Carpet Munchers 5 MWFC 11

Carpet Munchers FC (1)5 [Lee Hopkinson 2, Stephen Woods 2, Rob Danson] MWFC (5)11

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Lee Hopkinson, Stephen Woods, Andrew Dignan, Francis Dignan, Rob Danson

As in their previous encounter with this side, Munchers contrived to lose a game that was there for the taking. When Lee Hopkinson gave them a 1-0 lead, it looked to be the first of many, but despite outshooting MWFC 2-1, by half time they trailed 1-5.

Stephen Woods and Rob Danson scored early in the second half to bring the score back to 3-5, and although a couple more goals were conceded, Lee Hopkinson made the score 4-7 and Stephen Woods made it 5-8. However, more poor work at the back saw MWFC score the last three goals – with half a dozen of their goals coming from 1-on-1 chances against Craig Wilson, with at least as many other similar situations bringing saves.

Hawkings 6 Smack My Pitch Up 13

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (3)6 [Darren 3, Iain Wilson 2, Chris Elliott] Smack My Pitch Up (5)13

Squad –Simon Eason, Iain Wilson, Richard Elliott, Chris Elliott, Andrew Edwards, Darren

Hawkings included two new players and a returning goalkeeper, as they struggled to field a side, and in the early stages they matched their opposition. Darren twice scored to equalise at 1-1 and 2-2, the second coming as he followed up an Andrew Edwards effort that came back off the back wall, and when Iain Wilson scored a third to put Hawkings ahead, a victory looked possible. By half time, Hawkings trailed 3-5, although Chris Elliott had been unlucky with two free kicks, one hitting the underside of the bar, the other the post.

Chris Elliott and Darren scored to cancel out opposition strikes early in the second half, but 5-7 was as close as Hawkings’ managed to get the score. Defensively, they were torn apart as Pitch added another six goals – one a shot that came back off the post and rebounded in off unfortunate ‘keeper Simon Eason – and although Iain Wilson scored with the last kick of the game, it was barely a consolation.

Carpet Munchers 6 FC Kronenbourg 8

Carpet Munchers FC (1)6 [Andrew Dignan 3, Lee Hopkinson 3] FC Kronenburg (4)8 

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Lee Hopkinson, Rob Danson, Andrew Dignan

Without any subs, and a couple of players feeling under the weather, this was always going to be a difficult game for Munchers. They fell behind to a bizarre own goal, the ball deflecting off Iain Wilson and then Craig Wilson before hitting the underside of the bar and dropping over the line, and when they fell 0-4 behind, a big defeat seemed on the cards. However Andrew Dignan pulled a goal back before half time, and when Lee Hopkinson added a second early in the second half, Munchers suddenly looked a different side. The remainder of the game saw the sides swapping goals, Munchers never quite getting closer than two goals behind, but they could be well pleased with an all-round team effort that saw both Andrew Dignan and Lee Hopkinson scoring hat tricks.

Hawkings 7 Vernons FC 14

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (5)7 [Chris Elliott 3, Stephen Woods 2, Frances Dignan, Rick Elliott] FC Vernons (6)14

Squad –Iain Wilson, Richard Elliott, Andrew Dignan, Stephen Woods, Francis Dignan, Chris Elliott

The new season began against a new side, and after a cagey opening Vernons took the lead. Chris Elliott equalised with a fine shot into the corner, but two quick goals gave Vernons a 3-1 lead. Andy Dignan hit the post, before Chris Elliott scored a second fine goal and Stephen Woods equalised with a shot that went straight through the ‘keeper. After Vernons went in front again, Chris Elliott completed his hat trick with another shot that the ‘keeper should have saved, but once again Vernons exposed openings at the back and had soon established a 6-4 lead. Frances Dignan scored a fifth with a shot into the corner, and at half time there was only a goal in it.

Hawkings came out strongly at the start of the second half, but it was Vernons who notched the next goal with a shot that deflected in off Ric Elliott. Within seconds, Ric made amends by scoring at the correct end, and shortly afterwards a Chris Elliott shot hit the inside of the post. Vernons struck again with two quick goals before Stephen Woods reduced the arrears with another shot that went through the Vernons ‘keeper. At 7-9, Hawkings were well in the game, but inexplicably they fell apart in the closing minutes, conceding a further five goals as some of the players appeared to give up. Iain Wilson often had two or even three Vernons players bearing down on him, and although he made several fine stops, he could do nothing with the number of chances that Hawkings gifted their opponents.

