Week 16 Results - Tight at the top again

Aardvark Abacus 1 v 1 Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

Cheese Makers 0 v 0 San Dimas High School

Claymore Athletic FC 2 v 0 Real Muppets

Fred West Landscape Gardening XI 3 v 0 Markian United

Mega Buck Bandits 1 v 1 YTFIB

The Fabulous Artisans 3 v 1 Stanley Athletic FC

Trusted By Millions 2 v 1 The Cow-Faced Juniors

Wheel Madrid 2 v 3 The Wateringhole Society

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Aardvark Abacus	16	9	3	4	40	29	11	30
2	Fred West Landscape Gardening XI	16	8	6	2	41	31	10	30
3	The Fabulous Artisans	16	9	2	5	33	35	-2	29
4	Stanley Athletic FC	16	8	3	5	29	28	1	27
5	The Wateringhole Society	16	8	2	6	50	32	18	26
6	Trusted By Millions	16	7	5	4	30	27	3	26
7	Mega Buck Bandits	16	7	4	5	26	24	2	25
8	The Cow-Faced Juniors	16	7	2	7	34	27	7	23
9	San Dimas High School	16	6	4	6	19	26	-7	22
10	Wheel Madrid	16	6	3	7	43	41	2	21
11	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	16	6	2	8	25	27	-2	20
12	Real Muppets	16	5	4	7	38	33	5	19
13	YTFIB	16	4	5	7	29	30	-1	17
14	Cheese Makers	16	5	2	9	22	33	-11	17
15	Claymore Athletic FC	16	4	2	10	24	35	-11	14
16	Markian United	16	4	1	11	21	46	-25	13

It’s another week at the top for the Aardvarks but the lead has been trimmed to goal difference. Ady’s team were held to a 1-1 draw with Nil Satis while Fred drew level on points with the leaders after a 3-0 win over Markian. The Aardvarks needed a Lewis Dunk clean to get that point after Stuart Dallas had burst into the area after 15 minutes to put Paul S ahead. Fred had an easier time of it, Cesar Azpilicueta fired the Gardeners in front five minutes before half-time, Mo Salah added two in the second half, one of which will probably be referred to as 'THAT goal' in future.

The Artisans are up to third following a 3-1 win over Stanley Athletic and dropping their opponents into fourth in the process.The game came alive in the last 20 minutes. Patrick Bamford and Gini Wijnaldum had Ben two up, Craig Dawson pulled one back for Aaron with three minutes left but Patrick van Aanholt’s clean settled the game in the Artisans’ favour. The Wateringhole are up to fifth after bouncing back from Charity Shield disappointment to win a high quality game at Wheel Madrid. Harvey Barnes and Matheus Pereira had Kiran two up but a Callum Wilson brace looked to have earned Paul W a draw. That was until Ruben Dias got the clean that made it 3-2 to the Society.

Trusted are in sixth place, their highest since winning the league last season, after beating the CFJs 2-1. Beef’s goals came in the first 17 minutes from Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard and though Eberechi Eze smashed in a low shot on the hour to narrow the deficit the CFJs couldn’t find an equaliser. Mega Bucks and YTFIB played out a 1-1 draw that keeps Dave in the top half. Bobby Reid put YTFIB ahead on 10 minutes and the Bandits had to wait until six minutes from the end to level the game through Jack Harrison’s breakaway tap-in.

San Dimas and Cheese Makers had the first 0-0 draw of the league season. It was a good 0-0 though! Claymore climbed off the bottom of the table with a  2-0 over the PCMT-winning Muppets. A well-directed Ross Barkley header on 41 minutes put Clive in front and his team closed the game out with a Matty Cash clean.

