Ellerslie stood between us and the Over 35's Championship.
Both sides had identical league records, though they had a better goal difference of 20. Anything less than a Pukekohe win and the championship would be their's.
Beautiful sunshine, No.1 field in mint condition, dugouts up, heaps of support for both sides and a real air of tension....
Both sides had the utmost respect for each other and fielded identical 4-5-1 formations. The midfield was going to be the battlefield, the first goal would be crucial.
With a strong breeze behind us, we kicked off and immediately started stroking the ball around. The passing for the first 40 seconds was impressive until Tony D attempted to knock one square to the Harveymeister......the livewire Ellerslie midfielder seized onto it and steamed in on goal....Andre advanced and made himself as large as he could.....alas to no avail....the crafty forward poked it home.
Hooley Dooley! This wasn't in the script....1-0 down against a quality side in the first minute of a must win game.
Time to get a grip and calm down.....unfortunately this didn't happen. Ellerslie settled quicker and put themselves about....they challenged for everything and just seemed to be a yard faster and smarter.
Our day got a whole lot worse, when their speedy Number 10 unlocked us down the left, knocked it inside for their forward who swept the ball home with ease. 20 gone and 2-0 down...things looked bleak.
We stepped things up a bit and we certainly weren't lacking for effort....it just wasn't happening.
Then with 15 of the first half to go, we got thrown a lifeline...
The ball was played into the box, Wayne Roach went for a cushioned header and inexplicably, the Ellerslie full back went through the back of him. Jim had no hesitation in pointing to the spot....Dave Benard stepped up and slotted home with ease.
That livened things up! Tackles started flying, insults were traded, the banter on the sideline got salty and we were back in it....we just needed two more....
Half time arrived and this was our chance to regroup....close down their number 10, get stuck into their excitable number 3 and with a bit of luck........
They had the wind behind them and booted it up our end at every opportunity
Good chances were hard to come by as both sides worked hard to nullify each other.....with half an hour to go, the dices were getting ready to be rolled.
Then Andy Davey was put clear by Brian Mac...surely this is it.....he sliced it wide.
Next the ball managed to miss 8 players in the box and landed gift wrapped at George Milloys favoured left foot....he hit it sweetly, but it curved agonisingly wide....
I sensed this wasn't going to be our day.....Andre made some smart saves, Mark Harvey ran his legs into the ground, Dave Benard was in agony but kept going, whilst Liam was having a running battle with....well....anybody who had a yellow shirt on. Time was running out.
15 to go, lets give it a final whirl......TD and Liam get a well deserved rest.
We now have 3 at the back and 3 up front and the barmy Balkan gives Jim a heap of abuse and is given his marching orders..."We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when"
Fin and their number 15 do a spot of sumo wrestling...you could have cut the tension with a tension cutter..
10 to go, JK cracks one wide, whilst Pete Clark is making some tidy runs....
Andy is throwing himself at everything in the box, whilst Gavin is itching to get that elusive goal.
5 to go ands Fabs creates a bit of space for himself on the edge of the box and unleashes a beauty. It was spearing into the top corner, until the Ellerslie Keeper (who beared a remarkable resemblence to ex Everton boss Mike Walker, with a big beer gut) made a magnificent save to tip it over the bar.
The resulting corner, caused panic and mayhem but they managed to clear their lines and punt it upfield. It was 2 against 1 and surely they would finish it off....they hit the post and we lived to fight on for another couple of minutes...Brian Mac absolutely splattered their full back and got a yellow card.....but there was to be no outrageous fortune this time.
Jim blew the full time whistle and she was all over red rover....our unbeaten league run had ended at game number 41.
Their keeper sank to his knees....it meant a lot to him and I smiled...nice to see that it still matters even at our age (official average 44.3).
They deserved it and they're a good bunch of blokes...fun and laughter in the bar afterwards.....Our character shone through giving it that last blitz and it's a shame that we couldn't at least get an equaliser.
Thanks to all the people who turned out and cheered us on and Jim, Russell and Woulfy for officiating.
To Devon and Tania thanks for all your help with the team this year and a huge thanks to Steve and Fin for doing all the donkey work that goes with running the team.
This has been a very special year for all the team...great friendships...great piss taking and banter...everybody worked for each other and looked out for one another...it wasn't meant to be today, but hey, that's life.