Sunday, May 30, 1999
Story of the Season 1998 - 1999
Season Review
The first game of the season was against South Stoke Reserves who were also a new team and were created after having enough players to justify two teams.
An 8-1 win was a great start and a fantastic win but South Stoke Reserves did have a player sent off early in the game so whilst the team did well to earn the result no one was getting too carried away as there were still plenty more games to come. Kevin Rapley made an immediate mark with four goals but Chris Price picked up the "Man of the Match" award with a great display of attacking football from right back.
The second game of the season was at home against Warwick Arms in the league. Paul Ali switched to sweeper for the game and had an outstanding game being named "Man of the Match" which saw him occupy that position for the rest of the season.
Gunners then earned a good 6-0 win against Chalfont Old Boys which saw Gunners play some of their best attacking football with a number of well worked goals. Dave Owen was named "Man of the Match" after being at the centre of most Gunners moves.
An "unfriendly" game against GWRSA followed which stemmed from a dubious penalty award in Gunners favour when Ian Thornhill was accused of making the most of a foul. The over the top GWRSA protests saw a player sent off for abusive comments. Gunners subsequently scored the penalty and then took advantage against 10 men to earn a 5-0 win. Kevin Rapley earned the "Man of the Match" award and another hat-trick made it 11 goals in 4 games.
Gunners advanced in the League Cup beating Division 1 leaders (and eventual Division 1 Winners) Chemical Academicals convincingly 5-0. Ian Thornhill was "Man of the Match" for some tireless work and good link up play.
Then came the shock result of the season with lowly 10 men Valley Park earning a 1-1 draw against Gunners. Valley Park took a 1-0 lead and nearly made it 2-0 when they were awarded a penalty but Gunners goalkeeper Julian Willis saved the penalty. Gunners equalised and despite absolutely dominating possession in the second half (Valley failed to get into Gunners half for 45 minutes), hitting the post, crossbar and having numerous chances Valley earned a magnificent draw.
Gunners bounced back with a fantastic run of form which saw them score 45 goals in their next 5 games with an 8-0 win against Elm Park Faithful with Phil Byrne earning the Man of the Match award playing in an unaccustomed left back role. A further 8-0 win against Moderation Res (Paul Clark was Man of the Match), a 13-1 win against Chequers Res which saw Kevin Rapley score 7 goals in one game and a Man of the Match award, an 8-0 win against Division 1 opponents Earley HG Res in the Cup (Kevin Rapley earned his second Man of the Match award in two weeks) and finally Gunners earned some degree of revenge with a 9-0 win against Valley Park with Ian Thornhill picking up the Man of the Match award.
After this run of form, Gunners were looking good in the league with only Southbank Res really in contention for the title. Gunners were currently occupying top spot in the league but had to maintain their good run of form.
The next game was the return against GWRSA which saw Gunners earn a tight 3-2 win (Paul Clark was Gunners "Man of the Match"). Gunners then had a free week and several players took the opportunity of watching their close competition Southbank Res vs South Stoke Res. Southbank Res earned the win against the same side South Stoke Res side Gunners played first game of the season. Gunners then faced South Stoke Res the next but week but found out the South Stoke first team did not have a game. It appeared South Stoke put out their first team against Gunners with the South Stoke Res Captain the only recognisable player from the previous week as most of the other recognisable faces were among the 11 substitutes! It appears that South Stoke may have abused the limit of first team players who could participate in a Reserve team game but Gunners earned a 2-0 win so it all became irrelevant. Tony Poacher was Gunners "Man of the Match".
Gunners won the return fixture against Warwick Arms (Jon Weller was Man of the Match) beat Division 1 opponents Good Companions in the Cup to reach the semi-finals (Tony Poacher earning the "Man of the Match" award) and then had a few weeks off (due to pitch conditions and a free week) before returning to action with a win against Elm Park Faithful (Dave Owen was "Man of the Match") and a further win against Moderation.
Gunners then faced another Division 1 side Ruscombe Res in the Cup Semi-Finals and earned a place in the final with a 5-1 win.
