Promotion secured!

with both teams vying for the third promotion place. The away fixture back in November had probably been the team's toughest match of the season, so there was a good deal of trepidation before the match. However, within a few minutes of the push-back it became clear that the Luton Vagrants line-up was missing some key players, and the back-line was particularly frail. However, despite the early promising signs, there was, of course a job to do and you never know how things will go until that first goal goes in.

Fortunately, about 8 minutes into the game, Bar won its first short corner. The injection to Andy Latham was accurate. Andy despatched his shot quickly goalwards, perhaps just as Rishi Choudary's very fast run "onto the keeper's pads" was distracting the keeper. The ball very soon hit the backboards and Bar were 1-0 ahead. Within another 5 minutes, a strong run by George Fennell down the right wing saw him cross to the centre from the by-line. Andy Latham was in the right position to receive the ball and he made no mistake in quickly converting the chance into a second goal: 2-0, and the Bar players started breathing more easily.

For the following period of the match, Bar were well on top of Vagrants, and should perhaps have scored more than the two further goals that they managed before half time. Bar's third came from Danny Becker when his cross after a self-taken free hit made its way all the way through the D and went in. There was some initial feeling that the cross was taken from out-side the D (not least by Danny himself), but the well-positioned umpire was confident the ball had been struck inside the D, so the goal stood and there were no protests. Shortly before half-time, Warren Edmondson found himself in much space on the left-side of the D. His well taken reverse stick shot seemed to confuse the defenders, and it found the backboards emphatically. During this period, the Bar wingers of Rishi, George (Fennell) and Queenie, repeatedly very effectively burst forward, bringing the team many chances. Potters Bar went into the half-time break 4-0 up and in good mood.

Luton Vagrants re-grouped in the interval and started the second half with much more purpose and energy than in the first half. The game was competitive but it was played in a good spirit. Vagrants defended well and had the occasional foray into the Bar half, but did not properly threaten the Bar goal until 10 minutes before the end they were gifted a free shot on goal from short range, albeit at a tight angle. Somehow, the Vagrants' centre forward contrived to miss the change, so the Bar clean sheet stayed intact. A few minutes later, a goalmouth scramble in front of the Vagrants goal saw Andy Latham dive at full stretch to re-direct a ball that was about to dribble wide back into the goal. The bloodied elbow showed dedication to the cause!

5-0 was how it stayed - promotion secured!

By Paul Brady