Essex claims sixth and final BritLeague 2 spot

The BritLeague has awarded the last team spot for their new second division to Essex.

The team has been unveiled as Essex Saxons and will play in red and white.

Coventry Dynamos become fifth team to join BritLeague 2

Coventry won a BritLeague 2 franchise recently and today the team name has been unveiled - the Coventry Dynamos.

The team will play in sky blue and navy blue and will play at the Ricoh Arena as confirmed by team officials.

Cornish Crusaders are BritLeague 2's fourth team

Cornwall has won a franchise for the inaugural BritLeague 2 campaign next year and will be called Cornish Crusaders.

Club chief Mark Whitney said "This a great day for Cornish football.

"Everyone here who worked so hard to get a Cornish team in the BritLeague is extremely proud."

Highlanders become Scotland's third BritLeague team

The Scottish Highlands have their own BritLeague 2 team and they are appropriately called the Highlanders.

The team logo and colours - navy blue and silver - were unveiled today and Highlanders chief Kenny MacLean said: "This is a great day for football in the Scottish Highlands."

It is unlikely where they will actually play but it is likely that they will rotate playing games in places like Aberdeen, Perth and Dundee.

Real Birmingham 2-1 London United

Wednesday 5th May

Muller Park, Birmingham. Att: 32,204.

Real Birmingham got back to winning ways with a 2-1 win over London United.

The first half was a mostly disappointing affair, but the game suddenly exploded into life before the break as former United winger Cristiano Costa scored his first goal against his old employers since his exit in August 2008.

After the break, Real had most of the play, completely outnumbering United at times and Costa and Adam Barry made life difficult for the two centre-halves in black, John Macdonald and Steven Tweed, with their blistering pace and the latter was soon rewarded with a goal to make it 2-0.

United were poor throughout the game. Midfielder Craig CraiCo wasn't allowed the space that he usually gets, and Real's Aussie midfielder Ryan Roberts upstaged the Geordie with two top-class tackles.

But they manage to find a goal, through Kevin Warhurst, but it was too little too late for visitors.

Goals

Real Birmingham: Costa 38', Barry 67'.

London United: Warhurst 89'.

Mighty Rats 0-6 London Town

Wednesday 5th May

Anfield, Liverpool. Att: 34,403.

London Town pulverised the Mighty Rats 6-0 before a big crowd at Anfield.

The Rats moved the game from their Mighty Cheese Arena in Kirkby to Liverpool FC's famous ground as a big crowd was expected with the champions in town.

The fans unfurled a banner before the game reading "Mighty Rats - Cockneys For A Day" to celebrate the occasion.

But the 30,000+ fans would go home very disappointed indeed as Town gave the struggling Rats a masterclass.

The Blues were still missing star striker John Carey, as the England frontman was serving the second game of his domestic three-match ban, but as they showed against league leaders Real Birmingham on Sunday, they can still give manager Ian Clarke a '%110' performance.

It only took them five minutes to break the deadlock, when a howler from Rats right-back Colin Price gifted the ball to the onrushing Andrea Romano, and the 'Italian Stallion' prodded home past keeper Danny Green.

And then James Douglas hit a 20-yard volley which bounced under the bar and in to make it two.

The Birmingham-born midfielder played a key role in the third goal, hitting a 25-yard diagonal to Romano who volleyed the ball first time into the net, and within only 25 minutes Town were up 3-0, staying that way at half-time.

The Rats started the second half creating chances but constantly thwarted by goalie Marco Schuipers.

Town and England skipper Daniel Perry looked a shadow of his old self, as the centre-back made an unusual number of errors but Schuipers was at his best, denying Zak McCracken twice.

Town were soon four up, Douglas linking up with Billy Bernhardt who fired past Green and into the net.

And they added two more in the final three minutes, Romano completing his hat-trick after lovely play from Douglas and Shane Macdonald, who substituted Perry who went off with a mild ankle injury.

Goals

Mighty Rats: none.

London Town: Romano 5', 25', 87', Douglas 11', Bernhardt 65', Macdonald 89'.

London Town 3-0 Real Birmingham

Sunday 2nd May

HMV Park, London. Att: 48,023.

Real Birmingham's unbeaten run was finally ended by London Town, as the visitors lost 3-0 to the BritLeague Champions.

Town were without the suspended John Carey, but still that didn't falter them as captain Daniel Perry headed them in front after a dull first half.

Croatian rightback Niko Tomic finally put the ball in net in a Blue shirt with a 20-yard strike, his first since joining Town in March 2009.

Real Birmingham pressed for a goal, but were caught on the break and Italian striker Andrea Romano made it 3-0.

Goals

London Town: Perry 48', Tomic 66', Romano 81'.

Real Birmingham: none.

London United 2-2 Fire

Saturday 1st May

HMV Park, London. Att: 46,493.

London United were stunned by a late comeback by Nottingham Fire, with keeper Mehdi Kaziri getting on the scoresheet.

United were in control of the game from the first minute and they were rewarded with a goal with CraiCo's 20-yard free kick.

Carlos Torres-Pizarro doubled the score, and it appeared there was no way back for the Fire.

However, totally against the run of play, they won a corner. Morocco international keeper Kaziri came up for the corner which was taken by Ben Judd. Simon Herding came out but only punched it to the oncoming Kaziri who let a left foot shot into the empty net.

The goal fired up the visitors, and shortly afterwards the Fire began to attack with great force. Stig Gunnar Sundevahl played a great through-ball for Hugo Watson after John Macdonald played him onside and the striker put one through Herding's legs.

The London United stopper's form will worry England manager Marco Garibaldi, but Herding always seems to get back to his best after off-days.

Goals

London United: CraiCo 18', Torres-Pizarro 56'.

Fire: Kaziri 89', Watson 90'.

