Ezy Outfox Oxford

Thursday Division 1

Ezy FC are now firm favourites to be crowned champions for the 2^nd season in a row, with 2 weeks to go, and again maybe at the expense of Oxford International who also finished 2^nd to Ezy last season. Oxford who have lead the league for most of the season now find themselves 3 points behind Ezy after they were defeated by the Ballintemple lads 3-0. The first half was extremely tight with both defences on top, which led to the 0-0 half time score. The first goal was always going to be crucial here, and ever reliable Steve Dwyer struck the first blow for Ezy 15 minutes into the 2^nd half after he latched onto a long ball out of defence and finished calmly to the far corner. This goal was a killer blow for Oxford as they had just started to dominate possession. Playing Andrew Daunt at centre half was a very smart move, as he marshalled the leagues leading scorer Conor Hawes very well and thus Oxford were not as effective. Peter Fitzmaurice in defence and MVP nominee John Daly performances are very worthy of a mention, especially Daly as he worked tirlessely in midfield and scored their 2^nd goal. Dwyer added a 3^rd to seal the 3 most important of the season. Brian O Sullivan was best for Oxford who were better than the 3-0 scoreline suggests.

Joga Bonito defeated Los Pistoleros 4-2, with Daniel Fretias and Joao Oliveros both scoring twice for the Portoguese lads. Ken O Connor and Barry Collins who has had an excellent season for Los Pistoleros were on the scoresheet for the losers. Freitas was the difference as he showed incredible skill during the game and took his brace of goals well.

Thursday Divison 2 - “The Alan Jordan Memorial Cup”

Boca Seniors are also 3 points ahead of their closest rivals The Chancers after they defeated Mount Oval 9-3. With 2 weeks left they should close out this division and seal ther first Footy title. The Seniors were very well organised and work very hard and their constant tracking back to help out in defence is paying rich dividends. They took their chances well unlike Mount Oval who took too much out of the ball in the final third giving the Bocas too much time to come back to defend. Eric Cotter and leading scorer Ronan O'Sullivan both scored a hatrick for the league leaders.

JT Special and the Dragons played the game of the week that finished 7-7. Sean O'Neill scored 5 for the Specials and Rob Carpenter scored the other two. The lead changed hands several times during this game, but the games highlight was a goal from Fiachra O'Driscoll for the Dragons, who volleyed to the net after a series of 4 passes where the ball never touched the ground following a throw out from their keeper.

The Chancers had too much class in their side for Unreal Madrid and won rather easily by 7 goals to 2. MVP nominiee Gavin O Driscoll scored 3 times. Liam O'Donoghue also scored a memorable solo goal for the Chancers. Danny Meade looks like an excellent addition to the Chancers outfit and was man of the match. Chancers will be kicking themselves they did not bring Meade in to their side earlier in the season as they may have left it too late to catch Bocas.

Thursday Division 3

The Sons Of Pitches also find themselves 3 points to the good and should also close out the 3^rd division, after they defeated Men Utd comprehensively. Michael Deasy was again to the fore for the Pitches. Both he and Dave Power dominated the midfield and their performances were capped by notching a hatrick a piece.

2^nd placed Balaga Tonga who are recently inconsistent, can still win the league if they beat the Pitches next week and win their last fixture against The Nobodys. They are well behind the leaders on goal difference but can win the league on the head to head rule, as it takes presedence over goal difference. Tonga played 2 games this week, losing a tight game to the Lemmons, before hammering the Whitfords the following evening to stay in touch with the leaders. Josh King and Eoghan Kennedy were best on both evenings for Balaga.

The Nobodys produced their best performance of the season when their new look side beat the Lemmons 4-0. Peter Leahy, Padraig Hanley and Kevin Wilson were best for the winners.