Week ending 23rd March by Mason Norton

ANP lifted the Premier Division title, and Divisions One & Two of the Everards Leicestershire Senior League were also resolved this weekend, with congratulations going respectively to Anstey Town and Loughborough Students Development.

Town last lifted the Div1 crown in 2006-07 with a last-day win at Sileby Town, as almost 200 people gathered at the old Memorial Park in Sileby to watch them win 2-0. Back then, Tony Blair was still Prime Minister, Arctic Monkeys topped the album charts, and Wembley was just re-opening after a long and over-budget refurbishment. Anstey Town won the Div1 title back then three seasons in a row, but were unable to go up as the ground-grading regulations back then stated that Premier Division clubs had to have floodlights, with third-placed Saffron Dynamo going up instead.

The intervening years saw Town leave their then ground at Thurcaston after a dispute with their landlords, and leave the LSL for a period as they played in exile at New College and a number of other grounds until they returned in 2014 from the North Leicestershire League, playing at Terrace Road in Ellistown. The floodlights rule was abolished in 2010 after leagues in the NLS lost the ability to set their own ground-grading regulations, and Town now find themselves at Beaumont Park, which was where they took on Ingles Development on Saturday. They had to dig deep, but Casey Richardson's first-half goal was enough to separate the two sides, Anstey winning 1-0 and crowned champions with two games to spare, still unbeaten in the League this season, and promoted to the Everards Brewery Premier Division for next term.

That leaves the runners-up spot to be battled over by Leicester Atletico and Hinckley LR Reserves. The former are in 'possession', and remain so having won 4-2 on Saturday at home to Sutton Bonington, Kadir Fahie (2), Mohammed Hogsade and Malcolm Onochie scoring for the hosts, Joe Fairclough and Jacob Lawrence for SB. Hinckley LR, however, are three points behind Atletico, with a game in hand and a superior goal difference, further bolstered on Saturday with a comfortable 5-0 win at Dunton & Broughton United, Patrick Dugbo (2), Simon Humphrys, Harry Warner and sub Joseph Marriott scoring for Road, as they hit four goals without reply in the second half. Road, though, do have the tougher run-in, notably with next week's trip to champions Anstey Town.

All in all, no changes to the morning table in Div1, with relegated Barrow Town Reserves at the bottom, that contest being finally resolved in midweek as we mentioned in the Midweek Report, but the automatic promotion race looks like it will go all the way to the wire at the end of April.

To Division Two, where Loughborough Students Development secured the title with a League game to spare. Saturday's opponents Sileby Town Reserves are the only side to have achieved a clean sheet against the Students this season with a 0-0 draw in November. That was not the case this weekend, as the Students scored four before the break and eight after it to win 12-0. Quinton Dlodlo started and scored four, Ashden Shortland came off the bench and scored four, and Joe Aston, Jack Baker, Adam Wallis and sub Idir Kermoud scored the others, the Students having secured their first trophy of the season as they head off on to their Easter vacation from lectures and seminars- though not football, as they play Mountsorrel Amateurs next week, and a Chairman's Trophy semi-final at a date to be confirmed in April, which could see them encounter Sileby Reserves for the fourth time this season.

Congratulations also go to St Patricks, who secured the other automatic promotion spot on Saturday with a 4-1 win at home to bottom side Loughborough, Jamie Bottomley scoring a hat-trick and Jack Hickey also scoring for Pats, Loughborough's scorer not yet in. Pats will be playing in Div1 next season, which will be their next official game, Saturday being their last game of the season after they were knocked out of the Chairman's Trophy in midweek. Luffs will finish the season in three weeks time, bottom of their division for the third successive season, but spared relegation from the LSL this time round owing to three resignations (Bottesford, Kibworth and GNG Reserves) earlier in the campaign.

The third spot on the podium looked like it would go to the wire, but that too looks all but resolved, after Mountsorrel Amateurs defeated Melton Town Academy 2-1 at Little Lane, Chris Yates scoring twice in the second half, Calvin Muregerera for Melton in the second period as well, with the Academy also missing a penalty, and ultimately unable to make the possession count. Mountsorrel will secure third with one point in their final three games. That pretty much wraps up all there is to wrap in Div2, with only a smattering of games remaining, this weekend being the last to engage more than half the side in the division.

On a quick note, Cottesmore and St Patricks both finished their seasons on Saturday, Kirby Muxloe Reserves and Desford & Caterpillar Reserves theirs last Saturday, and Rothley Imperial have only the Chairman's Trophy to concentrate on, whilst several other teams have only one or two games outstanding between now and the end of April. Clubs are reminded that they can, if they wish, play friendlies up to and including 31 May, provided that they do not interfere with League or Cup games organised by the League or County FA; however, clubs will be obliged to organise any such friendlies, and match officials, themselves.

There's reduced action across the 3 divisions this week. We'll be back on Easter Monday after the clocks have gone forward and the lamb has been cooked and eaten, with Ramble Round the Premier, which includes the basement battle between Barrow Town and Friar Lane & Epworth and Ramble Round the Divisions, the latter of which sees Anstey Town take on Hinckley LR Reserves at the top of Div1, Loughborough Students Development bidding to finish the League in Div2 unbeaten, and maybe even with a goal difference of +100, with their trip to Mountsorrel, and Rothley Imperial taking on Sileby Town Reserves in a Chairman's Trophy quarter-final and local derby. See you then.