London United 2-2 Monsters

London United and the Monsters played to a 2-2 draw at HMV Park.

The match was centred around Monsters striker Edward Redwood, making his BritLeague debut in neon and purple against his former employers, whose fans jeered him every time he touched the ball. And it was almost inevitable that he would silence his former fans and get on the scoresheet, taking him only ten minutes.

However, as a mark of respect to United, he did not celebrate.

London United debutant Danny Defranco equalised for the Men in Black, curling a shot past a helpless keeper Igor Kuljman.

Craig Wisniewski however put Monsters back in the lead on the hour mark with simple tap-in, after Redwood shot was fumbled by LU keeper Simon Herding.

However, United talisman Craig Craico, who had an unusually quiet game, equalised at the death from the penalty spot after ex-Monster Ian Parker was upended by Shane Bentley.

Goals

London United: Defranco 31', Craico 88' pen.

Monsters: Redwood 10', Wisniewski 60'.

Merseyside Mighty Rats 0-0 London Town

London Town and the Mighty Rats played to a nil-nil draw.

Merseyside will be the happier of the two to have claimed that draw as a disappointing Town side had countless chances from John Carey and Quique but the Rats' Denmark keeper Kristian Jenson had a great game.

Town skipper Daniel Perry also had a goal ruled out late in the game.

Leicester Phantoms 1-2 FC London

FC London came back to win 2-1 at Leicester Phantoms.

Goals

Leicester Phantoms: Bellamy 72'.

FC London: Rhodes 84', King 87'.

Saturday's Action from Round 1

FC Nottingham cruised to a 3-0 win at Glasgow, while South Coast Rangers managed a 1-0 win at Dublin.

Manchester Rockers defeated Edinburgh 2-0, Newcastle Geordies easily defeated Sheffield Strikers 3-0, while Dragons and East Anglia were held to a 1-1 draw.

Leeds Lightning 2-1 Bristol Pirates

Leeds Lightning got off to a winning start against Bristol Pirates.

Goals

Leeds Lightning: Stockwell 47', Perry 81'.

Bristol Pirates: Blake 68'.

Kick-Off '11: Real Birmingham 3-1 Ulster FC

Reigning BritLeague champions Real Birmingham got off to a winning start against Ulster FC.

Real captain Mark Strickland headed the home side in front, before James Douglas added two more with a penalty and a shot from outside the area.

Dan Lang scored a consolation for Ulster.

Goals

Real Birmingham: Strickland 20', Douglas 43' pen, 71'.

Ulster FC: Lang 76'.

Town fans hail Quique signing

Fans of London Town cannot wait to see £40m signing Quique in action in a blue shirt, as BritLeague Online's resident reporters found out.

"I'm looking forward to see Quique in action," said season-ticket holder Matt Clark. "Quique, (John) Carey and (Andrea) Romano up front, who wouldn't want to see a strike partnership like that?"

"Quique shows great work-rate, something that Bernie (Billy Bernhardt, Town's outgoing striker) never showed," said diehard fan Dave Manning, who has attended every single Town home game since they were founded in 2005.

London Town complete Quique swoop, offload Bernhardt

London Town have shattered the BritLeague transfer record with the £40million signing of Monsters striker Quique Gómez, a month after the CSA Champions League holders had signed England's Edward Redwood for £35million.

As part of the deal, Town's out-of-favour American striker Billy Bernhardt has moved to the Monsters for £15million.

Spanish striker Quique, 26, handed in a transfer request after his Monsters future was cast in doubt with the signing of former London United striker Redwood, 25.

"I am very happy to be here. London Town is a great club with great players, great fans and a great new stadium," Quique said in a press conference at Town's brand new ground LG Park.

"It is humbling to play with the likes of Daniel Perry, Zvonimir Markovic, John Carey, Andrea Romano and my fellow countryman Juanpa."

"I played against them many times with the Monsters, and I hope I can help the team win many trophies for many years."

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'.