UCL DIV 1 WEEKLY ROUND UP 

SATURDAY 23RD OCTOBER AND MID WEEK

Again we have new leaders with Kimberley MWFC returning to top spot after defeating Lutterworth Athletic 5 nil at the Stag on Tuesday. This followed a fine comeback win in the FA Vase on Saturday against Studley.

Aylestone were also involved in the Vase Saturday and progressed through to the next round with a comfortable 4 nil home win over Wednesfield. They had no mid week game.

Hucknall won again on the Saturday 3 nil at home to Ingles who were reduced to 10 men in the first half. Hucknall remain in third spot level with Aylestone but having played a game more. It was Hucknall's 5th league win in a row.

The two teams just below are on Similar runs.

Radford in 4th have won 4 in a row but bowed out of the Vase on Saturday in a home defeat to Boldmere St Michaels. Radford are 3 points behind Hucknall with a game in hand.

Hinckley have responded well to a heavy home defeat inflicted by Hucknall and have also won the last five league games remarkably scoring 4 in every game. They are 6 points behind Hucknall with 2 games in hand.

Just outside the play off places are Belperr United who had no midweek game and bowed out of the Vase on Sunday with a 2 1 home defeat to Rugby Town.

Belper have only played 13 games and have games in hand on all the teams above them and are very much in touch with the teams above them.

At the bottom Borrowash suffered another defeat at home to Hinckley to remain bottom on 4 points. Graham Street had no league game and bowed out of the Vase 4 0 at home to Litchfield on Saturday. They remain 2nd bottom on 5 points.

Blackstones also lost again to remain 3rd bottom.

There is a 5 point gap to 4th bottom Bourne Town who had no league game. Clifton above them had a good 4 2 away win at Gedling MWFC on Saturday to pull away from the bottom 3.

Enjoy your football this weekend where ever it may be.

Hucknall Hope To Spook St Andrews

 HUCKNALL TOWN V ST ANDREWS

UCL DIV 1 SAT 30TH OCTOBER 21 3 PM KO

MATCH PREVIEW

St Andrews are the visitors to Watnall Road this Saturday looking to cement their place in the top 5 and put pressure on the two teams above them.

St Andrews themselves will have ambitions of making the play off spots and had a good start to the season indeed heading the table a couple of times but their challenge is in serious danger of falling apart after recent results.

At the moment they lie 10th in the table playing 16 winning 7 drawing 2 and losing 7 with a GD of plus 8.

They started of winning therir first three league fixtures by the same score 4 nil to be one of the early pace setters. A draw and a win followed before they tasted defeat for the first time losing 5 nil at Belper United.

They responded by winning the next 2 games both 3 1 before losing at Kirby Muxloe after being 2 nil up.

A decent win on penalties at Clipstone in the FA Vase followed before a 4 1 win at home to Holwell Sports and at this point St Andrews were very much in the mix.

In 8 games since then their have been defeats to Kimberley, Hinckley, Ingles, Dunkirk and Saffron Dynamo in the league plus a vase exit at division rivals Birstall United. The only point gained was courtesy of a 2 2 draw at Gedling. They were leading in the home game with Bourne but that game was abandoned by the officials after Bourne had to many players sin binned at one time for the match to continue.

So Hucknall will be looking to add to their woes and will be feeling confident after winning 5 league games and a Notts Senior cup game at Clifton in midweek to make it 6 wins from 6.

Their League record stands at played 17 winning 11 drawing 3 and losing 3 with a GD of plus 24.

Manager Andy Graves will have to make at least one change as Sam Sims is unavailable for this one.

Should be a decent game.

Keep Safe all

HUCKNALL TOWN V INGLES

UCL DIV 1 SATURDAY 23RD OCTOBER 21 3 PM KO

MATCH PREVIEW

Another Leicestershire side visit Watnall Road this Saturday. Ingles who groundshare with landlords Shepshed Dynamo are the visitors. No strangers to the Yellows though as they are old EMCL sparring partners who always provide stern opposition.

Ingles have had a pretty mixed season so far lying in 16th of the 23 teams in the division with a record of played 15 winning 6 drawing 2 and losing 7 and a goal difference of minus 4.

