For the final game of the season, the A's took on 5th placed Sacred Heart, knowing a draw would probably move us up to 6th on the ladder.

Rob (not for the first time) was forced to make a couple of positional changes, with Matt Milosevic unavailable, Chris's hamstring being dubious, Ryan's work commitments and Nathan and Jonathan being away, there were no less than 5 changes to the starting line-up.

Coming into the starting XI were A's captain Joe, keeper Dan, myself, Paul K and Russell (no, not Scott) Edwards.

In the early exchanges things were pretty even, but we were looking good – moving the ball around well, particularly up the left flank, where Gunnar, Paul, Bram and Daniel were linking up well.

Then, as has happened all season, disaster struck. A corner for SHOC was only half cleared which enabled one of their players to hit a shot – we had 2 players on the post, who somehow managed to tangle each other up and the ball lamely fell into the net.

At this point we lost the plot a little, trying to play the fast moving game that SHOC was playing and only coughing up the ball in the process. Soon after they were 2-0 up, as one of their midfielders skipped past 2 Uni-Whites defenders and slotted the ball home from about 10 yards. Another set piece for SHOC (This time a free kick) resulted in what can only be described as a speculative header ending in the back of the net, as Russ jumped to stop it on the line, but wound up being an inch or 2 too short.

Fortunately, for the last 10 minutes of the half we woke up again, but the damage had already been done. The coach asked us to take something from the last 45 and he rung the changes, with all the boys on the bench getting some well deserved game time. Unfortunately SHOC still controlled much of the game and did manage 1 more goal, off a wicked deflection.

In the end though 4-0 was a fair result and a disappointing end to a disappointing season. Lots of work to do next year, but a big thanks to all the boys who put on the shirt this year and of course to Robin, who has definitely added a few grey hairs this year!

Ah well, there's always next season.

SafTop

The final game of the season gave both teams a chance to end the year on a high and to give a psychological boost for the start of next season. The home team were up for it, with a strong team and an enthusiastic warm up, we were set to go. It was also a week of milestones, with Crab hitting the amazing century mark in white and Manny making his 50th appearance. Unfortunately, however, the ref was not, he failed to turn up on time. This caused a fair bit of concern and frustration among both sets of players. Rob took charge after a brief delay and we were under way.

The opening exchanges were indicative of the fact that we didn't have an official ref. The tackles flew in by the dozen as both teams tried to impose themselves. It was really just a midfield arm wrestle, with neither team getting the upper hand.

When the ref did show up (claiming a flat tyre as an excuse) the game settled into more of a rythmn. The whites had the wind in their favour and so spent most of the half in SHOC territory. To be fair though only some half chances were created. The SHOC defence was clearly struggling to live with the pace of Manny and Long upfront, but as had been the problem all season, there was only intermittent supply of balls. On balance though, the SHOCs were fortunate to go in to the break level.

The second half was all change. With the wind in their faces, the whites struggled to get out of their half with any real purpose. Tactical changes at half time had Justin Khoo move upfront and it was obvious that he would need some time to settle into the role.

As the game wore on, SHOC became more and more dominant, forcing some good saves out of Craig who, as always, had a good game.

For me, the point at which it became apparent that a win was out of our grasp was when Crab began a mazy run through the midfield with his dodgy hamstring. Inevitably, he had to come off. Without his leadership at the back, the whites lost composure. This wasn't helped by the wholesale changes to the spine of the team.

The last few minutes had sporadic breakaway attacks by the whites sandwiched between midfield dominance by the visitors. Both sides showed the signs of fatigue from a long campaign, there wasn't much running, even from the younger legs.

Justin had a great chance to snatch an unlikely winner as he launched into an amazing run and was one on one with their keeper. Unfortunately, his touch deserted him and he ended up on the by-line after going past the keeper. In summary, a draw was probably the fair result, not the best way to finish the year, but we'll take it.

MannyTop

Uni Whites 3 - 0 Pembroke

In keeping with 'C' team tradition, only 11 of the 42 players theoretically available to us actually turned up (though one Uni White veteran brought the marquee but not his gear, and another regular struggled from his sick bed to offer side-line support). However, we were boosted by the addition of erstwhile 'A' team keeper and world traveller Dan Aikin, thus sparing a much relieved Pete from his usual keeping duties.

In further keeping with 'C' team tradition, we had a special guest star filling in one of the central defensive positions. In place of Tom/Graeme/Cam/Simon/Kyle, we had Uni White veteran (in every possible sense of the word) Andy Foley. Andy combines a bullocking style with bullet-like headers, and has an inexhaustible energy not normally seen in one so old. However, where time and space allows, Andy tempers this with the occasional touch of finesse, or an impressive cross that looks like a shot (but which he admitted was a cross).

Andy was joined in central defence by the ever-reliable Phillip, with Neoh and Jeffrey looking after the flanks. As the game progressed, Neoh was subject to a number of stern talking to's from Saf and I, as his spirit of adventure often triumphed over his commitment to defence. However, as his response to these harsh words was simply a slight drop of the head and a cheeky grin, I'm not sure he really took our criticisms to heart.

The midfield was also a potent mixture of youth and experience, with Leo 'Two Halves' Chandiok and Justin 'the other Justin' Bushby partnering Mai, Sam, Pete, and Tony in a solid effort. Chester and Ben led from the front (apologies if I missed anyone).

In the early stages of proceedings, Andy, Phillip and co defended stoutly against the odd Pembroke assault, while the midfield employed the triangular approach and the occasional wing-ward pass with considerable aplomb. However, we were initially unable to convert our slightly better forward play into scoreboard dominance (and other such sporting clichés). Deliverance came in the form of the newly liberated Pete, who took advantage of his ability to move more than 18 yards in any one direction, and placed a perfect through ball into the Pembroke box. This was met on the run by Ben, who slotted the ball home from about seven yards out but on a very, very acute angle.

Half time saw us still ahead by the solitary goal. We consolidated in the second half with two further goals, another one from Ben after a corner which led to a goal-mouth scramble, and one which I have been told came from Chester. However, at this point things got a bit hazy, as I was trying to work out why the 'B' team only had 12 shirts (Cash Converters is a possibility). This has been the burden I have borne this season. Having stood enthralled by the 'C' teams first half endeavours, I have then been distracted by other callings. Oh well, it was good to hear the club song at the end.

Anyway, a pleasing effort, and augurs well (or 'all goes well', as the footy commentators say) for next year.

MikeTop