Yate arrive at the less worse of the 2 Westbury pitches on a dreary day, looking to avenge their loss earlier in the season. Although Yate are already league champions they have pride at stake.

Things don't look great, as for the second time the team is seriously diminished from its strongest, with no fewer than 7 of their regular team injured or unavailable. With no sub the match is going to be a hard one.

With captain Adrian 'Aj' Kitchen calling up Ali 'The Animal' Mansfield from the 4ths to play in defence the match starts.  Things don't go well from the outset. Ian 'Crabbie' Crabbe is left just about a lone to fend for himself, as Westbury stack the midfield. They soon take the lead, as Justin 'Sticks' Metcalfe in goal is beaten by a ball putin at the far post.

Despite Martin 'Mean Machine' Emery and Nick 'Shrek' Hare's best efforts Westbury manage to add a second from a short corner. And despite good runs from Pete 'The Protector' Lamb and Rob 'Big Rob' Child Yate cannot seem to break into the opposition D.

Westbury add a 3rd as a man breaks along the sideline, managing to squeeze the ball in from a tight angle. This is how the half ends with Yate definitely not playing their best Hockey, ball pace is way down and they keep running into players, where they should be making easy passes.

Seeing these problems Yate come out much more strongly in the second half, with Rob 'Little Rob' Hazelwood moving from centre back to left back. There are more runs being made and Yate are defending much higher, picking the ball up in front of the man more often, like they usually do.

Tom 'Wunderkind' Child and Tom 'The Deflection' Johnston continue to make runs and badger the Westbury defence, but cannot break through or get anything from it.

The increased pressure from Yate pays off and 'Crabbie' slots home his 36th goal of the season (equalling his previous record). Putting Westbury under increased pressure Yate then win their one and only short corner of the match, which after a great push out from 'Wunderkind' is converted by 'Crabbie' off a Westbury stick for his 37th. (New High Score!!)

Pushing forward after to get the equaliser Westbury break and manage to get a 4th, but the Yate heads don't go down, continuing to pressure and committing, including one of 'The Protector's diving challenges (Patent Pending). It is 'The Protector' who adds the 3rd, with a fantastic reverse stick shot into the bottom corner.

Yate continue to pressure but the whistle goes before they can pull back the final goal.  The 2nd half performance was much better (winning 3-1) but Yate just left too much to do in the second half with the 3 goal deficit. Westbury were the better team in the first half and did enough to hold on in the second.

Yate's spirits remain high, however as they are safe in the knowledge that they are deserved league champions having won 16, drawn 2 and lost 2, having conceded only 16 (7 of those against Westbury 'F') and scored 87 for a +71 goal difference.

Congratulations to all who have played for the 'Mighty Green Boxes' this year!

The Mighty Green Boxes

(Alphabetical Order - Players with League Appearances):

• Martin 'Parrot' Ashley
• Joe 'Joe 90' Avis
• Matt 'Reverse Stick' Bethell
• Anthony 'Bezer' Bezer
• Matt 'Buckaroo' Buckland
• Alex 'Duracell' Cambell Hill
• Rob 'Big Rob' Child
• Tom 'Wunderkind' Child
• Ian 'Crabbie' Crabbe
• Martin 'Mean Machine' Emery
• Matt 'Mean Machine Jr.' Emery
• Stuart 'The Focus' Ford
• Chris 'The Best a Man can Get' Gillett
• Rich 'Farmer' Greaves
• James 'Aphex' Griffiths
• Nick 'Shrek' Hare
• Mark 'Haggis' Harris
• Rob 'Little Rob' Hazelwood
• Charlie 'Le Tiss' Hopkins
• Tom 'The Deflection' Johnston
• Adrian 'Aj' Kitchen
• Pete 'The Protector' Lamb
• Ali 'The Animal' Mansfield
• Justin 'Sticks' Metcalfe
• Mark 'Pob' (AKA: 'Super Pob' AKA: 'Sicknote') Pennicott
• Ian 'Old Reliable' Redfearn
• Sam 'Shining' Knight
• Rene 'The Goatee' Wickes
• James 'Just Visiting' Lewis

Well done to everyone for a season of great hockey, you should all be very proud. It's been a pleasure playing with you all.

N.B. Please note that some nicknames are merely for display purposes only, any resemblance to people, either alive or dead, is purely coincidental.

Well done AJ an excellent and enjoyable season I wont know what to do at seven oclock on a tuesday evening now that you wont be phoning about availibility.PS where did the nicknames come from the only one I dont get is Mark 'sicknote' Pennicott   no maybe I do get it.See you all for the curry.Crabbie.