One Hundred, And One

The season finale ! We are guaranteed an excellent league finish no matter what - third place is a certainty. If Sundon lose and we win, then 2nd is our reward. Under a freak scenario we can even win the league.

Back to the job in hand, however. Houghton Athletic, away. The early sunshine has given over to overcast conditions, and a not-so-distant rumble of thunder is a reminder of the rain forecast.

Thanks to Derek for the material for the previous 2 blogs. He was so pleased not to have to take notes today, that he instantly volunteered to run the line when Sandra asked. He did run away to the car when kick-off beckoned though ....

Brickhill enjoyed good early possession and Fred forced an early fingertip save from the home goalkeeper and nearly got on the end of a speculative effort from Josh.

However, after 8minutes, it was Houghton who opened the scoring against the run of play, and they could have added a second shortly afterwards.

Sandra brought Elijah into the attack. He doubtless wanted to score Brickhill's 100th league goal of this season, but it was in fact Greg who took the honour of The Chiltern Hundred - meeting Josh's through ball and guiding it across the line.

Greg nearly gave Brickhill the lead but was denied by an outstretched foot. The resulting corner led to a real goalmouth melee. However, the last touch was from Sam Hall whose headed effort sailed into the net - our 101st goal and Sam's first of the season, finally !

We would have hoped to control the game now, but in fact Houghton equalised right on half time.

The story of the second half was mainly rain. The boys continued to put in maximum effort and created some long-range chances. However, nothing went our way and with less than 10minutes to go, Houghton scored in a 1-on-1 with our keeper.

Dominic then made a great save to hold the deficit at one goal. We continued to apply as much pressure as we could, but the last goal of the game came from the home side.

A disappointing end to the season - both in terms of the result, and the weather ! However, there is no denying the fact that - with 3rd in the league and a semi-final in the cup - it has been an excellent debut at 11 aside.

Thanks are due to Sandra and Darren of course, and to Reuben for his regular contributions in training and on the line. And thanks to all the parents for their support and help.

HOUGHTON ATHLETIC 4 - 2 BRICKHILL WANDERERS
Greg (19min), Sam H (23min)