Carpet Munchers 7 Stagecoach 8

Carpet Munchers FC (1)7 [Iain Wilson 3, Stephen Woods 2, Rick Elliot, Rob Danson] Stagecoach (4)8

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Stephen Woods, Rick Elliott, Andrew Dignan, Rob Danson

This has been a week of poor performances against the bottom side in the league, followed by amazing comebacks. In the Tuesday night league, Stephen Hawkings came back from 0-5 down to win 6-5 by playing for only the final ten minutes of the game. Tonight, they left it even later – the final five minutes – but just ran out of time in the end.

It began well, with Iain Wilson scoring a fine individual goal, but against an opposition who at best were only ordinary, the failings soon showed. Three times Craig Wilson made important saves, but bad mistakes in all areas of the pitch saw Munchers end the half trailing 4-1. They’d had their chances to score, with the Stagecoach ‘keeper making several fine saves, but in defence they had been all over the place, and were fortunate only to concede the four first half goals.

The second half could hardly have begun any better, Stephen Woods scoring in the first few seconds, but any hopes of a comeback were dashed as 2-4 quickly became 2-8. Rick Elliott finally found the net with five minutes remaining, and two minutes later Iain Wilson scored a fourth goal for Munchers. Within seconds, he’d netted a fifth, and the team sensed that yet another amazing comeback was possible, especially when Stephen Woods made the score 6-8.

Stagecoach were panicking now, and Munchers had several chances to score a seventh, most notably when Rob Danson hit the post, but time was against them, and when Rob did finally score the seventh goal, there was only time for the restart before the referee ended the game.

Hawkings 6 Ribble Plate FC 5

Stephen Hawkings Football Boots (0)6 [Stephen Woods 3, Iain Wilson 2, Rick Elliott] Ribble Plate FC (4)5

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Richard Elliott, Andrew Dignan, Stephen Woods, Francis Dignan

Hawkings ended a disappointing season with a game against the bottom side, who needed a win to avoid relegation, and produced their worst and best all within forty minutes. As in the earlier game between the sides, the Plate ‘keeper made some important saves, but for half an hour anybody would have thought that Hawkings were the side who were going to be relegated. Some woeful defending and sloppy play all round saw Hawkings trail 4-0 at half time, and despite being beaten by a shot across him for the second goal, if it hadn’t been for Craig Wilson it would have been at least half a dozen more.

Things didn’t improve in the early stages of the second half, and a shot placed into the corner for number five, followed by another that hit the post, should have ensured that Plate got the win they required. Stephen Woods was the only Hawkings player having his usual dominant match and when he finally netted with one effort, at least Hawkings ensured that they didn’t finish up without a goal in their final match. However, when Iain Wilson scored a second moments later, you could see Ribble Plate’s heads drop, and Hawkings tore into the opposition for the final few minutes. Stephen Woods scored a third, then hit the post before completing his hat trick to reduce the arrears to 4-5.

As Plate realised they were in danger of losing the game, they pushed forward and Craig Wilson made another couple of fine saves, but the Plate ‘keeper was far the busier of the two, until Ric Elliott finally netted the equaliser after some audacious skill on the edge of the area. In the dying seconds, Iain Wilson scored again to complete a remarkable turnaround.

Man of the match – Stephen Woods

Carpet Munchers 15 MLS.NET 13

Carpet Munchers FC (7)15 [Iain Wilson, Tony Albanese 4, Stephen Woods 5, Rick Elliott 2, Chris Elliott 3] MLS.Net (5)13

Squad – Craig Wilson, Iain Wilson, Stephen Woods, Rick Elliott, Chris Elliott, Tony Albanese, Andrew Dignan

This was one of the best games Munchers have ever played, with almost thirty goals, practically every one being a quality finish, nearly as many great saves by the respective ‘keepers, and quality passing, finishing and last-ditch blocks by both sides.

Iain Wilson gave Munchers the lead early on after a slick passing move with Chris Elliott, and despite falling 2-1 behind, three quality finishes in quick succession from Tony Albanese gave Munchers a 4-2 lead. As fortunes continued to alternate between the sides, 4-2 became 4-4, and then Munchers scored another three (Stephen Woods, Rick Elliott and Stephen Woods again) before MLS gave themselves a lifeline with a fifth goal just before half time.

MLS were on fire as the second half began, and soon had the scores level at 7-7, and although Chris Elliott restored Munchers’ lead, MLS scored three more to take a 10-8 lead. In the past, Munchers would have crumbled having lost such a lead, but Tony Albanese and Chris Elliott brought Munchers level again at 10-10. Once again, MLS regained the lead, Stephen Woods equalised, and MLS went in front 12-11 once again – they had an incredible ability to score off the inside of the post with pinpoint accuracy.

Stephen Woods equalised again at 12-12, and completed a hat trick of equalisers shortly afterwards to make the score 13-13, and in the closing minutes, Rick and Chris Elliott scored the goals that gave Munchers a fine 15-13 win and ended a superb game.