Three-way battle for the Premier League title
Derek Dooley Red’s 3-point advantage over Sheffield White in the Championship
Brilliant goalkeeping dominates the afternoon.
Matchday Four of the http://www.southyorkshireabilitycountsleague.com – rescheduled to last Sunday (1st February) after January’s weather postponement – did not disappoint, with ten games across the three pitches at Concord Sports Centre.
The five hours of football demonstrated the continued improvement across all our seven-a side teams, with some thrilling games and great goals. However, everyone who watched the matches-including the coaches – agreed that goalkeeping across all eight teams gets better, and that the ‘keepers are now playing a vital role as the season counts down to its final stages. There were some outstanding performances and saves by all our goalkeepers last weekend, so a big round of applause to all of them!
With Sean, Brian, and Mike sharing match official duties across the three pitches, Dinnington Town got the Premier League action under way with a one-goal win over Hillsborough Hornets Gold. James Scally’s team edged out Hornets, coached on the day by Ian Whitehead by the only goal of the game, but Dinno’s keeper had an outstanding game and played a big part in securing the points for his team.
Scott Gregory’s Sheffield Blue took three points with a win over Mansfield Town Blue; Coach Paul then moved his Mansfield team across to Pitch 2 but they lost to Hornets Gold in a slightly fractious encounter which kept referee Brian on his toes.
Back on Pitch 3, there was a deserved win for Sheffield FC Blue despite the best efforts of Dinnington Yellow goalkeeper; and in the final match of the afternoon, and in the third game for both teams, Mansfield Town Blue edged Dinnington by 3-2; pick of the goals here was an outstanding volley from Jamie, but a late Dinno rally meant that the result was in doubt until the final whistle.
With all four teams’ level on 7 games, Sheffield Blue hold a four point lead over both Hornets Gold and Dinnington Town Yellows with Mansfield Blue four points further back on six.
In the Championship, with Brian and Sean as match officials, the first game between Sheffield White and Mansfield Town Amber finished goalless, with both keepers in brilliant form.
Next up on Pitch 1 Chris Pow’s Wheatley Wanderers – well supported as always – were beaten by Derek Dooley Red. Nathan Pearson’s team featured an excellent performance from Sean, who saw his shot go close after a mazy run.
In the next game, Wheatley Wanderers took a brilliant victory over Mansfield Town Amber, coached by Vernon. It would take something special to beat Mansfield’s outstanding goalkeeper, and Pete Lambert provided it with a delicious chip over the keeper from range. A delighted Pete took his shirt off in celebration, leaving a stunned referee Mike unable to get the yellow card out of his pocket! A fantastic moment!!
Another great game followed, with Kev Marsh’s Sheffield White edging Dooley Red in an absolute thriller, with Nathan pushing his keeper up in the last minute to reduce the deficit to one. Time ran out though, and Sheffield claimed a valuable three points to halt Dooley’s charge.
The two teams matched up again in the final match of the day, sharing the points with a 1-1 draw.
Dooley Red head the chase for the title by three points from the chasing Sheffield White. Wheatley have 7 points, one ahead of Mansfield Town Amber.
The seven-a -side competition continues in March at Concord, with a thrilling climax to both divisions in prospect.
February 15th sees the Five-a-side teams back in action at Goals Sheffield.
South Yorkshire Ability Counts League 