Week ending 4th November by Mason Norton

Tuesday night saw Aylestone Park Reserves move briefly into second spot in the Everards Brewery Premier Division after turning on the power in the second half at home to bottom side Ashby Ivanhoe Knights. The scores were 2-1 to Park at the break, but the hosts smashed five in the visitors net after the turnround to come out 7-3 winners, Aaron Preston scoring a hat-trick, Thabo Makombe, Marley Spencer and Lewis Turland, plus sub Dan Henfrey scoring for Aylestone, Mitchell Bamford, Reece Hughes and Trey Wilks for the Knights.


Ellistown then returned to second spot 24 hours later after their re-arranged game against Sileby Town. Andy Grout reports: "Ellistown got back to winning ways with a hard fought 2-1 victory against Sileby Town.  In a high-quality game where both goalkeepers shone, Town won the game through 1st half goals from Dan Yadav and Gio Stylianou. Sileby pulled one back in the 2nd half through Stan Logan to make it an uncomfortable 2nd half for the hosts, but thanks to the home keeper, Ellistown held on for the three points."


Wednesday night was when Storm Ciaran swept in to the south of the UK and the Channel Islands, and it was on Thursday that the Midlands copped the edge of that. That was then followed by overnight rain on Friday night and heavy rain all day on Saturday, which resulted in four of the seven scheduled games in the Prem being postponed, as Thurnby against Knights, a relegation battle match was called off early on Saturday morning, followed later on by Ellistown against Highfield Rangers, North Kilworth against Magna 73 and Friar Lane at home to Barrow Town, whilst FC Khalsa were forced again to switch their fixture to Beauchamp College's 3G at Oadby. 


That switch would have seen Khalsa climb out of the relegation zone if they had got any points, but instead, they fell to a 5-1 defeat at home to Sileby Town, with Bryn Beange (2), Szymon Donnerstag, Mark Etherington and Grant Ryder the scorers for Sileby, Kai Reece for Khalsa, who remain a point adrift of safety, having now played a game more than the other teams in the bottom four. 


At the top of the table, Allexton & New Parks consolidated their lead further still as they defeated Aylestone Park Reserves 2-1 in a fiery game. ANP went in 2-0 up at the break after goals from Ryan Charles and Lewis Hurst, but Marley Spencer scored in the second half to put Allexton under pressure. ANP managed to see out the game to take the three points, but both sides finished the game with 10 men. Park's Maradoche Mipro was sent off for a professional foul, with the referee Mr Msundire judging him to be the last man with the ANP striker in on goal, whilst in a separate incident, Zak Adams of Allexton received his marching orders for violent conduct. 


Desford & Caterpillar, meanwhile, missed out on the chance to go second after a 1-1 draw at home to Cottesmore that also turned feisty. Desford bossed the game in the first period, hitting the woodwork three times, and denied again by saves from the visiting keeper. They took up where they left off after the break, and the pressure eventually told, with a foul in the box that saw the referee Mr Marriott point to the spot, with Madison Murrell converting to put Desford in front. However, the second goal wasn't forthcoming, and Cottesmore started to come into it, with Ewan Simmons heading the equaliser 20 minutes from time. That set the stage for a thunderous final quarter, with a number of meaty- and occasionally late- tackles coming in, eventually spilling over into a mass brawl, with Mr Marriott having to brandish the red card. Both sides had chances at the death, neither side took them, the scores finishing 1-1, though that was enough for Desford to move up a place to third. 


At the end of all that, ANP are now five points clear of Ellistown, with two games in hand on the second-placed side, and six clear of Desford, with Desford having played one game more than ANP. Please note that some games have changed for next Saturday owing to County Cup postponements this week, so please check Full-Time. In the meantime, we'll check in on some of the Premier sides later this week in the Midweek Ramble, when we look at the second round of the Senior Cup.