Leading the table at present are Dereham Town who last season finished in 10th position a massive thirty-two points off Champions Needham Market. Dereham have lost only one game in the league this season so far when losing 3-0 away to Wisbech Town. Top scorer Danny Beaumont has netted 19 times in league and cup games so far which is only one off his total for last year in 38 games. The Magpies, as they are nicknamed, have been knocked out of the FA Vase at the first time of asking against United Counties League side Kings Lynn Town and the ECL league cup so now only really have the league to concentrate on as well as the Norfolk Senior Cup.
In second place are last season FA Vase runners-up Wroxham who are five points behind but have played one more game than the current league leaders. The two pace setters in the league have yet to face each other with an eagerly awaited Christmas Bank Holiday match up (27th December) due to be played at Dereham's Aldiss Park which is bound to attract a bumper crowd. The Yachtsmen entertain fellow ECL team Wisbech Town in the FA Vase on the 13th November in what will be a very close game. Whichever team wins this game may go on a good run in the competition?
From 2nd to 3rd there is currently a 12 point cushion down to Kirkley and Pakefield with 4th placed Cambridge Regional College and fifth placed Leiston probably better placed with games in hand. If Leiston win all them they will go top by one point, they have only played 12 league games due to their fantastic FA Cup run to the fourth qualifying round. The old adage comes to mind of whats better...points in the bag or games in hand comes to mind??
Leiston who appropriately play at Victory Road have only one defeat in the league which came on the first day of the season against Wisbech Town at home 1-3. In the FA Cup their run started in the extra-preliminary round with a 0-2 win at UCL Northampton Spencer before beating Cogenhoe United, St Neots Town, Folkestone Invicta (after a replay) and North Greenford United to get to the fourth qualifying round where they faced Blue Sqaure South side Dartford. 832 people crammed into Leiston's ground to see a tight 0-0 draw where the home side did have chances to win before a mid-week replay at Princes Park where The Darts ran out 3-2 winners to face Port Vale in the First Round proper.
Lesiton are managed by ex AFC Sudbury boss Mark Morlsey. He added to the raft of players that have represented his old side recently when signing striker Dareen Bethell from Needham Market.
Below Leiston are Wisbech Town, Haverhill Rovers and ex Ryman League Wivenhoe Town. Rovers are now playing at a new ground named 'New Croft' and only lost their second league game on Saturday against Debenham LC. Ultimately it may be the amount of games they have drawn which maybe their downfall in missing out on the Championship race. The Dragons of Wivenhoe Town are having a better season than last when they finished anchored to the bottom of the divsion with only 1 win out of 38 games (against Newmarket Town on the 6th March) and were only spared relegation thanks to the demise of Kings Lynn (whose reserve side played in the Premier Division) and Harwich & Parkeston* along with the promotion of Needham Market and no team coming down the replace them. Things are looking up for the Essex side as there are plans afoot to redevelop their Broad Lane ground to incorporate many other facilities for the use of the local community.
* After dropping out of the ECL last season Harwich & Parkeston now play in the Kent Blaxhill Essex & Suffolk Border League where they are currently in 12th place of 18 teams in the Premier Division alongside teams such as White Notley (who Town fans will be familiar with after out trip there in 2001), Gas Recreation (based in Colchester), Tiptree Jobserve and Wormingford Wanderers. It's good to see a famous old name from Amateur football regrouping and hopefully building for a successful future.
Currently at the foot of the table are Felixstowe and Walton United followed by Histon Reserves and Brantham Athletic. Two of these in Felixstowe and Brantham have not won a league game at home as of yet along with mid-table Great Yarmouth Town. The Bloaters who are last season's Division One Champions have drawn 4 and lost 4 scoring only 6 goals at the Wellesley Recreation Ground which is in stark contrast to their form away from home where they are only beaten by three other teams being the top 2 and Leiston. They have won 5 drawn 3 and lost only 1 away from home scoring 20 goals (equal third best in the league) in the process.
