Unbeaten run extended - and Whizz eyes more

Wonderboys V Bohos B

Billy Whizz's Wonderboys made it 9 points from 5 games, after seeing off Bohos B Team at Shitters Palace last night. Despite a shaky first half performance, the Wonderboys ran out 4-1 winners to close the gap on 11th place to just 4 points.

The tension around the ground was simmering at the half time break after the visitors - who had yet to earn a point this season before kick off - took an early lead from a set piece. Frustration was setting in among the home players, with several good positions being wasted, and although the hosts seemed to be getting a stranglehold on the game before half time, manager Billy Whizz would have been relieved to get his players back into the dressing room before they gave away a further goal to Bohos, who always looked threatening on the break.

The second half was a different tale, with the Whizzers pressing from the off, and were rewarded centre half Al Owairan took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake to head home from a David Thorpe corner. This seemed to spur the Wonderboys on, and although they had to be patient in their build up play, more goals always seemed likely. Good play by Matt Hawthorn gave Jones an opportunity from the edge of the area - a cool finish from the defensive midfielder gave him a rare goal. The momentum had totally shifted now, and Meredith came close to adding a third, before 4 minutes later a clever run by Mick Richards saw him finish another Thorpe corner with aplomb. It was the striker's second goal in as many matches, after being overlooked at the start of the campaign. The final goal came from Luke Grove, after a defence splitting through ball by Floyd Rooney, who will miss the Wonderboys next match, after he picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time.

Whizz's Verdict

I'm pleased that we got the win - the atmosphere wasn't nice at all when we were 1-0 down, and I think it shows how quickly things can change in football. A loss here today and I'm sure there would have been many people calling for my head - fortunately though we've managed to get through the game, and we showed out class towards the end.

I can't really explain why we were so poor in the first 45 minutes, maybe it was the early goal, and I think the players thought we were going to lose, which was utter nonsense of course at that stage of the game - and I told them as much at half time. They came out with some fire in their belly's after the break; you could tell they really wanted to get the ball in the back of the net, as supposed to going through the motions and hoping.


Call me an optimist, but I refuse to write off a challenge for the top positions. Looking through the next few fixtures, on paper I can't see a loss. Of course, matches aren't played on paper, but we nee to get confidence up, so that the lads can truly believe they can win games. At the minute, they look nervous every time they step onto some grass, but they shouldn't be.


Wednesday will be a tough game, but Man Utd SER are a little short of players. It's a good time to play them, and we should be taking advantage of this. This league is very close, two promoted teams in the top three says it all I think. Despite our current position, this run of form shows we can compete with the teams at the top of the table - however our immediate goal is to get ourselves out of the relegation places.

Whizz: We can get promoted

'League wide open' says boss

Eyebrows were raised when Billy Whizz's Wonderboys manager Billy Whizz challenged his team to win promotion, after seeing the Wonderboys beat Wensley Wanderers 4-1 at Shitters Palace. The win was their first of the season, after 7 matches, with strikers Phin and Groves scoring two goals each.

The Whizzers started the day winless and in 17th position, while their opposition were in 13th place. However, the hosts saw out the game comfortably, although the scoreline perhaps flattered them slightly.

The performance was enough to convince Whizz though that his side has what it takes to reach Division 4:

"We've not had the best of starts, but I truly feel this win can kick us on. I want us to be looking up not down this year, and if we look at the teams at the very top, we can get there. With a player or two more, why can't we be better than them?"

The Wonderboys move up to 15th position, still 3 places inside the relegation zone, and are 9 points off Soccer of Napoli, and leapfrog their opposition. They face Earby All Stars on Friday night at Springfield, and will look to be trying to reduce the 5 point defecit between their hosts, who sit 11th in the 5.10 table

Season starts with heavy defeat

Wonderboys open with shock loss at Shitters Palace

Wonderboys V Esaf

Billy Whizz's Wonderboys started Season 22 with a 4-0 defeat at home to promoted team esaf. With a bumper crowd to mark the opening day, hopes were high of a home victory to kickstart the campaign, however the Whizzer's fans that stayed until the final whistle were left bemused at the scoreline in a relatively even game.

During a quiet opening to the game, Phin had the first opportunity, but his left foot shot was comfortably saved by esaf keeper Marazzi. Shitters Palace was silenced 10 minutes later, after C.Nunn took advantage of slack defending by Phil Jones to steal in at the back post from a Stedman freekick giving esaf the lead.

The Whizzers seemed to be a state of shock, and had to defend once more as esaf were encouraged by the goal. A Yeleyko freekick almost doubled esaf's advantage, but it hit the bar, with Gok left motionless.

