And so it was. Garnett versus Dyslexic on a sunny spring day in April. League championship on the line. Despite Dyslexic still having a further two games to play we all knew that this was the real title decider. Garnett started the day 90 minutes away from the promised land. Could the A's battle fatigued troops muster one more performance that they had fought so long and hard for? the answer was yes. Against bigger and stronger opposition the A's withstood a physical barrage by Dyslexic who knew that nothing less than a win was required to take away Garnett's title. For the upteenth time this season the A's defensive titans stood strong against the odds. Our own warrior Jackson stood tall as the fearless Mills held down his side of the pitch. In the centre lionheart Allen contested every ball and spilled blood for the cause. They were marshalled by the defensive rock that is Smith. Together as they have done so often this season this unit protected their goal with tenacity and strength. However Dyslexic did get themselves a freekick on the edge of the box that was lashed in the bottom corner only for the ref to signal it had been indirect and disallowed the effort.

Wave after wave of Dyslexic attacks saw them win corner after corner and when the defenses were breached Harty managed repel a goal bound header from five yards out to keep the scores level.
As the half wore on Dyslexics siege mentality was fought against from the middle of the park where midfield general Pearce held firm and slowly turned the tide for the green and black army. The A's only chance of the half came when the A's magician Heslop broke free but saw his effort saved well from the opposing keeper. At half time the score was still level and the A's knew that the game was there for the taking. Up stepped The A's attacking force of Tomei, Mullan, Hill, Heslop and Thorp. This strike team began to take control of proceedings and began to part the red sea of Dyslexic. When Tomei recieved the ball his mercurial talent saw him glide past his marker and he sent the express like Hill through on goal. Hill at full speed beat the keeper to the ball to put it in the back of the net and take the A's ever closer to their destiny.

Garnett looked comfortable however when Dyslexic's sneaky sub dived to win his side a free kick on the edge of the box the reds managed to score and peg Garnett back. Despite this Garnett stood tall Thorp ran himself into the ground chasing lost causes and was given a well earned breather when he was replaced by the rapid Emmot. With the game on a knife edge however Garnett found an unlikely ally in the Dyslexic defence. A Heslop free kick was floated in Tomei rose and flicked on and somehow the Dyslexic defender managed to beat his own keeper with a lingering boot.

What came next was nothing less than an onslaught wave after wave of Dyslexic pressure. By this time Mullan had come into the centre to replace Hill who went off with cramp to be replaced by Garnett's young gun and future star Polzin. With the siege never ending you look around for certain leaders to stand tall and know they will give everything for you. In this team that is co-manager Mullan. With Dyslexic sending forward their big guns Mullan positioned himself in their path and battled his way through bigger opposition to win every thing thrown toward the box. With seconds to go one final ball was launched in. It went deep but there was Harty once more to claim what turned out to be the reds final attack. As Harty sent the ball down field the whistle went. Garnett had done it. They were now champions of the Intra Mural League.

What was achieved was special. You could see in the eyes of all the players what it meant for this team. not only is it a magnificent team but friends who were willing to go that extra step for one another even when times were hard and the pressure was on earlier in the season.

Club spirit has never been more evident when Rob Scott and Steve Cowels came along knowing they probably would not get a game but turned up any way just in case they were needed.

So there it is Garnett A are kings of university football once more and the journey ends. One that this set of players will never ever forget.

ATB

Author: Harty

Team: K.Harty, J.Mills, C.Jackson, C.Pearce, A.Smith, C.Allen, H.Tomei, M.Hill 1, D.Mullen, B.Thorp, N.Heslop,

Subs: S..Emmot, G.Poltzin, S.Cowels

NB: The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the
views of the Gosforth Garnett Bohemian Football Club as a whole.