Allstars champions of the Premier MA League

Match report - Sun 16th March - vs Jubilee

The only yardstick for success our society has is being a champion. No one remembers anything else.” John Madden.

Every Gower Allstar playing on Sunday was desperate for this title, the title dominated by Red Star for 5 years in a row...

The really hard work had been done in weeks gone by.

It was time for the crowning glory…..

And beating Jubilee would seal The Premiership title.

Unfortunately, weather conditions were against us. It was one of the wettest pitches you could ever dream of playing on at the UCS fields, with big puddles apparent in the middle of the pitch and in the goal mouths – and right from the first kick off when the ball got stuck on the centre spot, it became clear sweet passing across the middle of the park, was not an option for the 90 mins that lay ahead.

But desire, commitment and skill certainly were.

Jubilee arrived and played with only 10-men, and that worked against them, when they were caught out in the first 5 minutes, with some twinkle-toe footwork from Kelly on the right wing beating 3 men, and a resulting cross found an unmarked Medley in the middle of the box, who simply tapped home to give the Gowers a 1-0 lead.

The perfect start for the Allstars.

However credit to Jubilee, their heads did not drop for one second. They were seriously up for this game. Big tackles, lots of fight and a lot of mouth were all more than present from the opposition.

The highlight of the first half however was Hurly on the left wing, causing Jubilee’s right back all sorts of problems and creating numerous opportunities for the Gowers, but the Jubilee defence held a particularly high line, and repeatedly caught the Gower attackers offside.

Slowly but surely Jubilee came back into the game, and on 25 mins, a pot shot from 30 yards caught Paley off-guard and it creeped undeservingly in to the roof of the net

1-1.

And it remained that scoreline until half time.

The plan of action for the second half was to keep the ball, pass it round the 10-man opposition and opportunities would come – especially in these conditions.

And the half started well for Gower with some good movement and channel play between the defence, midfield and attack – and the Allstars began to carve open the Jubilee defence.

But Jubilee held firm, with last ditch tackles, and good saves from their keeper, together with missed opportunities by the Gower strikers.

65 mins gone, Capone gets injured in a collision and has to leave the field of play.

Short of time to score the winner, the Gower anxiety was apparent for all to see.

Jubilee could sense it, even the Ref could sense it.

And Jubilee stepped up the tempo as well as the physicality of the game. Two punches to the neck against Street and Kelly, remarkably only resulted in yellow cards, and the momentum began to swing in Jubilees favour.

They then tested what they thought was a “dodgy” Gower keeper from distance on 2 or 3 occasions, but Paley’s nerve and experience held firm and he comfortably gathered everything that was thrown at him – which also gave his team mates a foundation to build on.

But with 80 mins gone, where was this all important winner going to come from?

Hurly continued to embarrass his marker by skinning him each time, but the luck was not falling for the wannabe Champions…

That was until a move down the right, found Medley.

He picked the ball up on the far right, took it on 10 yards further, but by doing so, cut his angle down even tighter.

With a couple of players in the box, ready to receive the cross, Medley did what he does best, and took aim, drew back his powerful right boot, and belted a perfect strike toward goal.

An arrow of a shot was simply too hard and too fast for the Jubilee keeper to save, and the ball burst into the roof of the net, to give the Allstars the most precious and important of goals.

2-1 Gower 10 mins to play.

Aside from a classic Mitchell dribble out of his own box giving his team mates a heart-attack, and a fine Paley claim on the edge of his box, there were no more scares to be had – and the day ended up being a Gower Allstar day.


When the final whistle blew, you could see the smiles, you could hear the sighs of relief, the cheers of celebration, and the sheer elation of every single player….

This performance was not one of the Allstars greatest, but it didn’t matter. The result was what counted.

MOTM = Medley, for scoring two massive goals, when it mattered most. He has scored some goals in his time, but has he ever scored such a magnificent strike in such an important game??

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”

As a team, this squad of players, all season long, have ground out results when it mattered and won both with skill and style as well as grit and determination.

Epic battles against Red Star, classic skills against Virgin and Outback, and last minute winners against Music Choice and Jubilee.

We have had it all. A squad from old to young……..old campaigners to the new breed.

Our defensive unit has been superb, immensely difficult to beat.
Our centre mids have been giants. Driving the team forward.
Our wingers a class above the rest.
And our strikers simply lethal.

“Most look up and admire the stars. A champion climbs a mountain and grabs one.”

And have you done that!

Allstars, look what you achieved in the past 2 years.

Div 1 League winners,
Divisional Cup winners,
MA Cup finalists,
and now Premier League CHAMPIONS in your first season in the top flight – incredible.

Your achievements have been nothing short of magnificent, and I write this as one immensely proud manager, and team-mate.

This is what its all about.
Gowers you are legends. Remember that. Treasure that.

Awards, Player analyses, trophy/medal dates, end of season piss-ups etc all to follow…..

Get in there!