Royal Wells proved too strong and finished their season undefeated as they beat Falcons 3-0 on Clapham Common.
With a strong wind against us, the sun in our eyes and a large contingent of very tall players in the home side's team, it was to no surprise that they played a very direct game in the first half. We generally coped well but were undone on ten minutes as a couple of miscued clearances left the Wells midfielder with a simple chance to slot home from 15 yards.
A large part of the strategy for the first half was to defend in numbers and try and see out the first half with the promise of more favourable conditions in the second half. There was strong workrate across the team and, although there were a couple of efforts on target from Rob on the left, it was Wells who had more of the ball and carried the stronger threat. Close to the end of the first half Conal was called into action to make an excellent save from a corner.
We started the second half well with Frank and Toby replacing Rob and Lee. It was Frank who had the first chance of the half, shooting just over from 20 yards, while George followed up with a similar effort. However, Wells took advantage of their first big chance of the second half, bursting through the middle and making it 2-0 on the hour mark.
An injury to Jimmy meant a change in shape as Pete left the defence to head to the right wing while Toby moved to his preferred central position. The manager did force the keeper into a smart save as the game neared its conclusion but it was Wells who struck with ten minutes to go - their substitute finishing smartly to seal the game and confirm their league title victory.
This obviously wasn't our day but nor was it likely to be against a team who had only dropped four points all season and averaged over four goals per game. The team battled well and a special mention must go to Will for filling in both on the right and in centre midfield on a day where he sacrificed his preferred position for the benefit of the team.
We still have four games to go and our mission is to try and target a top half finish with our games in hand over fourth-placed Ocean Rangers.
Team: Conal, Pete, Chris, Sam, Will, Kieran, Steffen, George, Jimmy (c), Rob (Frank, 46), Lee (Toby, 46).