Audax Italiano 0-0 CD Antofagasta ( att : 470 ) – 2021 Chile Primera Division

November 14, 2021

These diaries featured CD Antofagasta in January this year as the delayed 2020 season in Chile was coming to its conclusion. At that time Antofagasta were contenders for a top four finish and a place in the COPA Libertadores, but the defeat at Curico Unido that day plus subsequent results ultimately resulted in a 6^th place finish and qualification instead for the second tier COPA Sudamerica.

Ironically, Antofagasta’s COPA Sudamerica’s campaign was short-lived as they were drawn against fellow Chilean side Huachipato, and were eliminated 0-4 on aggregate at the start of the season.

However, Antofagasta recovered from that early set-back and have had another decent season, going into this week’s round of fixtures in 6^th place, and whilst a top 3 finish and qualification for the COPA Libertadores looked unlikely being 9 points adrift of third place with just 5 games left to play, they were still in a strong position for a top 7 finish and a third ever qualification for the COPA Sudamerica.

Coach Hector Tapia had been replaced at the conclusion of the 2020 season and his replacement, Juan Jose Ribera lasted until the end of September, when he left by “mutual consent” after a 1-3 home defeat at home to Union La Calera saw Antofagasta in 10^th place in the table. Caretaker 29 year old coach Diego Reveco has since achieved a 4-2-2 record to take the side upto 6^th position, and they possessed a 3-7-4 away record.

Their squad from the 2020 season was, by Chilean standard’s, relatively unchanged. Defender Branco Ampuero left to join Universidad Catolica and fellow centre-back Nicolas Penailiilo moved to join a side in the Argentinian second division. Midfielder Gonzalo Freitas moved to Uruguayan side Penarol but is now with Mexican side Mazatlan, and forward Carlos Munoz signed for Chilean side O’Higgins.

In their place midfielder Diego Orellana joined from relegated Deportes Iquique, defender Andres Robles came from Universidad de Concepcion, full-back Jens Buss joined from Curido Unico, midfielder Lucas Ocampo came from Uruguay, and centre-back Nicolas Demartini came from Argentina.

Argentinian forward Tobias Figueroa was the top scorer with 9 goals, with Venezuelan international Eduard Bello the next highest with 6 goals.

Audex Italiano were founded in 1910 and are 4 times national champions. They have a strong rivalry with other sides in the capital Santiago founded by immigrants ie Union Espanola and Palestino, and they play in the La Florida district of Santiago, with home being the 12,000 capacity Bicentenario La Florida stadium. Like the Italian national side, their first choice kit is Azure Blue shirts, white shorts.  However, today's fixture was to be played in the El Teniente stadium, in Rancagua, 85 kilometres south of Santiago and which is the home of Primera Division side O'Higgins.

A 2-1 win over La Serena on the last day of the 2020 season avoided relegation for Audax and saw them finish in 13^th place. Their season was possibly affected by the drink-driving tragedy caused by star striker Rodrigo Holgado running over a motorcyclist during lockdown, and the Argentine controversially got off with a light sentence to be available for the start of the new season. However, Holgado departed after playing just 9 games, with 3 goals, to join Argentinian side Gimnasia de la Plata.

The top scorer for Audax this season was Argentine forward Lautero Palacios with 9 goals, followed by winger Joaquin Montecinos on 7.

Centre-back Carlos Labrin won 3 caps in 2010 and had a spell in Italy with Palermo, and 36 year old left back Roberto Cereceda won 32 caps for Chile.

Audax have had a superb season so far, going into this weekend’s round in 3rd position, 3 points ahead of 4^th placed Union Calera, and in pole position for COPA Libertadores qualification.

Audax made just one change from their starting line-up from their last match, a 2-1 win at Everton, with Nicolas Aedo coming in for Conejo. There were two non Chilean in the line-up, with Mexican defensive midfielder Ivan Ochoa in addition to Palacios. Uruguayan centre-back Manuel Fernandez and Argentine striker Federico Gonzalez were on the bench. Antofagasta also made just one change from their last match with Sebastien Ballesteros replacing Cristofer Salas.

Kick-off was 12.30 local time, with temperatures around 23 degrees on a sunny afternoon. Limited numbers of spectators are now allowed into stadiums in Chile, and all those visible were wearing face masks. The visitors were playing in their change strip of red and black halves, with black shorts.

Bet365, who were live streaming the match, made Audax 17/20 favourites, with Antofagasta at 16/5 and the draw at 13/5.

Both sides made bright starts to the game, with the ball moving quickly from end to end with neat passing and good movement. However, neither side was able to make much of an impression in the final third with the only moment of danger in the opening 20 minutes being Antofagasta defender Robles making a good block after a good through ball had released Palacios down the right-hand channel. Earlier Ocampo had volleyed wide for Antofagasta after a quick counter attack.

A water break was taken after 24 minutes due to the heat and Audax pressed immediately after the resumption with Cerceda’s low cross being cleared at the expense of a corner by Demartini, and from the set-piece Palacios shot narrowly wide after the ball fell to him beyond the far post.

Antofagasta responded with a dangerous cross of their own, Ballesteros’ effort from the left forced Torres into a sliding block, and after a bit of a scramble, Audax were able to clear their lines. A minute later Figueroa latched onto long ball but optimistically chose to shoot from a tight angle and was well wide with his effort.

