TUESDAY 15th DECEMBER
MIDWEEK HEADLINES
Oxhey Jets hit double figures as London Colney have evening to forget. Biggleswade United go top of the table as fellow title chasers stumble.
Midweek Stats: 5 games played of which 3 were home wins, 1 away wins and 1 draw.
Highest Attendances: 83 Biggleswade United v Harpenden Town, 79 Potton United v Aylesbury Vale Dynamos and 77 Colney Heath v Newport Pagnell Town.
PREMIER DIVISION
Goals were certainly on the menu at Oxhey Jets as the hosts thumped bottom club London Colney 10-0, the visitors dismal night also saw them reduced to nine players after two red cards, one of which being the goalkeeper. The result was Jets biggest Premier Division win since they beat Hatfield Town 10-1 back in April 2013 while for London Colney it was their heaviest defeat since losing 1-9 to St Margaretsbury in April 2007. What a difference from the game played five years and one week ago, on 8th December 2015 it was Oxhey Jets 0 London Colney 7 in the Dudley Latham Cup. Biggleswade United returned to the top of the tree with a excellent 4-1 win over visiting Harpenden Town while both Colney Heath and Potton United in the chasing pack at the top stuttered, Colney Heath being held 1-1 at home against Newport Pagnell Town while Potton United were beaten 1-3 by visiting Aylesbury Vale Dynamos. The night’s other action saw Dunstable Town seeing off the challenge of Broadfields United, the hosts winning by the odd goal in three at Creasey Park. Full results and goalscorers are listed below.
4-1 Biggleswade United v Harpenden Town (Wright, Flanagan, Clayton, Dan Parkinson) / (Plowright) Attendance 83
1-1 Colney Heath v Newport Pagnell Town (Devine) / (Shepherd) Attendance 77
2-1 Dunstable Town v Broadfields United (Twelves, Pedro) / (Henley) Attendance 60
10-0 Oxhey Jets v London Colney (Stead 2], Putman [2], Bircham [2], Giordmaina [2], Cameron, Speers) Attendance 43
1-3 Potton United v Aylesbury Vale Dynamos (Johnson) / (Lambeth [2] [1 pen], Gaspar) Attendance 79
AND FINALLY
Hair colour cancels play at women’s match. A women’s university football match in China had to be called off after players were told they were not allowed to have dyed hair, state media report. The women’s teams of Fuzhou and Jimei universities were due to meet for a college league game in the south-eastern Fujian province at the weekend. Team members from both sides bought black hair dye to correct the problem. But one Fuzhou player’s hair was deemed “not black enough” and the side had to forfeit for having only six players. Before the match, “multiple players… were rejected from the match for violating a rule which requires that all players do not dye or curl their hair”, the national Global Times reports. “Athletes are not allowed to dye their hair, grow long hair [for boys], wear weird hairstyles, or wear any accessories,” states the rule of the Fujian Provincial Department of Education, quoted by the South China Morning Post (SCMP). “Otherwise, they will be disqualified from the competition.” The rules from the organisers, the National Youth Campus Football League (University Division), go further: “Athletes at all stages shall not have tattoos, dye their hair, wear weird hairstyles, or wear any accessories, otherwise they will be ineligible for the competition.”
Let’s hope the SSML governing bodies do not follow suit or there will be long queues at the hairdressers.