As usual, you should check out the press magazine.
Southampton show that their victory costing the Neophytes the title was no fluke. A 2-0 return win send the Argyle into 2nd place, 2 points behind Oulu. Seattle get their expected start, and the middle teams are filling in the middle. No surprises yet ... which is a surprise in itself.
Bordeaux draw Valencia and the PLankton beat the Automata to keep the Zenith teams within reach. The Clan's 2-0 win over Leuven puts them in 3rd for now.
Only Arsenal can slow down the Bootleggers in their bid to stay in Zenith. Shamrock's free-wheeling style give them second place, Plymouth is 3rd, and everyone else is tied for 4th. Note that Arsenal are the only team in this division that *hasn't* been in Zenith.
Da Gurlz beat Adelaide in the Match of the Week, a 4-0 thumping that give them the lead. Adelaide beat Danube to avoid last, Danube beat ... well, you get the picture.
The Ex-Presindents and Ankkalinna keep their goals clean and rise to the top of the division, while everyone manages to beat Hampshire and the Bombers. Bainbridge may be last, but they get a late goal against White Beach and avoid the feared blowouts.
It looks like playing the Brotherhood is hazardous to your health; Wee Alpha escaped this session, and is in second place, 2 points behind the faithful ones. Everyone else is tied for 3rd-last.
The commissioner is testing like mad, and is tired from a lunch-time footie game. Comments be hanged. Juggernaut published their orders to the RC, but the opponents didn't take advantage. The Saints bury Canberra 4-0 to take an early lead on goal difference, and I'm going back to work.
Altoona beat the Taskers for early domination of the division, and Tasmania draw the Beerbellies to share last place.
The Strollers make single goals stand up for 3 wins, and the Misfits ride a more entertaining style into 2nd place. The Oldies make similar progress in reverse for last, but all the matches are reasonably close.
The Barrabases take an early lead on a pair of wins and a *great* draw with Westminster. Leading 3-1 after 70 minutes, the Barrabases pulled a pair of good players and went into a stall. 4 minutes later, Westminster break the stall; 10 minutes after that, they get the equalizer. BAR wind up with a draw in a game they thought they had won. On the other end, the Blowfish take some recovery time, losing all three matches without taking a shot. The Musicians gain their only goal from the fishies, but hey, 2 points are 2 points.
Stone Age beat everyone, and the Philosophers win their other two matches to tie clean-goal Pierrepont for second. WA-HA lose to Stone Age, but get a pair of scoreless draws to lead the bottom half.
The Gorillas get the only goal against the Wookies, and the Bohs defense take them to 2nd place. The Eagle defense gives them goal difference for avoiding the bottom of the list. Can the Bohs halt the Wookies? If not, this could be a very short tourney.
Nine matches and 5 draws; did you guys forget that this is a promoval? 8-) Actually, this was a very entertaining session, as only one match was scoreless. Three teams tie for first with a win and 2 draws, and all the wins were by a goal each. The Physicists come out on the short end, but the balance in the division could turn things around very easily in the return matches.
Well-Tempered come out on top with nary a loss, while the Rotters score 3 times without winning. The Crunchers produce the most goals after falling to the leaders, and follow only a point behind.
Well, it took 5 bookings and the Warriors to stop the Tumbleweeds, but the early leaders were held to a scoreless draw on their own pitch. The Wolfsters take second after discovering what the 'weeds have for a defense and counter. The Alchemists lose handily until Nguyen finds his wind, turning away six Beacon Hill shots for a draw.
Bangkok beat Hentais, and the Dragons beat the Emperors, holding even the top contenders to only 4 points. Borg bring up the rear with two draws and a 3-goal loss to the Emperors. A good race so far.
tjc