L3 | S2 | W16: Gerblansky fires four as the Division 1 title race becomes a three-way fight

📰 Week 16 in Review – Season 2

The season is exactly halfway done and the picture across all four divisions is sharpening nicely. Leaders are being tested, bottom clubs are running out of time, and the quiet achievers are starting to make their presence felt. Week 16 did not disappoint on any of those fronts.

A foursome on top, two title races that could go any direction, a striker running riot in Division 1, and a hat-trick of goals from a single man that should have made headlines right across the league. There is plenty to get through.

🏆 Division 1 – Hat-trick man and a tightening title race

West London Blue and Mighty Greens are now level on 35 points after Loz Newbold’s side were held 1-1 at home by Indie Kids United – Squire putting the home side ahead before Zola cancelled it out. Mighty Greens, meanwhile, did their job with a 1-0 win at Grange Hill Rovers. The gap at the top is gone. Fifteen games remain and three clubs are within a point of each other.

🔍 The real story of Week 16 in Division 1 was Gerblansky. Four goals for South Park Cows against Special Criminals – two before half-time and two more in the second half. He now leads the Division 1 scoring charts with 15 goals. Kevin Haney’s side have won five straight and are only a point off the top two. A title race that looked like a two-horse contest is now firmly a three-way affair.

Elsewhere in D1, Amity Rovers pulled off the result of the weekend against Melchester Rovers – winning 3-1 away from home, with Hooper scoring twice and Shaw adding the third. Amity have climbed three places in a week and sit ninth on 19 points. Not out of the fight for mid-table respectability yet.

Team Van Holland were equally impressive, putting three past Blackheath Town at home, with Van Hooijdonk completing a hat-trick in the 90th minute. A 3-0 win moves them up to sixth.

At the bottom, things are getting critical. Leicester Lightening have now lost five on the bounce and sit on just nine points – the lowest in the division. Patrick’s side face Team Van Holland next week, which looks like another difficult afternoon. Grange Hill Rovers are eight points above the foot of the table but conceded Mighty Greens’ winner at home and remain in the bottom two on eight points. Geoff Baxter will know the next few weeks will define their season.

⚠️ Both Leicester Lightening and Grange Hill Rovers have played all 16 games and sit on 9 and 8 points respectively. The gap to survival is six points for Leicester, seven for Grange Hill. With 14 games left, the situation is recoverable – but only just.

💙 Division 2 – Wolves and Dons level again as Supremos keep pace

Alveley Wolves and Frenchy’s Dons are dead level on 35 points at the top of Division 2 – separated only on goal difference, with Wolves holding the advantage. After Frenchy’s bounce-back 2-0 win at Crazy Aces, they reclaimed joint-top for a matter of hours before Wolves sealed their own 2-0 at home against Deportivo La Rochelle. Andy Pierce’s side have been ruthlessly consistent. Lloyd got both goals once again.

Supremos kept pace with a 2-1 win at Tayside Royal – Tu Fast levelling before Natic’s 91st-minute winner. Willie Winit’s side sit third on 31 points and are not going away. Kaapstad – who hammered Frenchy’s Dons last week – had a quieter one, and sit fourth on 27. Simon Cleworth’s side are well placed in the top half but a promotion push from here would be a serious achievement.

💡 Trumpton’s away record has now reached an almost incomprehensible extreme. Eight away games, zero goals, zero points. Zero. Stuart Merry’s side drew 0-0 at home against Camden Town this week but went to Kaapstad and lost 3-0. They are 14th on 11 points. The away form alone has cost them at least 16 points this season. It is difficult to overstate how unusual a record that is.

At the other end of D2, Crazy Aces have gone five straight league losses – and are bottom of the division on seven points after conceding two to Frenchy’s Dons without reply. Alan Latchley’s side have the worst current form in the division by a distance.

❤️ Division 3 – Richmond continue, St Venage Borough climb

Richmond are 44 points from 16 games. Ted Lasso’s side won 2-1 at AFC Navenby, with Bloomfield scoring both goals inside the opening ten minutes. Their home record remains perfect. Their away record is six wins and two draws from eight. Fulchester United sit second on 31 but lost at home to Tottenham Coldspur – and are now 13 points adrift. The title is not officially over but it would take something spectacular to stop Richmond from here.

The more interesting story in Division 3 is the rise of St Venage Borough. Wayne McCauley’s side have won four of their last five and are now fourth on 27 points – jumping two places this week after a composed 2-0 home win over Real Braintree, with Ward and McMahon on target. They are right in the mix for a second automatic promotion spot, and their form table ranking puts them joint top across all of D3’s last five games.