The great league form continued with Chalfont Old Boys ageing defence suffering another hammering against Gunners (Ian Thonrhill was Gunners "Man of the Match") and then came the big one, a fixture against league rivals Southbank Res.
Despite the importance of the game which meant Southbank had to win to have a chance of overtaking Gunners in the league, Southbank only turned up with 9 players for kick off but were soon up to full complement after 5 minutes. Gunners could not take advantage of their numerical superiority and made hard work of the game but still won 3-1. Darren Fry was the pick of Gunners earning the "Man of the Match" award.
Gunners then sealed the league title the following week with a narrow 2-1 win against Chequers Res (Nick Burrows was Gunners "Man of the Match"). This would mean that the last game against Southbank Res was never played as the result of the game was meaningless and fixtures were over running.
The final game of the season saw Gunners face Warwick Arms in the Cup Final. Gunners edged the game 1-0 in a pretty average display. There was a moment of controversy in the dying minutes when Warwick broke down Gunners right and crossed the ball from a position where the ball was over the touchline and they scored from this cross. Gunners protested the ball was over the line (it was clearly over the line) but the referee had failed to spot this. Warwick were celebrating a last minute equaliser before the referee spotted the linesmans flag up on the half way line. Apparently, the ball had been out of play further upfield and the goal was disallowed and a throw awarded to Gunners. Gunners had a lucky escape and saw out the final minutes for a 1-0 win which saw them achieve the League and Cup double! Ian Thornhill earned Gunners "Man of the Match" award.
That was not the end of the day which saw a boozy afternoon in Reading town centre starting at the Warwick Arms pub which didn’t go down too well with the Warwick Arms landlord who had a slight "altercation" with Nick Burrows!
The end of the season saw Gunners achieve a near perfect season with a record of Played 23, Won 22, Drew 1, Lost 0, Goal For 129, Goals Against 15 (including the 10-2 win against AFC Meakins who later withdrew from the league) This also meant that Gunners would earn promotion to Division 1 of the Tilehurst Trophies Friendly League.
Gunners success was helped by consistent approach and team selection with the team only relying on 15 regular players for most of the season. With an additional 4 players numbering only 10 appearances between them.
The first game of the season was against South Stoke Reserves who were also a new team and were created after having enough players to justify two teams.
An 8-1 win was a great start and a fantastic win but South Stoke Reserves did have a player sent off early in the game so whilst the team did well to earn the result no one was getting too carried away as there were still plenty more games to come. Kevin Rapley made an immediate mark with four goals but Chris Price picked up the "Man of the Match" award with a great display of attacking football from right back.
The second game of the season was at home against Warwick Arms in the league. Paul Ali switched to sweeper for the game and had an outstanding game being named "Man of the Match" which saw him occupy that position for the rest of the season.
Gunners then earned a good 6-0 win against Chalfont Old Boys which saw Gunners play some of their best attacking football with a number of well worked goals. Dave Owen was named "Man of the Match" after being at the centre of most Gunners moves.
An "unfriendly" game against GWRSA followed which stemmed from a dubious penalty award in Gunners favour when Ian Thornhill was accused of making the most of a foul. The over the top GWRSA protests saw a player sent off for abusive comments. Gunners subsequently scored the penalty and then took advantage against 10 men to earn a 5-0 win. Kevin Rapley earned the "Man of the Match" award and another hat-trick made it 11 goals in 4 games.
Gunners advanced in the League Cup beating Division 1 leaders (and eventual Division 1 Winners) Chemical Academicals convincingly 5-0. Ian Thornhill was "Man of the Match" for some tireless work and good link up play.
Then came the shock result of the season with lowly 10 men Valley Park earning a 1-1 draw against Gunners. Valley Park took a 1-0 lead and nearly made it 2-0 when they were awarded a penalty but Gunners goalkeeper Julian Willis saved the penalty. Gunners equalised and despite absolutely dominating possession in the second half (Valley failed to get into Gunners half for 45 minutes), hitting the post, crossbar and having numerous chances Valley earned a magnificent draw.