The best chance of the match so far arrived in the 37^th minute. Bosso played an inside ball to Henrique, whose left footed shot looked to be heading into the far corner until Demartini again was able to clear for a corner.

The last action of the half came in the second minute of added time. Rojas played a threatening chip into the Antofagasta 6 yard area, but keeper Gonzalez bravely got to the ball first to punch away before colliding with both his own player Robles, and Audax forward Palacios. Tempers flared briefly and Robles and Henrique were shown yellow cards.

With the game score-less at half-time, 57% of the possession had been in favour of Audax, but there had been no shots on target.

Audax made two changes during the interval with Nicolas Fernandez almost making an immediate impact beating two defenders on the right, but his low cross reached Henrique beyond the far post, who could only shoot into the side netting.

Audax continued to hold the initiative and Henrique made a dangerous run towards the edge of the Antofagasta penalty area before being tripped. However, he was alert to the opportunity and whilst the defence was napping, he quickly played the free-kick to the unmarked Fuentes. Unfortunately for the home side Gonzalez made a brave block, although the referee did subsequently show a yellow card to Cuadra for the trip.

In the 59^th minute, Bosso headed narrowly wide from a free-kick before the game’s potential turning point occurred in the 63^rd minute, when Cuadra slid in to scythe down Esparaza near the half-way line to receive a second yellow card.

Audax dominated the rest of the match, and it needed a good defensive header to concede a corner after a cross from the left.

In the 77^th minute Fuentes forced a fine diving save by Gonzalez to push his 20 yard effort past the post. Thereafter the  visitors looked to be comfortably holding on for a point until a frantic five minutes of added on time.

First, Torres headed a free-kick onto the top of the bar, from which Gonzalez leapt athletically to gather the rebound. In the 3^rd extra minute Esparza and Fernandez combined to release the overlapping Fernandez. His cross to the near post was flicked on to the unmarked Carmona, who could only blaze over the bar from 4 yards.

It got worse for Audax. In the 5^th added minute, a cross from the left found Torres 3 yards out, but the centre-back completely mis-kicked in front of goal, the ball squirmed off for a goal-kick and the chance was gone.  

 Audax Italiano  ; Munoz – Rojas ( Fuentes ), Labrin, Torres, Cereceda – Alvarez ( Esparza ), Bosso, Ochoa ( Carmona ) – Aedo ( N. Fernandez ), Palacios, Henriquez ( F. Gonzales )

CD Antofagasta :  Gonzalez – Buss, Robles, Demartini, Torres ( Cordero ) – Orellana, Cuadra, Ocampo ( Ledezma ) – Uribe ( Callao ), Figueroa, Ballesteros ( Salas ) 

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzdxCYXlb8A

Chinnor 36-41 Plymouth Albion ( att : 321 ) – 2021/22 National League One

November 13, 2021

After a week’s break, round 10 saw Plymouth Albion make the 420 miles or so round trip to visit Chinnor, which by their standards is one of their shorter journeys of the season !

Plymouth have a rich history at the highest levels of English rugby, and after the formation of professional leagues in England, they spent 13 seasons in the second level, until financial problems led to their relegation at the end of the 2014/15 season. Since then, Plymouth have finished at the top end of National League One. In 2015/16 they would have finished 4^th but for a 30 point penalty for entering administration, they came second in 2016/17, albeit 30 points behind champions Hartpury College who went through the whole season with a 100% record, with subsequent placements being 3^rd, 5^th and 6^th .

Plymouth were the second best supported club in the league in 2019/20, with an average home attendance of 1,005. The current season has so far been below expectations though, and Plymouth went into today’s fixture in second bottom position in the table, with two wins and six losses from the eight games played.

The first 5 matches of the season were all lost : Rosslyn Park ( H 8-37 ), Bishop’s Stortford ( A 19-32 ), Rams ( H 19-26 ), Sale ( A 28-37 ) and Cinderford ( A 12-36 ). However, two consecutive victories were then registered, Birmingham Moseley ( H 34-12 ) and Blackheath ( A 36-30 ) before the winning run came to a halt with a home defeat to Caldy ( 7-26 ).

Looking at the Albion squad on their website, winger Alex Ducker was the leading try scorer for Redruth in National League Two South in 2016/17 win 24 tries, one of them memorably against Chinnor, where he ran the length of the field beating most of the Chinnor side in the process, and some of them twice !

Young front-row forwards Danny Southworth and Alex Norey are on loan from Exeter Chiefs, having previously had loan spells at Chinnor, with Southworth making 24 appearances between 2018-20 and Norey 8 appearances in the 2018/19 season.  However, neither player was in today’s matchday squad, with Southworth being recalled by Exeter to play in their Premiership Cup match against Bristol. Lock Shek Sheriff play three times for Chinnor in 2019 whilst on loan from London Scottish.

Chinnor’s first ever match in National League One resulted in a shock 26-11 win at Plymouth’s Brickfields stadium in September 2018, which announced they were to be taken seriously at this level, although Albion gained revenge with a 17-10 win on the last day of the season at Kingsey Road. The only other meeting between the two sides was in November 2019 when they played out a 10-10 draw in Plymouth with the return fixture being a victim of the pandemic.

After their disappointing loss at home to Cambridge as reported in these diaries, Chinnor subsequently had a morale-boosting 34-15 win at Tonbridge Juddians to move back up to 5^th in the table. Although they remain unbeaten away from home, they would be looking to improve on their poor 2-0-3 home form, and they were boosted of the return of fly-half and local boy Will Millett on loan after several seasons with Championship side Nottingham. Flanker Ben Manning was set to make his 150^th appearance for the club.

