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Div 1 [VMSL] Div 1 2022/2023 Predictions, Results & Banter

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Cian Carrol

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I think GN will take points off a lot of teams, will def do enough to stay up. Some interesting results early on already
 

Joe321

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Chirp chirp
Second half of the season well underway and a pretty close table at the top. SWE are in good shape for a promotion while both greencaps and norvan have been dropping points lately. GN and Romania look destined for D2.
 

Canucks4Ever

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GN are survivors. Seen it all before.

If I'm Supra I'd be worried. Although decent odds that GN don't know there is a playoff this year for 10th place in Div. 1 with the winner of a game between the two second place Div. 2 teams...

Looking forward to GN wrapping up a tenth place finish at the beginning of March and then being dragged back at the end of the month for a playoff to keep their spot!
 

Canucks4Ever

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@Canucks4Ever
Predictions on promotion??
Sure, let's do a deep dive.

I mean on the surface it's a three-horse race between Norvan, Greencaps and White Eagles and one of them has to miss out.

Still an outside chance for Serbia, Metropolitan or Rino's to go on a run, but they are quickly running out of track.

Sticking with the three favourites, White Eagles are coming on strong and have it entirely within their power the win their way back up. Only issue might be fixture congestion, especially since they (and NorVan) got a great Imperial Draw that will see a Div. 1 team reach the Quarters.

NorVan also have it under their control to win their way up, although it is a narrow one point lead over Greencaps at the minute. The North Shore boys have hit a bit of a speed wobble the last two times out, dropping surprising points in draws with relegation candidates Supra and GN. As ever, Division 1 proving to be a tough slog where even the pre-season favourites have to keep their focus for all 22 games.

Greencaps have opted out of the Imperial Cup, presumably to focus on their promotion bid. The concern for them is, obviously, despite a bit of a run in the second half of last season, this is the first real season that has seen them emerge as serious promotion contenders. It is closing time now and a somewhat surprising loss to Serbia a couple of weeks back, after losing to White Eagles for a second time this season, means they are the team that do not control their own destiny.

Three of NorVan's four remaining games are essentially six pointers, as they play White Eagles, Metropolitan and Greencaps. If you are FC Serbia you are looking at that thinking somebody is dropping points and, when combined with still two games to be played against White Eagles themselves, maybe they have a chance to climb back into the hunt. Getting former Provincial Cup winner with BB5 Ramsey Alfantazi into the fold from the back half of October has revolutionized the Serbians, as he has 11 goals in just nine games.

As for Serbia's contemporaries, Metropolitan and Rino's, Metro have games against White Eagles and NorVan, which could serve to really set the cat amongst the pigeons. Their path does not seem quite as possible as FC Serbia's potential route, but there is still a crack of light there. Especially with reigning Golden Boot holder, and current divisional goal scoring leader, Pablo Zubiria in their ranks.

Rino's have winnable games, but no ability to take points off the teams above them, so they must rely on some help. Also hindering them is the fact that one of their remaining games is a 1-1 draw with GN in which they will have 4 minutes to find a winner after the lights snapped off at Mackie back in November. If they can knick a goal in those 4 minutes, and then win out, they will have to hope their is enough cannibalization by the teams above them to see the Fury climb into a promotion spot. Drop those two points against a desperate GN team clawing for every point in a bid to stay up and it gets tough. Right now, 42 points looks right around being enough, which is the most Rino's could get without turning one point into three in that GN completion, but it would likely be touch and go. 45 points would almost certainly have them in with a look.

Greencaps you feel almost have to run the table at this point, which includes their aforementioned game against NorVan, which they will be desperately hoping still means something when its played, as well as their next match against first place Snipers. There is also a tricky away day to North Delta to play relegation survivalists GN. That is quite the gauntlet and I think it hurts their chances.

For White Eagles, they have not played FC Serbia yet this season and now have them in the cup and then twice in the league. Winning all three seems statistically unlikely, and the points are much more valuable than the cup win, however, the cup comes chronologically first this weekend, so it will act as something of a litmus test. White Eagles have plenty of fixtures to squeeze in and the majority of them will mean something to their opponents. Tough to see them running the board. Using that mid-40s budget for points needed, that gives White Eagles roughly two games to drop. It likely just depends who they give up the points against.

At the end of it all, as usual, Div. 1 looks likely to go right to the wire and there is still plenty to play for down the stretch. NorVan and White Eagles have the straightest lines to promotion, but will absolutely still need to earn it. No one is going to give it to them and there are plenty of sides waiting in the wings to snatch it if they stumble.
 

dezza

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A twist in the relegation battle as GN were busted for playing an ineligible player last Friday in a 3-3 draw with MAFC. They've turned being on 13 pts to being on just 9, a -4 point swing which all but seals their fate with automatic relegation instead of being in the playoff.
 

dezza

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View attachment 36865

Norvan and Rinos win promotion to Prem?

Yes. We think.

Snipers won Thursday and appear to be division champions. Well deserved as they essentially lead wire to wire, and most impressively sport the division's best defensive record despite having to rotate between 5 different goalkeepers.

In the end, the 42 points is enough to see us through. It could have been more as our 4 minute match completion with GN produced at least 3 gilt edged chances despite us playing with 10 men. Of course we don't really know if the players on the field for GN were all legal, as in their subsequent matches they repeatedly played ineligible players to the point where I believe they are now completely removed from vmsl.

It's a bit of a headache for the vmsl brass to sort through, as the rules seem to indicate an expunging of results. The main beneficiary would appear to be Norvan who drew 3-3 with them in January and with that result nullified combined with a win this weekend would potentially move 1 point ahead of Snipers.

I am incredibly proud of our group who appeared dead in the water around mid-season, but stuck with the process and rattled off an impressive 10 wins and 2 draws over the last 12 league matches. It has been a fantastic journey to be a part of, but I definitely won't miss the stress of hitting refresh on the vmsl scores page.

All my respect to teams like MAFC and Lupi who posted big results down the stretch when they arguably had nothing to play for. It was disappointing to see others resort to forfeiting matches or flouting the rules by playing ineligibles.
 

GoF

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Initially wasn't going to post these up since I missed first two goals as the Ironworkers was a fcuking nightmare, but some other good stuff in it, so highlights from Norvan's 4-3 win over Greencaps that saw them win promotion back to the Premier last Saturday.

 

big gk

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i saw that. can't say I like the format of two groups and uneven games against opponents. I will be voting against it.
 

dezza

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My understanding is that this is just phase 1. The following year they will look to expand to 20 teams (2 groups of 10). This is exactly how div1 used to be about 10-15 years ago and it was watered down kick and run soccer by half the teams. The whole idea of a pyramid is less teams at the top and more teams at each level down. Having 20 in div1 and 20 in div2 does not accomplish this.

To address the issues stated regarding length of schedule for div2 the league would be better off increasing div2 to have 3 groups of 10.
 
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