Phantoms 0-0 Edinburgh FC

Saturday 1st May

Walkers Stadium, Leicester. Att: 10,382.

The Leicester Phantoms played host to a dull nil-all draw with Edinburgh FC.

The clear-cut chance came from Edinburgh, with Darren Morrison screwing his shot wide, with only the keeper to beat.

Goals

Phantoms: none.

Edinburgh FC: none.

Knights 0-1 Ruckus

Saturday 1st May

Knights Arena, Suffolk. Att: 30,485.

SCR got over their disappointment of being knocked out in CSA Club Championship semi-finals by FC London by beating East Anglia 1-0.

Martin King scored with eight minutes left.

Goals

Knights: none.

Ruckus: King 82'.

FC London 1-0 Lightning

Saturday 1st May

T-Mobile Stadium, London. Att: 47,483.

FC London left it late to beat fellow form team Leeds Lightning, 1-0.

Jeremy "Jezza" Constantinidis's 25-yard rocket left Lightning's American keeper Mike Foster bamboozled.

Scott Casey made a fine tackle from Adam Stockwell, and played a lovely through ball for Jezza, who controlled it with the outside of his right foot and in the next motion lobbed the ball over the Foster and into the net.

Goals

FC London: Jezza 87'.

Lightning: none.

Dragons 3-1 Glasgow FC

Friday 30th April 2010

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Att: 58,493.

The Dragons beat Glasgow FC 3-1 in front of a big crowd at the Millennium Stadium.

Ben Daffy responded to Weegies striker Ryan McQueen's opener by chipping keeper Stuart McDonald two minutes from the break.

Rookie striker Ian Rhys Griffin put the Welsh side in front before Christian Jones netted the insurance goal only two minutes later.

The home club will be happy with the large turnout at the Millennium, even booking a mini-gig at half-time for Welsh mega star Marky Jones. The pre-match and half-time shows also saw the Dragons' cheerleaders performing with TOTV's very own dance team, the Goal Girls.

More importantly though, for the Dragons, they will take three points as they aim to improve after their slow start to the season.

Goals

Dragons: Ben Daffy 43', Griffin 76', C. Jones 78'.

Glasgow FC: McQueen 3'.

Livermore hails "tea time" Parker

TOTV soccer pundit Jim Livermore has hailed Ian Parker for his hat-trick in the Tyne-Tees derby as "one of the best performances I have seen from him for a long time."

"In 2007, he was nicknamed 'Prime Time' because he played well in evening matches," Livermore said on BritLeague Super Sunday straight after the match. "Well, today he was Tea Time." The match between Parker's Monsters and the Newcastle Geordies kicked off at 16:00, which is of course, tea-time.

The hat-trick could reignite Parker's hopes of appearing for England in this summer's CSA World Cup finals, but manager Marco Garibaldi, who saw the game at Monsters Park, has warned the 23-year-old midfielder that he'll have to keep playing the way he did in that game if the Italian is to select him in his squad for the Middle East.

Monsters 4-0 Geordies

Sunday 25th April 2010

Monsters Park, Teesside. Att: 31,495.

Ian Parker's long-awaited comeback game turned out to be one he'll remember for a long time as the England midfielder netted a hat-trick in the Tyne-Tees derby as the Monsters routed the Newcastle Geordies four goals to nil.

23-year-old Parker had finally made his return in the green-and-purple shirt after recovering from a serious knee injury suffered last August which forced him to miss the remainder of last season as well as Monsters' Champions League adventure which continues.

And the Teesside outfit will benefit from his comeback as he stunned the Geordies by hitting a perfect hat-trick.

The auburn-haired speedster linked up very well with Darren Watkinson, and after a one-two with the midfielder, Parker chipped Newcastle stopper Jackie Stackman with the outside of his left foot.

He later scored the second with a superb leaping header, outjumping Geordies' big Swiss centre-back Martin Machler, from Quique's cross.

And for Stackman, whose hopes of making the cut for England's CSA World Cup squad appear to be vanishing week after week, the misery would not end as Spain striker Quique scored the third before Parker completed his treble with a 20-yard rocket with his preferred right foot to give the Monsters a valuable victory over their most hated rivals.

Goals

Monsters: Parker 13', 57', 87', Quique 76'.

Geordies: none.

London Town 0-2 Ruckus

Sunday 25th April 2010

HMV Park, London. Att: 39,948

SCR claimed an amazing win at London Town.

Garry Stratford's 25-yard free-kick had no chance for Marco Schuipers, while Michael Heany scored the second from the penalty spot after Juanpa hauled down Danny Defranco.

To put insult to injury for the champions, striker John Carey was sent off for stamping on SCR's Norwegian centre-half Bjorn Terke.

The England striker misses Town's next three BritLeague matches against Real Birmingham, Merseyside Mighty Rats and Bristol Pirates, but he can return for the Blues' CSA England Cup Final against Barnsworth on 15th May.

Goals

London Town: none.

Ruckus: Stratford 32', Heany 86' p.

Bookings

London Town: Carey 72'.

Ruckus: Peters 61'.

Geordies 1-0 Knights

Sunday 18th April

Geordies Park, Newcastle. Att: ??,???.

An Adam Gaffney own goal was enough to secure three points for the Geordies.

Goals

Geordies: Gaffney 77' o.g.

Knights: none.

CSA England Cup SF: London Town 4-2 Monsters

Saturday 10th April 2010

Vodafone Stadium, London. Att: 68,593.

London Town braved the new, controversial Vodafone Stadium pitch by reaching the CSA England Cup final for the third time in succession with a 4-2 win against Monsters FC.

The pitch was the centre of attention, with its new FieldTurf surface - an artificial type of grass -after previous complaints about the state of pitch.

It had to be tested by the CSA and CSA England, before getting the seal of approval by both federations.

