And I'm tempted to stop there. What more can be said? We have won our league. It is the first time we have been promoted in 9 years and the first time we have won a league for 16 years, and those are facts! I've been part of running this team for three years now and am truly proud and privileged to see this day come. I can remember all of those dark days and those bad losses, all of the times when we questioned why we were doing this to ourselves week in, week out. I can recall the pain of relegation and the humiliation of losing to inferior teams. Now those trials stand quiet in a corner, their time is through. For now we have achieved and now we are on the up and coming back, now we can say we have achieved EXACTLY what we set out to achieve.
I may as well take you through it then. The stage was set for a procession style victory on Saturday, 1st vs 11th should be a no contest right? Well, we were all nervous beforehand, you could feel it in the air, the elephant in the room we all kept telling each other to ignore. Complacency was our biggest threat that day. In a weirdly ironic way our opposition helped us by fielding one of their strongest sides of the season, their challenge was enough to get us going and we got into our stride and waltzed into half time 4-0 up, happy days. I think even the most cautious of people (and coach was trying his very best to be cautious) would say that the tie was over by then. The second half stood in stark contrast to the first, it was frustrating and we never really got going (I personally played very poorly), so it was then that as the final whistle sounded at 5-1 there was almost an air of anti-climax... almost. Soon the champagne started flowing and the smiles were out in full force, there was a party atmosphere in the changing room which even the old Jamaican man who had been to the gym and had the misfortune to change when we did wouldn't begrudge us. Further celebrations proceeded and I'm fairly confident I can say a fun time was had by all (from what I recall), I know it was had by me, even if I did fall short of my Christmas party level of drunkenness!
Chief among proud facts for me is the fact that we have led the table from day one... to day finish. For the observer it was a Vettel grand prix win, as dull as anything, for us, we don't care. I'm also proud to be able to say all of this about our dominance with 3 games to go, the gap at the top of our table is bettered by no other team in our entire league structure, and we still have the opportunity to improve it! And improve it we shall aim to do. The fact is that we now have a range of goals (or side quests for those of you who enjoy a bit of skyrim) left to achieve. I'll now list some: Finishing with a 100% home record, scoring the most goals in the division, conceding the least, having the divisions top scorer in our side, and finishing on an 8 game winning streak having dropped 4 points all season. All lovely aims, all achievable I believe.
So even though the party is over the band are still playing, and this weekend they're working overtime as we've got a double header on Saturday and Sunday, the pressure is off and now we can enjoy it, but then again what am I saying? I've loved every minute of it anyway...
More next time on the bright future for us but for now let me leave you with a picture of the 2011/2012 Division 5S Champions...
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