Division 1 West
Greenways 3 v Chipstead 0
Chipstead finished their season with an unbelievable defeat away to Greenways on Wednesday, eventually going down 3-0. The mystery was that the village side dominated for 80% of the match, played some terrific football right to the final whistle, but just didn’t get the run of the green on the night. Sheer bad luck, some wayward finishing and more than a few terrific saves from Greenway’s keeper ended Chipstead’s faint hopes of finishing in 4th place.
Right from the first whistle, Chipstead poured forward in numbers, all that was missing was a bit of clinical finishing on a bumpy pitch. Then, totally against the run of play, Greenways were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area, which their number 9 expertly placed in the corner to the despair of the diving Leigh Hawkes.
The hosts then netted a second 10 minutes after the break after Chipstead had failed to clear their lines, again their main striker turned his defender superbly to net with a fine finish. Chipstead again took the initiative and had shots raining in on the Greenways goal to no avail. Midway through the 2nd period Chipstead were hit again on the break, the referee failing to spot a push on Nick Johnson, who tumbled to the ground, the ball again kindly breaking to Greenway’s striker who sent a looping effort over the head of Hawkes and into the unguarded net. Whilst some teams might have given up at this stage, Chipstead continued to push forward, with wave after wave of attack. Greenway’s keeper pulled off 2 fantastic saves in the final 15 minutes, firstly to tip a Liam Smith effort, destined for the top corner, over the bar, and then to deny a Tom Wilken blockbuster which was again destined for the top corner. Shot after shot rained in on the Greenways goal, but despite a fantastic effort, Chipstead were unable to break their duck.
The village side will therefore have to settle for a mid-table league position and a runners up place in the Kent Intermediate Challenge Shield, in what has been a good season. The spirit in the squad has been excellent and they will be hoping to carry this forward into next season.