But it was Town who adjusted the best to the new pitch, playing their passing game without a hitch against the Monsters, who decided to abandon their attacking style of play in favour of a long ball game.

That turned out to be a terrible idea for the Team in Green and Purple, and there was no way that the Monsters giant rookie striker Matt Oxley was going to get past the Blues' centre-halves Daniel Perry and Juanpa Gonzalez.

The Anglo-Spanish connection in the heart of the Town defence was so much stronger than the Anglo-Spanish connection up front with Oxley partnering with Quique Gomez.

But it was an Italian that put Town in front with half-an-hour gone, Andrea Romano breaking away from the Monsters defence and slotting it through Igor Kuljman's legs.

John Carey made it two on the stroke of half-time with a powerful header.

When Quique made it 2-1 within 30 seconds of the match, it put the Monsters back in contention as they started to play to attractive style of football, but it was all in vain as Daniel Perry made it 3-1.

Darren Watkinson pulled another back for the Monsters, before Town's Kevin Brickman scored in injury time to win 4-2.

Goals

London Town: Romano 33', Carey 44', Perry 67', Brickman 90'.

Monsters: Quique 46', Watkinson 82'.

Edinburgh FC 1-2 Ruckus

Monday 5th April

Tynecastle, Edinburgh. Att: 8,584.

South Coast grabbed a crucial win against Edinburgh at Tynecastle on Easter Monday.

Ryan Wise made it 1-0 before Mario Dokic doubled their advantage.

But Edinburgh made sure to deny the Ruckus a clean sheet with a header from defender Paul Gray.

Goals

Edinburgh FC: Gray 86'.

Ruckus: Wise 37', Dokic 79'.

London United 0-2 FC London

Sunday 4th April

HMV Park, London. Att: 47,964.

FC London grabbed a priceless win over bitter rivals London United.

Scott Casey grabbed his first BritLeague goal, before Brian Nixon won it for MegaHoops.

Goals

London United: none.

FC London: Casey 36', Nixon 87'.

Knights 3-3 Monsters

Sunday 4th April

Knights Arena, Suffolk. Att: 28,584.

The Knights and Monsters played to an enthralling 3-3 draw.

Goals

Knights: Carter 5', Krzystofski 27', Bourgeois 66'.

Monsters: Quique 21', 48', van den Bergh 87'.

Dragons 0-0 Strikers

Saturday 3rd April

Liberty Stadium, Swansea. Att: 9,485.

The Dragons and Sheffield played to a 0-0 draw in front of a disappointingly low crowd in Swansea.

Goals

Dragons: none.

Strikers: none.

Pirates 0-7 Real Birmingham

Saturday 3rd April

Pirates Park, Bristol. Att: 16,589.

Bristol Pirates fell to their biggest ever defeat at the hands of high-flying Real Birmingham, with the visitors running away with a 7-0 win.

Skipper Mark Strickland headed in the first goal before his brother Craig headed in a corner within a minute of the second half.

Adam Barry made it 3-0, before Cristiano Costa scored a brace to make it five.

With Real leading comfortably, centre-half Mark Strickland decided to join the attack and shot from 20 yards out for his second goal.

And rookie Kyle Johnson scored his first BritLeague goal ever to give Real their biggest victory in their five-year history.

To add insult to injury for the Pirates, skipper Richard Jackson was sent off in stoppage time after picking up his second yellow card.

Goals

Pirates: none.

Real Birmingham: M. Strickland 3', 85', C. Strickland 46', Barry 65', Costa 76', 81', Johnson 87'.

Bookings

Pirates: Jackson 67', Jackson 90', Jackson 90'.

Real Birmingham: Roberts 24', Barry 66', C. Strickland 78'.

Burn 0-1 Geordies

Saturday 3rd April

Windsor Park, Belfast. Att: 7,854.

A Kevin Coleman strike was enough for the Geordies in Belfast.

Goals

Burn: none.

Geordies: Coleman 76'.

London Town 4-0 Rockers

Saturday 3rd April

HMV Park, London. Att: 40,048.

London Town routed Manchester Rockers 4-0 with a brilliant display from the Champions.

After a slow start to the game, Andrea Romano put Town in front five minutes from the break.

John Carey cannot stop scoring, putting fierce shot through Manchester keeper Eddie Wilson's legs.

Daniel Perry headed in the third, after John Jeffries lost the England captain.

And American striker Billy Bernhardt put the icing on the cake in stoppage time with a crisp finish.

Goals

London Town: Romano 40', Carey 60', Perry 72', Bernhardt 90'.

Rockers: none.

Phantoms 0-0 Mighty Rats

Saturday 3rd April

Walkers Stadium, Leicester. Att: 17,480.

Leicester Phantoms and Mighty Rats played to a nil-nil draw at the Walkers.

Goals

Phantoms: none.

Mighty Rats: none.

Shamrocks 0-3 Lightning

Saturday 3rd April

RDS Arena, Dublin. Att: 8,594.

Leeds Lightning won in Dublin with a goal from Diego van den Struijk and two from Daniele Riviera.

Goals

Shamrocks: none.

Lightning: Riviera 34', 67', van den Struijk 78'.

Glasgow FC 2-1 Fire

Friday 2nd April

Hampden Park, Glasgow. Att: 35,695.

Glasgow won against Nottingham in an Good Friday special at Hampden.

Scott MacRae put the home side in front after 12 minutes.

The Weegies kept onto the lead until the 70th minute, when Dutch international Jason van Appelen headed in his first BritLeague to level the scores.

But MacRae hit a stunning winner three minutes from time to give Glasgow an important win.

Goals

Glasgow FC: S. MacRae 12', 87'.

Fire: van Appelen 70'.

Ruckus 3-0 Glasgow FC

Sunday 28th March

A Mario Dokic double and a Antonio Federali freak goal were enough to secure victory for South Coast over Glasgow.

