Third In The League Ranking For Old Meads

Frustrating End Of Season For The Club

Old Meadonians season suffered the ultimate ‘League/Cup Double’ frustration, leaving them settling for third place in the league, after convincingly beating eventual runners up Old Minchendenians and walking all over ultimate champions Old Hamptonians without scoring in the run in and then, on Tuesday night 6th May at Dulwich Hamlet, losing on penalties in the London Old Boys’ Senior Cup Final to Old Aloysians, from the division below.

The cup final encapsulated Meads’ season as Aloysians were content for the most part to absorb pressure and to rely on counter-attack for retaliation, while Meads could not muster the fire power to capitalise on their superior possession.

Even before Aloysians opened the scoring on the hour, Meads’ patience had been tested when, with five minutes to go to the interval, they had what looked a perfectly legal goal headed by Aidan Chapman disallowed by a trigger-happy assistant. Skipper Will Gerrish equalised with fifteen minutes to go for Meads to camp lucklessly in enemy territory for the duration.

This has been a make do and mend season for Meads, in which, generally, their injury list has been instrumental in reducing the squad’s customary efficiency and the reserve team, despite having had a successful cup season, has been unpredictable and, therefore, unable to underpin them with any success. Consequently, having dropped too many points early on, they had not the depth in their squad to recover, ending up a staggering nine points adrift of Minches and eleven below Hamptonians.

In the ten seasons coaches Paul Rumley and Rory Vermeulen have been in charge, excluding a two year sabbatical, they have won a magnificent sixteen trophies and this will be the first season in which they have not brought home even a slice of the bacon. However, being nothing if not pragmatists, they will recharge their batteries with a busman’s holiday in front of the telly and come back to the fray rejuvenated.

May 14, 2014