As I See It- Duncan Garrett, First team
I’ve been playing for Cavaliers for many seasons and I must admit at the start of the year I wondered whether we would be able to hold our own in the Premier Division after our promotion. Any doubts of this soon vanished after our opening draw against Aldington and our victories against Kennington and Dynamo. The season has had many ups and downs, but there has to be a sense of pride at the performances overall. To finish 3rd in the league and reach two cup finals has to be seen as a good first season back in the top division, but still leaves room for improvement next year. Only 2 teams really had the edge on us this year, unfortunately they happened to be the two opponents we met in the finals. However, even then it has to be noted we did manage victories against both these sides during the course of the season.
In terms of our performances I think our best games were our two league victories against Kennington and our hard fought draws against Market Hotel. The Premier Cup Semi-Fianl game against Brewmasters was another highlight, which as with many of our victories was a real team effort.
The low points are obviously the results in the two finals, although the Bethersden final was most frustrating as we really didn’t turn up at all. Whether it was down to pre-match nerves or failure to perform in vital areas it has to be put down as a very bad day at the office. Our league run-in also had some poor results, which can be partially explained by injuries, missing key players including Nick, Tommo, Fred, Stu and Cheesy among others for games certainly didn’t help. Having some of those players available for the Lydd encounter would have probably meant we could have had our third runners-up medals. (Not that it is really what we were after with about 6 games of the season left to go!)
In a season with so many good team performances, it is hard to select individuals for praise, however the work-rate of Jake up front and the reliability of Tim in defence have to be mentioned. Having Tommo in goal gives the whole defence confidence and I must say personally I am very pleased Tommo and Kev F keep putting in good performances, as without them I would be seen as the veteran of the squad! I feel Paul had a great season and his performances in the run-in really stood out. However if we have to single out anyone for effort and commitment to the club I think we would find it difficult to look beyond the manager. Personally I hope Steve will decide to keep going for another season, although I realise that if he does decide to let someone else take over it will be for the right reasons.
I think the two funniest moments of the season have to be the total lack of enthusiasm for the Lydd match. Players were practically praying that the opposition wouldn’t turn up so that everyone could go home. The second moment was watching the steady flow of footballs sail over the Homelands stand into the car park during our so called pre-match warm-up. When will we learn that it only gives the opposition confidence to see our shooting before the game starts!
I have thoroughly enjoyed this season and am looking forward to yet another season with the Cavaliers. I hope we will keep the core of the squad together and maybe with one or two additions next year we could be challenging for more silverware again.
As I See It- Matthew Robbins, Reserves
Having now completed my first season in the reserve squad, I felt it was a
good chance to reflect when presented with the opportunity to give a summary
of this season. It's fair to say we've seen it all this season - change in
management, development of facilities, hard fought wins (and losses!!),
player skirmishes, and even the echo of Wilko's powerslam still
reverberating in the ears of the rest of the squad.
The downs??? I still feel the team all too often get dragged into the
pettiness of slagging matches with opposing players and fans, and all too
often within our own team during the match. I feel we can make a more
conserved effort to encourage each other, rather than point the finger. It
is also worth mentioning here that i have noticed it is always the same
players who undertake all the basic housekeeping tasks, cleaning of changing
rooms (cheers Wilko), putting up and taking down of nets etc. It has also
now become clear who the same 6 or 7 faces are that end up down The Star. It
was great to see however, all the lads together for a few cheeky ones down
the Swan Centre. All of this adds to and has an effect on team morale to a
degree.
Personally for me the most frustrating part of the season doesn't concern
anything that happened on the pitch, but only the added hassle and worry in
Matalan car park about whether we were actually going to scrape together 11
players to field against our opponents. I fail to recall the number of
different combinations of back line I have found myself playing in.
With this said, the resulting teams on certain weeks that we have ended up
with have also provided me with some of the 'ups' of the season. Although
many people only remember the game as just another defeat, I feel the
spirited performance in the bog of Shadoxhurst proved that, when our backs
are against the wall, and when we are scraping the barrel and have players
playing out of position, we can still put in a performance which we should
walk away proud of. Some of the players that day really did begin to show
some true grit and showed they had great characters. I still remember the
ref commenting after the whistle that it was a pleasure to ref that much,
which we all know shouldn't have kicked off in the first place.
The strong end to the season, with great results against both Charing and
Prince Albert, culminating in a hard fought victory against Park Farm on the
final day of the season, goes to show that we can put in consistent
performances, and play at our best when the ball is on the ground and
passing it around. Also I have been impressed with strong end of season
performances by my fellow defenders Tim and Perry, showing good leadership
qualities when called upon. Also important to mention is the form of Cloke
between the sticks, and great displays by both Cookie and the boys up front,
when they havn't been away nursing knocks and other injuries (lets hope for
an injury free season for both Cookie and Stu Reakes next time around). Also
steely displays by Chris and Paul in the middle, and great effort by the
boys out wide, all too often doing much of the running without seeing much
of the ball. I'd also like to leave the final credit for Matt Gomez for his
effort both on and off the pitch, having to put up with a lot of hassle that
most of us do not appreciate when trying to run a sunday league club.
To finish, with rumours of a possible managerial change to the reserve squad
(Thanks Mr. Shinawatra), I feel the most important thing is to give
ourselves as much time as possible to prepare for next season, by giving the
new manger as much time to see the best (and worst) of each player, at pre
season training. Understandably, faces will come and go before the beginning
of the new season, and some players will look to try and break into the
first team but, without doubt, the main focus at close of season would be to
keep the squad together as best as possible, and to clarify exactly who
those people are who are leaving the club to play for new teams.
I believe that, with the addition of just one or two new committed players,
the reserve squad has everything it needs to challenge for the league next
season and also put together a decent cup run. Goodbye and good luck to
those players who do move on, and I look forward to playing against you
sometime in the near future, hopefully in a higher division. Roll on next
season.......
