Saturday Update – 9th March 2024

After the cup exploits of the previous weekend it was a return to league action for all our teams last weekend.

The Ladies A team knew they needed a win to put some space between them and Castletown A who had moved above them into second in the table.
A very feisty game between these two strong teams ended with the first half all even at 1 goal apiece, but Vikings pushed on in the second half and added two more goals to secure a valuable two points and move back up into second in the table, Kim Carney grabbing a brace with a single goal from Mia Greenwood.

The Ladies B still remain top of Division 1 after a 4-2 win over Bacchas B.
The Ladies B team now sit 3 points above Ramsey A in the league, however Ramsey have a game in hand against Bacchas C.
An end to end match at times led to chances for both teams with Vikings just edging the first half with the score delicately poised at 2-1.
Again a similar pattern emerging in the second half with the same 2-1 scoreline for each half giving the Ladies B a worthy 4-2 victory, with goals from Dani Murphy, Georgie Higgins, Elena Caley and Jess Birch.

Harlequins Ladies B were the opponents for our Ladies C, who were desperate to get a couple of more points on the board to move them away from Castletown E at the bottom of the table.
A solid first half performance from the C team led to them going into the half time break 2-0 to the good courtesy of goals from Jo Roney and Sarah Pressley.
A more end to end game at times in the second half, with the Vikings defence comfortably handling the few breaks that Harlequins made towards their goal and Poppy Gerrard in the Vikings goal marshaling her D very well.
The C team had numerous chances to make the score much more comprehensive, but a combination of great goalkeeping from Willow Heaton in the Harlequins goal and some rushed and off target finishing kept the scoreline at only 2-0.

The Mens A continued their march towards the title with a comfortable 5-1 win over Bacchas B.
A sloppy start to the match from the A team led to Bacchas slotting home an early goal and gaining a surprise lead, but the men in black then managed to shake off a poor start and pushed forward with Josh Dougal grabbing an equaliser with the first half ending all square.
Stern words were had at half time and the team had to now step up, with the top of the table being at risk.
The second half began at a slightly better tempo for the As and eventually they added another goal, after a short corner drag from John Verrall took a wicked deflection from a defender to nutmeg their own keeper. This was the start of the onslaught, and through lots of fast paced open play the flood gates opened, with goals coming from Jon Cooper, a lovely reverse edge strike from Tom Burrows and a well worked deflected strike from Macklin Wilson.

The Mens B currently sit mid-table in Division 1 and faced bottom of the table Harlequins B who they defeated 6-0 last time round.
A solid performance from the B team led to a 3-1 lead at half time, the goals didn’t stop there with a further two goals added second half with Harlequins managing another consolation goal in reply.
The match ended 5-2 with a brace from Josh Dougal and further goals from Lee Cowell, Brayden Masterson and Alex Andrew.

The Mens C faced the difficult challenge of Valkyrs B at Castle Rushen with a depleted team once again.
Starting the game against the league leaders with only 10 men, but the C team held them off as long as they could before the deadlock was broken with Chris Thomas clipping a baseline cross into the far corner.
Numerous short corners were well defended but Valkyrs added two more to their tally in the half with Vikings regrouping at half-time 3-0 down.
A slight reshuffle in formation in the second half led to a more solid defensive display, with Vikings only managing a few forays into the opposing half and a couple of short corners that they were unable to capitalise on.
More pressure from the league leaders led to a final goal added by the westerners with the game finishing 4-0 leaving the Mens C only a point of the bottom of the table.

Unfortunately our U15 team didn’t have enough players this weekend, so had to resort to a friendly match against Harlequins U15 after conceding a 5-0 walkover.

We are moving into the closing stages of the season now Vikings with only about a month’s worth of fixtures left… let’s keep pushing on !

Results – 09/03/2024

Vikings Ladies A	3 – 1	Castletown Ladies A	(Kim Carney 2, Mia Greenwood)
Vikings Ladies B	4 – 2	Bacchas Ladies B	(Dani Murphy, Georgie Higgins, Elena Caley, Jess Birch)
Vikings Ladies C	2 – 0	Harlequins Ladies B	(Jo Roney, Sarah Pressley)
Vikings Mens A	5 – 1	Bacchas Mens B	(Tom Burrows, Jon Cooper, Macklin Wilson, John Verrall, Josh Dougal)
Vikings Mens B	5 – 2	Harlequins Mens B	(Josh Dougal 2, Lee Cowell, Brayden Masterson, Alex Andrew)
Vikings Mens C	0 – 4	Valkyrs Mens B
Vikings U15	0 – 5	Harlequins U15	(Walkover due to lack of players)