Multiple games are called off by rise in Covid 19 cases
THE surge in Covid-19 numbers impacted upon the Everards Leicestershire Senior League by virtually wiping out the programme in Everards Brewery Division One, with games at Burbage OB, Dunton & Broughton, Friar Lane Reserves, and Loughborough called off, whilst games at Khalsa in the Premier and St Andrews Reserves in Division Two fell victim to the same fate, whilst the pitch at Markfield was damaged by an infestation of moles.
On the pitch, this Saturday saw the last fixtures of 2021, so we can take stock of what the table looks like at Christmas.
Rugby Borough remain leaders, but were away on Birmingham Senior Cup duty, so Allexton & New Parks closed the gap to one point after clinging on at Hathern. Taylor Carvell gave ANP the lead early on, and ANP looked well set based on the first half. That was not to count on Hathern equalising within 15 seconds of the restart, when Liam Walton held his nerve when latching onto a long cross that put him in on goal only for the visitors to re-take the lead when Quentin Thompson scored a minute later, his shot straight at the keeper, but squirming through the keeper’s fingers. Chris Davis then bagged an equaliser for Hathern after a ball went out wide and stretched the visiting defence, only for Carvell to score the winner 20 minutes from the end when the hosts failed to pick him up at the far post. However, the current gap is slightly deceptive, as Rugby have four games in hand over Allexton.
ProChance and Desford both had bad starts to the season, but have since improved to sit in mid-table. It was Desford who took the chance to finish the year in the top half of the table, winning 2-1. Szymon Donnerstag delivered this Samstag as he scored for Desford alongside Jack Spence, Sunni Nichols scoring for ProChance.
There’s no relegation from Division Two to the County League at the end of the season owing to late withdrawals before going to post, which will be a relief to both Cottesmore Development and Thurnby Rangers Reserves, who occupy the bottom two spots. Cotts finish the year propping up the LSL, suffering a chastening 7-1 defeat at home to Rothley Imperial, for whom Zak Ginvert scored four times to waltz off with the match ball, with Leon Cole, David Reeves and sub Robert Young also scoring, Harry Window providing a glimmer of light for the Rutland side. That was Rothley’s first win since August, and lifted them out of the bottom two, where they were replaced by Thurnby Rangers Reserves, who lost 4-2 at home to Sileby Town Reserves on Saturday. For Thurnby, Bradley French and Alfie Shipley were the scorers, whilst Grant Ryder (2), Josh Carter and Morgan Newby were the scorers for Sileby.