L1 | S4 | W9: Wilshere treble fires Leicester’s six-goal demolition as Division 3’s three-way tie holds

📰 Week 9 in Review – Season 4

Week 9 and the Division 1 title race continues to refuse to separate itself, with six clubs still covered by just three points at the summit. Plymouth Argyle hold top spot after a comfortable 2-0 win over Port Vale, but nothing is settled, nothing is safe, and the pressure is distributed across the table in a way that makes every single result feel consequential. Elsewhere, Division 3 produced the result of the week – and arguably the result of the season so far – as Leicester City dismantled Crystal Palace 6-0 to send shockwaves through the division. Division 4 meanwhile has its own quiet crisis developing at the wrong end, while Division 2’s top two continue to put clear water between themselves and the rest.

The World Cup backdrop is providing some light relief between turnsheets – England and Scotland both into their stride, according to Gads in this week’s GM message – but inside the PBM Old Boys League there is precious little time to relax. Nine weeks in and the season is still very much in the making.

🏆 Division 1 – The pack refuses to thin

Plymouth Argyle are top of Division 1 for the second week running after Carl’s side eased past Port Vale 2-0 at Home Park, Silva and Ceide both on the scoresheet inside the first half. Eighteen points from nine games, and the leaders are beginning to look like a team with a plan rather than a team riding luck. But the gap below them is almost non-existent – Walsall sit second on 16 points and are very much still in the conversation despite last week’s shock home defeat.

💡 Six clubs within three points of each other is genuinely unusual at this stage of a season. Plymouth lead on 18, and sixth-placed Rangers sit on 13. That is the tightest Division 1 top six in recent memory, and it is not going to resolve itself quietly.

The mid-table story this week is more interesting than the top of the table. Shrewsbury Town came back strong after last week’s battering at Port Vale – Kevin Randall’s side ground out a 1-0 win over Lincoln City through Minamino in the 52nd minute, a result that climbs them to fourth and immediately puts them back in the promotion picture. That is the kind of response a manager needs from his players, and Randall will have been relieved. Lincoln City, for their part, drop to seventh after the loss – they had been as high as third just two weeks ago.

At the other end, Liverpool remain in a rut. Stuart Merry’s side could only draw 1-1 with Sutton United – Afash put them ahead in the 12th minute before Bidstrup levelled in the 67th – and they sit 15th on nine points. Newport County, who were rooted to the bottom for much of the early season, drew 0-0 at Rangers to claim a point that felt meaningful. Justin Arandjelovic’s side are off the bottom and showing signs of finding some resilience.

⚠️ Wigan Athletic remain 16th on seven points. Rob Earl’s side have won just one of their last five, collecting only three points in that run. The gap to Newport County above them is growing and at nine weeks in, Wigan are starting to look like a club that could spend this season looking up at the rest of the table.

💙 Division 2 – Stockport and Huddersfield tighten their grip

Stockport County and Huddersfield Town both won again this week and the gap between the top two and the rest of Division 2 is beginning to look meaningful. Matt Rose’s Stockport moved to 19 points after a 2-0 home win over Brentford – Hutton and Vargas providing the goals in the first half – while Tim W’s Huddersfield matched them with a 2-0 defeat of Brighton, Hargreaves and Senesie the scorers. Nineteen points each at the top and both sides carrying excellent form. What separates them for now is head-to-head and goal difference, with Stockport’s +8 giving them the narrowest of advantages in the leader column.

🔍 Huddersfield Town have not dropped a home point all season – five wins from five at Kirklees. They have, however, not won away from home either. That is the defining paradox of Tim W’s side: an absolute fortress at home and a side that simply cannot get going on the road. The question is whether that home record is enough to sustain a title push over 30 weeks.

York City made the biggest noise outside the top two this week, with Paul Galdas’s side putting three past Newcastle United without reply – Welbeck with an extraordinary hat-trick, all three goals inside the first 25 minutes (15′, 18′, 87′). York climb to fourth on 14 points and sit level with Barrow and Brentford on the same number of points. At the other end, Ian Dance’s Brighton remain 16th with just four points from nine games. Five defeats in five, six defeats in nine – this is a club in genuine trouble, and another loss next week would make their position feel almost irretrievable at this stage of the season.

❤️ Division 3 – Wilshere runs riot as Leicester hit six

Arsenal, Manchester City and Stevenage remain deadlocked at the top of Division 3 – all three sides drawing this week, which means the three-way tie from last week has been preserved almost perfectly. Arsenal drew 1-1 with Stevenage at the Emirates, Grabban giving them a third-minute lead before Richards levelled in the 55th. Manchester City could only draw 1-1 at home to Fulham, Ameobi giving them the lead before Rincón cancelled it out in the 78th. The top three are absolutely inseparable, and that is not going to change until one of them blinks.

