Day two of the National Junior League at London Academy produced some very close divisions.
Division 1
As was the case on Day 1, this was an extremely close division, with only three points separating the winning team from the fifth-placed team.
It was Weald who came top with 18 points. Darenth A were second with 17 points and South Croydon A were third, also with 17 points. In terms of total points accumulated so far, the top three teams are only separated by one point.
Timmy Walters of Darenth A topped the individual averages, with 9/10 from the No 1 position. Lewis Marsh of Weald came second with eight wins out of nine from the No 3 position.
Moberly A, having come first on Day 1, turned up with only two players, one of whom played for their B team last time and they came last as a result and so are unfortunately relegated down to Division 2 for Day 3.
Division 2
Graham Spicer won Division 2, having been runners-up last time. However they certainly didn’t have it their own way and indeed lost their first match to London Academy A. Therefore Spicers will find themselves in the top flight next time. Brighton City A came second.
As for the averages, the player to impress was Octavian Aparaschivei, who had 8/10 at the No 1 position, especially considering he only won 5/10 in Division 3 on Day 1. Two other players got 8/10, both at the No 2 position, Charlie Ollerenshaw for Brighton & Ollie Gray for Spicers.
RBKC B finished last, surprisingly 10 points below their C team and will therefore be relegated to Division 3 for Day 3.
Division 3
The top four teams were all very close in this division and indeed the team which finished first (Brighton City C) lost one match and drew two. Moberly B also had 20 points, but are second because they drew with Brighton City C, but lost on games difference. Therefore Brighton City C will be promoted to Division 2 for Day 3, funnily enough two divisions higher than their B team.
In the averages, two players got 8/9, Farhad Barakzai (Brighton City C) from the No 1 position and Pascal Walker (Moberly B) from the No 3 position.
RBKC D are relegated down to Division 4 for next time and are four points below their E team, despite defeating them 5-1.
Division 4
A very strong Twickenham Brunswick A team won Division 4 and they included Finlay Feil, who has played in Division 1 in previous years, in their line-up. They will face a stronger challenge next time in Division 3.
Finlay & team mate Harshil Shah both won an impressive 10/10, with No 3 Julian Charlton-Lee backing them up with 8/10. Who would bet against them in Division 3 next time if they can field the same team?
Jamar McGlaushin at the No 3 position for second placed Brighton City B, also performed well, winning 9/10.
RBKC F finished bottom, four points below their G team, which is the third RBKC team to finish below a lower RBKC team on Day 2. The F team will be in Division 5 for Day 3.
Division 5
Brighton City F & London Academy C both finished on 18 points, but the Brighton team gets promoted, as they beat the London team. The No 1 players from these two teams, Louis Vaughan-Drake for City and Sayan Jetha for Academy, lead the averages, with 8/9 wins each. RBKC I goes straight back down to Division 6 for Day 3, having won Division 6 on Day 1.
Division 6
Having been relegated from Division 5 on Day 1, RBKC H will bounce back up again, as they won Division 6 on Day 2. The top two players from the H team, John Kassis & Marcel Sek, both had 100% (8/8). The No 1 from Twickenham Brunswick C, Adam Gold, also had 100% with 6/6, but he didn’t play against RBKC H. Twickenham C came second in the table.
Click below for table and averages. Please note that where teams have an equal number of points, positions in the table are decided based on the match between the two teams. If they had a draw then the games are added up. If games are equal then it’s points difference, though this has not been necessary so far.