They started off the season quite well. Unbeaten in their first 4 games with creditable draws against the current league leaders Aylestone and Harrowby and wins against the current bottom two sides.

They then lost to Belper at home and this triggered 7 league defeats in a row. Sandwiched in between was a 4 1 victory over Blackstones in the FA Vase a feat they repeated in the home league to end the losing streak.

This in turn has sparked a run of 4 successive victories which have all been at home so they are back on form. 

They also have have the services of striker Billy Clarke who lies third in the division scoring charts on 15 goals behind Birstall's Paul Pallett on 19 and the remarkable stats of Aylestone's Shay Brennan who now has 37 goals from 16 games. 

Hucknall are on a fine run themselves and are also on a run of 4 successive victories.

Their league record reads as played 16 winning 10 drawing 3 and losing 3 with a GD of plus 21 to remain in third spot.

They also have a striker on form in Craig Westcarr  who has scored in the last 5 successive games.

Should be a decent game which I will unfortunately miss due to work commitments.

Enjoy and keep safe

UCL DIV 1 ROUND UP 

SATURDAY 16TH OCTOBER AND MIDWEEK

Once again we have new leaders with Aylestone Park taking over at the top with a ten goal demolition of bottom side Borrowash and a 4 nil away victory at Kirby Muxloe. The incredible goalscoring record of Shay Brennan was further enhanced with 5 in the Saturday game and 3 more on Tuesday night taking his tally to 37 from just 16 games.

Previous leaders suffered only their second defeat at the hands of Harrowby on Saturday and were playing in the Notts Senior Cup on Tuesday where they responded well by beating fellow division rivals Dunkirk 7 1. Luis Rose returned to the club by scoring 5 of them.

Hucknall Town remained in third place despite having no midweek game. The Yellows had a comfortable 5 1 win at Blackstones on Saturday.

Radford joined them on 33 points by beating Belper to maintain their rich run of form. Belper like Kimberley suffered only their second defeat and missed a chance to close the gap on the top four though they still have games in hand. 

Radford also won on the Saturday beating Kirby Muxloe at home whilst Belper beat West Bridgford at home to move into 5th spot.

After their victory over then leaders Kimberley, Harrowby came from 2 goals down at half time to defeat Blackstones at home to lie just below the play off spots.

Birstall's recent loss of form continued as they drew at Graham Street and lost at home to Holwell on Tuesday which dropped them to 7th.

At the bottom Borrowash lost their two games and stay on 4 points. Neighbours Graham Street are just above on 5 and Blackstone make up the bottom 3 on 6 points. There is a five point gap above them where Clifton are 4th bottom after picking up their second win of the season at home to Barrow Town.

UCL DIV ! Round Up

UCL DIV 1 WEEKLY ROUND UP

SATURDAY 9TH OCTOBER AND MIDWEEK FIXTURES

The Kimberley MWFC bandwagon keeps on rolling at the top of the division with two more victories. A 1 nil away victory at Saffron Dynamo on Saturday was followed by a 3 nil home victory against Borrowash on Tuesday night. Kimberley also recorded their 4th clean sheet in a row and have opened up a 5 point gap at the top with 14 games played and 35 points on the board.

Aylestone Park had no game on Saturday but had a 5 1 victory at home to Bourne Town on Tuesday night to sit in second spot with 30 points from 14 games. Shay Brennan added two more goals to his tally which has now gone up to 29 goals for the season so far.

Hucknall Town joined Aylestone on 30 points in third spot with an inferior goal difference but have played 15 games. Hucknall recorded two victories, at home to Holwell on Saturday and away at Graham Street on Wednesday night where the hosts pushed them all the way. Craig Westcarr scored in both games to move into double figures for the season.

Radford in fourth had a 1 nil victory at Birstall on Saturday but had no midweek fixture.

Birstall dropped to 5th as a result of that defeat and had to be content with a draw at home to lutterworth on Tuesday.

Belper United lie in a false position in 6th as they are now a point below the top 5 but have at least 3 games in hand over the teams above having only played 11.  Belper have only lost one game like the leaders Kimberley having picked up 2 more victories both away at Barrow and Saffron Dynamo scoring 8 goals in the process.

