NEW TEAMS - NEW SEASON OF RYDE 6 A SIDE

We kicked off a brand new season of 6 a side last night at Ryde Academy and it was brilliant to welcome 3 new sides to the set up for their 1st games in this amazing 16 team league. 

Two of those teams took up places in our top division and along with the two promoted sides there was a really exciting, fresh feel to the premier league. Alfie and his MoLeicesters side made a great start to their campaign and top the table after week one. Their impressive 12 - 3 win came against a Butlins Bandits team that lacked a number of key players from their title winning team but none the less MoLeicesters look a strong outfit featuring a number of Ryde's experienced 6 a side players. Harry Scott being one of them and his 8 goals were the highlight, backed up by a hat-trick for captain Alfie Lister. Butlins will bounce back but it's a tough start for the Division One Champions. 

Also up against it in week one were Butlins fellow promotion winners Milfclarters, the auto generated fixtures couldn't have dealt them a worse card than to face premier league champions Sat Fesh in their 1st game and they young side but up a better fight than the score suggests. Sat Fesh were just too strong and too experienced at this level. Golden Boot winner Val Isac launched a fine defence of his crown with 5 and Brad Austin waded in with 3 for Sat Fesh who pick up where they left off from last season with a 10 - 1 win. 

The champions will face a tough challenge though to defend their title with the late addition of Prison FC to the league. They came in off the waiting list on match day as a replacement for Ryde Galacticos who pulled out late on and on 1st inspection look like a very strong side. Kyle Drew scored 4 and Jordan Cook 3 as the new team beat last years runners up Guns n Moses 8 - 3. This was a great game and Moses were as competitive as ever but Prison FC start with a win and will be right up there in the running for the premier league title. 

Puyol Pants Down were the 4th team to start with a win, they got the better of Roverners in a competitive game to round off an excellent 1st night of top flight football.

Division One featured our two relegated sides from last seasons Prem along with another new team making their full debut in the league. The Mighty View had helped out a number of times while patiently waiting for a place in the league but now they are in full time and it was great to see them in action. They faced a decent looking Khedira Pin Drop who scored early from the spot and went on to win the game 5 - 2 thanks to a hat-trick from Billy Chugg and two from Owen Connolly, Khedira missed out on promotion last season but if they can keep their star player fit and involved you have to fancy them to push for the title again this time around.

Kirbs return enjoyed a happy start to life in the lower division with a commanding 13 - 3 win over Grand Theft Porto while Goldies, also back in division one cashed in on a below par effort from Vectis Rovers to leap straight to the top of the table with a 17 - 4 win. Jamie Dyer was in fine form in front of goal netting 6, backed up by their new young signing Nick Gregory who got 5. There were also hat-tricks for Mark Grafham and Harry Groves in a brilliant night for Goldies who, like Khedira will look to push for silverware this season. 

Two very evenly matched sides played out the final game with Royal Mail-Drid just edging it over Chamakh 3 - 2. Micheal Rice with a couple of good strikes in his 1st game as captain of the Mail-Drid side.

So an amazing 1st night of the season and thanks to all our players for being part of it. It's always exciting to start a new campaign, especially when there are new teams to fit in. Well done to Pete and Josh our refs this week who both had great nights and despite the competitive nature of the league at Ryde there were no issues at all from any players which is really important. 

Have a great week guys, see you next Thursday for week two of the season.