Quote:
Originally Posted by bbgunn
Good run here!
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Thanks.
My natural paranoia fears a late-season swoon that costs us promotion and trophy money, though. We'll see what happens, however.
@ Newick (2nd)
G: Dan Hutchins
D: Harry Seal/James Sage/Kashif Siddiqui
WBL: Flynn Tarman
M: Alfie Cain/Stephan Hamilton-Forbes/Lewis Hook/Peggy Lokando
S: Alex Theobald/Nico Thongvivat
Simple math, here. Win and we all but mathematically punch our ticket to promotion. Draw, and it comes down to the last game. Lose and we need some help to go up. We lost $110 last month, BTW, so in order to turn a profit for the season, we need to win at least one of our three cup games.
40 - What the shit kind of pass out of goal was that,
Hutchins?! Fortunately, he makes a superhuman save to cover for his gaffe.
We're playing like trash all the first half, and really should be losing at this point.
49 -
Folan subs in for
Thongvivat, who is picking the worst time to have his only bad game as a Rhino.
73 -
Mastouras on for
Sage. I notice
Ditchling II is down by 1 at home.
75 - "
Andrew Folan would look out of place on a rugby pitch right now!" Well, shit. Kid is pressing too hard, trying to play hero ball.
81 -
Willingdon Athletic III is also down by 1, albeit on the road. We're getting that help we need. Now if we can just take advantage.
83 Down 1-2 is
Ditchling II.
And we can't break through. Our midfield did everything possible to get us this one, and it was all for naught. Well, maybe not totally...
Ditchling II... Loss!
Willingdon Athletic III... Loss!
It couldn't have gone any better.
Willingdon Athletic III is officially out, and
Ditchling II is now 2 points back with a pedestrian +5 GD to our +14 and
Newick's +11. All we have to do is draw our last game, and we're in.
Roffey III officially drops. Bye, Felicia Pt. 1
It may only be April, but we've already made a huge splash signing for June that we'll talk about when the time comes.
@ AFC Haywards II (Sommerville Challenge Cup Final)
G: Dan Hutchins
D: Harry Seal/Colm Parrott/Kashif Siddiqui
WBL: Flynn Tarman
M: Alfie Cain/Stephan Hamilton-Forbes/Lewis Hook/Peggy Lokando
S: Alex Theobald/Nico Thongvivat
The first of three trophy finals. A note about
Colm Parrott - he's busted his ass in training all year long, and despite an initial complaint, been patient while he's bided his time. With
James Sage producing very uneven performances lately, the bird with the extra T gets his turn.
2 - Putrid defending by
Siddiqui there.
0-1
5 - *And* a yellow?! Off goes
Siddiqui for
Mastouras, the quickest non-injury sub ever.
7 - Defense forcing
Hook back? No problem - pretty backheel pass into space, and
Theobald excels at beating keepers 1 v 1.
1-1
11 -
Cain's corner seeks
Seal's cranium, and the crashing header gives him his first ever goal as a Rhino! You're a scorer, Harry!
2-1
16 - Lots of passing in this buildup, the last of it
Theobald shorting it back to
Tarman. The return pass into the box has
Theobald completely unmarked and shooting from almost the exact same angle as his first goal. Talk about a fast reversal of a shit start.
3-1
33 -
Hamilton-Forbes intercepts the ball in our box and rockets it all the way down the pitch to
Thongvivat. A high, high lateral finds
Cain for the flank feed to
Tarman. Far post cross, and
Lokando has everyone beat by a wide mile to knock in another score.
4-1
47 -
Hook wings out to
Cain, who drives past the defense and centers to
Thongvivat for the easy opening second-half goal. We can punch this one as a guaranteed trophy, y'all.
5-1
69 -
Tarman wants a break, so flat 4-4-2 and
Robinson we go.
70 -
Robinson throws into
Hook, and the bouncing long ball lets a completely alone
Theobald race untouched for a fiery hat-trick strike!
6-1
Dan Hutchins 7.1 and
Khalif Siddiqui a no-rating.
Everyone else bar Robinson? 8.1 or higher. The 9+ guys:
Peggy Lokando 9.1;
Lewis Hook 9.2; PotM
Alex Theobald 9.6. And talk about a masterful reserve performance -
Keelan Mastouras nailed an 8.9!
Alex Theobald led the Sommerville Challenge Cup in scoring with 6 goals, and
Alfie Cain topped the tournament's assists chart with 3. We get $750 for winning,
which puts our bank account in the black for the first time this year. A whopping 68 people showed up to watch the Final - easily our biggest crowd of the season.
vs Roffey III (10th)
G: Dan Hutchins
D: Harry Seal/Colm Parrott/Kashif Siddiqui
WBL: Flynn Tarman
M: Alfie Cain/Stephan Hamilton-Forbes/Lewis Hook/Peggy Lokando
S: Alex Theobald/Nico Thongvivat
Ditchling II won promotion after winning their final match and
Newick getting upset by
Fletching 1-3. So unless we lose by uh... 6 goals, we're going up, too. A tie or win gives us the title over our archrivals. I've played down the importance of this match, and with a home game against an already relegated team, I'm just going to tell the players to relax and enjoy themselves.
8 - We spend several minutes having to pass, pass, pass because they're putting up a huge wall on defense. Finally,
Hamilton-Forbes locates
Hook for a box pass into space.
Theobald wins the race, and our team captain scores yet another goal.
1-0
18 -
Hook's being shadowed, so he wings to
Tarman for the far post cross.
Thongvivant rises above everyone and heads it in.
2-0
43 -
Hamilton-Forbes gives it to
Theobald, and a nagging defender nearly steals it, but our captain's able to lay off to
Thongvivant, whose strike from just outside the half-circle belts its way home!
3-0
58 - We're all feeling lazy right now - hence this goal.
Mastouras for
Parrott;
Della Verde for
Hook. Hope we don't blow this. Guys were looking awfully complacent at half.
3-1
7.8 for
Flynn Tarman, 8.9 for PotM
Nico Thongvivat, and 8.3 for
Alex Theobald. We definitely slacked off in the second half, but even the announcers said this game was over at halftime.
And we officially win Division Six!!! The double is in the bag, and now we have to see if we can garner any more trophies to cap off what has been a dream season - all the more so,
because at one point this year, we were in the drop zone.
I'm gonna be honest - although I'm used to steam-rolling in amateur leagues, this one has been pretty damn special for the fightback the team showed, and the tactical adjustments I had to make - talent alone wasn't enough to get this far.