The weather at kick-off was dry with the temperature supposedly 12 degrees but it felt much colder, but fortunately the infamous Chinnor breeze was not very prevalent.

Referee Veryan Boscawen has been a regular to Kingsey Road, and with a Cornish name the home supporters were hoping that he wouldn’t look too favourably on the visitors from Devon !

Much to the delight of their sizeable travelling support, Plymouth started strongly, showing little sign of bus lag. They won a scrum penalty in the 5^th minute, which was kicked to the corner from which a penalty was awarded from the subsequent line-out and rolling maul. The process was repeated with another penalty won, after which their forwards battered the Chinnor line without reward, and ignoring winger Ducker all alone on the touch-line. Eventually, Chinnor conceded another penalty and Plymouth opted to take the easy three points on offer, with fly half Phil Jones giving them a 3-0 lead after 11 minutes.

Straight from the kick-off, Plymouth winger Shea Cornish breaking through the Chinnor line, and looked to be heading for an outstanding solo try until tackled just short of the line by Chinnor full-back James Bourton. However, Chinnor conceded yet another penalty, and with the referee keeping his cards in his pocket. Plymouth kicked again to the corner.

Chinnor stole the line-out but have cleared the immediate danger, Plymouth attacked again, this time left winger Ducker scythed through the Chinnor midfield, giving the impression of tackling being an optional extra, but after being tackled just short of the line, he was able to off-load to centre Jeremy To’a who dived over close to the posts. The simple conversion from Jones gave Plymouth a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes.

The restart from Chinnor was spilled by a Plymouth player and a penalty was conceded. After the kick to the corner an impressive drive from the line-out saw Fleckney award the try as the forwards stormed over the try line. Bourton’s conversion made it 7-10 after 19 minutes.

Plymouth responded by winning a penalty from the restart, but the line-out in the corner was deemed to be not straight. Chinnor’s attempt from the line-out was also not straight, but the referee award a free-kick to the home side.

Chinnor’s backs were finally given sight of the ball in the 23^rd minute but Bourton decided to ignore an overlap and go for the line himself, but he was tackled and the chance was gone. After a high tackle on Chinnor Sam Yawayawa, Chinnor kicked to the corner and after a strong run from Tuilagi, the ball was fed to centre George Gross, but he was tackled in the process of diving over the line and spilled the ball. However, Plymouth’s respite was brief and Chinnor ran back the clearance and another after drive from Tuilagi, the ball reached Bourton to score in the corner. A fabulous conversion from the touchline gave Chinnor a 14-10 lead after 30 minutes.

Plymouth quickly responded, and after winning another penalty, and several phases close to the Chinnor line, Ducker was eventually given the ball to step inside his marker to score. With the conversion missed, Plymouth lead 15-14 after 33 minutes.

The see-saw nature of the encounter continued and Ben Manning burst through the Plymouth defence after a line-out and a couple of phases, and the conversion close to the posts put Chinnor back into the lead, 21-15 with 36 minutes played.

Plymouth then dropped the ball in midfield and lock Oli Curry charged into the visitors 22. However, some illegal work at the ruck saw a yellow card brandished to Albion hooker Jamie Salter and Bourton kicked an easy penalty to increase Chinnor’s lead to 24-15 after 39 minutes.

The first half action wasn’t over though, and after Millet launched a touch-finder deep into Plymouth territory, winger Cornish did well to keep the ball in play and then set-off on a mazy run to the Plymouth 10 metre line. After the attack was halted by illegal means, Plymouth attempted to kick deep into the Chinnor half but failed to find touch, and the defensive clearance signaled the end of a breathtaking first-half, with Chinnor leading 24-15.

The second half started in an entertaining fashion as both sides launched their backs as the play moved end to end, but without troubling the scoreboard. Plymouth won another penalty, this time from a scrum, and from the subsequent line-out a cross-field kick looked to have put Cornish into the corner, but he was forced into touch by a timely tackle. Plymouth continued to press and their forwards rumbled ominously towards the Chinnor line. However, they lost control of the ball just short of the Chinnor line, which was passed out to Keiran Goss, who broke through one tackle and then ran the length of the field to score in the corner to give Chinnor the 4 try bonus point and a 29-15 lead after 53 minutes after the difficult conversion was missed.

Inevitably, Plymouth came back strongly and after a strong break by No 8 Herbie Stupple, full back Raumakita was bundled into touch close to the try line.

At this point Referee Boscawen required treatment for a hamstring injury and after a short delay he decided he was unable to continue and was replaced by one of the touch judges. Little did we know at the time, that this was to have a huge bearing on the result of the match.

Almost immediately, there was a huge knock-on by Plymouth in the Chinnor 22, but as most of the players stopped in anticipation of the obvious whistle, a couple of Plymouth players played on and Sheriff scored under the posts. With the conversion the score became 29-22, but even the Plymouth medic admitted he was embarrassed by that decision and even he would have given the knock-on. One of the spectators closed to me observed it was easy to see why he was a touch judge rather than a referee !

However, it didn’t seem to matter to much as after another Plymouth knock on was awarded, much to loud ironic cheers, Chinnor had a series of drives close to the Plymouth line, after which hooker Chilvers darted over to score. The Plymouth bench complained loudly that the grounding wasn’t clean, and they may have had a point. In any case, the conversion put the home side 36-22 ahead with just 17 minutes left to play.