Croatian Dokic scored two classy goals, the first after two minutes, the second with two minutes left.

Federali managed to score a goal when a poor Glasgow clearance hit the Italian on the leg, managing to sail into the back of the net.

Goals

Ruckus: Dokic 2', 88', Federali 55'.

Glasgow FC: none.

Monsters 2-1 London United

Sunday 28th March

Monsters Park, Teesside. Att: 34,390.

The Monsters cruised to a 2-1 win over London United with a Quique double.

The Spaniard put the home side in front, before CraiCo equalised ten minutes into the second half.

But Quique hit a crisp finish four minutes from time.

Goals

Monsters: Quique 25', 86'.

London United: CraiCo 56'.

Clarke fumes at referee

London Town manager Ian Clarke has vented his anger on the referee after seeing his side surrender their 4-0 lead to lose 5-4 at FC London.

Clarke was unhappy that the referee gave FCL a penalty after Craig Palmer went down in the box when Town were still leading 4-0.

"The referee is disgraceful," Clarke said. "How can he not see that the boy (Palmer) clearly threw himself to the ground?"

He also had complaints about FCL's second penalty which led to keeper Marco Schuipers being sent off after he hauled down Craig Cinoli, saying it was "harsh."

"It's not Marco's fault, Shane (Macdonald) should have stayed with him. But in the end, the sending off was a bit harsh on the lad."

FC London 5-4 London Town

Saturday 27th March

FC London Stadium, London. Att: 46,680.

FC London completed possibly the biggest comeback in BritLeague history, downing London Town 5-4 in another BritLeague classic to give the reigning champions their second league defeat.

The Megahoops found themselves 4-0 down at half-time after a dominant London Town performance.

The Blues are exponents of scoring early goals and today was no exception as John Carey netted his fourth goal of the campaign after only four minutes.

And Carey stunned the red and white faithful at the FC London Stadium into awful silence as his stunning free-kick put Town 2-0 up after only ten minutes' play.

Poor width from FCL allowed Town left-back Ashton Reid to run the full length of the pitch and he let rip a 20-yard left-footer which had no chance for 'keeper Christian Watson.

Many predicted the game was already over in the first half, as FCL old boy James Douglas made it four without reply, silencing the fans who called him Judas and booed every single touch he made of the ball.

In fact, at half-time, many FCL fans left the ground in disgust.

But despite the scoreline, FCL were far from out of it.

Clearly inspired by a heated team-talk by manager Brian Young, FCL began to take control of the game in the second half and on the hour mark, Hoops winger Craig Palmer broke through into the box and threw himself to the floor on Niko Tomic. However, despite strong arguments from the Town players, the referee decided it was a penalty despite replays showing that golden-haired wizard Palmer clearly dived on the Croatian wing-back.

Young England CSA World Cup prospect Palmer took it himself and he buried it past Marco Schuipers.

FC London were given another penalty after Australian striker Craig Cinoli ran through on goal, 1 on 1 with Dutch stopper Schuipers, with the Town keeper clearly bringing Cinoli down for a penalty. Cinoli scored past sub Jeff Carter making the score 4-2.

Suddenly, the crowd were right behind their home team, and midfielder Ryan Welch scored two within nine minutes, making it 4-4.

Clearly stunned by FCL's comeback, Town not only lost their momentum, but also their focus and Jeremy "Jezza" Constantinidis scored his first FCL goal after running past the three central defenders Juanpa, Daniel Perry and Shane Macdonald, one-two-ing with Brian Nixon and shooting through Carter's legs to give FC London the most improbable win ever.

Goals

FC London: Palmer 61' p, Cinoli 67' p, Welch 73', 82', Jezza 90'.

London Town: Carey 5', 10', Reid 33', Douglas 38'.

Bookings

FC London: Trujillo 35', Jezza 77'.

London Town: Tomic 65', Schuipers 66', Perry 87', Juanpa 89'.

Real Birmingham 5-0 Mighty Rats

Saturday 27th March

Muller Park, Birmingham. Att: 25,025.

Real Birmingham kept their undefeated run intact with 5-0 demolition of struggling Merseyside.

Boss Mike Barry's son Adam romped to his first professional hat-trick, keeping the striker's hopes to be picked in England's CSA World Cup side well and truly alive.

In-form winger Cristiano Costa and Aussie midfielder Ryan Roberts scored the other goals.

Goals

Real Birmingham: Costa 16', Barry 27', 38', 76', Roberts 54'.

Mighty Rats: none.

Knights 0-0 Phantoms

Saturday 27th March

Knights Arena, Suffolk. Att: 17,384.

The fans at the Knights Arena were treated a second successive 0-0 draw, this time against the Leicester Phantoms.

The chance of the match came from the East Anglia's Danny Basingstoke who hit the bar after 30 minutes.

Goals

Knights: none.

Phantoms: none.

Geordies 0-1 Shamrocks

Saturday 27th March

Geordies Park, Newcastle. Att: 20,596.

A last-gasp Richard Hately header gave unfancied Irish team Dublin Shamrocks an away win at Newcastle Geordies.

Goals

Geordies: none.

Shamrocks: Hately 90'.

Fire 2-0 Pirates

Saturday 27th March

City Ground, Nottingham. Att: 26,960.

A Hugo Watson double gave Nottingham Fire a confidence-boosting win over the Bristol Pirates.

Goals

Fire: Watson 43', 90'.

Pirates: none.

Strikers 1-0 Edinburgh FC

Saturday 27th March

Hillsborough, Sheffield. Att: 16,840.

A acute shot from Paolo Baggola was enough to give the Strikers the win against Edinburgh.

Goals

Strikers: Baggola 33'.

Edinburgh FC: none.

