KERSHAW LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION Ely City Reserves P30 Home W8 D2 L5 F36 A17 (7th of 16) Away W7 D3 L5 F32 A25 Pts 50 The Robins second string returned to the top flight with a very respectable top-seven finish, but it could have been so muc

KERSHAW LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

Ely City Reserves P30 Home W8 D2 L5 F36 A17

(7th of 16) Away W7 D3 L5 F32 A25 Pts 50

The 'Robins' second string returned to the top flight with a very respectable top-seven finish, but it could have been so much better than that.

Unfortunately however, they took just one point from their last half-a-dozen matches and nose-dived out of championship contention as a result.

If Ely had taken anything close to maximum points from those six games, they would have won the title itself.

In their opening eight league matches a 2-1 home defeat by Eaton Socon was the third loss suffered by City, but they subsequently embarked on a 10-match unbeaten run which put them firmly in the championship frame.

They still had fellow contenders Waterbeach (twice), Hundon (twice) and Great Shelford to play in their 12 remaining fixtures, but could only manage two points out of 15 from those meetings with the top three sides.

Waterbeach went on to win it, reigning champions Shelford finished two points adrift and long-time leaders Hundon eventually faded into third place.

City meanwhile allowed Cambridge University Press, Histon A and Over Sports to climb above them and into the top six.

Littleport Town P30 Home W8 D0 L7 F28 A26

(10th of 16) Away W3 D4 L8 F29 A37 Pts 37

This was a very disappointing campaign for 'Port, especially compared to recent seasons (they finished fourth in 2006/2007).

They opened the season with successive victories against Cottenham United and Fordham, but that proved to be the only time they managed to string two wins together and their mid-season form was particularly frustrating.

A 6-2 thrashing of Needingworth United for example, was immediately followed by a dismal 5-4 defeat against eventually relegated Great Paxton.

'Port then convincingly beat champions Great Shelford, only to lose the derby clash with Ely City Reserves before remarkably holding Shelford 2-2 away from home.

Confidence should have been high after that, but Eaton Socon proceeded to beat them at home and basement club Wisbech Town Reserves claimed three of their paltry 11 points for the season by winning 4-3 against Dave Cullum's unpredictable bunch.

Littleport Town could prove to be a tough ship to steer through the treacherous waters of 2008/2009.

Fordham P30 Home W4 D1 L10 F28 A42

(11th of 16) Away W6 D1 L8 F19 A25 Pts 32

This wasn't Fordham's best campaign either, and they found goals hard to come by at times - particularly after the defections of strikers Jose Mendes-Monteiro and John Sands.

They took four points from their opening seven matches, but then managed to lower the colours of champions Great Shelford away from home.

They subsequently held Hundon (runaway leaders at the time) and then beat them 4-3 away from home before suffering a 1-0 defeat against eventual champions Waterbeach.

Some of those results contrasted sharply with defeats against the likes of Newmarket Town Reserves (2-0), Great Paxton (1-0) and Needingworth United (5-0), and Fordham urgently need to ease the burden on leading scorer Daren Pryke if they want to avoid another season of struggle.