Only Histon Reserves and fourth bottom Walsham-Le-Willows are without a win on the road. The league is well supported with 12 out of the 22 teams all currently averaging crowds over 100. Top Premier Division crowd of the season so far was the 405 figure recorded for the Wisbech Town v Wroxham game played on the 21st August.
In Division One league newcomers Cambridge University Press presently lead the way. They have moved up from the Cambridgeshire League where last season they were runners-up. Formed in 1893, they are the oldest club in the university city to be affiliated to the Cambridgeshire FA as they beat both City (1908) and United (1912). In second place come Diss Town followed by Whitton United and Stowmarket Town. Opposed to the Premier Division there is a much closer feel to the table as presently only seven points separate the top seven. The Press have only lost twice both at home against Long Melford and surprisingly last Saturday when March Town United ran out 1-5 winners.
The top two play each other on Saturday when Diss Town hose C.U.P at their Brewers Green Lane ground. The Tangerines are managed by ex football league goalscoring legend Robert Taylor who in 1999 Manchester City paid £1.5 million for when he moved from Gillingham. Taylor has managed Watton United in the Anglian Combination, been assistant and then manager at Kings Lynn and Dereham Town prior to moving to Diss in 2008.
Ex Ryman and Essex Senior League side Saffron Walden Town have Division One's highest average and highest crowd of the season so far. 191 people saw Gorleston record a 1-2 victory at Catons Lane on the 9th October.
Current Premier Division Table -
P W D L GF GA GD PTS
Dereham Town 19 15 3 1 53 14 +39 48
Wroxham 20 13 4 3 48 20 +28 43
Kirkley & Pakefield 20 8 7 5 36 22 +14 31
CRC 17 8 6 3 41 22 +19 30
Leiston 12 9 2 1 36 14 +22 29
Wisbech Town 17 6 7 4 30 27 + 3 25
Haverhill Rovers 14 6 6 2 23 14 + 9 24
Wivenhoe Town 18 6 6 6 26 27 - 1 24
Newmarket Town 16 6 5 5 21 31 -10 23
Norwich United 18 6 4 8 34 30 + 4 22
Great Yarmouth Town 17 5 7 5 26 29 - 3 22
Mildenhall Town 17 6 4 7 22 26 - 4 22
FC Clacton 16 5 5 6 28 24 + 4 20
Stanway Rovers 14 5 4 5 26 17 + 9 19
Hadleigh United 13 5 3 5 24 23 + 1 18
Ely City 15 4 4 7 21 23 - 2 16
Woodbridge Town 15 4 2 9 22 41 -19 14
Debenham LC 17 4 1 12 26 51 -25 13
Walsham-le-Willows 15 1 9 5 20 26 - 6 12
Brantham Athletic 19 3 3 13 23 37 -14 12
Histon Reserves 18 3 4 11 14 64 -50 12
Felixstowe & W United 13 3 2 8 11 29 -18 11
Current First Division Table
P W D L GF GA GD PTS
Cambridge University Press 12 7 3 2 33 17 +16 24
Diss Town 11 7 2 2 26 13 +13 23
Whitton United 11 7 2 2 21 13 + 8 23
Stowmarket Town 10 7 1 2 24 9 +15 22
Gorleston 10 7 0 3 27 12 +15 21
Ipswich Wanderers 9 6 1 2 27 15 +12 19
Saffron Walden Town 9 5 2 2 19 11 + 8 17
Long Melford 10 5 1 4 16 15 + 1 16
Godmanchester Rovers 11 3 5 3 18 17 + 1 14
March Town United 8 4 1 3 16 11 + 5 13
Thetford Town 11 4 1 6 16 21 - 5 13
Fakenham Town 13 3 4 6 14 21 - 7 13
Team Bury 11 2 5 4 19 24 - 5 11
Downham Town 13 3 1 9 15 32 -17 10
Halstead Town 11 2 2 7 12 21 - 9 8
Swaffham Town 10 1 2 7 8 30 -22 5
Cornard United 12 1 1 10 8 37 -29 4
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