Lightning 3-0 Dragons

Saturday 27th March

Elland Road, Leeds. Att: 24,069.

The Leeds Lightning stormed to a 3-0 win over the Dragons at Elland Road.

Rookie Chris Gay, Bobby Wood and Diego Van Den Struijk got the goals.

Goals

Lightning: Gay 44', Wood 76', van den Struijk 88'.

Dragons: none.

Rockers 7-1 Burn

Friday 26th March

Rockers Park, Salford. Att: 27,684.

Manchester Rockers stormed to a 7-1 victory over Belfast Burn.

Gary McManus hit a hat-trick, with Peter Elkins, Dean Whitley, Mihaly Mirosevics and Roberto Ramirez joining in the party.

Chris Hunter scored Belfast's goal.

Goals

Rockers: Elkins 11', McManus 26', 44', 76', Ramirez 81', Whitley 86', Mirosevics 89'.

Burn: Hunter 83'.

Ruckus 2-0 Mighty Rats

Wednesday 24th March

Ruckus Park, Hampshire. Att: 18,584.

South Coast Ruckus stormed to a 2-0 victory over the struggling Merseyside Mighty Rats with goals from Garry Stretford and Diego Kapelski.

Goals

Ruckus: Stretford 44', Kapelski 87'.

Mighty Rats: none.

Knights 0-0 London Town

Wednesday 24th March

Knights Arena, Suffolk. Att: 30,176.

East Anglia Knights and London Town played to a dreary 0-0 draw at Knights Arena.

Goals

Knights: none.

London Town: none.

London United 5-1 Phantoms

Tuesday 23rd March

HMV Park, London. Att: 44,076.

A CraiCo hat-trick stunned Leicester Phantoms as the Midlanders crashed to a 5-1 defeat at the hands of London United.

Steven Tweed headed in his first United goal after ten minutes, before CraiCo's first goal.

Edward Redwood made it 3-0 after a brilliant free-kick, before CraiCo completed his hat-trick with two goals within five minutes, before Shane Howard replied for the Phantoms in stoppage time.

Goals

London United: Tweed 10', CraiCo 24', 78', 83, Redwood 65'.

Phantoms: Howard 90'.

London Town 2-0 Monsters

Sunday 21st March

HMV Park, London. Att: 43,204.

London Town beat the Monsters 2-0 with goals from Zvonimir Markovic and Shane Macdonald.

Goals

London Town: Markovic 35', Macdonald 87'.

Monsters: none.

Mighty Rats 0-1 Fire

Saturday 20th March

Mighty Cheese Arena, Kirkby. Att: 23,405.

Merseysider Hugo Watson came back to his local region to help his Nottingham Fire beat the Mighty Rats 1-0 with a crisp finish.

Goals

Mighty Rats: none.

Fire: Watson 76'.

London United 2-1 Knights

Saturday 20th March

HMV Park, London. Att: 42,083.

Carlos Torres-Pizarro's winner made it three wins from three for London United after beating the Knights 2-1.

However, HMV Park became silent after four minutes' play when East Anglia's rookie winger Jonathon Goulding scored his first BritLeague goal to put the Knights 1-0 ahead.

But United's Brazilian striker Rodrigo Santos equalised on the half-hour mark before Uruguayan striker Torres-Pizarro scored the winner four minutes from time.

Goals

London United: Rodrigo Santos 31', Torres-Pizarro 86'.

Knights: Goulding 4'.

Rockers 2-1 Dragons

Wednesday 17th March

Rockers Park, Salford. Att: 26,765.

John Jeffries' emotional winner helped Manchester Rockers put the shock defeat in Edinburgh to bed with a 2-1 win over the Dragons.

Peter Elkins' stunning overhead kick put the Rockers in front before Adam Owens' header tied the game.

In the dying minutes, beleaguered former Scotland captain Jeffries headed home the winner celebrating in front of his fans.

Jeffries kissed the Rockers badge on his shirt at the final whistle, and then took his shirt off, throwing it into the green and yellow sea of Rockers supporters.

Goals

Rockers: Elkins 21', Jeffries 87'.

Dragons: Owens 43'.

Strikers 0-1 Pirates

Wednesday 17th March

Hillsborough, Sheffield. Att: 21,035.

Charlie Vickers' last-gasp header won the game for the Pirates against the Strikers at Hillsborough.

Goals

Strikers: none.

Pirates: Vickers 90'.

Fire 0-1 Real Birmingham

Tuesday 16th March

The City Ground, Nottingham. Att: 24,569.

Mark Strickland's header won the game for Real Birmingham in a highly intense Midlands Derby against Nottingham Fire.

The former England skipper rose above everyone else after Cris Costa's wonderful corner and he headed home past a stunned Mehdi Kaziri.

Goals

Fire: none.

Real Birmingham: Strickland 76'.

London Town 1-2 London United

Sunday 14th March

HMV Park, London. Att: 49,632.

CraiCo's dramatic late winner gave all three points to London United from reigning champions London Town.

John Carey put Town in front after a quarter of an hour gone.

But United equalised shortly after the second half after Edward Redwood capitalised on a rare error from Daniel Perry.

And CraiCo's last-minute goal sent the fans in black roaring.

Goals

London Town: Carey 16'.

London United: Redwood 48', CraiCo 89'.

Shamrocks 0-2 Monsters

Sunday 14th March

RDS Arena, Dublin. Att: 7,065.

Monsters won in Dublin with goals from Gheorghe Pancu and rookie Adam Morgan.

Goals

Shamrocks: none.

Monsters: Pancu 57', Morgan 88'.

Phantoms 1-0 Fire

Sunday 14th March

Walkers Stadium, Leicester. Att: 28,690

Leicester Phantoms recorded their first win in club history with a 1-0 victory over East Midlands rivals Nottingham Fire.