Hinckley lie in 7th spot 3 points behind the top 5 but have only played 13. They also scored 8 in two away victories at Harrowby and Clifton.

At the bottom Borrowash currently have the wooden spoon after the defeat at Kimberley and a home defeat to fellow strugglers Clifton which moved the victors to fifth from bottom.

Neighbours Graham Street occupy second from bottom but had an encouraging draw away at Dunkirk Saturday and will feel unlucky to get nothing from the game against Hucknall after a battling second half display.

Blackstones are third bottom after defeat at Ingles and a draw at home to Barrow on Wednesday.

Bourne town are sandwiched between Blackstones and Clifton after defeats at Aylestone and Kirby Muxloe shipping 9 goals over the two games.

Enjoy your Saturday game where ever that may be.

 

BLACKSTONES V HUCKNALL TOWN

UCL DIV 1 SAT 16TH OCTOBER 21 KO 15.00

MATCH PREVIEW

Fresh from Wednesdays bruising victory at Graham Street Hucknall are on the road again to another struggling side. Wednesday proved that even teams at the bottom end can perform if you let your standards drop.

Blackstones hail from Stamford and we played them in a FA Cup qualifying tie a lot of years ago.

They have a league record of played 13 winning 1 drawing 3 and losing 9 and a goal difference of minus 34.

Blackstones had a terrible start losing their first 6 league games before claiming their only victory away at bottom club Borrowash Victoria. In the six league games since they have drawn 3 two at home against Clifton and Barrow Town and a decent away point at Saffron Dynamo so have improved compared to early season form.

Hucknall's record now stands at played 15 winning 9 drawing 3 losing 3 and a goal difference of plus 17 to lie in third spot. 

I understand that several players will be missing through various reasons and walking wounded from Wednesday so manager Andy Graves will have to juggle things around a bit.

Can't make it Saturday so good luck lads and safe travels to all. 

THERE ARE STILL SEATS AVAILABLE

Transport available for the game v Blackstones who are based in Stamford on Saturday 16th October the bus will leave the ground at 11.00am and back approx 6.00pm, seats are priced £10 - call the club on 07572473037 to book your seat.

Links:

Address Blackstones FC

Linclon Road

Stamford

Lincolnshire

PE9 1UU

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcblackstones

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackstonesfc

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstones_F.C.

Yellows Bruised and Battered but Victorious

GRAHAM STREET PRIMS 1 HUCKNALL TOWN 2 

UCL DIV 1 WEDS 13TH OCTOBER 21 19.45 KO

MATCH REPORT

TEAMS

GRAHAM STREET: 1 HARRIS 2 POPLAR 3 GORBERT 4 LYNAM 5 DAWSON 6 BIRKINSHAW 7 THOMAS 8 BRUCE 9 FELL 10 BAYLES 11 SEALE

SUBS; BAILEY, BOYALL, WILKS, CRANSTONE, MCDOWELL

HUCKNALL TOWN: 1 JAKE PEARSON 2 COURTNEY BARTLEY 3 OLI BROWN 4 SAM SIMS 5 AARON SHORT (CAPT) 6 LENNY JENKINS 7 JOE BUTLER 8 JORDAN PHILLIPS 9 CRAIG WESTCARR 10 JOE ASHURST 11 GRANT RYAN

SUBS: LOUIS KINNERLEY, MICHAEL BANISTER, TOM HUBBARD, JAMIE CRAWFORD, AARON LAMB

OFFICIALS KARL BAINBRIDGE, PAUL DIXON, OLIVER THORNHILL

 Hucknall came back down the A 52 with the three points but were left with several players injured after a bruising encounter with Graham Street who will feel they deserved something from the game after a battling second half display.

Hucknall started very brightly with a quick tempo with Westcarr's early free kick forcing an easy save from Harris though he nearly spilled it.

The hosts had their first chance on 6 mins Fell heading Gorbert's cross wide.

A taste of things to come came on 10 minutes when Bayles was booked for a late challenge on Sims.

Hucknall then began to dominate the half as Ryan's effort was saved and then Short's was deflected wide for a corner.

Hucknall thought they had taken the lead when Ashurst slotted home from 8 yards only for the linesman to raise his flag. Questionable as the initial ball was cut back and Ashurst was behind Joe Butler from his cross cum shot.

