Round 17

Nitro FC 2 - 0 Barnsley Tykes
J_Citroen (nit) 22'
P_Vendelboe (nit) 32'

Such is the closeness of this Division that the title and the final playoff spots are still to be decided. Nitro is one of the teams chasing the latter and you would have to say that with Barnsleys very poor season they went into this game with a real chance of making the playoffs. Perennial bad boy Citroen managed to get the home side off the mark just 20 minutes after the start and immediately Barnsley were in trouble. They have had a lot of problems scoring this season so when they concede a goal it means a lot more than for other teams. Things then got worse for the visitors when they went a further goal behind when Vendleboe scored his 17th goal of the season with just under 15 minutes to go before the half time break. Nitro looked as if they were cruising when the half time break came round and were probably wishing they could stay out a bit longer. Barnsley manager Daniel Donovan was obviously the opposite and was very glad when he could get his charges back into the sheds. What ever Mr Donovan said certainly worked to a point. His team didn't score any goals however they did stop conceding anymore themselves, which is probably a poor consolation to the Barnsley people. This win sees Nitro move into the top 3 again but will have to win their next game against a rampaging Api to secure their playoff spot.

Some good and bad news for both teams post game. Lets start with the bad. Nitros Spaghetti managed to get himself a minor Shafting and Assist freak Saint will miss the next 2 games due to suspension. In the bad column for Barnsley is the fact that Agberto's season is over. Now for the good. Nitro welcomes back Zaza, which is very good news for them. They have been playing with a junior in goal (while good for his development) which means that there has been a fair bit of fragility in the final defensive line. The other good news for Nitro is the new that Fences injury isn't that bad and he will available fo selection for the next game. Good news for Barnsley is that they have Angus and DaSilva back after serving their suspensions and the fact that their season can't get any worse.

Apijarevoleada APR 4 - 1 Besiktas
Threefeet (api) 4'
P_Smegovic (api) 18'
Nouma (bes) 48'
P_Smegovic (api) 49'
J_Mashburn (api) 77'

Well this game had its fair share of controversy well before the game at least. Both managers were talking their teams up before the game and some fairly terse and snide comments were made to the press by both sides, so the police cordon between the dugouts was probably a sensible move and limited the two Managers to glaring occasionally at each other. As for the game itself, well it certainly lived up to the pre-game hype, well if you were an Api fan. Threefeet got the ball into the net after just 4 minutes and all the signs were there for it to be a very long afternoon for Besiktas. It started going downhill for them even further when 15 minutes later Api star Smegovic made it 2-0 to the home team. Api manager Jesus Hernandez had to be restrained when he climbed onto his dugout roof and shouted something at Besiktas Manager Cagri Salgik who sat there stony faced as his players wandered slowly back to the centre. Half time couldn't come fast enough for the Besiktas lad and Cagri fairly dragged them off to the changing rooms to give them… well I don't know, perhaps some coffee to try and wake up his defence. Whatever he said certainly made a difference when just 3 minutes after the restart Nouma scored and suddenly Besiktas were in it again. Cagri started yelling at his player to keep focused, keep their eyes on the ball, be paitient etc. His goalkeeper showed his inexperience when he was unfortunately so focused on his Managers pep talk that wasn't paying any attention to Smegovic who casually put the ball in the back of the Besikas goal and it was pretty much game over. Api rubbed salt into the Besiktas wounds 30 minutes later when Mashburn got into the act scoring only his 2nd goal of the season and that was it… game over.

The only real good news for Besiktas was that they had no injuries or suspensions and Barmbell managed a correct SL increase, so they go the last game of the season against Spartak with a full team available for selection. The down side for them is and an exceedingly slim chance of now making the playoffs. Api on the other hand only need a draw next week to secure a playoff spot, however if they win by 2 or more goals and Saskatoon loses then Api will be Champions, so they have it all to play for.

Eastern FC 3 - 0 Aussie Man Utd
C_Laudrup (eas) 5'
K_Wai (eas) 47'
C_Yeung (eas) 50'

Eastern have had a crap season, they have scored an almighty amount of goals but their defence has been woeful and before this game had only managed to break even in the goal difference stakes. AMU on the other hand have had an up and down season making it as high as 3rd place at one time but have spent the last half of the season languishing in 9th place and definitely courting relegation. However point wise before this game, both teams were still able avoid the relegation playoffs, they would have to win though. You know you have a defensive problem when the opposition starts scoring after just 5 minutes and unless you can get your defensive line set tings can get ugly. AMUs defensive record was actually better than Easterns before this game but the word here is "before". So 5 minutes have gone by and the home side is 1 up, this could be bad for AMU, they obviously need to score and against a team with the worst defence in the Division they should have a chance. Just after halftime bad went to bloody awful when 1st Wai and then Yeung scored for Eastern and the game was over and AMU will have to fight to survive in the playoffs… unless they win their next game by 8 or more and Besiktas lose. This scenario seems a bit unlikely since AMU are playing Saskatoon next week.

Eastern manager Frank Chiu will be very happy with the result of this game and the aftermath since both Phillips and Chiesa both avoided old shafty (where has he been lately?) and the fact that Man, Ku and Wong are back from suspension. The only blight on this near perfect copy book is the fact that Glicic is out for their next game against Barnsley.

