AFA Record - November 2004

The report below was originally published in the November 2004 issue of the AFA Record.

The London Legal moves on apace, always starting its season earlier than other leagues, and generally not affected by cancellations. In Division One the early pace-setters are defending champions KPMG, who have won their first six games, though less convincing in the Challenge Cup with a narrow 3-2 win over second division Norton Rose followed by a penalty shootout win over Simmons and Simmons.

Their main challengers would seem to be Linklaters, although the inconsistent Slaughter and May, Richards Butler and Grays Inn could all make a challenging run. Baker and MacKenzie looked doomed at the bottom of division 1, and having led the league this time last year with eight wins out of eight they really have suffered a turnaround in fortunes.

At the top of Division Two the only question looks like being whether Macfarlanes or Stephenson Harwood will win the title. Both are unbeaten in cup and league, though Macfarlances were eliminated on penalties from the Challenge Cup by FSA.

Division Three looks like being more of a dogfight. Nabarro Nathanson and Denton Wilde Sapte are the early pace-setters, but a challenge could come from any of Farrers, Herbert Smith, Withers or even Hammonds.

On the Representative Side, the league played its first game of the season away to the Arthurian League at Dulwich Hamlet, and deserved a better result than the 4-1 scoreline might suggest. Too many late dropouts was a common refrain, but the league can at least reflect happily on scoring the best goal of the game, Mark Esiri meeting Gareth Jenkins cross to bring the League back into contention after going 2-0 down early in the game. However, two soft goals before and after half-time sealed the Legal League’s fate.

One increasing common refrain is the difficulty clubs have in raising sides. Partly this is due to work patterns, leaving “early” (e.g. at 6pm!!!) isn’t as straightforward as it used to be, but there are also clubs who complain about early kickoffs (even those at 7pm) as well as late kickoffs (8.30pm) or even both! The sooner an Astroturf pitch is laid in Finsbury Square the better!!