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West Kent Sunday League Report – Thursday 29th December - mid season reflections and predictions
Well we arrive at the halfway point of the season in the unusual
position, for recent years anyway, of most teams actually having played
half their matches! An unusually dry November and December has resulted
in just a handful of cancellations. Compare that with last year, when we
lost around half the planned fixtures in November and December wasn't
much better. There was much worse to come though last season and let's hope it won't
be repeated! In January 2016 only three matches out of about 75 were played over the
first three weeks of the month. Fingers crossed.
The season began with forty-two teams accepted at the AGM, spread across
four Divisions, the lowest number in membership since the very first
seasons. This graph shows the inexorable decline since this
website started in 2002. Numbers have fallen by almost 50% since then.
The figure shown for this season is the current total of 38 as we have lost
four teams since the AGM.
Both teams based in Hadlow dropped out, first the Hornets in October to
be followed by United in November. That leaves Hadlow without an adult
football team on either Saturdays or Sundays for the first time in quite
likely 100 years. (Can anyone help on that one?). The Bell, based at
Golden Green, resigned before the season started despite being
successful in the previous campaign, finishing third in Division Four.
The Boars followed suit in September. Their previous season had been a
troubled one, with six of their league matches and a cup tie being
forfeited. All cited a lack of players willing to turn out every week.
We all know that there is a lot more for people to do of a weekend other
then get wet and muddy playing football. For many, that includes work.
But how selfish are some people? What's the point in saying you are
going to play when you mostly cannot or will not?
Goudhurst United also had a player shortage but, to their credit,
decided to retain their first team in Division One and dispense with the reserves.
I had a think about the villages around the area that I remember going
to not that long ago that now have no football team - Frant,
Lamberhurst, Chiddingstone, Charcott, Hadlow of course and East Peckham. It won't be
long before the local councils sell the land for housing, if they can!
Looking on the bright side, the tops of the table in three of the four Divisions are very close at this halfway
stage. No-one is running away except for TW Foresters Reserves in Division Four. The second half of the season should be
very competitive and interesting - weather permitting!
WKSFL Senior Cup and County Cups
Simla are no doubt form favourites for the WKSFL Senior Cup. They
have a delayed quarter final match with Blackham & Ashurst towards
the end of January. The winners will meet Armada in the semi-final after
that teams epic win on penalties against Artois United in the quarters.
Simla have of course won the Senior Cup in four of the past five
seasons, Armada's only Final appearance has been in the Intermediate Cup
back in 2011 when they lost to Crowborough Town.
Rusthall Rangers problems meant that their quarter-final match with
Tonbridge Origin has been held over until a date to be arranged.
Tonbridge Origin will be the only WKSFL team in the later stages of the
Kent Sunday Cups. Theirs is a big ask, the draw having presented them
with the shortest of straws with a trip to Quested in the Sunday Premier
Cup. Quested are current holders, a powerful side and currently top of
the Medway Sunday League with a league record of
Pl 11 W 11 D 0 L
0 F 69 A 3 GD
66 pts 33. That game is scheduled for 15th January.
Good luck lads! Dormansland Rockets await the winners of the Rangers v
Origin game.
Rockets have had a good run in the Surrey Lower Sunday Cup and will hope
continue that in January with a successful trip across the county to
Epsom & Ewell Old Boys..
WKSFL Intermediate Cup
A new name could be on this Cup. Neither Gardener's Arms nor the
actual Rusthall Club Athletic have ever reached an Intermediate Cup
Final, although in a previous incarnation Rusthall Working Men's Club
won this one in 1997.
The Intermediate Cup has reached the semi-final stage. Among the four
will be the top two from Division Two and they have avoided each other
in the draw. Gardener's Arms will be meeting Division Three side
Rusthall Club Athletic. The Club have been on an amazing run of form,
but with match not yet scheduled can they keep it up until perhaps some
time in February or even March? In the other tie, Pembury Sunday will
host Green Lane. When they met in the League at Woodside, Pembury were
easy 4-0 winners but Green Lane are no pushover. Nevertheless, form
should hold the day and I predict a Gardener's Arms v Pembury Sunday
final. Green Lane are past winners, in 2010, and were last year's beaten
finalists so will want to do well. Pembury Sunday, although they have
twice won the Senior Cup, have never featured in an Intermediate Cup
final.
