We won the title in Lincolnshire last Saturday in style with a fantastic second-half performance at Grantham.
It took a few days for me to digest the events of the day and the elation of getting over the line. The pressure lifted when we scored the second goal and to a degree after the first goal… the performance in that last 45 minutes was sensational, which is remarkable really because the players had needed to show incredible resilience through a very tough week where we took 10 points from four games, three of which were away from home, without conceding a goal from open play.
My lasting thoughts on the 2-0 win at Grantham were how special the fans were in outnumbering the home support… we must have had 350-400 people there, which is phenomenal when you consider that Grantham is a difficult journey of over 100 miles and takes almost three hours to reach.
Tuesday night’s home game against Marine was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and quickly re-arranged for 24 hours later… it was a strange match that we should have won but the point gained means that we can still hit our pre-season objectives of 95 points and 100 goals, if we can beat Hednesford Town and score at least twice this afternoon.
Today really should be a very special afternoon at the J Davidson Stadium… we will be receiving the Evo-Stik Premier Champions Trophy after the game and I hope that we can go out on a high on the pitch and send all our fans home very happy. Everyone should come to the game today with the mentality of enjoying and celebrating a really fantastic occasion.
After the trophy has been presented on the pitch, there will be the End of Season Awards which will take place in the Community Sports Hall and that will give us an opportunity to recognise some really special individual contributions made throughout what has been a momentous season where everyone has pulled together for the cause of Altrincham Football Club… we have achieved what we set out to do a year ago and it’s a great feeling to have done that.
So, let’s celebrate today and then we can start thinking about planning for next season in the Vanarama National League North.
All pictures: Michael Ripley
Highlights from the win at Grantham here:
