ST BENETS U9C: Two of the best football teams in the league clashed as St Benets U9C played host to champions-elect Loddon Grasshoppers.

Both teams needed to win the game and it showed as both sides went at it from the first whistle. The pace was fast with Loddon playing some good football, mostly through their main centre midfielder. A few of the Wasps players took time to settle and at times looked a little nervous as mistakes were made. Loddon scored the only goal of the first half and were denied on a few occasions by goalkeeper Ryan N who was outstanding throughout. Myles P hit a post with a great effort with Wasps’ only clear-cut chance in the first half. Second half was more of the same as both sides went for it, Wasps tried but their usual ‘pass and move’ football wasn’t on show and they went for more and more long balls. Loddon always looked a threat going forward and it wasn’t long before their top player scored again to make it 2-0. This seemed to spur on Wasps and they had five minutes of good pressure but could not pull a goal back. Loddon went on to win the game and were confirmed as champions. The Wasps’ management duo, players and parents would all like to congratulate Loddon on their title win. Wasps’ own title ambitions are now over but managers Carl and Graham are proud of all the boys’ efforts this season and will look to finish on a high against K&P and Bungay and look to build for next season. Final score: Wasps U9C 0, Loddon Grashoppers 2.

BUNGAY TOWN U15 drew 2-2 at Bohemians with the home team’s equaliser coming at the very end. Bungay had started brightly and went ahead after 10 minutes with a lob from Sam. Rhys had a chance to extend their lead and Callum hit the bar but Bohemians equalised with their first meaningful attack just before half-time. Bohemians produced more pressure after the break and hit the bar themselves, though clear chances were rare. Callum put Bungay ahead after a run with the ball from his own half and despite more Bohemians pressure they appeared to have survived until a shot from the right hit the far post and tricked agonisingly over the line. There was only time left for the restart. Bungay had known that two wins in their last two matches would guarantee promotion. This result means that they now rely on other results to go their way.

HALESWORTH U9: A high-scoring match between Halesworth U9 and Mutford overshadowed the fact that both keepers made good saves and kept the score down for their teams. Well-taken goals by Hayden Ling and Braidon Nurse gave them the early advantage in the first half, the pick of the goals made by Liam Howes with a neat through-ball for Hayden Ling to convert. Nurse had a couple of long-range efforts one of which came from a Mutford goal-kick which he controlled and hit first time but went just wide. The play got stretched in the second half with many chances at both ends. Toby Chenery was coming forward more and more and was rewarded with two good individual goals in a second-half hat-trick. Once again Harry Block played solid at the back, especially when his team-mates were pressing forward for more goals. A well-refereed game finally finished with the score 7-3 to Halesworth.

ST BENETS Hornets u7 played away to Kirkley & Pakefield C this week, and had a strong squad to boot. With a good pitch and fair weather things looked good for both teams. The game started at a fair pace and both teams soon had chances with K&P narrowly missing the target a few times. Callum made a couple of good saves and Ben unluckily missed a penalty, but scored a few moments later. With Ollie then in goal, a huge clearance saw Ben get a second and Nick netted too. A quick brace from Nathan ensured that St Benets finished strongly.

BUNGAY TOWN U9A welcomed Sole Bay United U9 to the Maltings Pavilion on Sunday for their penultimate league game of the season. Both teams were looking forward to the usual close-run game and really needed the points. From the first whistle all 10 outfield players battled hard for the ball. Early on Bailey and Connor held a concrete defence for Bungay stopping the Sole Bay attacks, long balls back upfield for Lewis and Reece to try and find Harvey to finish. The Sole Bay midfield continued to chase the ball down and break when possible. Despite numerous attempts by both teams the first half finished 0-0. The second half started as strong as the first with end-to-end play, some great long balls from Bungay goalie Darryl upfield helping Josh to make the most of the space on the left. But despite several crosses across goal from both teams, the ball failed to reach the back of the net. A Sole Bay hand-ball saw Bungay awarded a penalty. Lewis stepped up to take and cleanly finished with a powerful shot to put Bungay in the lead. The last few minutes of the game saw Sole Bay fight back, but with the help of Sam playing in his first game for Bungay along with regular Ollie and some great clean clearances in defence they kept Bungay in a 1-0 lead until the end.

BUNGAY TOWN GIRLS U14, anticipating a tough game, travelled to Lowestoft and put in a top-quality performance to claim all three points and to settle the aggregate between the two teams, two wins to one. A new formation, including new signing Lauren in midfield, enabled the girls to dominate the game. Bungay went ahead in the second minute with a great goal by Eva, The clock struck 23 minutes and Eva got her third goal of the match and her finest of the season. All girls demonstrated skill and talent particularly Nina who tackled well, made some great passes and dribbled the ball from end to end. Eva netted Bungay’s fourth goal.