MONTHLY ROUND-UP: AUGUST 1865
August has ended just as it begun with the Old Westminsters a fraction ahead of The Regent’s Park in the Metropolitan League standings, but it did not look that way midway through the month. With the Westminsters losing their first two games and the Regents winning theirs, it was the Regents who appeared to be taking control, only to suffer a crucial defeat when the two teams met. The Regents led the game 2-0, but a late turnaround gave the Westminsters a 6-2 victory. When they won their next game as well and saw the Regents lose to Kensington, the Westminsters had back their narrow advantage.
It appears that one of those two teams will be the inaugural champions, as Clapham were beaten in each of their last three games in August to drop back to an even record of eleven wins and eleven defeats. They are now only narrowly ahead of the City of London Club, who recorded another fine month with three victories from four games and moved ahead of Angel Islington, who are enduring a poor second half to the year.
Angel are now only one game ahead of Kensington at the bottom of the standings, as Kensington enjoyed surprise victories over both the Old Westminsters and The Regent’s Park. With five Saturdays in September this year, we should have a clear idea of who the league’s first champions will be come the end of the month, as each team should have just two games remaining by that point. Indeed, the Regents have six to play in September as there is a postponed game against Clapham to catch up when the teams play twice in a day.
