No place like home for sides that struggled away

PART ELEVEN DIVISION 5B The Vine Reserves Home W8 D5 L1 F36 A13 Away W8 D1 L5 F36 A29 Pts 54 (3rd of 15) THE Vine Reserves finished best of the six East Cambridgeshire sides in the bottom section, occupying third place at a respectable distance 10 points

PART ELEVEN

DIVISION 5B

The Vine Reserves

Home W8 D5 L1 F36 A13

Away W8 D1 L5 F36 A29

Pts 54 (3rd of 15)

THE Vine Reserves finished best of the six East Cambridgeshire sides in the bottom section, occupying third place at a respectable distance 10 points behind the top two.

They were consistent throughout, but never won more than three league games in a row, and only once (early season) did they go three league games without winning.

They also took points from every other team in the division, including no fewer than four from the eventual champions Fenstanton Reserves.

Their record at home was excellent, and they lost just once - to Wicken Amateurs - on their own ground. Oddly, only one of their six draws came on foreign soil.

Littleport Town A

Home W10 D1 L3 F50 A26

Away W5 D5 L4 F34 A26

Pts 51 (5th of 15)

LITTLEPORT Town A boasted a similar profile to their neighbours, dropping relatively few points at home and eventually finishing three points further back in fifth place.

Inexplicably, they dropped points to Coldham United (bottom), Little Downham Swifts Reserves (13th), March Rangers Reserves (10th) and Lode Reserves (ninth), but thrashed the eventual runners-up Outwell Swifts Reserves 5-0 to effectively deny that team the title (which was decided on goal difference).

Wicken Amateurs

Home W6 D4 L4 F43 A32

Away W8 D1 L5 F39 A29

Pts 47 (6th of 15)

WICKEN blew hot and cold throughout, drawing with the champions as well as beating the runners-up and the third, fourth and fifth-placed sides.

On the other side of the coin, they dropped 14 points to the four teams that finished between 9th and 12th spot. Ultimately, they had to be disappointed to finish as low as sixth, considering the firepower they possessed.

Burwell Swifts Res

Home W8 D2 L4 F39 A32

Away W5 D3 L6 F26 A31

Pts 44 (7th of 15)

IN seventh position came Burwell's second string, often found wanting away from home.

In fact, 24 of the 40 points they dropped were on their travels, whereas at home they were a match for most teams and included among their successes a 3-1 win against the eventual champions.

Isleham United Res

Home W6 D1 L7 F32 A38

Away W3 D1 L10 F26 A38

Pts 29 (11th of 15)

ISLEHAM looked in for a torrid time after losing their first six league and cup outings, but recovered to some extent to eventually finish in 11th place.

Like most teams in the bottom nine of this section United struggled to pick up points away from home, but on their own ground they were quite competitive. It was only in the 7-1 hammering by Lode Reserves that they fell short of their own standards.

Even on their travels they were only beaten once by more than two goals, and that was in their opening match at Burwell.

Lt Downham S Res

Home W5 D1 L8 F37 A54

Away W1 D2 L11 F29 A62

Pts 21 (13th of 15)

DOWNHAM ended up third-from-bottom, but would probably have finished bottom without the services of striker Gareth Draper.

Swifts seldom looked competitive, particularly so in the second half of the campaign when they lost nine matches in succession, scoring 10 and conceding 51 in the process.