Sparkshop

As the year came to an end, Sparkshop were in danger of promotion due to a series of good results against teams at the top of the division and a win against U Drive awarded when they played a man short. They asked if they could have the ref play for them which was fine but then wanted the points as well!

It is unlikely any side playing with the ref as part of their line up has ever claimed a victory in a properly set up league but it has happened now and put us out of the prospect of promotion, much to our relief. The team threatened to withdraw from the league apparently if they were not given the points despite having the ref on their side. Kev took the mature decision of not contesting the award which was fine by the rest of us. I'm not sure any of us are that driven by glory these days.

The game we played before the end of season was a good one though. We were down to six players with Matt, new Matt, Kev, Dom, Pete and myself turning out on a bitterly cold evening. Despite our numerical disadvantage we played well and there was little for the keeper to do with Dom having a very quiet second half in particular.

We were by far the more threatening team and there were several good chances went a begging. I won most things in the air and screwed a horrid shot wide when put through by new Matt. There were efforts too but a nil nil result was as good as it got.

Nevertheless a good result and a triumph for effort. Fitness has peaked and with Christmas underway, it will take another 12 months for to reach those levels again.