Gunners bounced back with a fantastic run of form which saw them score 45 goals in their next 5 games with an 8-0 win against Elm Park Faithful with Phil Byrne earning the Man of the Match award playing in an unaccustomed left back role. A further 8-0 win against Moderation Res (Paul Clark was Man of the Match), a 13-1 win against Chequers Res which saw Kevin Rapley score 7 goals in one game and a Man of the Match award, an 8-0 win against Division 1 opponents Earley HG Res in the Cup (Kevin Rapley earned his second Man of the Match award in two weeks) and finally Gunners earned some degree of revenge with a 9-0 win against Valley Park with Ian Thornhill picking up the Man of the Match award.
After this run of form, Gunners were looking good in the league with only Southbank Res really in contention for the title. Gunners were currently occupying top spot in the league but had to maintain their good run of form.
The next game was the return against GWRSA which saw Gunners earn a tight 3-2 win (Paul Clark was Gunners "Man of the Match"). Gunners then had a free week and several players took the opportunity of watching their close competition Southbank Res vs South Stoke Res. Southbank Res earned the win against the same side South Stoke Res side Gunners played first game of the season. Gunners then faced South Stoke Res the next but week but found out the South Stoke first team did not have a game. It appeared South Stoke put out their first team against Gunners with the South Stoke Res Captain the only recognisable player from the previous week as most of the other recognisable faces were among the 11 substitutes! It appears that South Stoke may have abused the limit of first team players who could participate in a Reserve team game but Gunners earned a 2-0 win so it all became irrelevant. Tony Poacher was Gunners "Man of the Match".
Gunners won the return fixture against Warwick Arms (Jon Weller was Man of the Match) beat Division 1 opponents Good Companions in the Cup to reach the semi-finals (Tony Poacher earning the "Man of the Match" award) and then had a few weeks off (due to pitch conditions and a free week) before returning to action with a win against Elm Park Faithful (Dave Owen was "Man of the Match") and a further win against Moderation.
Gunners then faced another Division 1 side Ruscombe Res in the Cup Semi-Finals and earned a place in the final with a 5-1 win.
The great league form continued with Chalfont Old Boys ageing defence suffering another hammering against Gunners (Ian Thonrhill was Gunners "Man of the Match") and then came the big one, a fixture against league rivals Southbank Res.
Despite the importance of the game which meant Southbank had to win to have a chance of overtaking Gunners in the league, Southbank only turned up with 9 players for kick off but were soon up to full complement after 5 minutes. Gunners could not take advantage of their numerical superiority and made hard work of the game but still won 3-1. Darren Fry was the pick of Gunners earning the "Man of the Match" award.
Gunners then sealed the league title the following week with a narrow 2-1 win against Chequers Res (Nick Burrows was Gunners "Man of the Match"). This would mean that the last game against Southbank Res was never played as the result of the game was meaningless and fixtures were over running.
The final game of the season saw Gunners face Warwick Arms in the Cup Final. Gunners edged the game 1-0 in a pretty average display. There was a moment of controversy in the dying minutes when Warwick broke down Gunners right and crossed the ball from a position where the ball was over the touchline and they scored from this cross. Gunners protested the ball was over the line (it was clearly over the line) but the referee had failed to spot this. Warwick were celebrating a last minute equaliser before the referee spotted the linesmans flag up on the half way line. Apparently, the ball had been out of play further upfield and the goal was disallowed and a throw awarded to Gunners. Gunners had a lucky escape and saw out the final minutes for a 1-0 win which saw them achieve the League and Cup double! Ian Thornhill earned Gunners "Man of the Match" award.
That was not the end of the day which saw a boozy afternoon in Reading town centre starting at the Warwick Arms pub which didn’t go down too well with the Warwick Arms landlord who had a slight "altercation" with Nick Burrows!
The end of the season saw Gunners achieve a near perfect season with a record of Played 23, Won 22, Drew 1, Lost 0, Goal For 129, Goals Against 15 (including the 10-2 win against AFC Meakins who later withdrew from the league) This also meant that Gunners would earn promotion to Division 1 of the Tilehurst Trophies Friendly League.
Gunners success was helped by consistent approach and team selection with the team only relying on 15 regular players for most of the season. With an additional 4 players numbering only 10 appearances between them.
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