A long Plymouth kick was touched down by Goss in the in-goal area and initially the referee awarded a drop-out on the 22 metre line, until the visitors pointed out it should be a drop-out from behind the try-line.

With 11 minutes left Tuilagi was shown a yellow card when the referee halted a flowing Plymouth move, although I have no idea what the offence was. The bizarre decisions continued as with Chinnor going backwards at a scrum, they were awarded a penalty, and with some dissent from the Plymouth pack they were penalized 10 yards.

With around 5 minutes left to play Plymouth were awarded a scrum in their 22, and whilst moving forward they lost control of the ball which popped out and Millet fly-hacked to the Plymouth line. However, despite the suggestion of high tackle, the visitors defence managed to gather the ball and clear the danger.

With the replacement referee increasingly looking like a rabbit in the headlights, Chinnor were still attacking but with just over 4 minutes left on the clock, they lost control of the ball just outside the Plymouth 22, enabling centre Parsons to finish off the counter attack. With the conversion missed, Plymouth were still two scores behind at 36-27 but had earned a try bonus point.

Plymouth again dropped the restart, and Chinnor pressed for the clinching score. Unfortunately for the, replacement scrum-half Goodfellow’s ambitious pass was intercepted when they could have kept the game tight, and Ducker ran 50 yards to score. With the conversion it was now 36-34 with 79 minutes on the clock.

Chinnor still controlled the game though and with 80 minutes on the clock they had a scrum in the Plymouth 22. Again, they failed to close out the game, and when the ball came loose, Plymouth hacked it into the Chinnor 22. Winger Goss won the foot race to the ball, but with Chinnor appealing for foul play at the ensuing ruck, Plymouth played the ball quickly to Ducker who scooted over for his third try of the match and the winning score. The conversion from Jones sealed an incredible 41-36 win for Albion thanks to three tries in the last 5 minutes, and no doubt an enjoyable journey home !

Chinnor will be wondering how they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Highlights : https://www.chinnor-rfc.com/videos/trylights--chinnor-36-plymouth-albion-41-173501.html

Review : 2021/22 Montenegro First League – Week 14

November 5, 6 & 7, 2021

Friday November 5, 2021

FK Zeta Golubovci 1-2 FK Podgorica ( att : 150 )

Vukcevic ( 48 ); Adrovic ( 67 ), Sentoku ( 69 )

Saturday November 6, 2021

FK Buducnost 1-2 FK Decic Tuzi ( att : 1,000 )

Kordic ( 82 ); Camaj ( 55 ), Bozovic ( 91 )

FK Iskra Danilovgrad 0-0 FK Sutjeska ( att : 350 )

Sunday November 7, 2021

FK Rudar Pljevlja2-2 OFK Petrovac ( att : 150 )

Zakaria ( 35 ), Zivkovic ( 53 ); Basic ( 40 pen & 62 )

FK Jezero 0-0 FK Mornar ( att : 150 )

These diaries last took a look at the Montenegro First League at the end of August after the completion of the first 5 rounds of the 2021/22 season. At that point FK Sutjeska led the table with a 100% percent record and last season’s champions FK Buducnost languished 10 points behind in 6^th place albeit with a game in hand.

FK Sutjeska had continued their impressive form going into this weekend, with Decic and OFK Petrovac being to only sides not to have been defeated, having obtained 1-1 and 0-0 draws respectively. Sutjeska success had been built around its defence, with only 4 goals conceded in the 13 goals, and the goals had been shared around, with three players being joint top scorers with 4 goals each ; Under 21 international playmaker Nikola Janjic, last season’s league top scorer Bozo Markovic, and experienced striker Darko Nikac, back playing in Montenegro after spells in Albania, Uzbekistan and Hungary. Defender Meldin Dreskovic has earned his first call-up to the national squad for the forthcoming internationals, together with Vladimir Jovovic ( 41 caps ), who is also back in Montenegro after four season in the Czech Republic with FK Jablonec.

Iskra had only survived in the First League by winning a relegation play-off, and were unbeaten after three matches before losing the next two, including a 1-3 reverse at Sutjeska. Iskra won 4 of their next 6 games, however, two games without a win left them in 4^th place going into the weekend but just three points off second place. Japanese forward Sho Yamamoto was their top scorer with three goals.

Sutjeska keeper Vladen Giljen was on fine form for Sutjeska, making three fine saves to deny Sekulic, Dias and Yamamoto.

At the other end Nikac missed a series of chances for Sutjeska, twice being denied by Iskra keeper Kordic, but missing badly on two other occasions. Sutjeska had a good chance to win the match in added on time but Kordic made a good block with his legs to deny Markovic. Sutjeska also had a strong appeal for a penalty in the 57^th minute when Jovovic’s run into the penalty area appeared to be stopped by the arm of Dias as he slid into to attempt a tackle, but the referee waived play on.  

After their disappointing start to the season and their losses in European competition to HJH Helsinki and HB from the Faroe Islands, FK Buducnost continued to stutter, with defeats at Sutjeska ( 0-1 ) and at home to FK Jezero ( 0-1 ), but 5 consecutive victories revived their season and began to draw back the crowds, with 1,500 in attendance for the 4-1 win over Iskra. Midfielders Igor Ivanovic and Milos Raickovic led the league scoring charts with 7 and 6 goals respectively. Ex-Podgorica striker Saleta Kordic had 4 goals and Raickovic and Luka Mirkovic were called up for the current national squad.

