Paul McConville, David Simpson, Stephen Lewis, Steve Anderson, Chris Simpson, Grant Foster and Davinder Sangha.

Brave Rockets defeated by two Grant Foster goals.

With Fusion, the obvious favourites, arrogantly failing to pay off their outstanding fines, they were unceremoniously ejected from the League and gave the opportunity for four like minded teams in Sassco, Soul Cal, Rockets and Impact to play-off for the Championship. With so many games awarded, the Play-off was the only fair way of deciding the outcome.

The final league table saw Sassco head the pack, due to to back-to-back wins in their final two games, followed by Rockets, Downhill and Soul Cal.

Play-off | Sassco.co.uk 6 Soul Cal 3.
Sassco and Soul Cal had differing sides, with Soul Cal suffering more without Brian Marley and Jimmy Rasper. However, Sassco were without the influential Steve “Teeb” Farrer, and the tactical genius, Davinder Sangha, who hobbled around last week after stepping on a youngster’s foot. But they did call on Paul McConville, Chris Simpson, along with Stephen Lewis and Steve Anderson.

Sassco took the lead, but were pegged back by Soul Cal. Further goals put Sassco ahead and an eventual 6-3 score made it comfortable.

Play-off | Redhouse Rockets 5 Downhill Impact 3.
Rockets came back three times to take the game to Impact and eventually triumph 5-3. Impact had a very strong side out, including Scott Johnstone and the returning Campbell. Even Callum looked half decent despite the worry of changing nappies for the next three years. Rockets scored some excellent goals as Impact ran out of steam.

Final | Sassco.co.uk 5 Redhouse Rockets 2.
The stiffening Sassco team were put under the sword by a young, and now rampant, Rockets team. An early goal saw Sassco suffering and they were lucky not to concede again. Grant Foster rifled home the equaliser again the run of play as he somehow gained a second wind after being banned for so long that the last time he played, Labour were in power.

Sassco then went 2-1 ahead and were coasting with around five minutes remaining, when Rockets were awarded a free-kick. Sassco assembled a wall which had more gaps than Wayne Greenwell’s teeth and it was 2-2. Rockets were on top, so Sassco got aggressive and eventually Grant Foster pulled Sassco out of the mire to put them 3-2 ahead. Eventually the score was 5-2 and Sassco were awarded the trophy in the last ever Sassco 6-a-side League – a league which has been running since 1999.

It remains to be seen if there will be a Season 17…

Play-off positions settled.

Redhouse Fusion nearly made a return to the competition. They had an outstanding fine of £12 to pay, plus a number of games to be played. A deal was made where they’d pay £12 on the night (8th Feb) and then play FOUR games on the 15th and pay £30 for them. However, no one met the 9pm deadline and made any payment, so Fusion have been dismissed from the competition.

This meant that the remaining games decided the play-off positions, with Sassco leapfrogging their nearest rivals to go into pole position.

Sassco.co.uk 5 Redhouse Storm 1.
Sassco raced into an easy lead in their first game. Sangha was a limping passenger after stepping on some young un’s foot, which didn’t bode well for their all-together more difficult second game.

Sassco.co.uk 5 Downhill Impact 2.
…which started badly as Downhill pummelled the back-line scoring an early goal from Callum Howe. Eventually, Sassco regained their composure and took the lead at 3-1. They were pegged back at 3-2, but further goals put them in number one position.

Wear Consulting 5 Downhill Impact 2.
Another miserable outing for Downhill as they suffered against a strong Wear Consulting team.

Play-offs take place on the 15th. Sassco v Soul Cal at 7:00pm; Rockets v Downhill at 7:30pm. The title decider takes place at 8:00pm.

Wear Consulting 1 Soul Cal 1.
A long range pile-driver from Brian Marley was the highlight in this final game of the night, which ended in a 1-1 draw.