Hucknall didn't have to wait long for the opener and it came courtesy of a great penalty by Westcarr after Sims had been wiped out in the box by Burkinshaw who received a Yellow.

Ashurst had a drive which went well wide before the hosts responded with a Bruce shot which Pearson blocked.

Butler went close on 34, his shot just skimming the post and then Phillips had a crack from distance over the bar as Hucknall continued to press. 

Hucknall doubled their lead just before half time when captain Short provided a finish to a Westcarr free kick though the shot took a wicked deflection.

Hucknall's twitter account mistakenly put the HT score down as FT and maybe that might have been a preferable option. Given Prim's league position and how comfortable the first half had been for Town many were perhaps thinking it was a case of how many but it certainly didn't turn out that way.

Had Short's header just after half time gone in maybe it would have been a case of how many but Harris saved well and then Joe Butler got a nasty looking injury and was down for a long time on the touchline and had to be replaced by Michael Banister.

Wether the game plan changed I really don't know but Hucknall started playing deeper and deeper back. Prims had definitely improved from the first half showing and began to press from this point on.

Jordan Phillips then went in the book as Hucknall responded to the physical side of Prims.

On the hour mark Prims should have scored but were denied by a brilliant goal line clearance from Oli Brown.

Hucknall were reduced to 10 men for ten minutes as Ryan received a yellow and was sin binned for dissent as Hucknall got frustrated. They certainly were rattled andd needlessly kept giving the ball away or booting it to no one imparticular.

Dawson then put a header over Pearson's crossbar before Banister saw yellow for a foul on Bayles.

Hucknall tried to recompose with Westcarr's volley deflected wide and Phillip's header which went just over.

Boyall then skimmed the crossbar with a shot for the hosts.

Manager Andy Graves then made a double substitution with Ryan being replaced by Hubbard and Jordan Phillips by Jamie Crawford maybe because of the red card risk in such a physical game.

The changes seemed to help Town and Jenkins headed just wide.

Short was the next player to join the Yellow card club for a tackle on Boyall.

The host's finally got their reward when Lee Fell pulled a goal back on 88 mins leaving town with a couple of minutes and an excruciating period of added on time to play.

Joe Ashurst then went into the book as Hucknall again lacked composure.

Tom Hubbard then received the ball and at long last common sense took a hold as he took the ball down to the corner and played out time.

A wins a win but huge credit must go to the hosts who will feel they deserved something after their battling second half display. 

Next up is a trip to another Struggling side Blackstones and though we won maybe lessons can be learned from that second half. Hope the injuries aren't as bad as they appeared.

Cranstone then went close for the hosts with a header at the back post.

Jamie Crawford then received a lengthy treatment for a leg injury.

Hucknall Looking to be Prim and Proper tonight

GRAHAM STREET PRIMS V HUCKNALL TOWN

UCL DIV 1 WEDS 13TH OCTOBER 21 19.45 KO

MATCH PREVIEW

Hucknall return back up the A 52 hoping for another three points which they got from neighbours Borrowash Victoria just over a month ago.  Borrowash are the only team below Prims and are the only team that Prims have beaten in the league in what has been a disappointing start for both clubs.

Prims did pick up their 4th point of the season in a decent looking draw at Dunkirk bearing in mind that the Yellows lost at home to their opponents only 2 weeks ago. This leaves them with a league record of played 13 winning 1 drawing 1 and losing 11 with a minus 33 goal difference.

They did have a moral boosting FA Vase victory over Step 5 Pinchbeck United away.

Hucknall will surely be favourites for the win tonight to keep up with the rest of the top 5. Aylestone and Kimberley both won last night and the Yellows are now 8 points behind the leaders on the same number of games and 3 points behind Aylestone also on the same number of games played. Radford have no midweek game and Birstall dropped points in a home draw last night. Belper have moved into 6th having only played 11 games and lie a point behind town with 3 games in hand. Hinckley also had a useful win to be 3 points behind Town with a game in hand.

Hucknall's league record now stands at played 14 winning 8 drawing 3 and losing 3 and they will be looking to avoid a slip up tonight and on Saturday when they visit third from bottom Blackstones.

Safe travels to all travelling tonight I will see thee there