HI Guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Thought I’d try to get involved in a bit of the conversation by running through the table so far. I know it’s only early days, but hey why not have a bit of fun with it.

1st – Mayfield United - 10 Points.

The only undefeated team in the comp so far. The “classic kick it long and chase” tactic that they have played so far this season has worked. Coming up against Kotara, Dudley & Suns in the first 4 weeks of the comp and only conceding one goal is a massive achievement. By any chance to Mayfield just have a great keeper or is it just luck? I watched their game against Raymond Terrace recently and although they dominated the opposition at times, they were missing simple chances. Seems like there may be small cracks that can turn into big problems later in the season.

2nd - Swansea – 9 points

At the start of the season, I read a bunch of -lets be frank – nonsense about there being a toxic environment out near the channel. I’m starting to think this was all a tactic done by the boys so they would be written off early! They have come our firing scoring a league top of 16 goals over the first 4 games. Its interesting to note they conceded 6 of their 9 goals in one weekend, giving that could be an anomaly, I would say this weekend’s game against the Tigers – the green ones, not the orange ones – would split the boys against the men.

3rd – Dudley – 9 points

So far Dudley have been stealing wins, left, right and centre. Never one to make friends in the comp, they have grinded out several victories already. They scored 6 of their 8 goals in 1 game and then had two hard fought 1-0 wins. Unfortunately, they won’t verse the Newcastle Suns until week 8 which can only provide 90 minutes of pure carnage. Could a few changes in tactics and positions help Duds score a few extra goals? Maybe they should throw a few of the 3rd Grade strikers up front who seem to be scoring for fun.

4th – Beresfield – 6 points

Beresfield would have to be the most entertaining side in the ZPL comp. with 14 goals for and 14 goals against you honestly just don’t know what will happen. Playing on a postage stamp sized field can have its advantages but do they tend to struggle away from home? If we are being honest, I haven’t seen them play this year yet, but I’d really like too. I just don’t like travelling all the way out there. It’s nothing personal, its just not what I call a nice Sunday drive.

5th – Kotara South – 6 points

Things just haven’t seemed to gel this year so far at Kotara like they did last year. Another “kick it and chase” club supposedly but the tactic just hasn’t worked as well as they would have hoped. Sitting in 5th though with -1 goal difference is impressive. My only concerns would be the win, loss win, loss mentally they have now. I’d love to see them get back into the top 4 but it may take a few back to back wins to push them up the ranks.

6th – Warners Bay – 6 Points

Only behind Kotara because they have scored and conceded one goal less. I feel like most opposition clubs hate playing on Sundays, I know I did when I used to play. Will that help or hinder them this season? They average 2 goals a game at the moment, which is fairly decent, but at the moment I can’t see anything they can push them into a Semi Final football team. Happy for them to prove me wrong though. Warners Bay is lovely at the start of Spring.

7th – Newcastle Suns – 4 Points

Only secured their first win the last weekend, also so far, the only team to take points away from Mayfield. Everyone’s second favourite club can easily push into semi finals if they can keep all the people “playing for the shirt” on the field; a lot of experience in the ZPL comp too! Still very early days for the club, and they have the obvious talent to push for top 4, I would say top 2 is out of the question with the poor start, but once again early days.

8th – Cardiff – 3 points

Problems in the off season seem to have hit the club hard, but not hard enough to cause too much worry. I don’t see Cardiff dropping below 8th this year, they will be jag a couple of wins here and there; they always seem to step up against all the other Tigers in the comp. Seems to me that their lower grades are quite strong, Maybe shuffling the pack could do them the world of good.

9th – Raymond Terrace – 3 points

As I said above, I watched Raymond Terrace take on Mayfield last week. Honestly, I can’t see where the quality of winning ZP1 fives times in the past 5 years is- honestly no idea if that is correct, I heard that at the ground on the weekend, don’t care enough to check. Is the drop between the competitions that much between ZPL & ZP1? Could have conceded 16 on the weekend if Mayfield could shoot.

10th – Barnsley – 3 points

Barnsley is like that annoying little brother who always seems to hang around and get in trouble, although as they get older, you learn to love them in a way. The battlers of the comp, surviving the drop last year, I think they will do it again, they will beat a few above them, but also get smashed by the top 4, no offence intended, just calling it how it is.

Well that’s it for now, feel free to let me know how you think I’ve gone. I’m probably off the mark in a few places, but we are all friends here, right?