WKSFL Junior Cup
The Junior Cup has also reached the semi-final stage. As with the
Intermediate, the top two teams avoid each other. Crowborough Town,
second in Division Three, will face FC Grinstead who are having a
mediocre season in Division Four. Form says Town should prevail. The
other tie is much harder to call. Bricklayer's Arms, top of Division
Three, will play Rusthall Club Athletic who will be a team to reckon
with IF they can keep up their form. Getting to two cup semi finals and
being behind in league matches may take its toll. I will go for Bricks v
Town in a Crowborough derby. At least there won't be a long journey!
Both Bricklayer's Arms and FC Grinstead have featured recently in the
Junior Cup final. They played each other in 2015, Bricks coming out
narrow 21- winners on that occasion.
No team called Rusthall anything has reached the Junior Cup Final.
Crowborough Town's old Boys XI did so in 2014, beating local rivals
Crowborough Social to claim the trophy. Is this an omen??
Division One
The current table
| Pos |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
Artois United |
11 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
45 |
17 |
28 |
25 |
| 2 |
Tonbridge Origin |
11 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
42 |
19 |
23 |
25 |
| 3 |
Simla # |
10 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
43 |
11 |
32 |
24 |
| 4 |
Insulators |
11 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
36 |
17 |
19 |
22 |
| 5 |
TW Foresters |
12 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
37 |
40 |
-3 |
16 |
| 6 |
Armada |
8 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
12 |
18 |
-6 |
8 |
| 7 |
Dormansland Rockets |
8 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
31 |
28 |
3 |
7 |
| 8 |
Blackham & Ashurst |
9 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
17 |
41 |
-24 |
7 |
| 9 |
Goudhurst United + |
10 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
15 |
59 |
-44 |
6 |
| 10 |
Rusthall Rangers |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
30 |
-28 |
0 |
# three points deducted + three points awarded
The top four are clearly ahead by a distance but with only three points
between them. Insulators started the season with a run of seven matches
with one defeat, but since then have lost to all three teams above them
in the League. Simla had three points deducted as a result of using an
ineligible player in the very first match of the season, but since then
have been unbeaten except for a big defeat by Artois United.
Tonbridge Origin are having a solid season, having lost only to Simla
and Artois United. As for Artois United, their otherwise excellent
season might be spoiled by their nemesis Armada, who took four points
off them in league matches and beat them in the Senior Cup on penalties.
My predictionometer actually thinks that Origin will win the League!
Simla are forecast to be second, Artois third and Insulators fourth. Not a bet I would take on!
The bottom half of the table is slightly skewed with Rusthall Rangers
having to contend with problems off the field that has resulted in some
games being called off. Blackham & Ashurst were granted a couple of
free weeks before Christmas as they grappled with an extensive injury
list. Let's hope that both are back on track come January 8th.
Division Two
The current table
| Pos |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
Pembury Sunday |
9 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
31 |
6 |
25 |
25 |
| 2 |
Gardener's Arms |
8 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
33 |
8 |
25 |
22 |
| 3 |
Paddock Wood |
11 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
27 |
28 |
-1 |
19 |
| 4 |
Green Lane |
8 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
18 |
18 |
0 |
11 |
| 5 |
Cassidy's Phoenix |
10 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
17 |
27 |
-10 |
11 |
| 6 |
Hawkenbury Sunday |
9 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
18 |
22 |
-4 |
8 |
| 7 |
Brenchley |
10 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
20 |
35 |
-15 |
8 |
| 8 |
SE Spitfires |
8 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
13 |
26 |
-13 |
7 |
| 9 |
Langton Green |
9 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
24 |
31 |
-7 |
5 |
It is a two- horse race here for the title, with two unbeaten teams at
the top. Key fact here is that Pembury and Gardener's Arms have yet to
meet in the League. Both are prolific scorers, with Gardener's having a
slight edge in that department. Pembury have the better defence, having
kept six clean sheets in their nine league games. But, when we count
Gardener's last ten games in WKSFL league or Cup, they have conceded
only three in that time. These two meet on 8th January. 0-0 draw anyone?
