Sparkhill edged out Aston Rangers in a thrilling encounter to win the Shapla Premier Division title for the third time in the last six year to become the most successful Shapla League side since the beginning of the twenty ten's!
In an absorbing contest that was streamed in England, Turkey and South Africa amongst other places courtesy of the very generous Obayed Hussain and was viewed by the biggest crowd in the Shapla League this season, Sparkhill came out on top in the winner takes all contest with a goal through the mercurial Harj Samra midway through the first half.
Aston piled on the pressure in the second half but Sparkhill's backline missing lynchpin Tariq Rashid were equal to everything that was thrown at them and more with the inspired Janaid Khan in top form and with a defence lead by Rajesh Janagal and ably supported by the ever reliable Yassin Musleh, the versatile Sahel Rahman and new addition to this season Dion Calder all having great games. The game was played 10 v 10 for almost an hour as Aston lost a man in the first half and Sparkhill losing the enigmatic Wasim Jawed a few minutes later for two yellow cards. This resulted in the Sparkhill midfield of top goal scorer Damian Davis, the always threatening Allando Davis, the cultured and gritty Israr Nabi and inspirational skipper Khurram Iqbal aka Killa who was ruled out up until the last minute due to ligament damage in his foot having to battle and cover the extra space that was left on the pitch to help Sparkhill truimph to one of their most greatest achievements, considering the departures of so many big players and a manager over the summer, Aston actually lined up with both Nathan Thompson and Luke Shah in their starting XI and brought on Myron Sempher in the second half, all three players that were vital cogs for Sparkhill over the two previous seasons, their squad also included other ex-Sparkhill players Asfar Ali, Chris Hanson and Kadim Arshad.
Sparkhill were given no chance at the start of the season but proved with hard work, determination and a wonderful team ethic that anything is possible.
Congratulations to all team members for this wonderful achievement and to the new management team of Safraz Ahmed, Khaleel Ghalib, Ahmed Vaid and Areeb Khan who shut up many of his doubters by leading the team to glory in his first season as manager.
No time to celebrate for Sparkhill though as a tough cup run awaits starting with the rejuvenated Alum Rock next weekend.
