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| Another stalemate for score-shy Utsirans |
There is ever less surprise week-on-week at Viking North Utsire adding yet another draw to their burgeoning collection for this season, not least among their long-suffering fans -- who last Monday at Seaforth Highlanders found themselves witnessing a third straight 0-0 stalemate for the Norsemen in Division 2b. The poor supporters have not seen a single goal, at either end, this calendar month.
This week Viking could not even conjure a chance at the 3rd-placed Highlanders. On the bright side, extracting an away point in those circumstances against a tough opponent challenging hard for a playoff spot counts as something of a success. As the fixtures continue to tick away, however, there is ever less time for the Utsirans to find any kind of upwards momentum.
With three rounds to go, the divisional title has already gone to Cornish Celts who sit 10 points clear of the also-rans, i.e. everyone else, after thrashing Cricket Utd this week to seal both their top spot and Utd's relegation. The competitiveness between virtually all the rest though was emphasised by 2nd-placed FC Holymen losing at 4th-placed Beverley Town, to reduce the gap between them to a single point, while Viking actually improved their 5th place slightly by dint of Wollaston Phoenix below them losing 2-1 at Swedish Gentlemens -- who leapfrog Phoenix from 5th to leave the latter 3 points adrift of VNU. Just six points spans 2nd to second-bottom, with VelvetAndroid's side precisely in the middle of that gap on an increasingly absurd-looking 2-8-1 record.
The Utsirans' agonisingly slow progress is, if nothing else, steady: they have now drawn all their last four league games, eight of the last ten matches in all competitions, and 10 from their 14 total outings across the last two months. And their destiny this term -- as far as survival in the third tier is concerned, at any rate -- is in their own hands: their final trio of fixtures are against all three of the clubs currently below them. The two key games appear to be tomorrow's at the Gentlemens, then at home to Wollaston a week later, before a closing home clash with doomed Cricket.
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