Stoke Hammond MK slipped up as they could only draw 2-2 with MK United while Buckingham United climbed off of the bottom of the table with a 5-2 victory over MK Legends and Stanton Manor drew 1-1 with New City Saints.

The table looks like this:

In the Premier Division, Willen thumped the Open University 13-0 to stay top of the table while Paul Lowe’s FC Lifesearch beat AFC Padbury 3-0, Stantonbury Social beat Kings Arms 3-1, and Loughton Athletic slipped up 4-1 to Trade 2 U.

Stony Stratford Town were in Round 5 of the County Cup, losing 5-0 to Elm Farm.

The table looks like this:

Munkley, 23, began training with the club at the start of 2012 after being introduced by first-team regular Marc Lee and after only a handful of sessions was offered a place in the 2011/12 squad for the remainder of the season, which he has gladly accepted.

A club statement said: “Tom will give us another option across the middle of the park and from what we’ve seen so far, looks like a tough tackling midfielder who can flourish defensively as well as in a more advanced position. We’re looking forward to seeing him on the big pitch to see what he’s got to offer our title push.”

His registration also spells the end of Rich Burnikell and Pun Wadhwani’s MMIX careers, as their de-registration has been completed today. The club are also looking to de-register as many as 3 or 4 more players in the coming weeks to potentially bring the squad down to around 25.

Everyone at FC MMIX would like to welcome Tom to the club.

While FC MMIX edged out New City Saints 2-0, Punjab United threw away a two goal lead to lose 7-2 to Stoke Hammond MK while Stantonbury Social also kept up the pace, beating MK United 3-1.

The table looks like this:

And in the Premier Division, the only game of the day saw CS Athletic beat Loughton Athletic 2-0.

The table looks like this:

Elsewhere New City Saints and Stanton Manor drew 2-2 while Punjab United beat Buckingham United by 4 goals to 2.

AFC Santander and MK United were in County Cup action, losing 5-0 to FC Wanderers and 3-1 to Britwell Sunday respectively.

The Division One table looks like this:

In the Premier Division, Willen kept up their surprising season with a 3-0 victory over Loughton Athletic to go top of the table again while Kings Arms edged Great Mile Ash 4-3, Stantonbury Social A beat AFC Padbury 3-0 and the OU lost 4-0 to FC Lifesearch.

Trade 2 U and CS Athletic were in County Cup action, losing 13-3 to AFC Donsville and 3-2 to the Beaconsfield Legion respectively.

The table looks like this:

MMIX end 2011 in 5^th place with 20 points from a possible 33, one point behind 4^th placed Stoke Hammond MK. Stantonbury Social sit in 3^rd on 23 points while 2^nd placed Olney have 25 and Santander sit at the top of the pile with 28, meaning that MMIX currently sit 8 points off of the top of the table at the halfway stage of the season.

But despite the gap between Santander and themselves, confidence is high in the MMIX camp as they prepare for a busy 2^nd half of the season (which also includes a Knock-Out Cup quarter-final against Trade 2 U) knowing that most of tougher teams have already been faced while several of the title and promotion candidates still have to play each other – sometimes twice.

“There are no easy games in this league; even a game against the sides at the bottom of the table can throw up some problems, and we’ve definitely seen that first hand. But run-in wise, we’re confident that we can pick up the results that we need while some of our rivals will almost certainly drop points along the way.”

Olney still have two ties to play against Stantonbury as well as fixtures against Santander and Punjab while Santander also have to play Stantonbury and a Punjab double header, Stantonbury have to also play Santander and Punjab and the likes of Stoke Hammond and Stanton Manor can also play a huge part in upsetting the title contenders – including MMIX.

“Olney’s shock defeat to Stoke Hammond last week showed us that despite our loss to Santander, there are definitely still going to be a few twists and turns in this title race so nothing can be taken for granted just yet.