Shane Howard scored the Phantoms' first ever goal to give them their first ever win.

Goals

Phantoms: Howard 35'.

Fire: none.

Real Birmingham 2-1 Ruckus

Saturday 13th March

Muller Park, Birmingham. Att: 24,067.

Real Birmingham won 2-1 over South Coast Ruckus.

Goals

Real Birmingham: Costa 16', Barry 76'.

Ruckus: Defranco 40'.

Burn 1-2 Knights

Saturday 13th March

Windsor Park, Belfast. Att: 9,000.

The East Anglia Knights made it two wins out of two with a 2-1 win in Belfast.

A sell-out crowd turned up for the Burn's first home game since the club's three-year hiatus, but it was the visitors who had the last laugh.

Danny Basingstoke scored a wonder goal on the halfway line just eight minutes into the match after he spotted goalkeeper Mark Kearney-Bleakley off his line.

But Belfast's Slovenian striker Matjaz Krizanovic scored the equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

With a hour gone in a match, Adam Carter struck the ball finely into the net after schoolboy defending from the Burn.

Goals

Burn: Krizanovic 44'

Knights: Basingstoke 8', Carter 60'.

Mighty Rats 1-0 Strikers

Saturday 13th March

Mighty Cheese Arena, Kirkby. Att: 10,675.

The Mighty Rats recorded their first win of the season with a 1-0 over the Sheffield Strikers.

Zak McCracken put Merseyside in front after 70 minutes.

Goals

Mighty Rats: McCracken 70'.

Strikers: none.

Glasgow FC 0-2 Geordies

Saturday 13th March

Hampden Park, Glasgow. Att:

Edinburgh FC 2-0 Rockers

Saturday 13th March

Tynecastle, Edinburgh. Att: 9,237.

Edinburgh pulled off a stunning 2-0 victory over the Manchester Rockers at Tynecastle.

The game was centred on the Rockers' John Jeffries and EFC's Kevin Tennent, after Jeffries allegedly slept with Tennent's wife, leading to Jeffries being stripped of the Scottish captaincy.

And Tennent made his feelings known when he avoided shaking his Scotland CSA colleague Jeffries' hand in the pre-game.

Jeffries was booed every time he touched the ball, and the crowd chanted, "Carefree, wherever you may be, don't leave your wife with John Jeffries" and "Who's the b****** in the beige?" (The Rockers were wearing their beige away kit.)

And Mark Danicoletta headed Edinburgh in front after 23 minutes and in the ensuing celebrations pointed at Tennent in support of his beleaguered teammate. Danicoletta and others were also seen wearing 'Team Tennent" t-shirts in the warm-up.

And a miserable afternoon for Jeffries and the Rockers was complete when the centre-back misplayed it to Keith Morkins, and Edinburgh's young English striker slotted home.

But for the beleaguered former Scotland captain, the misery would not end until after the final whistle when the crowd sang "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" as he walked off the pitch.

Goals

Edinburgh FC: Danicoletta 23', Morkins 86'.

Rockers: none.

Pirates 0-1 Lightning

Saturday 13th March

Pirates Park, Bristol. Att: 13,367.

Saturday's Full-Time Scores from 13th March

Dragons 0-2 FC London

Friday 12th March

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff. Att: 14,685.

FC London swept the Dragons away with a brace from Craig Cinoli.

Goals

Dragons: none.

FC London: Cinoli 45', Cinoli 88'.

London United 2-0 Burn

Sunday 7th March

HMV Park, London. Att: 46,071.

London United got their campaign off to a great start with a 2-0 win over the returning Belfast Burn.

The Burn were playing their first BritLeague match since 2007, when their squad and staff defected to form a new club - Bristol Pirates.

Belfast were skippered by local boy Josh Heany, who joined them in the off-season from Nottingham Fire. And the 24-year-old centre-half, who has 16 caps for the all-Irish national team as a solitary cap for Northern Ireland, nearly put them in front, when he headed Neil Harrington's corner off the post.

United were missing key striker Edward Redwood, who suffered a minor knee injury in England's 5-0 friendly win over South Africa.

But that didn't seem to faze them one bit, when the ball fell to Craig CraiCo who belted a wonder goal from 30 yards after Tom Neill-Perry's poor header.

John Macdonald, who was captaining his first league game for London United, attracted much media attention after his controversial new mullet which has "J-MAC" shaved in on each side.

But the England CSA defender's performance overshadowed his haircut, as he headed home the second from a CraiCo corner.

Goals

London United: CraiCo 25', Macdonald 70'.

Burn: none.

Lightning 3-0 Mighty Rats

Sunday 7th March

Elland Road, Leeds. Att: 32,047.

Leeds Lightning got their campaign off to a glorious start with a 3-0 over the Merseyside Mighty Rats at Elland Road.

The Lightning's new American defender Jimmy-Jack Perry only took five minutes to mark his debut with a goal, heading in Diego van den Struijk's free-kick.

Italian whiz-kid Dani Rivera, who has been linked with a move away from West Yorkshire, scored an impressive goal from just outside the 18-yard box to put Leeds 2-0 up after 25 minutes.

And van den Struijk was a nuisance for the Merseyside defence, and one of his crosses led to Rats right-back Colin Price putting it into his own net.

It was miserable afternoon for the Rats, only creating one real chance when Zak McCracken missed a sitter from five yards out.

Goals

Lightning: Perry 5', Rivera 25', Price 76' (o.g.).

Mighty Rats: none.

Knights 3-1 Shamrocks

Saturday 6th March

Knights Arena, Suffolk. Att: 29,569.

The East Anglia Knights stormed to victory with a 3-1 win over the Dublin Shamrocks in the first game ever played at the Knights' new ground in Suffolk.

Adam Gaffney headed in the 1-0 from a Danny Basingstoke corner.

