March 11th, 2010 by admin

March 11th, 2010 by admin

The Spartans final match of the season was one of great expectation and pressure on the players. Victory would mean a 2nd place finish in the table, at the expense of rivals “The Saints”, however a loss or draw would mean The Saints took the 2nd place. The Spartans knew it would be a tall order considering they were playing top of the table Holburn College who only lost one match all season.

The match got off to a poor start as the Spartans conceded a goal within the first minute of the game. Holburn continued to pressure the Spartan defence and continued to rack up the goals.

The final score ended Holburn 10, Spartans 3. The best part of the night was we finally got a team photo for the website…

February 18th, 2010 by admin

February 18th, 2010 by admin

Statement from League Organizers:

Due to previous actions both on and off the pitch Resolute FC were removed from the Wednesday Docklands league. As a result a new team were brought in to fill the gap and play the remaining Resolute FC.

Due to the removal of Resolute The London Spartans were matched with Langborne for a mid-week clash which gave the lads time to try out some new formations and tactics on the pitch. Due to illness, injury and other factors a number of the regular Spartan players had to drop out of the match and R. Cole was made to fill in as goal keeper whilst S. Hugo was brought in last minute to provide cover for M. McCaffery.

The Spartans played an unusual lineup  with Slight & Connell in defence, Gonzales up front and Hugo and T.Cole providing support on the wings. It looked like this make-shift team would suffer as they conceded early in the first half putting Langborne in front. This goal served as a ‘wake up call’ as T. Cole went on a excellent break, beating a number of opponents before slotting the ball home to even the score. Gonzales quickly then added another 2 goals making the score 3 – 1 come half time.

The Spartan truly owned the 2nd half of the match, Gonzales had the freedom of the park and the pass play between the team was second to none. The Langborne defence could not control the pace of T. Cole & Gonzales and S Hugo slotted right into the game as a true powerhouse and was unlucky not to score. Slight kept the defense tight and allowed Connell to push forward and support the attack.

Gonzales earned himself man of the match scoring two other slick goals with an all round “show de force”. As the game came to a close Connell broke forward, beat 3 players and slotted the ball home to claim the final goal and send Spartans home with their biggest goal difference of the season 6  - 1.

The team celebrates as Gonzales scores his 4th goal of the night

February 4th, 2010 by admin

February 4th, 2010 by admin

Spartans looked to continue their winning ways against Team Langley who took a 9 – 3 romping in this seasons reverse fixture. T. Cole got Spartans victory on track with a shot from the top of the D following some slick passing play from Slight & Briggennshawn. R. Cole & M. Slight kept the defence organized and strong and give Langley little room to move allowing Gonzales & Connell to pick up some goals further into the 2nd half.

The Spartans concentration was tested at the start of the 2nd half and allowed two poor goals from Langley to sneak in. T. Cole & Gonzales made up for these errors and netted a 2nd goal each, Gonzales with an excellent solo run and dink followed with a ecstatic celebration. M. McCafferty battled hard at the back, pushing forward as often as he could, and was unlucky to not score. Farr was determined to not concede any further goals and pulled off some important saves along with keeping the defence in check.

Langley were confident they could get back into the game and flooded men forward and turned the aggression up a notch. Connell was the first to experience this as a little brawl kicked off following his just tackle on one of Langley lads just outside the area. Langley, who obviously were not happy with the ref’s decision, confronted Connell and other team mates in protest of this action. The scuffle then expanded throughout the pitch as other Spartans players got stuck in defending the ref and their teams actions. This resulted in a red card for two Langley players and the match resumed, sadly still with 6 Langley players on the field, as they illegally brought subs on to compensate for their sending offs.

The final minutes of the match were a tense one as Spartans pushed forward with the hope of inflicting further damage to Langley’s ego and the final goal came to Langley following a nice passing move scored a decent goal, their first and only good move of the match. Final score, London Spartans 5 – Team Langley 3.

Things kick off between the Spartans & Team Langley in the latter stages of the match

February 1st, 2010 by admin

January 28th, 2010 by admin

After last weeks disappointing loss to Jonnie’s Giants Spartans made up for this with a convincing and easy win against Inter Corkers. This seasons prior fixture against the Corkers was a full hearted battle with Corkers gaining their only win of the season and London Spartans were eager to get revenge. Spartans were first to draw blood with Bragenshaw sinking the ball with a powerful shot after a burst down the right wing, a type of goal he is famed for.  On loan signing Gonzales was next to score with a dipping shot from just outside the area closely followed by Connell bringing the score to 3 nil within the first 10 minutes. The defensive trio of Slight, M. McCafferty & R. Cole looked as solid as ever as the crowd chanted to keeper Farr “first clean sheet of the season!”.

The 2nd half was again dominated by the Spartans. Full back Slight took full advantage of Corkers poor defense and scored two goals in quick succession with assistance from T. Cole on the wing. Gonzales scored again with Spartans looking to put the game to bed at 6 – 0. Corkers cocky and arrogant strikers were getting more and more frustrated with their shocking performance and charged forward hoping to break Spartans clean sheet. Defenders R. Cole & M. McCafferty let the players passion get the better of them as they both were sent to the sin bin for playing too rough. With a reduced defense on the field Corkers managed to pull back 2 sloppy goals to end the match 6 – 2.

The Spartan fans show their pride in a post match ruck with Inter Corkers supporters

January 21st, 2010 by admin

January 21st, 2010 by admin

London Spartans suffered a shock defeat to Jonnie’s Giants last night and put their 3rd place league finish in jeopardy. Spartans started the match well and racked up 2 goals in the early start of the match thanks to Bragenshaw & Connell, however Jonnie’s players, who had obviously kept their fitness up during the Xmas break, bounced back from 3 – 2 down to end the 1st half 4 – 3. The 2nd half was a mess for the Spartans who lacked the sharpness and edge they usually posses as they gave away a number of easy goals to give The Giants a full time victory of 7 – 3.

The Spartans left the pitch with their head in their hands and the atmosphere in the dressing room afterwards was a sombre one. With rival team “The Saint’s winning Spartans drop to 4th in the table, for the first time since the start of the season.