The recent results against Stantonbury and Santander were disappointing, particularly when you look at the fact that had we done our job in both of those games, we’d actually be joint top right now instead of sitting in 5^th. But that’s football; there’s no point dwelling on stuff that you can do nothing about now and with a couple of good results, things can appear very differently in no time at all so we need to make sure that we get those results and send a message to the league as soon as possible that we still mean business.”

MMIX had to field a team against AFC Santander on December 11^th without a whole host of first team regulars including Chris Harper, Karl Jones, Aden Turner, Ian Gray and Mahmoud Ageli while key players were also missing in the two fixtures prior to that including the tie against Stantonbury Social on December 4^th which left MMIX with only 11 available players out of a total of 30 that were, at the time, currently signed on to the club.

“Having to go into such huge games without regulars such as these was devastating but that’s what happens sometimes, and we really can’t fault the players that did go out and give 100% for the cause. We didn’t pick up the results that we wanted, but nothing is won or lost with half of the season still to play – and we know that as soon as the fixtures start up again, you’re going to see an FC MMIX side well and truly back to their best.

Knowing that we’re going to have these players available again as the season picks back up in 2012 is a massive boost for us, and should come as a massive blow for the teams around us as well. I genuinely fear for the teams that are going to face us, because we’re going to be going for it like never before.”

And that’s not the only good news that the club have received recently.

“We’ve also had some really positive news regarding Des Clark, who is now only a matter of weeks away from a first-team comeback. Des was nothing short of monstrous for us during 2010/11, notching up 19 goals and 17 assists in 31 games for the club, and if we can get him firing on all cylinders again… Well, I’d fear for the teams that we come up against even more than I would have done otherwise.”

MMIX’s first 3 games of 2012 are home ties against Stantonbury and New City Saints and a trip to Radcliffe School to take on Stanton Manor.

“We know that it’s a huge ask, and we know that some results elsewhere are going to have to go our way, but we’re not about to give up when there are so many points at stake. There are 33 points to be won and this squad has enough strength, belief, desire and ability to win every single one of those points so put quite simply… Bring it on.”

Daniel Reeb has now resumed training with the club after having been out of action for MMIX since aggravating a groin strain towards the end of the pre-season schedule, although it is currently unclear as to when he will be back in contention for a place in the matchday squad. Reeb was a regular during 2010/11, particularly in the 2^nd half of the season, playing a key part in MMIX’s 11-match winning run that spanned from February through to May and went on to play the full 90 minutes in the Bill Johnson Supplementary Cup Final victory over AFC Santander at the end of the campaign.

Des Clark is also on the road to recovery, having not made a single appearance since the Alf Carter Cup final in late May 2011. Initially ruled out for the season after extensive reconstructive surgery on his knee, Clark is now back into his running training and is aiming to start kicking a ball again in the New Year with a view to potentially being back in action towards the end of February / beginning of March. Given that in 2010/11 he notched up 19 goals and 17 assists over a total of 31 competitive fixtures, his re-introduction could be coming at just the right time for a side still with league and cup aspirations for 2011/12.

And there was also some positive news surrounding Rob Whittaker, who also hasn’t made a single appearance during 2011/12 after being struck down with ankle and hip complaints. Whittaker was also a regular during 2010/11 after signing midway through the campaign and was in the squad for both cup finals at the end of the season, but hasn’t been since. The update is that his physiotherapy is going well, and he should be back in training towards the end of January.

A club statement said: “As we were preparing for the recent league game against AFC Santander, we found ourselves in a position where only 12 out of the 30 players we currently have signed on could actually commit to the fixture due to injury, unavailability, and so on and so forth.

After that, we’ve decided to grab the situation by the balls and give the squad a bit of a shake-up. At the end of the day, there is no point in having someone signed on if they can’t – or won’t – see themselves playing for the club in the immediate future and with a league title still to contend for, as well as cup quarter-final coming up in the New Year, we can only afford to have players signed on who can – and will – commit to some of the huge games that we have on the horizon.”

