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It is unlikely that there has been a better U9s game in Division 1 this season.  Carshalton and the champions Hampton Wanderers served up a feast of football that showed everything good about junior football.  All players can be proud of how they played and conducted themselves.  Carshalton came out of the traps fast and had the better of the first half, though Hampton did come back into things as the half wore on.  Arran's rasping drive came off the far post and the Hampton keeper made 2 very brave stops to keep out Jordan on the follow ups.  Carshalton opened the scoring when the keeper parried a shot low down and Jordan seized on the rebound to knock home from 6 yards.  

In the second half, Hampton showed great resilience and equalised following some smart interpassing, with a long range shot that wrong footed Dan in goal.  With about 15 minutes to go Hampton scored the winner when Dan managed to parry the ball, but their nimble forward knocked in the rebound.  The rest of the half was evenly contested and both sides played some lovely football.

At the final whistle Hampton celebrated not only the win, but also the championship.  They are worthy winners and we wish the all the best in the Premier Division next season.

This was easily our best performance of the season and it was really encouraging to see us raise our standards when the best team in the league came to visit.  Dan made some crucial saves, while Conor and Owen were immense in defence.  Ruaridh had his best game for weeks and was the engine room of the midfield, where Ben (1st half) and Joseph (2nd half) both played their part.  Up front Lewis, Jordan and Arran cause plenty of problems, particularly Arran whose pace and power on the right wing were a joy to watch and a constant threat.

And so ends our first league season.  It has been a learning curve for everyone - players spectators and management.  I think we can all say that we have all improved and the potential is there to improve further.  We will be playing friendlies up until Easter, and hopefully we can continue to test ourselves in these games.

Best wishes to Luke who was missing with flu.  Hope you are back for next week.  No training this week, as the hall is being used for exams.  See you all next weekend.

Buzz