HARDLY ATHLETIC CHAMPIONS OF RYDE

The Christmas break fell at an inconvenient time for our Ryde 6 a side teams, leaving us with just a week to play and a tense wait for the two teams vying for the title in one of the Isle of Wights premier football leagues. 

Finally, last night the wait was over and we returned to action to round off what has been an excellent season of competitive football. 

The wet weather may continue to plague grassroots football but having the luxury of playing on top class 3G pitches each week, we are fortunate that only the most severe conditions causes a problem. For most, this weeks the biggest challenge was getting to the venue with mass flooding on the roads causing panic for some, but thankfully everyone arrived safely and we pressed on with wrapping up our season. 

The mouth watering prospect of a title decider awaited our teams as Crown FC and Hardly Athletic faced off in a winner takes all encounter that was perfectly set up by both teams brilliant seasons to this point. Hardly Athletic had won all their games while Crown only slipped up once against Khedira Pin Drop. Goal difference was level so any sort of win for Crown would have seen them as champions while Hardly knew that a draw would do them nicely in their bid to win back to back titles. 

The match did not disappoint. Both sides brought strong squads and gave everything for the cause, it was tense throughout and Passa had his work cut out managing the passion fuelled players that were determined to make sure their side ended on top. Two goals from George Johnson and one from Eddie Johnson for Hardly Athletic proved to be just enough with Val Issac on target for Crown as the game ended 3 - 2 to Hardly who celebrated at the final whistle which confirmed their Premier League title. Well done to all their players on a fantastic campaign. Kyle Follows picks up the Golden Boot for his 34 goals out of his teams 49 in the season. 

Fair play to Crown who had a great go and finish runners up, level on points with Roverners who enjoyed a brilliant season themselves, rounded off with a solid 5 - 3 win over Khedira Pin Drop. Rob Jackson was among the scorers for Roverners and he picked the the Man of the Match award which means he shares the season MVP with Kyle Follows. Well played Rob on another great season for you and for Roverners.

Our newest side, Cereal Wimmers, who came into the league 4 games ago finish 4th, a great effort from them having joined the league in 9th place. 4 goals a piece from Jack Dyer and Luke Glynn helping to put Vectis Rovers to the sword in a one sides affair. Elliot Apter added 3 for the young side who will be looking to build on their early success next season. 

Puyol Pants Down secured 5th place with an 11 - 6 win over Chamakh My Pitch Up, Charlie Clarke bagged a hattrick for Chamakh in an entertaining game to finish the season while there was an 8 - 2 win for Manchester Obe City against The Mighty View. Aaron Doncaster was in great form for Obe City, carrying his team to a good win and putting his side in a positive place to go again next season. 

So our brilliant season concludes and we look to the new one which kicks off next Thursday night. We have 2 places up for grabs if any new teams are looking to get involved. One in the Prem and One in Division One as we revert back to a 2 divisional set up. Our top 5 teams go into the Premier League and we are looking for a strong team to join them, if you have a squad ready to go just get in touch with Rob on 07538562547 for info, or simply register online and we will be in touch. Similarly there is a space in Division One, suitable for a more casual side or a new team looking to get started, again, contact Rob for a chat or just register online and we will get you involved.

Huge thanks to everyone involved in this league, to Pete for supervising and to Passa, Nick and Steve for reffing our games. Good luck to everyone for the new season, hopefully it's even more exciting than this one has been.