Premier Division
Metheringham FC 7
Travellers Rest 3
Metheringham hosted Travellers Rest looking to avenge an opening day defeat on the Cowpaddle. To say this was a game of two halves was an understatement. Metheringham totally dominated the first period but found themselves behind at the break after scoring first inside two minutes. The goal came from the head of Ben Garrick from a Jayden Driver cross from the left. Driver then went on to create chance after chance for Meg but the strikers either failed to hit the target or were thwarted by Travellers’ shot stopping keeper Dean Hanson. The woodwork also came to the visitors’ rescue twice as in truth Meg should have been six or seven up. Then with five minutes of the half to go Travellers levelled with a counter-attack through the middle, holding off a couple of challenges before stroking the ball beyond keeper Wayne Greaves. Adding insult to injury Travellers then went 2-1 up two minutes later when Meg failed to clear their lines and the ball was tapped home from close range.
After “a bit of a chat” at the break Meg opened the second half in positive mood and were level inside five minutes. A diagonal ball from right to left found Ben Garrick and his cross saw Joe Smith head home with a diving header from 12 yards. Now in the ascendancy Meg continued to pepper the visitors goal and saw two further efforts come back off the woodwork together with several more last ditch saves from keeper Hanson. Meg took the lead for a second time on the hour with Smith tucking away a Miles Lynch free kick for his 100th club goal in only 125 games. Chances squandered in the first half were now being converted with Smith bagging his hat-trick in the space of eight minutes, chasing on to a Ben Garrick through ball, to make it 4-2. Five minutes later Garrick bagged his second and Meg’s fifth from a Mark Jordan through ball. A sixth came on 70 minutes from Jayden Driver after two efforts in the same attack were charged down by keeper Hanson. Travellers then pulled a goal back after confusion between Meg keeper and defender but the home side had the last word after a sweeping move and some one touch passes around the visitors’ box, culminated in Lynch setting up Smith for his fourth goal of the game.
Division One
Hykeham Memorial FC 5
Lincoln Imp FC 3
Hykeham Memorial FC kept in touch with the leading pack in the division despite Callum Ranyard hitting a hat-trick against them for the visitors.
Division Two
Dynamo Varsity 2
North Lindum Hawks 1
This proved to be a tight affair which saw the home side just edge over the line. After a long Christmas break Varsity started poorly and were soon behind when a loose Paul Norris back pass was punished by North Lindum Hawks who took the lead. Chances were shared by both teams as the half progressed with Josh Hayes missing a penalty for the home side.
Dynamo began the second half on the front foot and soon levelled when Vincent Van Doninck found strike partner Simon Cotton who steered home the equaliser. Both teams then began trading chances but a couple of positive changes by Gary Falkinder lead to Varsity getting their noses in front when substitute Adam Tollerton played the pass of the day to fellow substitute Sean Melton who finished with aplomb. Van Doninck had a chance late on to put the game to bed when he found himself one on one with the keeper but a good save from the keeper meant a tense last five minutes ensued but Varsity hung on. The Varsity man of the match on the day was Daniel Barnes who was commanding at the back.
Greenbank FC 2
Red Lion Dunston 6
The game kicked off and both teams soon got into their stride with Greenbank doing most of the attacking. The Dunston defence were being pulled from side to side but dug in resolutely to keep the home side at bay. However the game changed on its head with two penalties being awarded to Dunston in the 15th and 22nd minutes, both being despatched by Paul Masters who sent the keeper the wrong way on both occasions. Dunston keeper Steve Brumpton had already made a couple of excellent saves but he had no chance in the 26th minute when a fantastic strike from the Greenbank captain left him rooted to the spot. A crazy 6 minutes saw Dunston playing with quick breakaways and leaving the Greenbank defence exposed. A goal in the 32minute from Luke Williamson after being fed by Greg Brown started the spell. 3 minutes later an own goal extended it to four followed by a fifth with Paul Masters getting his hat trick in the 38th minute. Dunston held Greenbank at bay for the remainder of the half to go into the break 5-1 to the good.
In the second half Greenbank came out firing with a slight change of formation and once again the Dunston defence had to work overtime. Dunston extended their lead on the hour with a goal from Greg Brown and in the 70th minute another great strike from the Greenbank player pulled it back to 6-2. The home side continued to seek to close the gap but the visitors remained well organised and constantly looked to attack on the break. The game finished without any further goals to leave the final score 6-2 to Dunston.