Charity Shield Final

San Dimas High School 4

Cancelo 20

Mahrez 45+2

McNeil 76

Boly [c]

v

The Wateringhole Society 1

Saka 39

(one cancelled clean)

At Old Trafford    Virtual attendance 72,710

Teams

San Dimas: Martinez; Boly, Cancelo, Fofana, Bailly; Bissouma, Dendoncker, Mahrez, McNeil; Grant, Perez            

Subs: Guaita; Mitchell; Luiz; Gayle

Wateringhole: Leno; Reguilon, Keane, Konsa, Dias; Barnes, Neto, Saka, Pereira; Maupay, Rashford

Subs: Heaton; Holding; Hudson-Odoi; Benteke

Report

A first final for the mighty Society against a team looking to complete a career grand slam of trophies. Marcus Rashford had the first chance of the game for Kiran after 11 minutes but put his shot wide. The opening goal went to San Dimas nine minutes later and was a controversial one. The Wateringhole defence saw an offside flag and stood off Joao Cancelo as he picked out the top corner from 18 yards. There was no whistle though and VAR gave the goal. 

Kiran's team recovered from that setback and levelled six minutes before the break. Bukayo Saka beat the San Dimas keeper to a through-ball and slotted into the empty net. My team were back in front in first half injury time when Riyad Mahrez smashed in.

The Wateringhole came out pushing for an equaliser with Neil Maupay blazing a good chance too high on 70 minutes and Pedro Neto's chip landing on top of the bar a minute later. Five minutes later the next goal came at the other end. Dwight McNeil's cross from the left evaded everyone and ended in the far corner.

That proved too much for Kiran's team to turn round and my team went on to a 4-1 win courtesy of Willy Boly's clean sheet.

How they got there

Semi-finals:

Fred West Landscape Gardening XI 1 v 7 The Wateringhole Society

San Dimas High School 2 v 0 Cheese Makers

Quarter-finals:

Markian United 2 v Cheese Makers 3 (after 0-0 draw)

The Cow-Faced Juniors  3 v 4 San Dimas High School

The Fabulous Artisans 1 v 3 Fred West Landscape Gardening XI

Wheel Madrid 2 v 3 The Wateringhole Society

Paul Cartmell Memorial Trophy Final

Mega Buck Bandits 2

Zaha 3

Harrison 61

v

Real Muppets 3

Sterling 57

Mane 65

Ederson [c]

(no cancelled cleans)

At Wembley    Virtual attendance 90,000

Teams

Mega Bucks: Forster; Soyuncu, Baldock, Ayling, Lowton; Antonio, Harrison, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Neves,; Zaha, Aubameyang

Subs: Alisson; Ake; Moutinho; Alzate

Muppets: Ederson; James, Bellerin, Alderweireld; Tarkowski; De Bruyne, Foden, Milivojevic, Sterling, McTominay; Mane

Subs: Caballero; Ogbonna; Propper; Iheanacho

Report

Despite previously playing in only one final previously it was Mega Bucks that flew out of the blocks. Wilf Zaha took just three minutes to open the scoring, firing a 20-yard effort into the bottom-left corner. Dave's team could have been out of sight by half-time but the usually-reliable Michail Antonio hit the post twice.

Those misses came back to haunt the Bandits when Raheem Sterling finished off a great Muppets move with a far-post tap-in to level the game on 57 minutes. Back came the Bucks. Four minutes later Jack Harrison was allowed time and space to control and half-volley across the Muppets keeper into the far corner.

Another four minutes passed and Sadio Mane restored parity when he lashed in a half-volley that the Bandits defence should have cut out. The game then looked to be heading for a replay before a clean sheet from Ederson meant that the Muppets lift the trophy and keep Dave waiting for silverware.

How they got there

Semi-finals

Mega Buck Bandits 2 v 0 Nil Satis Nisi Optimum (after 0-0 draw)

Real Muppets  5 v 2  Claymore Athletic FC (after two 1-1 draws)

Quarter-finals

Aardvark Abacus 1 v 2 Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

Claymore Athletic FC 2 v 1 Trusted By Millions

Real Muppets 4 v Stanley Athletic FC 0 (after 1-1 draw)

YTFIB 0 v 2 Mega Buck Bandits

1st Round

Claymore Athletic FC 2 v 1 Markian United (after 3-3 draw)

Fred West Landscape Gardening XI 3 v 5 Stanley Athletic FC

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum 1 v 0 San Dimas High School

Real Muppets 3 v 1 The Wateringhole Society (after 3-3 draw)

The Cow-Faced Juniors 0 v 2 Mega Buck Bandits

Trusted By Millions 3 v 0 Cheese Makers (after 1-1 draw)

Wheel Madrid 0 v 1 Aardvark Abacus

YTFIB 1 v 0 The Fabulous Artisans 

FA Cup Quarter-final draw

Cheese Makers v San Dimas High School

Real Muppets v Wheel Madrid

The Fabulous Artisans v Stanley Athletic FC

Trusted By Millions v The Wateringhole Society

The three former winners all kept apart. Games to be played midweek 2-4 February.

