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We have just finished a season which has to be the most successful one since the club was founded in 1988 by Jonathan Hill and John Litster two ex-Nottingham and ex-Loughborough students working in London. We were only denied a clean sweep of the SAL League titles by an outstanding Old Actonians 2’s team. We left it late in two of the divisions but the best time to be first is at the finish. The thing that struck me about the statistics was that all four of our defences conceded less than 20 goals in their 20 league games and a good defence always gives you a chance. We also had an outstanding season in the Cups with all of our teams making Quarter Final or better. We only converted two out of the 5 finals we made, but it is an achievement in itself to make a final as most footballers do not get that chance in a season. I want to spend some time looking at each individual team.
In February our first team were next to bottom of the SAL Senior and it looked like Cup success, rather than defending our SAL title, was the only hope. We played pretty well at Bank of England against Old Salesians in the Surrey/Kent Cup Final and the defeat was a little unfair we felt. The Cup was secured by a terrific goal and having played pretty well it did not hurt that much. The AFA Senior Final hurt a lot as we “did not turn up” against Winchmore Hill and the much better side on the day won. With 8 games left to play in 4 weeks, and four of them in midweek, it was a big “ask” for our players to retain their league title. However, as things turned out, it shows that one should never just give something up. Those eight games formed part of a run that delivered 28 points from 12 games and prompted the SAL website to state that we had “stolen” the league title from Winchmore Hill and Old Salesians. In actual fact we are the holders and it needed to be taken from us ! One of the first people to congratulate us was James Ayres of Old Salesians which just goes to show what a nice lad he is, as well as a superb player. Also early in his congratulation was Alan Cotton from our old rivals West Wickham. Other comments on other websites just made me smile. We had so many injuries and players unavailable for those midweek games that it was amazing that we took seven points from those four midweek games. Of the players, Nathan Violet finished top of the appearances chart and top of the goalscorers. Quite an achievement for our scheming midfielder ! Right up there on the appearances chart were Dan Ashley, Matt Kerr, Arren Sutcliffe, David Howson, and Rich Parker. The team was built around a solid defence (15 clean sheets in 30 games) and it was really only in the last couple of months that we found our scoring boots with Alex Ewin suffering a string of silly injuries leaving him with only the hat-trick in the AFA semi final to remember. In the final month we brought three players up from our successful 3’s and Ben Carder, Steve McMillan and the clubs leading scorer Chris Apaloo all did really well. This season, more than any other, was a team effort and skipper Matt Kerr did a wonderful job to keep things together and keep the players focussed in those last 8 games. With three SAL titles in four years and three successive AFA Finals we have had a wonderful run. Long may it continue!
Our 2’s only lost 3 games all season and it is quite amazing that they only won the Surrey/Kent Intermediate Cup. In another season they might easily have completed a treble with a record of 3 defeats in 30 games. Skipper Pete Morris is standing down as captain and I would like to congratulate him on a quite superb job over the last few seasons. The secret of Peter’s success has been his ability to make the players buy-in to the team ethic and make as many training sessions as possible. The outcome has been that Peter has been able to supply the 1’s with a whole string of players over the last few seasons including Ben Hughes, Nick Green, Ted Datta, Simon Webb, Gary Cullinan etc whilst still putting out competitive teams each Saturday. The core of the team has always been there based on Andy Lea, ex-AFA Rep player Mark Grove, Tom White, Johnny Briggs (some people’s choice as player of the year), Andreas Atkins (ex SAL Rep team) and leading scorer George Bowman (15 goals). Nimmo was the leader on appearances this season followed by the skipper and Grovey. There were some promising new faces in 2’s shirts this season with Eamonn Collins, Mark Shadbolt, Owen Prosser, Andy Richardson and Dan McEwan (13 goals) catching the eye. As there are several players in our 3’s looking to make a step up I think we potentially can look for more success from our 2’s even if Pete Morris is standing down and we wish him well for his wedding.
Si Owen had a quite amazing first season as Captain of the 3’s although he was aided by the ever-willing Matt Beckett. Will he be the biggest “one-hit wonder” in Nottsborough’s history ? The 3’s broke the club record of successive victories on the way to what might easily have been the first treble in our history. We were only denied by Old Stationers in the AFA Junior Final. We made up for this in part by winning the SAL Junior Cup and then in full by taking the SAL Junior title. I watched several 3’s games during the season and I was struck by the quality of the games. Winchmore Hill, Civil Service and Nat West bank were all good sides and our 3’s really did play some good stuff during the season. We had three good keepers over the season in Steve Bails (who broke his arm), Tom White, and the new keeper George Pearse. The defence built around Si Owen and Dean Mitic (destined for higher teams) was superb with the Corcoran brothers, Tom Rocher and Paddy Collins all playing their part. In midfield there was pace on the wings in Carder, Beckett and Croft whilst Jono Santry, Steve McMillan, Ben Murphy and Loughborough legend Ross Emery all fought for the role of playmaker. Up front Chris Apaloo led the way with 23 goals ably assisted by Leon Roberts. A magnificent season then and we shall see what they can do next season. The team will be broken up a little as several players have to move up, but the core of the team will be there and there is now room for others to come in and show what they can do.
In the 4’s I was delighted to see that our long-time club servant Dustin Seale delivered the Minor League trophy for the first time. We left it until the last game of the season to wrap up the title. Old Actonians, once again, refused to lie down and accept defeat. After the disappointment of the AFA and SAL Cup exits, when we really looked destined for the finals, it was a relief, and pleasure, to watch us score 9 on the last day of the season. There are some very good players in our 4’s but, as is the way at this level, they do not play regularly enough. This team, arguably the best 4’s side in our history, was built on the back of two years of Andy Cattel bringing the side together. Adam Hamadache was the player of the season – everyone in the side backed this assessment. He moved to centre back and was ever present and he greatly improved the defence. Other good additions were Nick Haigh up front, Ross Negus on the right and Tom Head in the middle of the pitch. Otherwise it was the old stalwarts of Widget (leading scorer), Marshall, Holte, Giggsy, Jo Phadnis, Cattell, Donovan, Pies, Lacey, Veerman (returned from afar), Darvill (also returned), McFarland, McCoy and Seale who helped deliver the title. Whether Dustin can keep playing is a matter for debate. The core of the team is there for next season and we just need a few new faces to make sure we are in the mix again.
Across the club we really enjoyed our season. The pitches were superb and the training facilities better than semi-pro. With a new impressive clubhouse almost finished, Tolworth is going to look very good next season. Will we have the teams and captains to deliver again ? Well we are out there looking for players again and I for one cannot wait.
Brian
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