FK Decic were unbeaten after 5 matches, including a 2-2 with Buducnost, but loses to Petrovac and Mornar saw them slid down the table, and four draws and one win in their last 5 games saw them go into the rematch with Buducnost in fifth place. 33 year old forward Drasko Bozovic had been called up to the national squad, having previously won just 5 caps.

In a feisty encounter, Buducnost created several good chances in the first half, but were wasteful in front of goal, Mijovic, Babic, Dukanovic and Vlahovic being amongst the culprits. Decic made them pay in the 55^th minute when a swift attack saw a break down the left, and the cross into the area enabled Camaj to slide in and send the ball into the roof of the net. Kordic then missed two more golden chances for Buducnost, before eventually getting onto the end of a free-kick to powerfully head home the equaliser with 8 minutes still to play.

Buducnost were then caught by a sucker punch  as they strove for the winning goal. A long ball out of defence released ex-Buducnost striker Drasko Bozovic to score from a tight angle to give Decic an unlikely victory. Had Buducnost been able to have taken their chances they should have easily have won this match ( which google translate described as the future versus blanket ! )

OFK Petrovac were in third place after 5 matches after also having survived last season by winning their relegation play-off, and were still third before this weekend. Midfielder Milan Milickovic had 6 goals to his name, and ex-UNA Strassen and UT Petange Bosnian forward Adnan Basic had 4.

FK Rudar were in 7^th place with their leading goal scorers being Vuk Strikovic ( 5 goals ) and Ghanian striker Suraka Zakaria ( goals ).

Rudar had the better of the early exchanges and a thumping shot into the roof of the net from Zakaria from just inside the area after a mazy run gave them the lead. However, the lead was short lived as a clumsy challenge by Cavor on Osmanovic resulted in a penalty and Basic sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot.

Rudar regained their lead shortly after half-time when Zivkovic latched onto a chip over the defensive line to hammer a first time shot into the roof of the net. However, Basic levelled the scores in the 62^nd minute with a fine finish from 20 yards after the ball had been laid back to him by Divanovic. He now has 6 goals in the season.

Petrovac had the better chances in the closing stages, but Milickovic, Radinovic and Tachibana were all denied by keeper Jasmin Agovic, demonstrating the form that had seen his first call-up to the national side.

Newly promoted FK Mornar were in second place after 5 games, but had found life at the top a little harder, and so after 13 games had a 5-4-4 record to lie in 6^th place. Since an impressive 1-0 win at Decic they had gone 5 games without a victory.

FK Jezero had picked up just one point from their first five matches. A run of three wins out of 4 lifted them off the bottom, but three consecutive losses in their last three games left them in 8^th place.

Jezero had the slight edge overall and Senegalese Mendy Mamadou saw a short blocked, before shooting narrowly wide. Mornar could have been awarded a penalty for handball, but the referee decided to play on. Jezero were then awarded a penalty when Mamadou was flattened in the area, but Mujeci’s spot-kick was saved.

Mornar stirred in the closing stages, Pepic shot narrowly wide and Seratlic had a long range shot tipped over the bar.

The meeting of FK Zeta and FK Podgorica was a clash between the league’s bottom two sides, both being on just 6 points. Zeta had drawn 6 out of 13 matches, including 4 of their last 5 five, but Podgorica had at least won one match, 2-1 at Jezero, and had beaten Zeta in a recent cup tie.

After an even first half, Zeta took the lead in fortunately circumstances when Podgorica keeper Bozovic’s attempted clearance hit Vukcevic, who followed up to put the ball into the empty net. Podgorica fought back and Popovic appeared to be fouled inside the area by a combination of keeper Ivezic and centre-back Ceklic but the referee award nothing, then Maras smashed a 20 yard left footed shot against the post, and Popovic’s bouncing shot forced a save from Bozovic.

Against the run of play Ceklic headed against the post and the ball rebounded into the arms of keeper Ivezic. Podgorica continued to press and Androvic struck the post, before the same player finally scored the equaliser with a header. Two minutes later, Sentoku’s header put the visitors into the lead and they held on for a deserved three points,

Highlights : https://rtcg.me/sport/pregledcfl/340720/pregled-14-kola-telekom-1-cfl.html

Review : 2021/22 Luxembourg National Division – Week 11

November 5, 6 & 7, 2021

Friday November 5, 2021

Swift Hesperange 7-0 Rm Hamm Benfica ( att : 152 )

FC Rodange 91 0-1 Progres Niederkorn ( att : 150 )

Saturday November 6, 2021

CS Fola Esch 0-3 F91 Dudelange ( att : 485 )

Sunday November 7, 2021

Differdange FC03 1-4 US Hostert ( att : 425 )

Etzella Ettelbruck 1-2 Racing FC Union Luxembourg ( att : 180 )

UNA Stassen 3-2 FC Wiltz 71 ( att : 225 )

US Mondorf Les Bains 2-1 Union Titus Petange ( att : 470 )

Victoria Rosport 2-0 Jeunesse Esch ( att : 295 )

