A point following a 1-1 draw with fellow title chasers, Lyndon Green at a sunny Holly Lane on Tuesday afternoon was enough for Abbey’s ‘Amber and Blacks’ to seal the La Liga Division title and a place in the league play-off finals on 20 May.
With Featherstone not attending, both title protagonists were awarded 4-0 walkovers so it left a one-off shoot-out for the title and in a cracking end-to-end game, it was Abbey’s as the point gained nudged them over the line.
Just a smidge down the road, there was an almighty tussle for the final play-off spot with both St Barnabas and Short Heath vying for it and they were joined by St Thomas More’s who, though they couldn’t secure a play-off spot, could turn to party-poopers and that’s exactly what they did. St Barnabas opened up against Short Heath and in a tight and tense clash, it was the latter who edged it 1-0 and that result put them third in the table; a win over STM in their subsequent game would have secured that coveted third place. However, the Sheldon side took advantage of a tiring Heath side to earn a 3-1 win so that left Short Heath needing STM to defeat St Barnabas in the final game of the evening at Spring Lane. And it was to be heartbreak for the home side as STM stormed to a 3-0 win, crushing Barnie’s play-off dreams and ensuring that Short Heath’s was kept alive.
Congratulations then to La Liga Division winners, Abbey and to Lyndon Green and Short Heath on making the play-off eliminators – commiserations to both St Barnabas and St Thomas More’s who just fell short.
