UCL Review 2015 16

LEAGUE REVIEW

PREMIER DIVISION: WALNUT BOYS PIP NIRVANA ON LAST DAY

One of the most exciting Premier Division championship races ever went the way of AFC Kempston who claimed the title by a margin of just two goals over Leicester Nirvana who finished as runners up for a second season in succession. The Walnut Boys set a record by going through their first 32 matches unbeaten until they suffered their only league reverse at Eynesbury on Easter Saturday. Eleven of those matches had been drawn though and those points lost meant they could never shake off the free scoring Nirvana outfit which spent the bulk of the season at the head of the table.

A key encounter in the title race saw ten men Kempston beat Nirvana 2-0 at Hillgrounds on 13 th February, goals from Sam Johnson and Josh Winters giving the Walnut Boys a vital three points.

Nirvana suffered home defeats against Wisbech and Sleaford in the next few weeks but Kempston’s Easter loss left the contest nicely balanced as the season moved into April, Nirvana a point clear from a game more.

Kempston dropped points in draws with Holbeach and Deeping but Nirvana did likewise at home to Northampton Spencer and with four games each to play the duo were level on points with Nirvana two goals better off. Two more wins each in the next week saw the sides level on goal difference with Nirvana’s advantage down to goals scored, but on 26 th April Nirvana plundered seven goals against Holbeach while the Walnut Boys could manage just three at home to Eynesbury. Going into the final day Kempston needed to better Nirvana’s result by a five goal margin to turn the tables and they duly completed the task with a 7-0 demolition of Boston Town while Nirvana were edging Eynesbury 2-1 at Hall Road. Newport Pagnell finished a distant third, fourteen points behind the top two, with Holbeach fourth, a further 13 points back. The Tigers had seemed contenders for much of the season but their prospects were ruined by a fixture backlog which saw them suffer seven successive defeats in April. Cogenhoe finished strongly to claim fifth place ahead of Eynesbury and Sleaford who both exceeded expectations finishing 6 th and 7 th respectively. Also outperforming expectations were Harborough who finished in the top half of the top flight for the first time, and Rothwell Corinthians who finished 14 th on their return to the Premier Division. Huntingdon hit the bottom of the table in their second game and never looked like escaping the basement. They lost their first eleven games before a shock 1-0 success at Wisbech on 6 th October. Eight days later they picked up their only home win by a single goal against Wellingborough, but thereafter their only reward came from home draws with Harrowby in February and Eynesbury in April. The second relegation place turned into a three team contest between Sileby, Wellingborough and Oadby. Eight defeats in their last ten matches saw the Poachers slide into the bottom two, six points adrift of the Doughboys who lost just four of their last eleven games. Sileby finished level on points with Wellingborough despite incurring a six point deduction for playing a player under suspension. Rangers had ended the season as one of the division’s form teams after collecting a 19 point haul from their final nine matches. Other clubs did not fulfil their potential with anticipated title challenges never materialising from Wisbech and Yaxley.

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