8:31am Saturday 27th September 2008
By Dill Butcher
PREMIERSHIP table-toppers the Duke of Albany will be without highly influential joint player-manager Luke Tomlin as they hope to put more distance between themselves and third-placed Rod-well when the sides meet at Redlands tomorrow morning (10.30am).
Tomlin has been struggling with a virus all week and is certain to miss this six-pointer along with injured keeper John Burrows while prolific marksman Russell North, who hit five in last week's demolition of the Punchbowl but hobbled off after taking a knock, faces a fitness check.
The Park Street boys are flying high having chalked up 27 goals in their last two outings but Tomlin, who throws mid-week signing from the Rendezvous Ben Porteus straight in, is genuinely expecting a much tougher game against Phil Anderson's charges.
He said: "I know the Rodwell lost to the Lugger last week but they had loads missing and they will field a much better side against us.
"They've got plenty of players that could cause us a lot of problems especially Mike Flann, Olly Stanton and Richie Frost who actually signed for us pre-season before having a change of heart.
"Our defence haven't been involved much recently but they'll certainly know they've been in a game come Sunday afternoon."
The Duke expect forward Chris Sweetser-Hawkes to have recovered from an ankle injury sustained a fortnight ago against the Lugger.
Meanwhile, the Tuatara Bar, one of four teams to have picked up six points from three games so far, will be going all out to avenge a pre-season defeat and keep their steady start going as they do battle with the George at the Grove.
Manager Chris Meadows is happy that his side have been mixing good football with good results - they have only lost to champions Belvedere so far after leading twice - and he has two in-form strikers at his disposal that would cause any team problems at the moment.
Danny Dancer and Nick Preece have netted in every game they have started so far and the pair look certain to lead the front line but who fills the other nine positions could cause Meadows a big headache as he is expecting his biggest ever pool of players tomorrow and is aware some will miss out completely.
He said: "It's never easy dropping someone altogether, especially when travelling away from home, but I'm fortunate that this group of players have an excellent attitude, and very rarely do I have people moaning about selection.
"In turn I try and give everyone a fair crack of the whip, and it is always better to have too many than too few.
"The George battered us in pre-season but we were experimenting a bit and we will have to ensure that we have learnt from our errors."
The boss welcomes back experienced midfielder and brother Simon Meadows and will also consider places for returning Brad Smith, Darren Maby, Tom Grattidge and Richard Camp.
Elsewhere in the top flight Bobby Darch will be without the services of one of his senior players - Portland United's Alex Halloran - but Zak Chennit and Dan Skelton are added to the Belvedere squad who overcame the Kingswood 2-0 last week.
The Belve meet Rob Pavey's AFC Black Dog at the Marsh and the big man is hoping his side can push on and mount another challenge for the title.
Darch said: "It was a great all-round team performance and we really started to look like a strong side again last week after we had to change the side around a lot in the opening games."
Down in the Championship Galaxy Windows are on a high after recording their first win last weekend but boss Andy Barber will be forced to make some changes ahead of the trip to face the George (Dorchester) at Sandringham.
Chris Douthwaite (groin) is a doubt but ever-present Alex McGrath is on holiday while captain Kieron Reeson will be missed through work commitments.
Barber said: "Ideally I would have preferred to stick with the same 11 that won so convincingly last week but I'm unable to do that so the experienced veteran Paul Barber will debut for McGrath at right-back and Nathan Waters will return up front to partner last week's hat-trick hero Bobby Jones.
"Obviously the lads are still buoyant from the match last week but it's my job to keep their feet on the ground.
"That's history now and the George are a different team altogether.
"They have been involved in a few high scoring games already this season and certainly know how to find the back of the net so our defence will be made to work harder this time around."
n For more news on many of the Weymouth Sunday League clubs can log on to webteams.co.uk followed by the team name - eg. dukeofalbany.
TOMORROW'S GAMES: Premiership: Belvedere v AFC Black Dog (Marsh), Britannia v Punchbowl (Piggery), Duke of Albany v Rodwell (Redlands), George v Tuatara (Grove), Lugger v Railway Tavern (Budmouth), Rendezvous v Kingswood (Redlands).
Championship: Golden Lion v Rock (Marsh), Dorothy v Chapelhay (Budmouth), Clean Connections v Alex (Redlands), Old Castle v Southill (Marsh), George v Galaxy Windows (Sandringham), Queens v Market House (Marsh).
WEYMOUTH SUNDAY LEAGUE PREMIERSHIP
P W D L F A GD Pts
Duke of Albany 3 3 0 0 32 6 26 9
Belvedere 3 3 0 0 11 3 8 9
The Rodwell 3 2 0 1 21 4 17 6
Britannia 3 2 0 1 13 2 11 6
Tuatara Bar 3 2 0 1 9 5 4 6
The Railway 3 2 0 1 8 9 -1 6
Kingswood 3 1 0 2 11 6 5 3
Lugger 3 1 0 2 7 16 -9 3
AFC Black Dog 3 1 0 2 5 21 -16 3
Punch Bowl 3 1 0 2 6 23 -17 3
George (Portland) 3 0 0 3 6 18 -12 0
Rendevous 3 0 0 3 2 18 -16 0
CHAMPIONSHIP
Chapelhay Tavern 3 3 0 0 17 1 16 9
The Rock 3 3 0 0 20 6 14 9
Dorothy Inn 3 3 0 0 23 11 12 9
Market House 3 3 0 0 10 2 8 9
Southill SC 3 2 1 0 10 8 2 7
Galaxy Windows 3 1 1 1 12 6 6 4
Queens Park 3 1 0 2 11 8 3 3
Golden Lion 3 1 0 2 8 7 1 3
George (Dorch) 3 0 0 3 11 20 -9 0
The Alex 3 0 0 3 4 14 -10 0
Old Castle 3 0 0 3 2 23 -21 0
Clean Connections 3 0 0 3 1 23 -22 0
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