Team: Jean Minne

James Philpot, Andy Dunn, Martijn Ebregt

Daniel Donner, Anthi Maltsin

Tarik SiM'hammed, Luka Novak, Richard McGeehan

Nils McGrath, Paul Somers

Testing the strength of the bench: Daniele Mineo, Hodgy.

No one ever said winning the league would be easy. Whispered stories in the changing rooms from veterans about romping to consecutive league titles while undefeated and scoring 100 goals in a season paint so strange a picture that it could be a different sport. Something distant in the memory that it is categorised alongside balls made of pig’s bladders, goalkeepers picking up back passes and Steve Lamarra having hair: it may have happened, but few remain from that era and despite the excellent run of form that has brought us within touching distance of the title, it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings and until she does, there will always be nerves in the closing moments.

After an excellent response to the disappointing defeat to Choule two weeks ago, RBBFC had the chance to secure the league title against a tricky opponent who certainly wouldn’t be handing out 3 points, especially not on their home ground and against local celebrity and "man in every changing room” Jean Minne. RBBFC had a strong team out, a fair wind at their backs and a lovely carpet to play football on, so started the game well against an LTC team that were playing to contain, due to injuries and lack of subs, we were informed. Consequently, the defenders found themselves with plenty of time on the ball but struggled to regularly find good passing options forward.

There was space available, particularly after quick switches of the ball, and some nice work down the wings between Danny and Paul or Luka lead to Rich receiving the ball on the edge of the box, only to see his shot go agonisingly wide. Further good opportunities were hard to come by and RBBFC were a bit slow to realise that if they were patient with the ball, they would be able find open players to pass to, while LTC were mainly restricted to playing on the counter, with most situations dealt with by the solid back 3 and midfield terriers.

The half time team talk stressed patience, moving the ball quickly, but not forcing it where it couldn’t go, and RBBFC did this well to start the second half – more passes were able to go through the middle, and we were able to bring the wing-backs into the game further up the pitch. Flying Finn Anthi was engaged in a good battle with the LTC captain, and on the other side the other Flying Finn Daniel was able to create some combinations with Luka and Paul.

Playing on the wings brought the opening goal for RBBFC – after a combination with Danny, Paul had the ball on the edge of the box, and James, choosing his moment wisely, provided the overlapping run, before cutting the ball back for Paul. Our leading goal scorer has been unfairly maligned recently, with the other forwards accusing him of only scoring "tap ins”. Tap-in Paulie indeed lived up to his nickname, "tapping” it into the far top corner from the corner of the box. Soon after, or possibly before (time is a social construct), RRBFC could have scored another. A classic Richie inswinger to the back post landed on the head, or back, of Martijn, and from quite literally underneath the crossbar, he contrived to put it over the bar, which would have provided a quite a nice cushion. For a man that insists his nickname is Tank, he spends a lot of time shooting blanks.

With the game entering the closing stages, RBBFC were still in control, with Hodgy playing conductor in the middle. A few more half chances were nearly converted into full chances, but a particularly robust challenge in the middle lead to some minor handbags and unfortunately, possibly some extra motivation for the final few minutes for our opponents. After a long free-kick into the box wasn’t properly cleared, the LTC striker managed to wriggle free of his markers on the edge of the box and fire a shot through the crowd into the bottom corner. With not much time left to absorb this and hit back, the game finished 1-1 and RBBFC were dependent on Grez’s result to know if the celebrations could start early.

While a good man of the match competition was underway, with a nice new song and accompanying percussion from the locals, Jean was making his way through his ABSSA address book to find out the other results, which in the end didn’t go our way. Meanwhile, Man of the Match came down to a face-off between Tap In Paulie and Put it on a Plate James, with James prevailing via a 2-0 KO at Rock/Paper/Scissors.

MoM & reporter: James Philpot