Division One Youth League Round 12 Review

Club Championship                
At the moment it looks like we are in for a battle between the top two clubs for the honours for this season. However, they will both know that they cannot afford any type of slip-up as it is certain that at least one of the following pack could loom large to threaten them.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers continue to lead the way on this table after they grabbed twelve points from their visit to eighth placed Camden Tigers, repeating their first round effort when the Rangers also took a dozen points from the encounter.
St George are second following their haul of twelve points when they visited Northbridge who have slipped back one place to tenth. The Saints had also taken twelve points from the first round meeting of the clubs.
Gladesville Ryde Magic remained in third position after they claimed ten points from their home matches against twelfth placed Mountains United from whom Magic had earned thirteen of the first round points.
Hills Brumbies climbed one place to fourth thanks to the nine points they bagged from their home games against eleventh placed Southern Branch.
Schofields Scorpions dropped back one place to fifth when they could take only four points from their trip to Hakoah who have moved up one position to sixth. When the clubs met last time the Scorpions had earned ten points.
Stanmore Hawks fell back one place to seventh when they earned only five points from their journey to Nepean who have dropped from ninth to tenth. The Hawks had bagged all fifteen of the first round points.
Grade 13                     
The top three teams have established a mini-break and they could well fight it out for the title. It is interesting that there are only eight points separating the next six teams and it is certain that all of them will be striving for the best result possible over at least the next few weeks.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers maintained their competition leading position when they accounted for eighth placed Camden Tigers with a 5-1 scoreline. That gives the Rangers the double as they were 3-0 winners last time the teams met.
St George had gone down 1-0 to Northbridge in the first round but the Saints squared the ledger this week when they came up with a 2-0 result to remain in second spot while Northbridge are in seventh position.
Third placed Gladesville Ryde Magic posted a 3-1 victory over twelfth placed Mountains United to complete the double as Magic were 2-1 winners in the first round match.
Stanmore Hawks had beaten Nepean 1-0 the first time around and this week the teams battled out a scoreless draw, an outcome that has left Stanmore at fourth and Nepean at ninth.
Fifth placed Hills Brumbies produced a 2-0 victory over eleventh placed Southern Branch.
Hakoah and Schofields Scorpions fought out a 1-1 draw when they met in the first round but n this occasion Hakoah took all the points when they were 2-0 winners.
Grade 14                     
The leaders have a break but it is nowhere near big enough to give them an assurance of taking out the title at this stage. And then there is the chasing pack to consider. There are only nine points between the second and tenth placed teams with a long way to go so it seems certain that there will be a number of changes in the coming weeks.
St George are still leading the way on the competition table after they recorded a 3-0 win over Northbridge who have slipped back one place to ninth. In the first round the Saints had claimed the points with a 2-0 result.
Second placed Mt Druitt Town Rangers had suffered a 3-2 first round loss to fourth placed Camden Tigers but this week the Rangers reversed that when they claimed a 3-2 victory of their own.
Schofields Scorpions and Hakoah fought out a 1-1 draw this week but it was a different story in the first round when the Scorpions had claimed the points with a win by the odd goal in seven. That leaves Schofields at third and Hakoah at tenth.
Fifth placed Nepean had suffered a 1-0 loss last time this saw eleventh placed Stanmore Hawks but they turned that around this week when they posted their own 1-0 scoreline.
Gladesville Ryde Magic are in sixth spot following their 1-0 success over twelfth placed Mountains United who magic had beaten 3-0 when they faced off in the first round.
Southern Branch moved up two places to seventh when they came up with a 1-0 result over Hills Brumbies who have slipped back from fifth to eighth.
Grade 15                     
The leaders have given themselves a points buffer at this stage and they are bound to be looking toward continuing that trend. There are currently only ten points separating second place from seventh place with the eighth placed team only a point further adrift so every point gained will be very important for all of them.
St George have established a handy lead at the top of the table following their strong 4-0 win over seventh placed Northbridge, an outcome that completed the double for the Saints as they had won the first round clash 5-0.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers moved up one place to second when they came up with a stunning 7-0 victory over eleventh placed Camden Tigers who had lost 1-0 to the Rangers when they met in the first round.
Schofields Scorpions slipped back to third when they suffered a 2-0 loss to sixth placed Hakoah, reversing the first round result when the Scorpions were 3-0 winners.
Fourth placed Hills Brumbies edged out eighth placed Southern Branch when they won by the odd goal in seven, keeping the good folk in the spectator areas on the edge of their seats until the final whistle.
Gladesville Ryde Magic are placed fifth following their 2-0 success over twelfth placed Mountains United who Magic had beaten 4-0 when they met last time around.
Stanmore Hawks and Nepean remained at ninth and tenth respectively after they battled out a 1-1 draw. It had been a different story in the first round when the Hawks took all the points with a 3-0 win.
Grade 16                     
While the top team has a small buffer they will be very aware of the need to maintain form at this stage of the season. There are only eight points between the next five teams and so there will be plenty of interest in all the results from this point forward.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers are still the competition frontrunners after they came up with a 4-1 result when they faced Camden Tigers who have fallen back one place to eleventh. The Rangers had taken the first round points with a 1-0 victory.
Second placed Southern Branch produced a 5-2 win when they came up against Hills Brumbies who have dropped back two places to tenth.
Stanmore Hawks climbed one places to third thanks to their 2-1 win over seventh placed Nepean, repeating the first round outcome when they Hawks had won by exactly the same scoreline.
Hakoah slipped back to fourth when they suffered a 3-2 loss to Schofields Scorpions who have jumped two places up the table to ninth. That squares the accounts as Hakoah were 2-1 winners in their first round match.
Mountains United moved up one place to fifth following their 2-0 victory over Gladesville Ryde Magic who have fallen back to sixth. When they met on the season?s opening day the teams had fought out a scoreless draw.
St George rose one place to eighth when they defeated twelfth placed Northbridge by the odd goal in five and that completes the double for the Saints as they were 3-1 winners last time the teams saw each other.
Grade 18                     
It looks as though we are in for a breathtaking run into the finals as there are only four points between the top five teams and anything could happen there. They have a break on the following pack but the next five teams are separated by only three points and if any of those has a run of good results, they could well threaten those currently in the top five.
St George have held onto the top spot on the table despite their 4-1 loss to Northbridge who have moved one place up the table to sixth. That reverses the first round result when the Saints had taken the points with a 3-0 scoreline.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers have retained second spot even though they suffered a 3-1 loss to Camden Tigers who have moved up two places to third. The Rangers had claimed the first round points with a 2-1 result.
Gladesville Ryde Magic fell back to fourth when they were held to a 2-2 draw by eleventh placed Mountains United. The first round points had gone to Magic when they won by the odd goal in five.
Schofields Scorpions fell back to fifth when they suffered a 5-3 loss to ninth placed Hakoah who the Scorpions had beaten 2-0 at the very beginning of the season.
Seventh placed Hills Brumbies produced a 4-1 victory when they met twelfth placed Southern Branch.
Stanmore Hawks slipped back two places to eight when they were beaten 3-1 by tenth placed Nepean who were avenging their 4-0 first round loss to the Hawks.
-By Barry Davis