Matchday 30 (Sun., 3/24) Preview
#2 Knapford Town vs. #15 Vicarstown
#4 Crovan’s Gate vs. #11 Castle Rolf
#13 Marron vs. T7 E.C.D.
#6 Wellsworth vs. #18 Ulfstead
Plus the Sunday Feature Match: #1 Dryaw hosts #14 Brendam Harbor
Hello from village Dryaw! Noob usually attends both the weekend’s Feature Matches. But no way I was going to interrupt my stay in Dryaw this week. The preview’s a’comin’, but first, indulge Noob’s small peek into my long-term, part-time life here.
For those newer to all things Sodor, Dryaw’s a sizable village in the west central part of the Isle. West and south along the coast are three of the large towns, all easy gets for finer dining. Just east – estates, B&B’s, wine country. And so, it’s become a haven for writers, whether for short vacation, extended stays, or even permanent residence.
Noob’s been hanging and imbibing with his usual pair o’ pals. American novelist Dan Heck (Google up his books, or even his new blog-archive of all things championships of all kinds) came for the week. 
So did Douglas Barr, costar of 1980’s TV’s “The Fall Guy”. Actor, writer, director, vintner – we’re all becoming best friends, it’s true. He brought some of his newly available 2002 “2480 ” cab sav from his Hollywood and Vine Cellars. Behhhst frehhhhnds. So, Noob’s got more than a bit of a katzenjammer working as he writes tomorrow’s preview.
Sportsball! Ok. Dryaw still lead Knapford by two in the table and Peel Godred by four (Peel’s Sat. result pending). This, despite being just 1-1-2 their last month. The road loss last week in the capital against midtable Suddery was a surprise. Will they re-find their offense again today? They’ve proven they can win high-and low-scoring affairs alike, but one goal is rarely going to get you any points on the Isle.
Brendam Harbor won the inaugural FA Cup this past summer, but surprisingly have not followed that up with a strong first PL season. They’re just 14th in the table. Being from one of the “main towns” on the Isle, they were certainly considered a league fave even before winning the Cup.
They’re one of the few teams on Sodor that play a reasonable semblance of defense. They’ve certainly had their share of strong games on that regard, but when teams score much at all against them, the Harbormen have rarely shown they can compete in a shootout. Motivation may start to become a question. They’re safe from Relegation, yet have little hope of competing for a top-half table finish.
Noob calls it: Dryaw 5-1 Dryaw’s been excellent at home, for the most part. And they’ll be plenty motivated. They know Knapford and Peel Godred also have home dates this weekend, matches against bottom half teams.
