Ramble round the Everards Premier by Mason Norton for week ending 30th March

The Everards Brewery Premier Division saw two games in midweek and four on Easter Saturday this week. On Tuesday night, Aylestone Park Reserves concluded their League campaign with a one-sided 7-4 victory over Burbage & Huncote. Aaron Preston, who looks set to take the Premier Division golden boot scored a brace, as did Dan Henfrey, whilst Shea Bates, Maradoche Mipro and sub Thabo Makombe scored the rest of Park's goals, having gone in 5-2 up at half-time. B&H goals came from an OG, Jake Armstrong, Cam Atkinson and sub Harry Hopkins-Tamblyn. Park finish the League season in second spot, but will now have to sit on the sidelines and see whether Desford & Caterpillar, Hathern or Ellistown can overhaul them.

Desford weren't in action on Saturday, but Hathern and Ellistown both were, and both kept their push going with narrow wins. Hathern moved into third as they defeated Sileby Town 4-3 at Pasture Lane. The home side started the strongest, with Jack McLachlan scoring after three minutes after his cross into the six-yard box eluded everyone and curled in. McLachlan then spurned a one-on-one just two minutes later, before Sileby were given a lifeline with a penalty after a Hathern defender handled the ball. The spot-kick sailed high over the bar, and Hathern countered through Liam Walton, the Sileby defence went to close him down, leaving McLachlan unmarked in the middle to knock it in when Walton sold them the dummy and squared the ball back. Sileby seemed to get onto an even keel, but then went 3-0 down just before the break when a backpass bounced up, ricocheted off the keeper's shinpads and ballooned straight to Jake Davies, who strolled the ball into an empty net.

The second half, however, was a different story, Hathern lethargic and at sixes and sevens as Szymon Donnerstag scored an unmarked header from a free-kick. The game seemed to be put to bed though when McLachlan was again left unmarked in the middle by players closing down an attack down the wing, and he cooly finished for his hat-trick. Yet Sileby still didn't give in, and after a panicking defender needlessly conceded a corner, the home side failed to clear their lines, and Donnerstag bundled it in. On 86 minutes, another Sileby free-kick, and another penalty, as the attacker went to ground and referee Mr Anderson pointed to the spot.. Shaun Smith buried the spot-kick, and Hathern had to hang on, eventually grinding out the three points.

Ellistown, meanwhile, got an even bigger scare at home to Thurnby Rangers. Andy Grout reports: "On this occasion, it was Ellistown who took the spoils in a close fought 2-1 victory against a Thurnby side who are better than their league position. The game kicked off with a welcome return for keeper Tyler Weeks who after receiving the ball from the kick-off realised this was not the pitch to play football as he got stuck in the mud. This allowed the Thurnby attacker to nick the ball but the pitch held up the ball and with the attacker unable to roll the ball into an empty net, Weeks scrambled back to the tackle the player who should have scored. A big let-off for Ellistown. With the referee Mr Jarvis applying common sense on a mudbath of a pitch, tackles were flying in but this was not a dirty game. Physical yes and this contributed to an open 20 minutes when Ellistown hit the post and crossbar, while Thurnby were dangerous on the counter attack.


The game exploded on 28 minutes when Christian Ngueusseu for Ellistown and Louis Finney-Neckles for Thurnby saw red for squaring up to each other. That opened the game up, and soon after, Thurnby took the lead after a slick move saw Callum Key slot home. The visitors looked like they would go in as leaders, but on the stroke of the interval, Tom Vyce beat the offside trap, ran through and scored.



The second half continued in the same style as the first with both teams going for it. The key moment of the 2nd half came on 62 minutes, when Thurnby had a strong shout for a penalty. So confident of the appeal, Thurnby stopped playing and did not release that Mr Jarvis had waved play on. When they realised, Ellistown were flooding forward and it was too late for Thurnby to get numbers back. This allowed Daniel Yadav to fire home to give Ellistown the lead. Thurnby protested vigorously, but Mr Jarvis waved them away. The final half-hour saw both sides have chances, but somehow it stayed 2-1, Ellistown shading a hard-fought victory in a physical encounter."



There was a basement battle at Riverside Park, though the relegation dogfight was concluded last Saturday. Relegated Barrow Town welcomed Friar Lane & Epworth. In a scrappy game, Barrow led 2-1 at the break, and took the lead three times thanks to goals from Moses Anidebe, Dean Hopewell and Scott Stevenson, but three times FLAE pinned them back, Christian Smith (2) and Joe French scoring for them. Right at the death, Barrow fired the ball towards the goal, it hit the underside of the crossbar, and seemed to cross the line to give Barrow their first win in 17 starts, but the assistant referee Ms Mee was unable to confirm that it was fully over, and referee Mr Carr ruled it out, sparking protests from Barrow, the final whistle going not long after, final score 3-3, Barrow ten points behind Lane with two games left and condemned to the wooden spoon.



At the top of the table, Allexton & New Parks continued their victory lap with a slightly scrappy 2-0 win on Tuesday night at Friar Lane & Epworth, Zak Adams and Ryan Charles scoring, before a more impressive win on Saturday, recording a 4-0 triumph at Burbage & Huncote, Charles (2) and Adams again, Nathan Turner also scoring, Charles now the only serious contender to Aaron Preston for top scorer, ANP 12 points clear at the top, and could end up further in front still with two games left of their League season.