Week 15 Results - Six points cover top half

Aardvark Abacus 1 v 2 San Dimas High School

Cheese Makers 0 v 3 The Wateringhole Society

Claymore Athletic FC 0 v 1 Trusted By Millions

Fred West Landscape Gardening XI 2 v 1 Real Muppets

Mega Buck Bandits 3 v 2 The Cow-Faced Juniors

Stanley Athletic FC 2 v 1 Markian United

The Fabulous Artisans 3 v 2 YTFIB

Wheel Madrid 4 v 0 Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Aardvark Abacus	15	9	2	4	39	28	11	29
2	Fred West Landscape Gardening XI	15	7	6	2	38	31	7	27
3	Stanley Athletic FC	15	8	3	4	28	25	3	27
4	The Fabulous Artisans	15	8	2	5	30	34	-4	26
5	Mega Buck Bandits	15	7	3	5	25	23	2	24
6	The Wateringhole Society	15	7	2	6	47	30	17	23
7	The Cow-Faced Juniors	15	7	2	6	33	25	8	23
8	Trusted By Millions	15	6	5	4	28	26	2	23
9	Wheel Madrid	15	6	3	6	41	38	3	21
10	San Dimas High School	15	6	3	6	19	26	-7	21
11	Real Muppets	15	5	4	6	38	31	7	19
12	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	15	6	1	8	24	26	-2	19
13	YTFIB	15	4	4	7	28	29	-1	16
14	Cheese Makers	15	5	1	9	22	33	-11	16
15	Markian United	15	4	1	10	21	43	-22	13
16	Claymore Athletic FC	15	3	2	10	22	35	-13	11

Halfway through the season with eight points covering the top ten. That’s chiefly because tenth place San Dimas turned over the league leading Aardvarks 2-1. Willy Boly put me ahead just before the break, Semi Ajax’s header made it two seven minutes after half-time and Ady could only reply with a spectacular hooked effort from Tanguy Ndombele. That result meant a few teams could close in on the top, starting with Fred who beat the Muppets 2-1. Young striker Fabio Silva calmly side-footed the Gardeners in front on 38 minutes and that looked might it might be the winner until Raheem Sterling picked out the top corner from a free-kick to equalise for Ryan. Fred’s winner came from a Timothy Cassagne clean.

Stanley also won 2-1 to stay third. Aaron’s team trailed for a long time to Markian, Harry Kane with an great shot from the edge of the edge of the D on 40 minutes, but Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell got cleans to swing the result in Aaron’s direction. The Artisans are up to fourth after coming from two down to beat YTFIB 3-2. Julian led thanks to two goals in four second half minutes from Ilkay Gundogan and David McGoldrick before Mason Mount smashed in on 78 minutes to reduce the deficit. The Artisans won with cleans from Kyle Walker and Jonny Evans.

Mega Bucks jumped over the CFJs in the table with a 3-2 win over those opponents. Michail Antonio stuck out a leg to put Dave ahead on nine minutes but the the coup de grace came from a P-E Aubameyang second half brace before the CFJs found two cleans. The Wateringhole Society are the league’s top scorers and put three past Cheese Makers this week. Neil Maupay finished off a great team move with a tap-in after 17 minutes and the game was up for the Cheese when Harvey Barnes finished off a breakaway deep in second half injury time. Rob Holding added a clean to make it three.

John Stones watched from the stands as Claymore went down 1-0 to Trusted. The only goal came early, Serge Aurier heading in from a corner, which means that the champions are just six points off of the summit. Biggest winners of the week were Wheel Madrid who dispatched Nil Satis 4-0. James Maddison smashed into the roof of the net from an angle on 37 minutes and David Luiz, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thiago Silva added cleans to give the score a one-sided look.