Coverage of the Luxembourg National Division has improved tremendously since the start of the global Covid pandemic. Whereas before, viewers in the UK might have been lucky to find the occasional highlights on one or two clubs YouTube channels, all matches each round, except for some reason those played at FC Rodange, are now currently being streamed live on www.rtl.lu, with goal highlights and the complete games also being subsequently available to view without any geographical restrictions. For sponsorship reasons, the league is also known as the BGL Ligue

I have attended two football matches in Luxembourg. The first was the last round of the 1994/95 season when on a European tour with some friends, in which we were able to watch 11 matches in 13 days, with the pinnacle being the Champions League final in Vienna, where Ajax beat Milan 1-0. Our match in Luxembourg was a Saturday afternoon 16.30 kick-off local time between Grevenmacher and F91 Dudelange, when Grevenmacher went into the final day level on points with Jeunesse Esch but with an inferior goal difference. Although Grevenmacher won their match 2-1, news came through as we were heading out of the stadium to head off to Metz vs Sochaux that Jeunesse Esch had also won their match to clinch the title. None of the local supporters appeared to be too upset by this news.

My other match was the Luxembourg vs England Euro Qualifier in 1998, when living in the Netherlands at the time, I was able to drive down on the day to see the game at the Josy Barthel Stadium. Along with 8,053 others I witnessed a 3-0 victory for England with Owen, Shearer and Southgate being the scorers after Luxembourg had missed a penalty in the 5^th minute when the scores were 0-0. Entrance was 700 LUF, which was the equivalent of about £15 if I remember correctly.

The Luxembourg National Division is now a 16 team division, in which the 2020/21 champions were Fola Esch, who finished two points ahead of F91 Dudelange, with Swift Hesperange a point further behind. Four sides qualify for European football whilst the bottom two sides are relegated to the second level Promotion d'Honneur, The sides finishing in 13th and 14th will face relegation/promotion play-offs

Fola had an eventful European campaign. After the huge embarrassment of being eliminated by Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar, including  a 0-5 defeat in the shadow of the rock, they recovered to surprise Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the Europa Conference , winning both matches to progress 3-1 on aggregate, and then overcame Linfield 4-2 over two legs. Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan were ultimately too strong, with Fola succumbing 2-7 on aggregate.

Elsewhere, F91 Dudelange were eliminated at the first hurdle by Bohemians of Ireland ( 0-4 on aggregate ), Swift Hesperange were knocked out 1-2 by Domzale from Slovenia and Racing lost 2-5 on aggregate to Breidablik of Iceland.

Round 11 started with two matches on Friday evening, and Swift re-ignited any faint title hopes with a thumping victory over hapless Hamm Benfica, having apparently declared at half-time with a 7-0 lead. Florik Shala scored 3 times in his second appearance after transferring from Progres Niederkorn whilst German defender Dominik Stoltz also claimed a hat-trick.  Benfica actually held out for the first 20 minutes but conceded all seven goals in a 25 minutes spell featuring some clueless defending and comedy goal-keeping. Benfica have now lost 10 of their 11 matches, with their only points coming from a home win over fellow strugglers Victoria Rosport.

Benfica are not bottom of the table though, as FC Rodange have an even worse record, and after slipping to a 0-1 home defeat to Progres Niederkorn, now have just one point from 11 matches. French striker Antoine Mazure-Hanus scored the only goal of the game in the 66^th minute to edge Progres to a narrow win and to remain in a contender spot. Niederkorn’s biggest claim to fame is probably eliminating Glasow Rangers from the Europa League in 2017, and they also drew with the Scottish side in 2019 before bowing out 0-2 on aggregate.

The one match on Saturday was probably the pick of the round, with champions Fola hosting league leaders F91 Dudelange. Since an unexpected loss at US Mondorf Les Bains on the opening round of the season, Fola were unbeaten in the league and lay in 5^th place in the table. Dudelange possessed a 7-2-1 record, with their only reverse being at Differdange. Fola’s hopes in inflicting a defeat on Dudelange took a set-back when the visitors took the lead in the 5^th minute with a deft chip from Tunisia forward Adel Bettaieb over the advancing keeper, and matters got worse in the 28^th minute when Dejvid Sinani claimed his 8^th goal of the season, running on to a header through the square defence to slot home. Ex-Olympic Charleroi player Kevin van der Kerkhof completed the scoring in the 59^th minute, running onto a long hopeful ball out of defence to finish into the top corner.

After a 10^th place finish last season UNA Strassen started this season with 2 losses in their first 4 matches, but since then had taken 16 points out of 18. A 3-2 home win over struggling FC Wiltz kept up their unexpected challenge thanks to two goals from ex-Moeskroen striker Nicolas Perez, who moved to 12 goals for the season.  After conceding a 6^th minute penalty from a handball offence, Wiltz got back into the match via Bosnian Sanel Ibrahamovic’s fifth goal of the season. Denis Agovic restored UNA’s lead but Wiltz pegged them back again 4 minutes into the second half with their second headed goal, this time through German defender Hamza Cetinkaya. Perez though decided the contest 13 minutes from time with a spectacular volley off the underside of the bar, after a cross had been poorly cleared to him on the edge of the penalty area.

Racing FC Union Luxembourg remained in third place after a late win in Ettlebruck. Racing appeared to be heading for a routine victory after ex-Cambuur, Waregem and Stoke Swiss forward Karim Rossi had steered a cross from the left past the home keeper to give the visitors a first half lead, but the match looked to have turned 15 minutes from the end when Amdy Konte was shown a red card for a handball on the line, and Brazilian Gustavo converted the penalty for Etzella . However, the 10 men snatched victory in added on time thanks to Congelese striker Yann Mabella’s 8^th goal of the season, having a simple tap-in after being left unmarked at the far post from a cross from the left. Etzella slipped to third from bottom.

