Combined Counties League Division One Play-Off Final, Monday 8th May
Another bank holiday Monday (I could get used to these three day weekends!!!) saw me over at another Play-Off final with promotion from Step Six to Five on the agenda again for both sides, this time round making the trip to the Harrow area and Middlesex for a first outing to The Tithe Farm Sports & Social Club in Rayners Lane.
It's a nice set up there it must be said, a very nice clubhouse with a bar and snacks to chill out in before the game, and a nice burger bar serving some lovely food as well, I went for the chicken bites and chips, and both were very tasty, the chicken bites seemed home made and a good size too, with a decent portion served up.
The ground itself is a typical 3G set up with a fence around the pitch, but it is not in a cage thank goodness and has a nice covered area on the opposite side to the dugouts and clubhouse, and plenty of seats and standing areas to occupy, which was useful with the forecast not being that good, although as it turned out it wasn't as bad as first feared so people could spread out around the ground, which was just as well as I don't think we would have all fitted underneath the cover as a sizable crowd (I guess around 300-400 ish) turned out to see this one.
Both these sides had squeezed into the play off places on goal difference and finished on the same number of points in their forty league games, both registering 73 points and Raynes Park finishing above today's opponents on goal difference, in fact Rayners Lane, Langley, FC Deportivo Galicia and British Airways were only separated by three points by the end, so it was a tight battle for those final two play off spots.
The Lane's form coming into the play offs was pretty decent up until the final two games, they won five straight before drawing and losing in their final two encounters to squeeze into the post season, whereas Langley's form in the final month had been mixed, but they had done just enough to squeeze in as well, setting up an away semi final against runners up Berks County, Rayners Lane on the other hand were to take on third placed London Samurai Rovers away from home as well.
Rovers had finished nine points behind eventual champions Sandhurst Town, who were made famous by the amount of games they had to squeeze in before the end of the season, but they managed to claim the title and automatic promotion, and five points behind Berks County but five above The Lane, however, it was the visitors who triumphed 3-2 to set up today's final at their own ground.
If that was a slight surprise, what happened in the other semi final was extraordinary, as Langley produced possibly their best performance of the season as they netted a 7-1 win at runners up Berks County, a side they finished ten points behind in the league season and had drawn 3-3 at the same ground against the same opposition only a couple of weeks before, it was an extraordinary result and saw them come into this final with a huge amount of confidence.
And in both the league game and a cup game at Tithe Farm Langley had won 4-1 and 3-0, although their latest meeting back at the end of February resulted in a 3-1 win for The Lane, so read what you will into that, it would mean absolutely sod all in this contest that's the sure, and a tight contest was duly expected.
In the end a brilliant performance and two goals from the excellent Jack Tabor would prove decisive in this contest, it only took the hosts two and a half minutes to find the breakthrough, Tabor racing onto a forward pass before lashing home with aplomb, and the hosts so nearly doubled their lead but saw a looping header cleared off the line, just, with the home side claiming it had crossed the line, as they would.
They did double their lead though just before the hour mark when the visitors dilly dallied in their own final third and saw a short pass intercepted by the hosts and it resulted in a cross into the box from the right hand superbly and acrobatically volleyed home by Tabor, and give the hosts a cushion to protect for the final half hour.
Langley, who had netted seven in their previous game of course, probably used up all their luck in front of goal in that semi final tie, as they created several chances, but were either wasteful and off target, or found hosts keeper Charlie Patmore in fine fettle, making some decent stops, with the best one five minutes after they doubled their lead, tipping a superb long range effort against the bar and over, it was a top save.
If truth be told though, The Lane never really looked like they would surrender their advantage, and those two goals from Tabor proved enough for them to secure promotion and cap off a fine season for them, spare a thought for Langley though who also had a terrific season too but just fell short in this one. Well done 'The Lane'!!!
Full time Rayners Lane 2 Langley 0
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