BBOB battled hard in this title decider, pushing the eventual winners Royal Hove all the way. Again, changes were forced upon manager Steve Maskell, the absent Ed Wyeth was replaced by Fletcher Elliott at right midfield, Dan Buchanan moved to central midfield replacing Michael (Titch) McMahon, Jac Edwards returned to left midfield. Joe Thomas returned to centre forward to partner Matt Barton, and there was a welcome return for new signing and former BBOB player (from 9 years ago) Tom Bunting in central defence.
BBOB started the strongest and created some pressure, forcing an early corner and a shot on goal but it didn't take long for Royal Hove to gain control of the game. In the fifth minute, with their first attack and the first of many long throw-ins, BBOB were unable to clear and an unmarked Royal Hove centre forward guided his header past Craig Watson into the BBOB goal. Five minutes later Royal Hove nearly doubled their lead from a corner, a shot from Royal Hove centre forward was deflected toward goal by right back Paul Barton but it was pushed past the post by Craig Watson at full stretch.
In the 20th minute BBOB struck back with a counter attack, the ball fell to Jac Edwards on the edge of the area, his left foot shot deflected in off a Hove defender into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
There appeared to be nothing between the two teams until the 35th minute, a ball down the channel found a Royal Hove attacker in space, his pace took him away from his marker, and his clever flick slotted the ball past the on-rushing BBOB keeper. Half time 1-2.
The second half began in much the same way, with neither team taking control of the game; Royal Hove came close when a cross was cut back towards goal at close range by a Hove centre forward. But this was again well covered by goalkeeper Craig Watson with him just about keeping the ball from crossing the goal line. In the 65th minute Ben Wheatland replaced Joe Thomas up front and five minutes later James Sansom-Constantini replaced Fletcher Elliott at right midfield.
BBOB found it difficult to create any chances; the Royal Hove defence stood up strong and constantly cleared their lines. All of BBOB's second half chances came from distance with the best created by James Sansom-Constantini, after beating his man twice (possibly three times), his shot from the edge of the area was placed just over the bar. The BBOB defence had very little to do as the game moved into the final stages and it seemed that the teams had cancelled each other out! Centre back Tom Bunting moved into midfield to help increase BBOB attacking options but no decent chances were created as BBOB run out of steam!
At the final whistle BBOB could only congratulate Royal Hove on their deserved league title victory; they had won every game in the league since BBOB beat them at home back in October. BBOB remain second going into their final game of the season and will look forward to playing Royal Hove again next season!
Match report by Paul Barton
