Jesus Hernandez will be very happy with todays result and will be happier to know that Meller and Smegovic will be available for next weeks game against Pasmaters, the only fly in the ointment is the injury to Solce. Eugene on the other hand will be ruing the loss and also the suspension of Close for 2 games, the return of Arabic however will probably help a little.


Eastern FC 2 - 2 Spartak Haifa R_Cheng (eas) 24' M_Monday (hai) 29' WT_Wong (eas) 49' J_Hopoate (hai) 50'

Eastern came into this game just 1 point ahead of Spartak who have suffered an alarming form slump in the 2nd half of the season, well alarming for Spartak supporters anyway. After over achieving the last few seasons, poor form and key injuries are threatening to send Spartak down for the 1st time in their history and the manager is not happy about it. Eastern along with Nitro have had no trouble scoring lots of goals this season but where Nitro have generally been able to defend reasonably well Eastern have the worst defensive record in the division. So we had a team that can score goal pretty much at will but also leak goals at the same rate against a team who have not been playing that well but have managed to barely keep their head above water. Eastern started all out where Spartak were content to counter where possible. Eastern got the scoring started in the 24th minute when Cheng scored but just 5 minutes later the Spartak Defender Monday scored for Spartak to bring things all level again. That finished the scoring until just after half time when Wong managed to slot the ball past the outstretched hands of Keeper Grois and Eastern were once again in the lead. The Eastern lads were still congratulating themselves a minute later and the brown finger boy took advantage of their inattention to equalise. From then on there was a lot of running hither and there but was no more goal action and the game finished at 2-2.

Let me tell you the manager of Spartak was the much more relieved of the 2 manager with the final score but he will be a little less thrilled with some of the other out comes of the game. Young Midfielder Cowboy who before this game had a shooting of just 2 was thrilled when he received an SL increase in that stat, he told us afterwards that he always wanted to be a striker. His manager was less than amused though. The other midfield youngster Tamakawa kept up the recent Spartak tradition by getting himself injured for a ridiculous amount of time and will be laid up for a total of 9 weeks. Better news for Spartak is the return of Hendrix and Indido. Eastern didn't get off scott free with the suspension of both Man and Wong for a couple of weeks and the injury to Cheung for the rest of the season, the injury to Borde was less serious than was first though and he should be available for their next game.

Well what do you know... No movement at all this week. I think next week will be interesting.

Pl   Team                   P    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
1    Saskatoon_Wanderers   15    9   3   3    25   15   10    30
2    Pasmaters             15    6   6   3    23   20    3    24
3    Nitro_FC              15    6   5   4    32   24    8    23
4    Houston_Odyssey       15    5   7   3    22   16    6    22
5    Apijarevoleada_APR    15    6   4   5    22   22    0    22
6    Besiktas              15    6   2   7    18   20   -2    20
7    Eastern_FC            15    5   4   6    32   32    0    19
8    Spartak_Haifa         15    4   6   5    24   22    2    18
9    Aussie_Man_Utd        15    5   3   7    21   30   -9    18
10   Barnsley_Tykes        15    2   2  11     9   27  -18     8

Saskatoon will have to try again next week to wrap up the championship, unfortunately for Barnsley they are now officially for the drop. All other positions are still to be decided.


Pos Name Gm Gls 1 Roy (pas) 18 18 2 P_Vendelboe (nit) 16 16 3 J_Hopoate (hai) 17 16 4 B_Bong (bar) 17 12 5 D_Webber (amu) 17 12 6 Alfalfio (sas) 18 12 7 M_Medinna (hou) 23 12 8 WT_Wong (eas) 13 11 9 P_Smegovic (api) 14 11 10 Nouma (bes) 17 8		Pos Name Gm Ass 1 M_Saint (nit) 20 10 2 E_Chiesa (eas) 14 6 3 J_Glicic (eas) 14 6 4 S_Keane (amu) 14 5 5 Ieja (sas) 16 5 6 R_Elmoor (bar) 13 4 7 Ninainaina (bar) 14 4 8 K_Do (sas) 14 4 9 A_Kersi (api) 15 4 10 K_Diehard (pas) 16 4

The golden boot is likely to be decided from among the top 3 although Roy has to be favourite.		If any one can catch Saint they are leaving it to the last minute.


Pos Name Gm Dp 1 J_Citroen (nit) 13 34 2 C_Jensen (pas) 14 32 3 KH_Man (eas) 13 28 4 Mehmet (bes) 13 26 5 B_Molder (pas) 16 26 6 M_Close (sas) 18 24 7 S_Cheung (eas) 12 22 8 Ieja (sas) 16 22 9 E_Shivute (bar) 12 20 10 WT_Wong (eas) 13 20		Pos Name Gm P.Pts 1 J_Babor (hou) 22 338 2 R_Cheng (eas) 17 317 3 P_Corn (nit) 21 306 4 J_Doe (nit) 18 299 5 D_Kalkanou (eas) 16 267 6 M_Saint (nit) 20 264 7 M_Schneider (nit) 20 259 8 K_Blomqvist (amu) 17 242 9 P_Vendelboe (nit) 16 240 10 A_Tanker (hou) 15 237

Citroen had a game back and didn't get booked… Must be some sort of record.		Although Babor is in the lead he has played 5 games more than 2nd place Cheng.