What a difference a season makes

Matthew Huish
May 17, 2010

MBU FC played their final match of the season, playing away at Tufnell Park against Swiss Cottage Tuesday, a team that had beaten MBU 6-1 just two months ago. Victory would not have uprooted MBU from the foot of the table, being 4 points behind the team ahead of them in the league. Nevertheless, MBU had a goal of 10 points to achieve, and with 7 points, a win was the order of the day.

MBU were able to field a strong starting XI, which included Will Aso who had travelled by bus all the way from Newcastle to be with the lads this Saturday morning. The trip was worth it, as Will broke the deadlock half-way through the first half scoring a header that was beautifully crossed in from a corner by Toby Suda. This opened the floodgates for MBU to score, something unthinkable earlier in the season: Seijin Thomas scored a cracker, running into the box from the right wing, perfectly timed to meet Toby's cross, and thumping it into the top corner of the goal. Kyung then managed to get the ball into the back of the goalnet after the Swiss Cottage goalkeeper made a couple of athletic saves. Alex Shaw then put his name on the goalsheet volleying in a ball that had ricocheted off the crossbar after a Will Aso effort.

At half time, MBU were winning 4-0. Unsurprisingly, there was a jubilant feeling amongst the team.

Feet came back down to earth as Swiss Cottage Tuesday edged their way back into the game. Jude Greaves, who had otherwise performed valiantly in goal, dropped the ball and picked it up again as he was about to kick it out, resulting in an indirect free kick within the MBU penalty area. Tuesday converted this into a goal, denying MBU a first clean sheet. Another goal was conceded before Sean Greaves muscled his way through the Tuesday defence and placed his shot into the bottom left of the goal. One more goal for Swiss Cottage resulted in a final score of 5-3. MBU reached their goal of 10 points for the season and finished with a 3-game unbeaten run (win, draw, win).

The transformation in fortunes reflects the effort -- the literal blood, sweat and tears -- that the MBU lads have put into this season. It takes time to build a football team, as MBU has discovered, but thankfully we were able to invest patiently into each other and the results are now clear to see. To expect MBU to succeed in their first season would have been hugely ambitious, and although MBU finished bottom of the league, the last few matches demonstrated how the team can play. It took the whole season for the team to gel, but now it has, and the future for MBU looks bright.

Bring on the 2010-11 season! We hope you'll be there with us…