Saturday Update – 11th November 2023

Back to normal service with a full round of league matches for all the Vikings mixed teams this weekend.

In the closing stages for the Premiership season its all to play for and it was a top of the table clash.
Vikings went 2-0 up and were comfortable until Valkyrs countered and got one back, momentum seemed to then go with them until the break for a ten minute spell making it 2-2.
A regroup at half time led to quite a level first ten minutes in the second half with Harry Woods only having to touch the ball a couple of times.
Vikings had the pressure but again conceded on the counter, not to go down lightly they quickly came back with a goal straight away.
However, unable to get the ball clear allowed Valkyrs to make it 4-3 and into the last 5-10 minutes Vikings hit the post twice but just couldn’t find the equaliser.
Archie Caley, Tom Burrows and Alex Andrew grabbing the goals for Vikings but the loss has knocked the A team off top spot in the Mixed Premiership with only two matches left to play.

The Mixed B team faced a tough proposition of Bacchas B and whilst they managed to hold their Douglas rivals to an even score at half time (1-1), Bacchas piled on the pressure in the second half.
Whilst Vikings fought the best they could, the game got away from them in the second half with Bacchas showing more composure in front of goal and the game finishing 7-2. Jon Cooper and Molly Wheeler getting on the scoresheet for Vikings B.

Up next our Mixed C team were up against Valkyrs C, always a tough match for the C team and they were hoping to secure some points against the Peel team after securing a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
However, it wasn’t to be this time round as Valkyrs came away the victory even though our C team pushed hard to the final whistle.

Mixed D were the first match of the day at 11am on Saturday and knew that a draw or win would secure the Division 2 league title.
A scrappy start to the game with a few half chances for Vikings and some good saves from the Bacchas keeper kept the score at 0-0 at halftime.
A change-around in the lineup in the second half led to Vikings taking the lead early in the half via Josh Kaighin firing a hammer shot into the far corner of the net, this was then followed by another goal for Josh after good wing play from Errol Syme.
Vikings were piling on the pressure at every opportunity and this led to a rushed defensive clearance that was intercepted by Morgan Braidwood and a through ball to Jo Roney was neatly finished past the Bacchas keeper to give a commanding 3-0 scoreline.
Not to be undone, Bacchas pushed back and scored with almost of the last action of the game after a breakaway through the midfield led to a shot sneaking past James Craig in the Vikings goal.

In the other Division 2 match, the Mixed E team knew a defeat would all but guarantee their relegation from the division. An early goal for Valkyrs gave them the advantage due to the E team only having 9 players to start the match, but Vikings pushed back and Jacob Harding scored from a well worked short corner routine. Only a few minutes later Valkyrs hit back to take the scoreline to 2-1 but just before half-time another well worked short corner routine was finished expertly by Oli Nandha into the corner of the goal to bring the scoreline even at 2-2 at half-time. In the second half Valkyrs pushed high up the pitch and managed to grab a further two goals without reply even though the Valkyrs keeper kept the scoreline in the Peel team’s favour with a number of key saves and the match finished 4-2.

The U15 were against Castletown Sharks in a repeat of last weekend’s fixture. The U15s lost 3-1 last time round and unfortunately they were on the end of a similar scoreline this time round, going down 3-0 but again battling to the end despite having a number of key players missing from their lineup.