Differdange’s hopes of getting back to the fringes of European qualification suffered a set-back with a 1-4 loss at home to mid-table US Hostert. The visitors led 2-0 at the break, and although Andreas Buch pulled a goal back with a header 4 minutes into the second half, Hostert ran out easy victors. Ryad Habbas scored twice for Hostert, one from the penalty spot, to move to 8 goals for the season.

At the bottom Victoria Rosport earned three much needed points with a home win over Jeunesse Esch. Latvian Davis Spruds gave Victoria the lead in the 9^th minute with a header from a corner and their task was made easier after a second yellow card was shown to forward Brice Tutu for a reckless challenge on the Victoria keeper just before half-time, which could easily have been a straight red card. Gilles Feltes’ 63^rd minute header from a free-kick wrapped up the scoring.  Jeunesse, who hold a record 28 league titles and once drew 1-1 with Liverpool in 1973, look to be facing a hard season.

In the final game of the round US Mondorf Les Bains beat Union Titus Petange 2-1 in a clash between two mid-table sides but front of the second largest crowd of the weekend. Petange led at the interval thanks to a long-range effort from Patrik Teixeira. However, second half headers from ex Heidenheim forward Smail Morabit and Henid Ramdedovic saw the home side take the three points.

Thame United 2-0 St Neots Town ( att : 126 ) - 2021/22 Southern League Division One Central

November 6, 2021

Traditionally Thame United have faced opponents from the Oxfordshire/South West/Thames Valley regions, but with the on-going restructuring of the non-league pyramid boundaries, they now face opposition from similar distances in more northerly or north-easterly directions.

St Neots is a market town in Cambridgeshire with a population of around 36,000 and today their football team faced a 56 mile journey to Thame via Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. Seats on their coach for travelling supporters were £15.

Historically, St Neots have played predominately in the United Counties League, before winning promotion to the Southern League in 2011. After promotion in their first season in the Southern League, they were relegated from the Premier Central in 2018/19. They were lying third from bottom with a 6-3-19 record when the 2019/20 season was abandoned, which probably saved them from relegation, and they were hammered 0-6 on their first ever visit to Thame that season, although their home fixture was cancelled due to the start of the Covid pandemic.

Matters improved in 2020/21 when they were in third position with a 3-4-1 record when the season was terminated, and that good form has continued into this season, going into today’s fixture in 5^th place with a 7-3-2 record, having scored 29 league goals and conceding 16.

Victories were recorded against Kidlington ( H 4-0 ), Kempston Rovers ( A 3-0 ), Welwyn Garden City ( A 4-1 ), Barton Rovers ( H 6-2 ), Biggleswade ( A 2-1 ), Wantage ( H 2-1 ), Aylesbury Utd ( A 2-1 ), whilst draws were played out with Hertford ( H 1-1 ) and Harlow ( A 1-1 )

League defeats have been suffered against FC Romania ( H 1-2 ), North Leigh ( A 0-2 ), Ware ( H 3-4 ), whilst FA Cup and FA Trophy runs were both ended at the first attempt at Bedford ( 0-3 & 0-1 respectively )

Joseph Rider was the leading goal scorer for St Neots with 12 league goals whilst Nehemiah Richard-Noel, on work experience from Cambridge United, had scored 7 times.

Thame went into today’s match in a disappointing 13^th place in Division One Central, with a 3-3-5 record having scored 16 goals but conceded 20 times. Wins had been registered against FC Romania ( H 5-0 ), Wantage ( A 3-1 ) and  Kidlington ( A 1-0 ) with draws against Welwyn Garden City ( A 1-1 ),  North Leigh ( H 2-2 ) and Didcot ( H 1-1 )

Defeats occurred against Biggleswade ( H 1-3 ), Ware ( A 0-4 ), Aylesbury Utd ( H 1-3 ), Bedford ( A 0-3 ) and Berkhamsted ( H 1-2 )

Perhaps a truer reflection of Thame’s ability had been their performances in cup competitions, with a victory in the FA Cup against Thatcham ( H 2-0 ) before being pegged back in the 94^th minute at higher level Margate for a 2-2 draw, before going down 2-4 at home in the replay.

Thame also had a decent run in the FA Trophy, eliminating Winchester ( H 3-2 ) and Lymington ( H 3-0 ) before being eliminated 2-4  by Wimborne, who play one league higher in the Southern League.

Ryan Blake had scored 11 goals in all competitions, followed by midfielder Greg Hackett with 7. Lynton Goss had 6 goals, four of which were in the league to make him Thame’s highest scorer in the league.

Much of the pre-match hype on Thame’s Twitter account involved the signing of forward/attacking midfielder David Pearce, who has spent most of his career at Chesham United, although he had a season at Oxford City in 2016/17, scoring two crucial goals in The Hoops FA Cup run and providing the cross for Matt Pattinson to score the only goal in their giant-killing at Colchester United.

Although dropping down a division to join Thame and undoubtedly adding to their goal scoring potential, perhaps a higher priority for Thame might have been to sign an experienced defender or defensive midfielder to shore up their goals against column, having conceded 32 goals in their 17 league and cup games, albeit with 30 goals scored ? 