The headline, though, belongs to Leicester City. Dings’ side visited Crystal Palace and produced one of the most comprehensive performances the league has seen this season – six goals without reply, 4-0 at half time, the game done before the stand had finished settling. Henderson opened in the 6th minute, King added a second in the 23rd, Okazaki made it three in the 33rd, and then Jack Wilshere took over. Three goals in 25 minutes – the 38th, 58th, and 63rd – to complete a personal and collective demolition. Leicester move to fourth on 15 points, just two behind the three-way leaders at the top.

💡 Wilshere’s hat-trick was the standout individual performance of the week across the whole league. Three goals in 25 second-half minutes against a struggling side, yes – but the manner of it spoke to a player genuinely in form. Leicester have won four of their last five and climbed from seventh to fourth. If the top three keep drawing against each other, Dings’ side may find themselves in the title conversation before long.

⚠️ Crystal Palace are bottom of Division 3 on four points from nine games. Oliver’s side have now conceded 19 goals from their last five matches and the defensive record is genuinely alarming. They face Everton next week – not the easiest fixture to arrest a freefall.

💛 Division 4 – The bottom is getting very cold

Chelsea maintain their lead at the top of Division 4, though this week brought a bump – Hull City held Loz Newbold’s side to a 1-1 draw at the KC, N’Zogbia giving Hull the lead in the 9th minute before Kanu levelled for Chelsea in the 33rd. Chelsea remain on 21 points from nine games, unbeaten, and Sheffield United closed to within one point after beating Bournemouth 1-0 away (Zárate, 62nd minute). Luton Town had their best week of the season – five wins from five in the last five games, 15 points from the last 15 available. Salvatore’s side have quietly put together the strongest run-of-form record in the entire league this week, and at 18 points they are firmly in the promotion picture.

The bottom of Division 4 is where the real drama is developing. Exeter City sit last on two points from nine games – just two points in total, a record that does not improve with the passage of time. Michael Kensett’s side have lost six of their nine away games and taken just two points from a possible 27 on the road. Colchester United are 15th on four points, and Hibernian – currently without a manager, the dugout at Easter Road empty – are 13th on ten points, their unmanaged run generating draws but precious little in the way of wins.

⚠️ Exeter City’s two points from nine games is the worst record in the league at this stage of the season. Their goal difference of -12 tells its own story – 16 conceded away from home, and the season is less than a third of the way through. Something has to change at St James’ Park, and quickly.

🗞️ Around the league

The score draw pool produced three winners this week. Paul Lamming of Lincoln City, Steve Earl of Hull City and Harry Hornet of Watford all guessed correctly and pocketed £266,666 each. Congratulations to all three. Del Sharratt of Port Vale scoops the pool for the second time in three weeks – he continues to have a very productive season both on and off the pitch.

The televised fixtures this week were Peterborough United vs West Ham (a 2-2 draw), Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Cheltenham Town (Wolves winning 2-1), Leicester City vs Crystal Palace (6-0, as covered above), and Manchester United vs Southend United in Division 4 (Jiménez giving Southend a 10th-minute lead they did not relinquish in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford – that result alone deserves its own headline).

Crowd trouble flared in two matches this week. The Walsall vs Norwich City fixture saw 69 arrests, eight officers injured and £94,257 of stadium damage – a concerning afternoon at the Bescot. Leicester vs Crystal Palace brought a further 31 arrests, three officers injured and £54,535 of damage. Both clubs will no doubt be answering to the authorities in the coming days.

Aston Villa in Division 2 remain without a manager, the dugout at Villa Park empty again this week. Their 12 points from nine games suggests the Supremos Circuit is keeping the ship afloat, but a proper appointment cannot come soon enough. Over in Division 4, Hibernian are similarly rudderless at 13th, collecting draws but not wins. The league will want both vacancies filled before the season reaches a critical point.

In the transfer market, Leeds United won the bidding for Youth Scout Oliver Overgaard from the Supremos Circuit for £1,200,100 – the Elland Road club adding a rated youngster to their non-playing staff. Blackburn Rovers brought in midfielder Gökhan Töre for £3,200,000, Shrewsbury Town secured midfielder Felipe Anderson for £856,000, and Newport County picked up attacker Igor Kolyvanov for £777,000. A busy week for the lower reaches of Division 1.