Week ending 9th November by Mason Norton

In Everards Brewery Division One, Lutterworth Athletic Reserves remain the leaders, but were pushed hard by hosts Sutton Bonington, Lutterworth winning 3-2, Jack Berridge gave Sutton the lead but Callum James restored parity for the break. Callum Harris and James, with his 2nd, made it 1-3 before Joe Brown netted for Sutton with 15 minutes to go. Sutton actually now find themselves bottom of the table again after the morning's wooden spoon side, Dunton & Broughton United, came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at St Patricks, Jack Hickey and Dominic Puttnam for Pats, Jancy Mbomba and Moubarak Moumouni for Dunton.

Back at the top of the table, and Loughborough Students Development kept their title challenge alive as subs Tobenna Ikegwuonu and Henry Russ scored in the second half to earn them a 2-0 win at home to Ingles Development. The Students are six points behind Lutterworth with two games in hand and a much better goal difference. Hinckley LRFC Development are sitting third after they won 3-0 at home to Barrow Town, scorers not yet in. Loughborough Dynamo round off the top four, winning 6-1 on Saturday at home to Saffron Dynamo Development, Loughborough scorers not yet in, Josh Wright for Saffron, Loughborough kicking away in the second half with four unanswered goals.

Looking back down at the bottom, Birstall United Reserves sit just a point above the drop zone after losing 5-2 at home to Sileby Town Reserves on Saturday, Tom Moore (2), Callum Glover, Samuel James and Taffy Pariva for Sileby, Geraint Price and Jake Robertson for Birstall. Holwell Sports Reserves snatched a vital point to put themselves now three points clear of the drop after a 0-0 draw at Kirby Muxloe Reserves, and Heather St John Reserves eased their worries to go into the lower mid-table spots after a dominant 6-0 win at home to Mountsorrel Amateurs, Archie Gallacher with a hat-trick, Freddie Brooks, Fran Blake and sub Will Pickering with the other goals.

To Everards Brewery Division Two, where the bottom two played the top two. There were no upsets this time round, and plenty of goals. Brookside Athletic won 6-2 at Barrow Town Reserves, Karl Duncan (2), Theo Baker, Leo Lightbown and subs Jonathan Powell-Hayles and Charlie Seager for Brookside, Callum Armsden and Boutros Boadi for Barrow. But they found themselves dethroned as leaders on goal difference by Community Football Academy, who won 12-1 away at bottom side Leicester United, Liam Taylor leading the way with four goals, a double from Jaseem Khamkar, Younes Mihoubi, Curtis Radbourne, Zak Yusuf, and from the bench, Louis Chambers, Mohamed Mahir and Irfan Patel. Connor Masters provided a consolation for the home side.

Community are now top from Brookside by one goal. Leicester United, meanwhile, still search for their first point, four points behind Barrow Reserves, but the LSL's announcement this weekend that there will be no relegation this term to the County League means that they do not have to worry about making a swift return back down, though the intention is to re-introduce relegation from Div2 to the County League from the 2025-26 season, subject to the County League having teams meeting the promotion requirements.

Meanwhile, Whetstone Athletic and Glen Villa round off the top four. Whetstone won 5-0 at Loughborough FC, a brace of braces from Taylor Blatchford and Harvey Coulson plus a strike from Tom Bonser the goals in that game, whilst Glen Villa won 4-1 at home to Leicester Nirvana Reserves thanks to goals from George Parker (2), James Parker and Ira Castor, Huzaifah Kasu for Nirvana. In the other games in Div2, Magna 73 Reserves won 2-0 at Highfield Rangers Reserves, and Rothley Imperial came from behind to win 3-2 at Friar Lane & Epworth Reserves, Luke Denham (2) and Mitchell Harris for Rothley, Macaulley Cleaver-Hamill and Harrison Walker for FLAE.

There's not much separating the two leaders in Div2, so it's the perfect time for the two to go head-to-head, as Brookside welcome Community to Syston next Saturday in the top-of-the-table clash. There's a relegation six-pointer in Div1, as Holwell Reserves host Sutton Bonington, and a Soar Valley derby as Barrow Town at home to Sileby Town Reserves, whilst the Premier Division sees the division's most in-form side, Anstey Town, entertain the division's most out-of-form, Ellistown, who are winless in the League since the August Bank Holiday. Incidentally, Ellistown beat Anstey Town on the opening day, but that all feels a very long way away now, much like the warm weather that day. We'll be back next week. See you then.