But fellow centre-half Richard Hately equalised for the Irish side with a header of his own after a Steve Berry corner.

However, it was a Hately error that gifted the lead back to the Knights when the Irishman miscontrolled a pass and England star Adam Carter ran past him with the ball and rounded bemused goalie Shane Murphy.

And Welsh striker Karlo Krzystofski marked his first league appearance since September 2009 after recovering from a serious knee injury with a wonderful chip from 30 yards after he saw Murphy completely off his line.

Goals

Knights: Gaffney 23', Carter 58', Krzystofski 88'.

Shamrocks: Hately 35'.

Geordies 1-1 Pirates

Saturday 6th March

Geordies Park, Newcastle. Att: 31,468.

Newcastle Geordies and Bristol Pirates shared a point with a 1-1 at Geordies Park.

Winger Matthew McEnley put the Geordies in front before Richard Jackson's headed equaliser.

Goals

Geordies: McEnley 23'.

Pirates: Jackson 44'.

Rockers 2-1 Glasgow FC

Saturday 6th March

Rockers Park, Salford, Greater Manchester. Att: 27,013.

Manchester Rockers won 2-1 over Glasgow FC.

Peter Elkins headed the Rockers in front on the beanpole striker's debut for the club, before Scott MacRae equalised for Glasgow.

And Manchester's Glaswegian midfielder Gary McManus scored the winner.

Goals

Rockers: Elkins 15', McManus 71'.

Glasgow FC: Scott MacRae 35'.

FC London 3-0 Edinburgh FC

Saturday 6th March

FC London Stadium, London. Att: 46,037

FC London got their new BritLeague season off to a flying start with an easy win over Edinburgh.

Ryan Welch scored in his first BritLeague appearance, having signed from E-League champions London City.

Craig Palmer scored one of the goals of match-week one, with a mazy solo run through the Edinburgh defence.

And young Australian striker Craig Cinoli scored a fantastic goal from 25 yards, flew into the top corner.

Goals

FC London: Welch 41', Palmer 68', Cinoli 75'.

Edinburgh FC: none.

Saturday's Full-Time Scores

Ruckus 5-2 Fire

Saturday 6th March

Ruckus Park, Hampshire. Att: 28,763.

Garry Stretford's first professional hat-trick helped the South Coast Ruckus tear through the Nottingham Fire as the home club celebrated their first ever game at purposely-built Ruckus Park.

The team in yellow, green and grey thrashed the Fire 5-2 with Martin King and Michael Heany also joining in Stretford's party with goals of their own.

The young 21-year-old midfielder Stretford also had a solid performance for England in the second half of the 5-0 friendly thrashing of South Africa on Wednesday, setting up the final two goals, and winning the Vodafone Man of the Match award.

He has been linked with a move away from Southern England, with clubs like Monsters, London Town and London United reportedly interested in the London-born midfielder.

But that did not stop him from scoring a perfect hat-trick against Nottingham - the first goal came from a sweet left-footed volley, the second from a right-footed curling free-kick and the third from a header from King's cross (no pun intended).

With the Ruckus leading 5-0 with ten minutes remaining, the Fire did their best to start a mini comeback with goals from Ben Judd and Erik Lyngstad.

Goals

Ruckus: Stretford 4', 31', 66', Heany 46', King 76'.

Fire: Judd 81', Lyngstad 85'.

Monsters 4-1 Dragons

Saturday 6th March

Monsters Park, York. Att: 35,473.

The Monsters got off to flying start with a 4-1 thrashing of the Dragons.

Goals

Monsters: Quique 24', 48', Watkinson 66', Van den Bergh 78'.

Dragons: Christian Jones 75'.

Strikers 1-3 Real Birmingham

Saturday 6th March

Bramall Lane, Sheffield. Att: 15,306.

Cristiano Costa scored a hat-trick as Real Birmingham got off to flying start with a 3-1 win in Sheffield.

The Strikers however made it 1-0 with a goal from Phil van der Vuuren after only two minutes.

But it only fired up Real. Right-back Paolo Baggola upended Costa in the box, and the Portuguese slotted home the penalty.

Adam Barry hit a ferocious volley which Andrea Rossi punched out, only towards the oncoming Costa who tapped it in to make it 2-1.

And Costa completed his treble with a beautiful free-kick that had so much power and swerve on it.

Goals

Strikers: van der Vuuren 2'.

Real Birmingham: Costa 17' p, 55', 79'.

London Town 4-0 Phantoms

Friday 5th March

HMV Park, London. Att: 43,076.

Reigning champions London Town started their new campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win over BritLeague new boys Leicester Phantoms.

John Carey netted a brace to help Town ensure that the Phantoms' first league game ever would end miserably for the visitors.

Andrea Romano and James Douglas also found the net.

Goals

London Town: Carey 16', 71', Romano 41', Douglas 88'

Phantoms: none.

Hutch: Vodafone pitch "killed" Redsy

London United manager Bobby Hutchinson has blamed the Vodafone Stadium's poor pitch for striker/midfielder Edward Redwood's knee injury he suffered in England's 5-0 demolition of South Africa on Wednesday.

The ginger star, 24, picked up the injury in the second half, and was replaced by Adam Carter, visibly limping as he came off.

"Redsy won't be fit on Sunday," said Hutchinson. "The Vodafone pitch killed him."

Wigan Comets admitted to BritLeague 2

The Wigan Comets, who played in the short-lived MLF Development League from 2004-2008, will become a professional team for the first time when they enter BritLeague 2 in 2011.

The Comets currently play in the North West Regional League, and the semi-pro team will disband after the 2010 season to be reformed as a BritLeague team.

FC London win BritLeague Cup

FC London won their first silverware since the 2007 CSA Champions League when they beat Sheffield Strikers 3-1 in the BritLeague Cup Final at the Vodafone Stadium on Saturday.