Division Three
Cherry Willingham FC 18
Newtoft Terriers 0
The home side registered the biggest score of the day thanks mainly to a double hat-trick each from Mark Pitchford and Brendan Foster-Matthieson. Jordan Brown chipped in with a brace and individual goals from James Otter, Steve Brammer, Liam Barker, and Aaron Bee completed the scoring to register the home sides biggest win of the season.
Fox & Hounds 1
Turks Head 2
Goals from winger Tom O’Rourke and substitute Josh Leay were enough for the visitors to take all 3 points in this Division Three clash. Turks Head were out for revenge as it was Fox & Hounds who eliminated them from the Jock Mitchell Trophy on penalties earlier in the season. The game itself saw 2 contrasting styles. Turks enjoying most of the possession while the home side sat back and tried to employ a more direct style. Chances in the first half were few and far between, Fox & Hounds’ sole striker managed to get on the end of a long kick up field and good work saw him manage to get a shot away which was deflected away for a corner. Up at the other end veteran midfielder Steve Foley, who has recently been employed in a more forward role, crashed a spectacular volley narrowly over from the edge of the area. So it was not a great surprise that the deadlock was still to be broken at half time.
In the second half the game continued in much the same fashion, both sides cancelling each other out but with Turks looking the more likely to score. And so on the 70 minute mark a neat through ball was slotted past the onrushing home goalkeeper by O’Rourke for his 5th goal of the season to give the visitors the lead. A flurry of substitutions for both sides followed as the home team put on former Turks favourite Aaron Davis to play two up front and the visitors introduced midfielder Josh Leay who promptly scored after a shot from distance deflected in off him. They all count! The visitors were looking to shut the game out at this late stage but Fox threw caution to wind and committed more numbers forward, eventually scoring a consolation goal pretty much on the fulltime whistle.
Lincoln RNA 1
Ingleby Arms (Marton) FC 3
After a long Christmas break it was clear one or maybe two Ingleby players had made the most of the twelve days of Christmas! Despite this Adam Warriner started up front and his long throws caused problems throughout the game but Ingleby failed to press home this advantage. Carl Kitchinson opened the scoring with A long range shot. Widge, and Harvey Benson went close but the RNA keeper was on sparkling form. A slip from Ollie Pratt allowed RNA back into the game as the resulting shot slid under keeper Bell. Both made amends a minute later however with Bell smothering a shot and Pratt diving and chesting the follow up shot around the post. With Carrick, Stevie Pratt and Harvey Benson making up the defensive line a solid base was set.
With Ingleby failing to make their earlier dominance count the second half was a tense affair. Substitutions gave Ingleby more attacking options but it took a while to have the desired effect. James Warriner’s pace and skill was causing problems however the game hinged on a disputed goal. An RNA player went down after a tackle that was not a foul and Ingleby carried on playing and scored. The RNA players then compounded the situation and their man of the match, their goalkeeper, was sent off when he verbally abused the referee. Kai Benson showed his strength for the visitors and Harvey Benson finished the game off with a clinical finish.
The following quote was submitted by Ingleby as part of their match report “ It was good to see the League Secretary doing the rounds, the committee have a good understanding of the local game and all teams benefit from this. Teams and players must respect the referees and each other, I would challenge all players (who complain about referees) to take the referees course and referee a game on a week when their team doesn’t have a fixture”
League Secretary’s reply “Thank you for your comments about the League Committee. All Committee members work very hard for the good of the League and all who play in it and to hear positive comments such as these is satisfying. What a good idea about players and refereeing, one that I suspect wouldn’t get far if we tried to promote it but a great idea none the less”!
Division Four
The Blue Lion 0
The Shed FC 3
In a game that the Blue Lion were desperately hoping to register their first ever win in the League they were left disappointed when they put in a below par performance that saw the visitors leave with the all important 3 points. The Shed opened the scoring within the first 20 seconds of play after a defender slipped giving away the ball in the process. The game then continued with the visitors having the better of the chances until just before half time when the Blue Lion conceded again from a counter attack. This saw the Lions go into half time 2 goals down.
Not to be deterred however the Lion’s were raring to go for the second half and they enjoyed long periods of possession domination in the second half without managing to convert any of this possession into goals. After a dominant second half The Shed once again caught the Blue Lion on the counter and scored a very well finished goal to end the game.
The Lion boys want to give a shout out to James Brewin in goal for his performance and achievement after putting in a great performance and setting the club record for the least goals conceded in a competitive game to date. The Blue Lion were disappointed but know that the result will come soon!
Ian Stephenson