My prediction is for a narrow win for Gardener's.
Teams like Paddock Wood and Green Lane are likely to have a say in the
final outcome. Both are having up and down seasons but are quite capable
of causing an upset.
The predictor says that the top two will be as you are, Pembury winning by two points with Green Lane a distant third.
Division Three
The current table
| Pos |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
Bricklayers Arms |
11 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
44 |
15 |
29 |
27 |
| 2 |
Crowborough Town |
12 |
8 |
1 |
3 |
43 |
22 |
21 |
25 |
| 3 |
Tonbridge Invicta |
11 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
35 |
19 |
16 |
19 |
| 4 |
Green St Blues |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
24 |
16 |
8 |
16 |
| 5 |
Paddock Wood Reserves |
11 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
17 |
29 |
-12 |
13 |
| 6 |
St John's Yard |
12 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
24 |
52 |
-28 |
13 |
| 7 |
Ticehurst Village |
11 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
25 |
33 |
-8 |
11 |
| 8 |
Rusthall Club Athletic |
6 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
21 |
15 |
6 |
10 |
| 9 |
Speldhurst Rangers |
11 |
0 |
2 |
9 |
17 |
49 |
-32 |
2 |
Again, it looks like a two horse race between the two Crowborough based sides,
but Tonbridge Invicta will be waiting for a slip by either of the top
two. Green Street Blues, with games in hand, are not completely out of
the mix especially as only one of their remaining matches is against
teams above them. That game will come around quickly. They are due to
travel to Crowborough Town on 8th January. My feeling is that Rusthall
Club Athletic will be the team to cause problems for the top two. They
have marched into the semi-finals of both the Intermediate and Junior
Cups, scoring freely. They cannot keep a clean sheet but, as the cliché
has it, the team that scores the most goals wins the game. The Club
still have to play Bricklayer's Arms twice and Crowborough Town once.
The prediction here is that Bricklayer's Arms will win by six points,
Crowborough Town will be second and that Rusthall Club will zoom all the
way up to third.
Division Four
The current table
| Pos |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
TW Foresters Reserves |
10 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
51 |
19 |
32 |
27 |
| 2 |
FC Hayward |
10 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
34 |
16 |
18 |
20 |
| 3 |
Insulators Reserves |
11 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
33 |
30 |
3 |
18 |
| 4 |
AFC Six in One |
11 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
54 |
39 |
15 |
14 |
| 5 |
FC Grinstead |
8 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
28 |
25 |
3 |
12 |
| 6 |
Tonbridge Origin Reserves |
9 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
28 |
30 |
-2 |
12 |
| 7 |
TW Youth (Ridgewaye) |
11 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
33 |
59 |
-26 |
10 |
| 8 |
Tonbridge Casuals |
12 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
21 |
41 |
-20 |
8 |
| 9 |
Tonbridge United |
8 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
29 |
-23 |
4 |
Stand out feature in this Division for me anyway, is the 93 goals scored in
AFC Six One's eleven league games, and that's only one more than TW
Ridgewaye's games have involved. Almost 8.5 goals per game! No surprise
then that the league's leading goalscorer at this stage is Ryan Smith of
AFC Six in One, with 35 scored in League and Cup. His team-mate Ben
Boodle has 22 and is second in the overall list. Other teams seem to
share out the goals, for example Insulators Reserves who have seventeen
different scorers this season including Mr OG.
TW Foresters' only League defeat this season was 6-5 against AFC Six
in One. After a run of four clean sheets they are letting them in, but
are obviously the team in form. FC Hayward will badly want to win
against AFC Six in One when the season resumes. They have to meet
Foresters in the later stages.
Insulators Reserves lost to both the top two in December and will probably have to settle for third or fourth.
The predictor says that Forester's will be winner by eight points
over Hayward, AFC Six in One will be third a couple of points behind
with Insulators close by in fourth.
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