Brian Nixon scored a brace, before Chris Rhodes' long range chip in stoppage time.

The FC London team however looked scarcely recognisable as many new faces appeared in Brian Young's line-up, such as Clint van den Bergh, Ryan Welch and "Jezza" Constantinou.

Welch, a winger signed from London City, made a big impact in the first goal, setting up a cross for Nixon to head it in after 12 minutes.

However it wasn't all smiles in the first half as prolific winger Craig Palmer limped off after 34 minutes with a hip problem. He was replaced by Welshman Chris Rhodes.

And suddenly the Strikers found an equaliser straight after the kick-off, when Kevin Henderson, almost 32, took advantage of poor FCL defending and buried it past Christian Watson.

But however their joy was short-lived when Sheffield's Swiss full-back Paolo Baggola handballed in the box and Nixon buried the penalty.

The tempo of the game slowed down after that, but in the 90th minute, Rhodes spotted Andrea Rossi off his line, and from 40 yards out, chipped the ball over the Strikers' Italian custodian and into the net.

London gets fourth BritLeague team

The first team to enter BritLeague 2 is yet another team based in London. They will be based in the West End and will be called West London Warriors.

Unveiled at a press conference in West London today, the new team's colours will be gold and black.

The Warriors will, next year, become the fourth team from London to enter the BritLeague, following the lead of London United (1996), FC London (1998) and London Town (2005).

They will most likely play the 2011 season at FC London's stadium in Richmond, but the club already plan to build a ground of their own.

BritLeague launches respect scheme

The BritLeague has announced that it will launch a respect scheme for the upcoming 2010 season after witnessing several unsavoury incidents in 2009.

The League hopes the new scheme, called "Play the Game", will clamp down on violent incidents seen in '09.

This follows after last season's mass brawl in the Battle of Scotland between Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as the Yorkshire Derby between Leeds Lightning and Sheffield Strikers which saw seven players booked and four players sent off.

Hands off Stretford - Ruckus

South Coast Ruckus hope to cling onto talented England Under-21 midfielder Garry Stretford until the summer.

Clubs like the Monsters and FC London are interested in the 21-year-old, with the current transfer window not closed until the end of March.

But the Ruckus are still in contention in the CSA Club Championship and CSA England Cup.

And Ruckus manager Harry Davies says Stretford is such a key player for his side, and hints that the 21-year-old could be picked for England World Cup side in the summer.

"We want to hang on to him as long as we can because he's such a key man for us," said Davies. "I hope Marco Garibaldi is listening - Stretty's is good enough to be in that World Cup side."

London United unveil new academy

London United have become the first BritLeague team ever to have their own club academy which will see youngsters coming in and hopefully getting a chance to play for the first team in the future.

The new North London academy was unveiled on Friday by manager Bobby Hutchinson and star midfielder Craig CraiCo.

London United chairman Paul Wilkinson said: "Our aim for future is to blood new players from this academy and turn them into superstar footballers."

"We're a big club and we're going places."

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United name Macdonald captain

London United manager Bobby Hutchinson has named John Macdonald as his new club captain.

Kevin Warhurst has also been named vice-captain and Craig CraiCo has been named third-choice.

This news comes as a surprise to many as Macdonald, 22, has only played two seasons of pro football with United since being recruited in early 2008.

But the young centre-back's quality caught England manager Marco Garibaldi's eye almost immediately and he went on be a regular for the England side, becoming one of the eleven heroes who beat Spain 1-0 in the EuroCup '08 final.

The United armband was vacant since Mark Strickland shockingly quit the club in favour of Real Birmingham, last month.

London Derby to be shown in 3D

The momentous clash between rivals London Town and London United on 14 March will make history as TOTV will screen it live on 3D in selected pubs up and down the country.

This move follows the Premier League match from Sunday 31 January as Manchester United defeated Arsenal 3-1 on Sky Sports in the first ever 3D broadcast of sporting event.

Last year, London Town stole the BritLeague crown from London United, who held it for the previous two years.

And both teams share the same stadium - HMV Park, making the clash more exciting.

US star Perry completes Lightning move

Leeds Lightning have snapped up USA captain Jimmy-Jack Perry for £7million from Baltimore Blues.

The 27-year-old defender, who skippered the Blues to two US Premier League titles, has reportedly signed on a four-year deal with the Lightning and says he has fulfilled a lifelong dream of playing in England.

"This is dream come true for me, playing in the BritLeague," said Perry in his first press conference.

"Meeting the chairman, the manager and all my new team-mates for the first time was a big, big thrill."

As part of the deal, out of favour defender Jamie Hutchinson has been sent on loan to the Blues, who currently lead the US Premier League table.

United announce Tweed capture

London United have signed England defender Steven Tweed from Newcastle Geordies for £21 million.

The 22-year-old has put pen to paper on a four-year contract with the CSA Champions League holders.

Phantoms' Howard ready to rock

Leicester Phantoms new striker Shane Howard says he cannot wait to face London Town, as the he and the club make their BritLeague bow on March 5th against the defending champions.

"Making your debut away to the champions is a dream come true," says Howard.

"It's a month and a half away, so still a long time."

Phantoms manager Iain Greenwood-Smith says his players have bonded well in training camp as the Phantoms play their first game ever in a pre-season friendly against CSA England Championship (third-tier of the English CSA football pyramid) side Chiswick.

And Howard, who flourished for Chiswick this season, scoring 18 goals in 2009-10, says the friendly was arranged as part of his transfer.

And he has also dismissed talks that he will fail to adapt to the BritLeague, saying: "I'm ready for the challenge. I'm ready to play with the big boys."

"As expansion team, people expect us to do rather poorly, but come the opener at HMV Park, we hope we can prove them wrong as the season progresses."