As a result, the first player to be released is Pun Wadhwani. Pun joined the club on a free transfer from The Old Swan towards the beginning of 2010/11 and made his debut in the 7-4 defeat to the Open University in September 2010, before suffering a cruciate ligament injury in the game against Kiln Farm just 3 weeks later which has ruled him out indefinitely ever since.

“Obviously we are hoping that Pun will be in a position where he is able to play for the club again at some point in the future but realistically, this isn’t going to be happening anytime soon and with so many important games approaching as we continue to push for this Division One title, we need as many fit and available players as we can get.

We have spoken to Pun about the situation and he is more than happy for his registration to be terminated, at least for the foreseeable future, so that’s the decision that we have taken.”

The second player to be leaving the club indefinitely is Rich Burnikell who, ironically, is currently MMIX’s all-time top scorer after finishing both 2009/10 and 2010/11 at the top of the goalscoring charts.

“Rich is a player that scored a boat load of goals for this club in our first 2 seasons, including a hat-trick in our first ever competitive fixture and 2 goals in the cup final last season which helped us win the first piece of silverware in the club’s history.

But since pulling out of a pre-season fixture against Kings Arms back in August he’s made it pretty clear that he isn’t interested in playing Sunday football again anytime soon, and as a result we have come to the conclusion that there is no point in having him signed on anymore at all.”

The club are continuing to look at their playing squad and are refusing to rule out further releases in the coming days / weeks, nor are they refusing to rule out a new signing or two should the right player come along.

Elsewhere Buckingham United picked up their first victory of the season with a 6-1 mauling of Stacey Bushes, while New City Saints edged out MK Legends by 2 goals to 1.

The table looks like this:

In the Premier Division, Willen regained top spot with a 2-1 victory over CS Athletic as Stony Stratford Town were held to a shock 1-1 draw by Kings Arms.

Elsewhere FC Lifesearch edged Great Mile Ash 3-2 while bottom side AFC Padbury beat Loughton Athletic 4-1 and Trade 2 U put 4 unanswered goals past the Open University.

The table looks like this:

Elsewhere Punjab United moved to within a point of MMIX with a 4-0 win over Stacey Bushes while New City Saints beat Buckingham United 2-1 and Stantonbury The Manor beat MK Legends 6-1 in their own back yard.

The table looks like this:

In the Premier Division, Stony Stratford Town went back to the top of the table as they kept up their 100% record with a 2-0 victory over Loughton Athletic while Kings Arms surprised Trade 2 U 4-0, FC Lifesearch and CS Athletic played out a 3-3 draw, Great Mile Ash put 3 unanswered goals past the OU and Stantonbury Social A beat bottom side AFC Padbury 5-2.

The table looks like this:

This coming Sunday, FC MMIX travel to Loughton to take on AFC Santander in what can only be billed as a ‘must win’ game. Stanton Manor host Punjab United while Olney travel to Stoke Hammond, and Stantonbury Social don’t play.

A good set of results could see MMIX pull away from the chasing pack as well as jump up to 3^rd, just 2 points behind the top of the table. A bad set of results could see MMIX drop to 5^th, 8 points off of the pace and almost certainly out of the title race…

In an all Milton Keynes tie, AFC Santander progressed through to Round 4 of the cup with a 4-2 victory over Loughton Athletic while CS Athletic also progressed, defeating Marlow’s Cross Keys 5-1.

Kings Arms lost out 4-0 to Milton Keynes 87, while FC Wanderers knocked out Stantonbury Social A 5-1.

In Division One, Olney cemented their place at the top of the table with an almost painfully emphatic 17-1 victory over Buckingham United.

Stantonbury Social B jumped up to 2nd with a 4-3 victory over Stanton Manor while MK United upset Stoke Hammond MK 3-1 and MK Legends beat Stacey Bushes 2-1.

The table looks like this:

And in the Premier Division, Willen went top of the pile with a 1-0 victory over FC Lifesearch while in a bottom-of-the-table clash, the OU beat AFC Padbury 5-2.

The table looks like this: