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Results round-up – week 16

So as FC MMIX were coming from two goals down to beat Stantonbury Social 4-2, Olney Town returned to the top of the table with a 10-0 victory over free-falling Stacey Bushes while Stoke Hammond MK kept up their good run of form, beating MK Legends 4-2.

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:

DIVISION ONE

P

W

D

L

F

A

+ / -

Points

Olney Town

12

9

1

2

66

17

+49

28

AFC Santander

11

9

1

1

35

13

+22

28

Stoke Hammond MK

12

8

0

4

40

26

+14

24

FC MMIX

12

7

2

3

44

24

+20

23

Stantonbury Social B

11

7

2

2

34

17

+17

23

Punjab United

11

7

1

3

31

14

+17

22

Stantonbury The Manor

12

6

1

5

40

23

+17

19

New City Saints

13

4

2

7

18

34

-16

14

MK United

9

2

3

4

18

20

-2

9

Stacey Bushes

13

2

1

10

14

56

-42

7

MK Legends

13

1

1

11

10

49

-39

4

Buckingham United

13

1

1

11

18

75

-57

4

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:

PREMIER DIVISION

P

W

D

L

F

A

+ / -

Points

Willen

14

10

3

1

39

25

+14

33

Stony Stratford Town

9

8

1

0

49

8

+41

25

Great Mile Ash

12

7

3

2

38

13

+25

24

CS Athletic

12

6

3

3

34

31

+3

21

Kings Arms

13

5

2

6

31

34

-3

17

FC Lifesearch

13

4

2

7

25

38

-13

14

Trade 2 U

9

4

1

4

29

23

+6

13

Stantonbury Social A

10

3

3

4

23

24

-1

12

Loughton Athletic

11

2

1

8

14

35

-21

7

Open University

13

2

1

10

21

59

-38

7

AFC Padbury

10

2

0

8

21

34

-13

6

The club starts to look forward to 2012…

FC MMIX are set to welcome back a whole host of big names for the 2nd half of the 2011/12 league campaign, which begins with a home tie against Stantonbury Social on January 8th.

MMIX end 2011 in 5th place with 20 points from a possible 33, one point behind 4th placed Stoke Hammond MK. Stantonbury Social sit in 3rd on 23 points while 2nd 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 2nd 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 5th. 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 11th 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 4th 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.”

Injury update

FC MMIX have received some extremely positive news regarding three players currently on the sidelines.

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 2nd 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.