Tuesday, May 30, 2000
Season Summary 1999/2000
Story of the Season
After the fantastic success of the first season, Gunners were promoted to Division 1 of the Tilehurst Trophies Friendly League and aimed to continue their way towards the Reading Sunday League.
The core of the Gunners team remained although there was one notable departure of Chris Price. However, regular goalkeeper Julian Willis was also a long term injury casualty and would not feature until the second half of the season and he was replaced in goal by Jon Allen.
Gunners started the season with a 6-2 win against Henley YMCA and then hammered Hays Theale away 14-2 (Gunners best ever win) with Dave Owen "Man of the Match" and weighing in with 3 goals.
Gunners then played their first every Berks and Bucks Cup match and won an epic encounter 6-5 on penalties after drawing 3-3 in 90 minutes and 4-4 after 120 minutes. Fraser McNaughton made a notable appearance for making a brilliant penalty save, getting booked during the penalty shoot out and then scoring the winning penalty.
Despite an average performance Gunners overcame Woodley Roofing 3-1 with Nick Burrows the pick of the players and then Gunners beat Cable & Wireless comfortably within an 8-1 win.
Gunners second Berks & Bucks Cup game saw them run out 5-2 winners over Ascot Utd and then Gunners earned a 5-2 win in the league against Good Companions. At this stage, the season was going well for Gunners.
Gunners then suffered their first ever defeat after 30 games when they were soundly beaten by a strong Ruscombe side in the Cup Qualifier. This meant that Gunners would be placed in the Eddie Titchener Cup.
A week later and Gunners overcame fellow league challengers CS Taxes with a 3-5 win.
Gunners were then knocked out of the Berks & Bucks Cup by Boyne Hill. Despite a solid start to the game, Gunners conceded two goals before half time and top scorer Kevin Rapley was also injured in the first half. Later in the game Gunners found themselves 4-1 down before pulling 2 goals back. Gunners controversially had an equaliser disallowed and narrowly lost the game.
Gunners then suffered their first league defeat when CS Taxes reversed the scoreline from earlier in the season winning 5-3.
Gunners had hit a poor run of form and could only manage a 2-2 draw against Good Companions. This game saw the return of Julian Willis from injury.
Gunners then competed against Div 2 outfit Purley Park in the league cup and trounced them 8-0.
Despite being well positioned in the league and still in the league cup competition Gunners team selections became a little less consistent with the core players not always being available.
However, additional players were signed on during the season and Gunners had sufficient numbers in the squad. It was also apparent that Gunners were conceding more goals than in the previous season but the teams ability to outscore their opponents allowed them to win many games.
Gunners returned to league action with a 6-2 win in the return fixture against Cable & Wireless . Gunners then narrowly beat Fourth Shift Res 4-3 in the league.
Gunners then earned some degree of revenge over Ruscombe Res with a 2-0 win before hammering Hays Theale 9-0 and beating Fourth Shift Res 5-0 in the league. This meant Gunners were still in contention for the League with Wariwck Arms and CS Taxes the main competitors.
Next up was the crunch game of the season and Gunners were not able to put out their strongest side and lost a remarkable game 7-5 to title competitors Warwick Arms which gave them the edge in the battle for the league title.
It was around this time that Manager John Lamb had decided to step down as Manager at the end of the season and Paul Ali found himself taking over team matters more regularly.
Gunners managed a narrow 4-3 against Cavendish in the league then beat Elm Park 4-1 to earn a spot in the Eddie Titchener Cup Final and then managed another narrow win against Cavendish in the league with a 2-1 win.
The battle for the league title was coming right down to the wire and a 3-0 against Woodley and a tight 1-0 win against Henley YMCA maintained the pressure on Warwick Arms.
Gunners then had the distraction of a Cup Final against Saints which Gunners narrowly lost 1-0. Unfortunately Gunners could not field their strongest side as many of the players who had recently joined the team were not eligible to play and Gunners could not even manage 3 substitutes and were carrying one or two injuries in the squad. This was Gunners first ever game where they had failed to score a goal.
Finally came the return fixture against Warwick Arms and a must win game for Gunners. Gunners were hampered by a no show from Kevin Rapley who had become increasingly distant over the past few weeks. Kevin would not feature for Gunners again.
This led to an unusual announcement of a starting lineup of 4-4-2 with Ian and "To be advised" up front. Then, when it was apparent Kevin was not going to make the game, Gunners hastily reverted to a 4-5-1 formation. Unfortunately the team went 2-0 down, pulled it back to 2-1 but let in a soft third goal and could not recover. The final result was a 3-2 to Warwick Arms which put the chance of winning the title out of Gunners hands.
In Gunners final game of the season, the team needed a win and Warwick Arms to drop points to enable Gunners to win the league. Unfortunately, Gunners failed to put out a strong side with players away or injured with neither of Gunners regular forwards (Ian Thornhill and Kevin Rapley) participating.
Gunners put in an awful half hearted display and were soundly beaten by Fourth Shift Res. Warwick won that week and with a game to go (which was never played) won the league title.
It was a disappointing end to the season with Gunners having a chance of another league and cup double but the team fell at the final hurdle and ended up Runners-Up in both.
The final record for the season was Played 28, Won 23, Drew 1, Lost 6, Goals For 115 and Goals Conceded 46.
Slightly stronger opposition this season along with less consistent line ups (Gunners utilised 21 players on a regular basis compared to 15 the previous year) and a much poorer defensive record contributed (13 goals conceded in 1998/99 to 46 in 1999/2000) towards the less effective results. Overall though Gunners had still finished highly in the league and cup.