That seemed to wake the crowd up, and the home team enjoyed a spell of dominance, Z Al-Teymat missing two opportunities, and Luke Grove struck a fine freekick, that required a finger-tip save from the visitors goalkeeper.

Esaf landed another suckerpunch though just before the break, as Yeleyko fired home from just inside the area, leaving the Wonderboys going into the halftime break 2-0 down.

HT - Wonderboys 0-2 Esaf

The Whizzers started the 2nd half strongly, having plenty of possession, but unable to find the killer ball, and three times they were denied one on one opportunites by last minute tackles. A chance was Al Owaiwan, as he sent Luke Grove through on goal, however the striker's chip was smothered by an in-form Mazarri.

The failure to take advantage of this spell of pressure cost the home team dear, as esaf scored 2 goals in as many minutes halfway through the second period. First, a Nunn effort from 30 yards out hit the post, before dropping agonizingly short of Gok's despairing dive, and cruelly rolling into the net. Then, before the Wonderboys had any chance to muster any sort of response, Yeleyko was sent through by Crouch, making no mistake from 25 yards. If the 3rd goal saw a trickle of Wonderboy's fans start to leave, the 4th seemed to signal the mass exodus, much to the delight of the visiting fans.

The away side then sat back and conserved energy, as the Whizzers hurled balls forward for the remainder of the game. Mazarri earned his man of the match award by making fine saves from Phin, Groves and Al-Teymat in the closing stages, and the last action of the match was a booking to captain Enver 'The Rock' Mandirah, before the referee blew the final whistle, leaving two sets of fans with very differing emotions.

FT - Wonderboys 0-4 Esaf

Whizz's verdict:

The dressing room was a pretty quiet and despondant place to be honest with you. After the end of season break, both the fans and the players were ready to get back into things, and I thought our preparation had gone pretty well. It was a big crowd, and we really wanted to come out fighting and get off to a great start.

Unfortunately, today's gone completely wrong. 4-0 is quite a sobering result to be on the wrong side of, and now I've got to get them ready for Friday - how I do that I'm not quite sure. Shock is defintely the over-riding feeling - we're absolutely stunned for totally the wrong reasons.

The possession was pretty much 50-50, and they had one more shot than us. It was, buy all accounts, an even game, but they stuck the ball in the net and we didn't. That's football, and it's these sort of games that make football what it is.

Looking forward to Friday, we may well change some things around - conceding 4 isn't good, and thats the third time in as many matches this season, so it's clear something is going wrong. I hope that at the bottom of it all, this acts as a wake up call to the players - just because we survived last season, doesn't mean that we're guarenteed to do the same this time round. It's going to be just as hard, and they're going to have to give everything they've got - results aren't just going to come.

Wonderboys safe, despite poor form

Billy Whizz's Wonderboys will be playing Division 5 football next season, after favourable results for rival teams.

The Wonderboys have collected just 1 point from their previous 4 games, including a 6-0 thrashing to the hands of Freesun FC, but with one game left to play, are 11 points clear of the dropzone.

The season can be deemed a success for the Whizzers, with manage Billy Whizz claiming at the start of the season that 'survival - even by goal difference - would consititute a brilliant season for us'. Inconsistency would be the best word to sum up how the Wonderboys played during the campaign, but a team hardly fancied turned the odds, and beat the drop comfortably.

"We're certainly very happy that we're not involved in a relegation battle' said Whizz after his team's draw against Skills City on Sunday night. "We look at other teams in other divisions who are being caught up in it all, and I'm happy that its something we're not going through. The team deserve a lot of praise for getting us into this position, and we can now look forward to next seasons challenges'

Indeed, some have commented that next season could prove more difficult than this, with 8 of the Wonderboys starting XI over the age of 30, the need for new younger talent will be needed to replace some 'golden oldies' that were figureheads during this campaign. The Whizzer's management have worked hard during the season to recruit some raw talent, with midfielders Jamie Cort, Giovanni Inchingoli, and Vladimir Nemic being the most high profile 'future potential' signings made. However, more players will inevitably be needed, and it is thought that a goalkeeper and a right back are Whizz's main priorities.

For now though, the Wonderboys can be happy with their work over the last 12 weeks. So brilliant and ruthless at times, so poor and tame at others, Season 21 has been a rollercoaster for the Albion fans. More consistency should be the aim for next year, and player recruitment will be crucial, but you can bank on one thing - Billy Whizz and the Wonderboys will be up for the fight