The final day of the 2010/11 campaign was here, and it came in the shape of the Alf Carter Cup final.
And after their Bill Johnson Supplementary Cup victory over AFC Santander one week ago, FC MMIX knew that they were just 90 minutes away from a much coveted cup double – potentially the first in the history of the Milton Keynes Sunday League.
The opposition; a physical, well organised and plucky Stantonbury Social side who had knocked out Willen and FC Lifesearch to get to this stage – so a real, real test indeed.
MMIX made 3 changes to the side that had started one week ago with Greg Austin, Daniel Reeb and Des Clark all dropping to the bench. Luke Carey came in to start at left-wing back with Rob Whittaker and Michael Lacey joining stalwart Callum Moon in the centre of midfield, so captain Joe Meddings reverted to the right wing-back slot.
Elsewhere the side was unchanged with Michael Morton, Ian Gray, Karl Jones, Scotty Page, Rich Burnikell and Darryl ‘Darcy’ Wilson all also keeping their places.
And we’re off…
Stantonbury started brightly, knocking the ball about in the centre of the park, but the MMIX defence soaked up the early pressure with Ian pulling out a superb challenge on the right touchline and Karl winning a series of headers just in front of the penalty area.
Scotty picked up a knock early on and was visibly struggling and with Stantonbury aware of that fact, sought to get at him as much as possible but the big defender held firm despite a couple of late challenges being thrown in on him, with Mikey and Callum just in front of him also getting stuck in to the challenge.
At the other end, chances were few and far between but a surging run down the left almost brought reward for Carey before Rich saw a free-kick blocked and Darcy fired high and wide after a good move down the centre of the park.
Stantonbury’s Greg Tite fired wide after he broke the offside trap, with the ‘away’ side shading the game in terms of possession and territorial advantage but without creating too many clear cut chances in the opening half.
Half-time, 0-0.
MMIX were forced into a change at half-time, with Scotty unable to continue, so Danny came on and took his place in the back 3. Stantonbury were continuing to dominate the game with MMIX finding very little joy going forward, although Rich did come close and Darcy was beginning to really pressure the Social defence with his approach.
Mikey was withdrawn on the hour mark as his calf began to cramp up and was replaced by Des, and shortly after Carey was replaced by Greg, but it couldn’t do anything to really stem the Stantonbury attacks and on 70 minutes, the ‘away’ side took the lead when a ball into the box found Richard Greenwood unmarked and he prodded home from 8 yards out.
Stantonbury had the ball in the back of the net again seconds later but saw it ruled out for offside, and at the other end Des forced goalkeeper Ian Lindop into a routine save after he ghosted past 2 challenges and fired towards goal from a tight angle.
With 10 minutes to go, Stantonbury made it 2-0 when Keenan Stuurman headed home a free-kick to give the ‘away’ side a comfortable cushion.
MMIX began to throw more men forward in the hope of getting back into the game and did manage to create a couple of good moves, including one down the right involving Rob, Callum and Joe before Des saw himself challenged on the edge of the box, and Rich then fired over after robbing a Stantonbury defender of possession just inside the area.
Rob and Callum picked up bookings late on for a foul and dissent respectively and as the final whistle blew, Stantonbury were deservedly crowned Alf Carter Cup champions after a dominant performance.
Full-time, 2-0 to Stantonbury Social.
So, a disappointing final game of 2010/11 for an FC MMIX side who looked visibly weary after a gruelling 35-game season. But the defeat was their first for 3 and a half months, and their first in 12 games, and MMIX still ended the campaign with silverware after their Bill Johnson Supplementary Cup victory one week earlier.
And with an SET Charity Tournament taking place at a professional stadium later that afternoon, MMIX still had the chance to win their 2nd piece of silverware in the space of a fortnight.
What a year it’s been, and what a year next season could be….