In any case it looks like Thame will be the place to go to if you want to see goals, and with St Neots’ league games also averaging over 4 goals a game, on paper, it looked like a goal-fest was on the cards today.

The temperature at kick-off was around 12 degrees, with grey clouds overhead but with a chilly wind and a hint of spitting rain. A couple of Red Kites were patrolling the skies, but they vanished shortly after the game started.

Admission charges were £8, with £5 for concessions and £3 for Under 16s. A free on-line matchday programme was available from the Thame United website, and a free team-list was handed out upon entry to the ground.

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com/clubs/13461/yUmDxiUS4mTP9bRLNA6B_St%20Neots%20Town%2006%2011%2021.pdf

St Neots played in Sky and Navy Blue quarters with blue shorts, similar to Wycombe Wanderers and there was a decent turn-out from their supporters, with around 20 or so gathered behind the goal they were attacking, with another 15 to 20 dotted around the ground.

The pattern of the game was established right from the beginning, with St Neots playing patient possession football on the floor with Thame content to defend in depth, and looking to play early balls forward for Goss and Blake, their two pacy forwards, to run on to.

Thame had scarcely touched the ball in the first 5 minutes but a poor back pass gave Blake the opportunity to run into the St Neots penalty area, but he was forced wide and his shot was blocked by a defender. Two minutes later Goss broke down the left and played in the supporting Tompkins, who unfortunately decided to dive to the floor. The referee wasn’t fooled and waived play on.

The referee was involved again in the 11^th minute when Thame midfielder Tutton received a kick in the head from full-back Marfo when attempting a header whilst the St Neots player was trying to control the ball. It was an obvious free-kick, although the St Neots fan near to me called out “You must be joking ref !”

St Neots finally had their first shot in anger in the 15^th minute but Marsh-Brown’s long range shot went harmlessly wide. A minute later, Rider blocked an attempted clearance and it looked as if the rebound would fall to Richard-Noel, but he was denied by a timely tackle from Thame centre-back Gledhill. This was repeated around 10 minutes later when another good tackle from Gledhill prevented Richard-Noel getting a shot in. The St Neots striker was starting to look dangerous, but his header at the back post went just wide, and in any case, the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.

The first yellow card was shown in the 24^th minute, Thame’s Tompkins pulling back Marsh-Brown as he sped away, and the first corner of the match finally arrived in the 30^th minute, when Cowling, another on loan Cambridge United player, had a shot was deflected for a corner. Thame’s first corner came a minute later.

A moment of mild controversy occurred in the 35^th minute when Cowling tripped Goss. However, the Thame forward got to his feet and continued to run into the St Neots area in a dangerous position. Unfortunately, the referee decided not to play advantage, blew for the free-kick, and issued a yellow card to Cowling. The free-kick was wasted as a foul on the keeper was awarded.

The half-ended with a couple of corners for Thame, one of which was confidently caught by keeper Whitehall, whilst the keeper’s punch for the second one was far from convincing.

For St Neots, the tall Rider looked to be a talented player, with a good touch and making some promising runs, but he went off in the 41^st minute, presumably having picked up an injury, with the superbly named Elliott Sartorius coming on. Centre-back Mamadou Jobe, another player on-loan from Cambridge United, was reminiscent of Rio Ferdinand with his calm reading of the game, and the channel through which all moves out of defence operated through.

It was 0-0 at half-time and it was already getting dark. The bar was doing a roaring trade, with a number of people spending the afternoon watching Soccer Saturday with a pint rather than watching the local team. The ale on tap was 4XT, brewed a couple of miles up the road in Brill.

Thame took the lead two minutes into the second half when a corner from David Pearce sailed over the flapping keeper and into the top corner at the back post to give Pearce a goal on his Thame debut. Until this moment he had been fairly anonymous.

St Neots left back Ben Heal was soon replaced, and his replacement Jake Battersby looked to playing as a left wing-back with St Neots moving to three at the back.

St Neots best chance came in the 56^th minute when good combination play between Marfo and Marsh-Brown saw a decent cross delivered to Richard-Noel lurking at the near post, but his header went high and wide. Richard-Noel made another promising run a minute later but saw his pull back from the by-line blocked.

Thame then had a period of good spell of pressure. First, Blake cut-in from the left and sent a powerful shot heading towards the top corner only for keeper Whitehall to pull off a superb diving save to tip the ball over the bar for a corner. Pearce again took the corner, which hit the top of the crossbar with keeper Whitehall all at sea.

A first-time pass from West saw Goss beat Johnson for pace, but fortunately for St Neots, Whitehall was alert and raced out of his area to clear at the expense of a throw-in.

With the temperatures dropping and the wind rising, Thame keeper Hill’s goal-kick sailed over the St Neots back-line and it looked like it would fall for Goss but a good tackle prevented the chance.

With 13 minutes remaining Thame doubled their lead. A fantastic run by Blake saw him beat his marker on the left to get to the by-line, and his pull-back teed up Pearce to hammer home left-footed from around 10 yards for a second goal on his debut.

With a 2-0 lead the rest of the game fizzled out and Thame held onto the lead with few alarums for the three points and a welcome clean sheet. At the final whistle sheets of drizzle started to sweep across the field.

Although not the expected goal-fest, it was a deserved victory based on resolute defending and pace on the break, which the visitors struggled to cope with. For all of their attractive football. St Neots created very few chances and were a well beaten side at the final whistle.