Spartak Haifa 2 - 0 Pasmaters
G_Hendrix (hai) 50'
J_Hopoate (hai) 56'

With the form Spartak have been in lately you would have been forgiven for putting a lot of cash on Pasmaters to take this game. Last weeks win against Saskatoon was a fluke and Pasmaters loss to Api would have fired them up because it lost them 2nd spot and a chance to challenge for the title. This game started very tentatively with both side eager NOT to concede an early goal. Neither side looked completely dominant in the 1st half and both managers went to the break neither happy nor particularly unhappy with the way things were going. By this stage Spartak had received news that Besiktas had lost and there was a chance to climb the ladder and try to avoid the relegation playoffs. That being said the 2nd half started and 5 minutes after the restart Spartak midfielder Hendrix scored his 1st goal of the season and suddenly Spartak were 1 up but not looking particularly impressive. Their comfort zone increased when only 6 minutes later Spartak top scorer, Golden boot contender and brown finger award holder Jonny Hopoate gave the home team a 2 goal lead which they held until the final whistle. Not a great win but one that Spartak definitely needed and now a draw next week against Besiktas would probably see them avoid any relegation playoff. Win however and with a few game going their way, they could be in the promotion playoffs. Things have gone so sour for Cagri and the Pamaters boys, up until this week they were flying high, never dropped below 4th spot and were title contenders a few weeks ago. Now if things go badly next week they could be fighting a relegation battle.

Good and bad news for Spartak this week. Good news that Berni Grois had his keeping skill rise but bad that they lose young Hernandez (another Defender) to injury. Bad news for Pasmaters in the fact that they lost the game but some better news in the fact that young Midfielder Gualle managed a correct SL increase and is looking a nice prospect for the future.

Saskatoon Wanderers 1 - 1 Houston Odyssey
J_Ralato (sas) 11'
M_Medinna (hou) 21'

Our final game of the weekend was the big match up between 1st and 2nd on the table. Saskatoon have been very unlucky recently and have not been able to clinch the championship which they have led pretty much all season. The fact that they had a lot of players out suspended would have had Iggy licking his lips in anticipation of a possible weakend Saskatoon lineup. The game started brightly and when Ralato scored the Saskatoon fans were jumping with glee. "We're going up!" they chanted. This changed to "We're PROBABLY going up!" just 10 minutes later when Houston Hotshot racked up his 14th goal of the season to tie up the game. I think it was at this point that both managers decided it was all too risky and better to grab the point than end up with none. Because of other results this weekend this reluctance to go for the win may come back to haunt them. Iggy and Houston have dropped to 4th again as Nitro and Api jump ahead and while safe from relegation they must win against Pasmaters next week to give themselves a chance to make the Playoffs. Saskatoon, while really still the most likely to take out the Championship, still hand need a result next week against AMU. A draw would do it but they really don't have the luxury of losing next week as a slip could be disastrous because Api would only have to win by 2 goals and the Championship is theirs.

To help Saskatoon is the fact that a whole slew of players are back from suspension for their next game. Close, Do, Thirteen and Alfalfio all make their return next week however the loss of Danilov is a blow but is covered by the return of Close. Unfortunately for Houston the only news is bad as Alvarez has been suspended for 2 games and with Super Goal Keeper Grobbelaar still out injured it could be tough for Iggy and the Houston lads.

Pl   Team                   P    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
1    Saskatoon_Wanderers   17    9   4   4    26   18    8    31
2    Apijarevoleada_APR    17    8   4   5    29   23    6    28
3    Nitro_FC              17    7   5   5    35   26    9    26
4    Houston_Odyssey       17    6   8   3    25   18    7    26
5    Spartak_Haifa         17    6   6   5    28   22    6    24
6    Pasmaters             17    6   6   5    23   25   -2    24
7    Besiktas              17    7   2   8    21   25   -4    23
8    Eastern_FC            17    6   4   7    36   34    2    22
9    Aussie_Man_Utd        17    5   4   8    22   34  -12    19
10   Barnsley_Tykes        17    2   3  12    10   30  -20     9

Pos  Name                         Gm      Gls
1    J_Hopoate (hai)              19       19
2    Roy (pas)                    20       18
3    P_Vendelboe (nit)            18       17
4    P_Smegovic (api)             16       15
5    M_Medinna (hou)              25       14
6    B_Bong (bar)                 19       13
7    D_Webber (amu)               19       13
8    Alfalfio (sas)               19       12
9    WT_Wong (eas)                13       11
10   Nouma (bes)                  19       11

Pos  Name                         Gm      Ass
1    M_Saint (nit)                22       11
2    E_Chiesa (eas)               15        7
3    J_Glicic (eas)               16        7
4    S_Keane (amu)                15        5
5    Ieja (sas)                   18        5
6    Ninainaina (bar)             14        4
7    R_Elmoor (bar)               14        4
8    G_Hendrix (hai)              15        4
9    K_Do (sas)                   15        4
10   A_Kersi (api)                16        4

Pos  Name                         Gm       Dp
1    J_Citroen (nit)              15       38
2    C_Jensen (pas)               15       32
3    B_Molder (pas)               17       30
4    KH_Man (eas)                 13       28
5    Mehmet (bes)                 15       26
6    M_Close (sas)                18       24
7    S_Cheung (eas)               12       22
8    Ieja (sas)                   18       22
9    M_Saint (nit)                22       22
10   E_Shivute (bar)              13       20

Pos  Name                         Gm    P.Pts
1    R_Cheng (eas)                19      361
2    J_Babor (hou)                24      356
3    P_Corn (nit)                 23      334
4    J_Doe (nit)                  20      311
5    M_Schneider (nit)            22      291
6    M_Saint (nit)                22      283
7    H_Luther (hou)               24      282
8    D_Kalkanou (eas)             18      277
9    S_Lambert (bar)              21      273
10   B_O'Connell (nit)            21      267