💡 Westhill Town beat Gwent Saints 2-1 this week – Hartson scoring twice before Top Bins Thompson pulled one back. It is their fourth win in five matches across all competitions. They sit ninth on 20 points in the table, which flatters nobody. Their form right now says they are a much better side than that position suggests.

At the bottom, Mount Florida AFC remain on nine points after a 1-1 draw at Silversprings United. David Hopkins’ side need results to come to them quickly. Tottenham Coldspur, currently without a manager, managed a 1-0 win at Fulchester United through Claeys – an unlikely result that at least gave the automaton a positive week, but the dugout at Blackheart Lane will need filling if they are to mount any serious survival push.

💛 Division 4 – Rangers move to the summit as Grove go in a different direction

The Division 4 top-of-the-table shake-up continued this week. Tantany Rangers moved top on goal difference after a 4-0 dismantling of Woodfarm Warriors – Simmonds with a brace and Bygrave and Forsythe both on the scoresheet. Grove Old Boys, meanwhile, also won 2-0 against Brompton Hotspur, but it was not enough to hold top spot. Both sides sit on 31 points, separated only on goal difference.

Abbey United are the quietly impressive side in D4 right now. Paul Rawlings’ club drew 0-0 at Bankrupt United this week but their away form over the last five is remarkable – three wins and two draws on the road, picking up 11 points. They sit fifth, and while most of the attention goes to the top two, Abbey United could yet insert themselves into the promotion conversation.

🔍 Grove Old Boys lead the D4 recent form table with 13 points from five games. Tantany Rangers are second on 12. But the table focus worth watching is Brompton Hotspur – they have dropped five points in two weeks and El Diablo’s side lost ground here. Only two points off the top, but the pressure is real. Lee Von Cleef has three players in the Top 18 Attackers chart. His squad is not the problem.

At the other end, Anfield Rockets sit bottom on 13 points after a 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham Town. Ady Lippiatt’s side are without a manager at Rotherham Town’s end, which did not stop them earning a point on the road. Four Division 4 clubs remain without a manager – Rotherham Town, Smackdown Rovers, Thetford Tigers, and Tintagel Knights – though Tintagel welcomed Tom Cropper to the helm this week. The vacancy at Rotherham remains open.

🗞️ Around the league

The score draw pool this week produced ten correct results across all four divisions. Five managers picked correctly: Loz Newbold (West London Blue), Ryan Lee (Melchester Rovers), Spielberg (Amity Rovers), Willem Van Der Ark (Team Van Holland), and Andy D (Mighty Greens) each take home £160,000. Well played to all five.

The community showed real character this week. A number of managers rallied around Manager Gilbert after he suffered a fire at his home. Several clubbed together to buy him a block of turn credits to keep him in the game. It was a quietly decent thing to do and worth recognising here. This group of managers continues to set the standard for what a community like this should look like.

Two bugs were squashed this week, both caught by managers. Players sold via the circuit were not appearing in the selling club’s transfer history or the Completed Transfers table – now fixed. Players sent off for two yellow cards in the same game were being docked 16 disciplinary points instead of 8 – also fixed. Both changes are live from this week. Thanks to the managers who flagged them.

Three new managers joined the league this week. Derek Purvis takes charge at Real Braintree in Division 3, Marco Silva steps in at Vale Madrid in Division 2, and Tom Cropper takes the helm at Tintagel Knights in Division 4. Welcome to all three – the dugouts needed filling.

There was crowd trouble after the White Horse versus Woodhouse Imperial league match – 46 arrests, seven officers injured, and £72,455 of stadium damage. And in the friendlies, Tantany Rangers versus White Horse produced two arrests and £10,000 of damage. Both clubs will have some explaining to do to their supporters this week.

The D3 scoring charts are being dominated by Richmond’s Yakubu, who leads with 15 goals – matched exactly by Gerblansky of South Park Cows at the top of D1. Quinton Athletic’s Sahnine leads D4 with 11. Both Yakubu and Sahnine are showing no signs of slowing down.

In the best overall squads ranking, Richmond top the list – comfortably. South Park Cows sit second. Team Van Holland are third and St Venage Borough fourth. That Richmond lead both the squad quality chart and the table by a distance tells you everything about how Ted Lasso has organised that side.

Hint Sheet 6 – Fitness and Injury – went live this week in the Manager’s Playbook. It covers the INJ rating in detail, what it means when it starts to creep up, and how to manage players carrying knocks without making things worse.