After the fantastic success of the first season, Gunners were promoted to Division 1 of the Tilehurst Trophies Friendly League and aimed to continue their way towards the Reading Sunday League.
The core of the Gunners team remained although there was one notable departure of Chris Price. However, regular goalkeeper Julian Willis was also a long term injury casualty and would not feature until the second half of the season and he was replaced in goal by Jon Allen.
Gunners started the season with a 6-2 win against Henley YMCA and then hammered Hays Theale away 14-2 (Gunners best ever win) with Dave Owen "Man of the Match" and weighing in with 3 goals.
Gunners then played their first every Berks and Bucks Cup match and won an epic encounter 6-5 on penalties after drawing 3-3 in 90 minutes and 4-4 after 120 minutes. Fraser McNaughton made a notable appearance for making a brilliant penalty save, getting booked during the penalty shoot out and then scoring the winning penalty.
Despite an average performance Gunners overcame Woodley Roofing 3-1 with Nick Burrows the pick of the players and then Gunners beat Cable & Wireless comfortably within an 8-1 win.
Gunners second Berks & Bucks Cup game saw them run out 5-2 winners over Ascot Utd and then Gunners earned a 5-2 win in the league against Good Companions. At this stage, the season was going well for Gunners.
Gunners then suffered their first ever defeat after 30 games when they were soundly beaten by a strong Ruscombe side in the Cup Qualifier. This meant that Gunners would be placed in the Eddie Titchener Cup.
A week later and Gunners overcame fellow league challengers CS Taxes with a 3-5 win.
Gunners were then knocked out of the Berks & Bucks Cup by Boyne Hill. Despite a solid start to the game, Gunners conceded two goals before half time and top scorer Kevin Rapley was also injured in the first half. Later in the game Gunners found themselves 4-1 down before pulling 2 goals back. Gunners controversially had an equaliser disallowed and narrowly lost the game.
Gunners then suffered their first league defeat when CS Taxes reversed the scoreline from earlier in the season winning 5-3.
Gunners had hit a poor run of form and could only manage a 2-2 draw against Good Companions. This game saw the return of Julian Willis from injury.
Gunners then competed against Div 2 outfit Purley Park in the league cup and trounced them 8-0.
Despite being well positioned in the league and still in the league cup competition Gunners team selections became a little less consistent with the core players not always being available.
However, additional players were signed on during the season and Gunners had sufficient numbers in the squad. It was also apparent that Gunners were conceding more goals than in the previous season but the teams ability to outscore their opponents allowed them to win many games.
Gunners returned to league action with a 6-2 win in the return fixture against Cable & Wireless . Gunners then narrowly beat Fourth Shift Res 4-3 in the league.
Gunners then earned some degree of revenge over Ruscombe Res with a 2-0 win before hammering Hays Theale 9-0 and beating Fourth Shift Res 5-0 in the league. This meant Gunners were still in contention for the League with Wariwck Arms and CS Taxes the main competitors.
Next up was the crunch game of the season and Gunners were not able to put out their strongest side and lost a remarkable game 7-5 to title competitors Warwick Arms which gave them the edge in the battle for the league title.
It was around this time that Manager John Lamb had decided to step down as Manager at the end of the season and Paul Ali found himself taking over team matters more regularly.
Gunners managed a narrow 4-3 against Cavendish in the league then beat Elm Park 4-1 to earn a spot in the Eddie Titchener Cup Final and then managed another narrow win against Cavendish in the league with a 2-1 win.
The battle for the league title was coming right down to the wire and a 3-0 against Woodley and a tight 1-0 win against Henley YMCA maintained the pressure on Warwick Arms.
Gunners then had the distraction of a Cup Final against Saints which Gunners narrowly lost 1-0. Unfortunately Gunners could not field their strongest side as many of the players who had recently joined the team were not eligible to play and Gunners could not even manage 3 substitutes and were carrying one or two injuries in the squad. This was Gunners first ever game where they had failed to score a goal.
Finally came the return fixture against Warwick Arms and a must win game for Gunners. Gunners were hampered by a no show from Kevin Rapley who had become increasingly distant over the past few weeks. Kevin would not feature for Gunners again.
This led to an unusual announcement of a starting lineup of 4-4-2 with Ian and "To be advised" up front. Then, when it was apparent Kevin was not going to make the game, Gunners hastily reverted to a 4-5-1 formation. Unfortunately the team went 2-0 down, pulled it back to 2-1 but let in a soft third goal and could not recover. The final result was a 3-2 to Warwick Arms which put the chance of winning the title out of Gunners hands.
In Gunners final game of the season, the team needed a win and Warwick Arms to drop points to enable Gunners to win the league. Unfortunately, Gunners failed to put out a strong side with players away or injured with neither of Gunners regular forwards (Ian Thornhill and Kevin Rapley) participating.
Gunners put in an awful half hearted display and were soundly beaten by Fourth Shift Res. Warwick won that week and with a game to go (which was never played) won the league title.
It was a disappointing end to the season with Gunners having a chance of another league and cup double but the team fell at the final hurdle and ended up Runners-Up in both.
The final record for the season was Played 28, Won 23, Drew 1, Lost 6, Goals For 115 and Goals Conceded 46.
Slightly stronger opposition this season along with less consistent line ups (Gunners utilised 21 players on a regular basis compared to 15 the previous year) and a much poorer defensive record contributed (13 goals conceded in 1998/99 to 46 in 1999/2000) towards the less effective results. Overall though Gunners had still finished highly in the league and cup.
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